Discussion Forum > zombies: metaphor for modern overwhelming to-do lists?
Don't laugh about the Zombie Apocalypse. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention takes it seriously. (As they say, "If you are generally well equipped to deal with a zombie apocalypse you will be prepared for a hurricane, pandemic, earthquake, or terrorist attack.")
http://www.cdc.gov/phpr/zombies.htm
And you're right, the advice is similar.
Make a list of what you need. Gather your resources in one, easy-to grab place. Focus on the essentials first. Communicate. Update as the situation changes.
http://www.cdc.gov/phpr/zombies.htm
And you're right, the advice is similar.
Make a list of what you need. Gather your resources in one, easy-to grab place. Focus on the essentials first. Communicate. Update as the situation changes.
October 30, 2012 at 15:27 |
Cricket
Cricket
Cricket, you are amazing. :)
I became interested in zombies as I was developing a theme for my new fitness business. I had various ice hockey and Viking themes before being inspired by that CDC post to go with "Zombie-proof Fitness". It is an attempt to promote my philosophy of "useful fitness for everyone", as in what do you need to be able to do to fully engage in your life and the challenges it throws at you. I saw a need to educate about developing physical capacity as well as simply hording supplies. Zombies won't care what you look like or what you have - it's only about what you can do. For my purposes I re-defined the Zombie Apocalypse as "Any challenge, especially unpredictable or involving the undead, that requires physical and mental capability, fortitude or resourcefulness, and in the face of which, most will be unprepared, helpless, and fail."
The same month I launched it (Oct 2011), in the US there was an earthquake on the East Coast, and a hurricane down south. In the aftermath, the news was full of images of people pushing, pulling, lifting, carrying, running, jumping - all the training methods I use and teach. I felt a surge of validation that I was on the right path.
The latest step has been to build my standard gear set (post-apocalyptic DIY, of course), and your comment has integrated my training methods and gear into one simple statement.
"Make a list of what you need. Gather your resources in one, easy-to grab place. Focus on the essentials first. Communicate. Update as the situation changes. "
1) Make a list of what you need: My lists of gear and training protocols and achievement levels to track and motivate progress.
2) Gather your resources in one, easy-to grab place: A set of DIY gear that allows the maximum results and variety with the minimum stuff.
3) Focus on the essentials first: There are basic tried-and-true movements that increase full-body strength and endurance. Do those consistently. Clean up your diet. Then, if you still want, you can worry about crazy supplements and 50 different ways to exercise your index finger.
4) Communicate: Keep a journal so you can communicate with your past and future self. It's one of the very best methods for ensuring success. Tell other people about what you are doing. It's the other of the very best methods for success.
5) Update as the situation changes: There is no perfect plan for all time. Put the best plan in place, work it until the situation changes (i.e. it doesn't work anymore, or the goals have changed), and then modify the plan.
Seriously, Cricket, this was pure gold for me. Thanks!
I became interested in zombies as I was developing a theme for my new fitness business. I had various ice hockey and Viking themes before being inspired by that CDC post to go with "Zombie-proof Fitness". It is an attempt to promote my philosophy of "useful fitness for everyone", as in what do you need to be able to do to fully engage in your life and the challenges it throws at you. I saw a need to educate about developing physical capacity as well as simply hording supplies. Zombies won't care what you look like or what you have - it's only about what you can do. For my purposes I re-defined the Zombie Apocalypse as "Any challenge, especially unpredictable or involving the undead, that requires physical and mental capability, fortitude or resourcefulness, and in the face of which, most will be unprepared, helpless, and fail."
The same month I launched it (Oct 2011), in the US there was an earthquake on the East Coast, and a hurricane down south. In the aftermath, the news was full of images of people pushing, pulling, lifting, carrying, running, jumping - all the training methods I use and teach. I felt a surge of validation that I was on the right path.
The latest step has been to build my standard gear set (post-apocalyptic DIY, of course), and your comment has integrated my training methods and gear into one simple statement.
"Make a list of what you need. Gather your resources in one, easy-to grab place. Focus on the essentials first. Communicate. Update as the situation changes. "
1) Make a list of what you need: My lists of gear and training protocols and achievement levels to track and motivate progress.
2) Gather your resources in one, easy-to grab place: A set of DIY gear that allows the maximum results and variety with the minimum stuff.
3) Focus on the essentials first: There are basic tried-and-true movements that increase full-body strength and endurance. Do those consistently. Clean up your diet. Then, if you still want, you can worry about crazy supplements and 50 different ways to exercise your index finger.
