Get Everything Done

http://patrickrhone.com/2013/05/02/the-what-for/

"Every how-to should lead with the what-for. Why this is important. Why you should do it. Why this way and not another way. We need less hows and more whys. The what-for is often assumed. Of course people know the what-for. That’s why they need the how-to, right? Sometimes, perhaps. Often, not."

This article interests me as I've found the following thinking process powerful at clarifying where I really want to go and generating better task lists and strategies to get there than by first asking "What to do?":

1. What do I really want?
2. Why do I want this?

Answers to which result in a better answer to the last question:

3. What specific things could I do to make that happen?

For instance, the temperature was going to drop below freezing today, so this morning