4) Communicate: Keep a journal so you can communicate with your past and future self. It's one of the very best methods for ensuring success. Tell other people about what you are doing. It's the other of the very best methods for success.
5) Update as the situation changes: There is no perfect plan for all time. Put the best plan in place, work it until the situation changes (i.e. it doesn't work anymore, or the goals have changed), and then modify the plan.
Seriously, Cricket, this was pure gold for me. Thanks!
October 30, 2012 at 17:03 |
Scott Moehring
Scott Moehring
Confession time: That summary comes more from Girl Guide Camp than disaster preparedness.
We were 14, and our leader had just finished a camp training. She told us she would no longer give us kit lists for camps. We should make our own. We (yes, over-achieving group) opened our binders, where we had three lists for each of the past five years.
I used to pile all my camp stuff in the living room, then fit it into the backpack. Just because it's at the top of the list doesn't mean it should go in the backpack first (and end up on the bottom). Extra attention to rain gear and flashlight location. And then we had one girl who brought an extra duffel bag filled with hostess gifts of maple syrup and coffee-table books to England -- where we traveled by tube.)
Camp, small cars, carpools, and our site is 15 minute walk from parking. Also Dad did a lot of business traveling. (More recently, check out the Liaden books. Pilots make 3 piles when packing. 1 - can come back for or replace. Leave it. 2 - hard to replace, helps you relax, but not essential. Take it if there's room. 3 - license and food in your pocket at ALL times. Oxygen if appropriate.)
This was pre-cell-phone days. Leave numbers. Arrange phone tree to keep parents informed (Leader makes 1 call, and all the parents know the the new return flight.) Know where to get help fast while at camp.
Aforementioned flight changes. Help neighboring group with flooded site. Ice on the water bucket when we'd planned cold cereal for breakfast.
We were 14, and our leader had just finished a camp training. She told us she would no longer give us kit lists for camps. We should make our own. We (yes, over-achieving group) opened our binders, where we had three lists for each of the past five years.
I used to pile all my camp stuff in the living room, then fit it into the backpack. Just because it's at the top of the list doesn't mean it should go in the backpack first (and end up on the bottom). Extra attention to rain gear and flashlight location. And then we had one girl who brought an extra duffel bag filled with hostess gifts of maple syrup and coffee-table books to England -- where we traveled by tube.)
Camp, small cars, carpools, and our site is 15 minute walk from parking. Also Dad did a lot of business traveling. (More recently, check out the Liaden books. Pilots make 3 piles when packing. 1 - can come back for or replace. Leave it. 2 - hard to replace, helps you relax, but not essential. Take it if there's room. 3 - license and food in your pocket at ALL times. Oxygen if appropriate.)
This was pre-cell-phone days. Leave numbers. Arrange phone tree to keep parents informed (Leader makes 1 call, and all the parents know the the new return flight.) Know where to get help fast while at camp.
Aforementioned flight changes. Help neighboring group with flooded site. Ice on the water bucket when we'd planned cold cereal for breakfast.
October 30, 2012 at 17:37 |
Cricket
Cricket
Shorter summary from the boy scouts: Be Prepared.
About zombies, I think people sometimes feel like they are zombies, mindlessly milling about.
About zombies, I think people sometimes feel like they are zombies, mindlessly milling about.
October 31, 2012 at 17:55 |
Alan Baljeu
Alan Baljeu
Godzilla = fear of nukes and radiation fallout
Zombies = fear of viral outbreaks
I think I was wrong about the zombies. I think the viruses is part of it, but to be a major trend like the zombies, it has to be deeper.
Zombies = modern bloated ever-growing to-do lists and crazy overstuffed schedules.
Endless waves, threatening to overwhelm by sheer volume, mindless, coming faster than you can deal with them, and one thing spawning twelve in an ever-spreading cycle…
That seems like a real deep-seated unexpressed anxiety that people have: too much stuff to do, none of which is particularly difficult by itself, but in a large group it can eat us up. Can't stop the horde of stuff pulling at you. Fear that it will kill us all, metaphorically.
Part of what I like about Mark's brilliant systems (and the various offshoots that all you crazy smart people have developed) is that they help me deal with the zombies that are pulling at me. But an even bigger part is the various forms of dismissal, and the guilt-free "letting go" it fosters.
I think the dirty little secret of time management is in not trying to be efficient at doing EVERYTHING, but in actually choosing to NOT try to do EVERYTHING so you can EFFECTIVELY handle the stuff that REALLY matters to you. We can control the size of the zombie horde attacking us, and anyone can handle zombies with style, if there are only just a few.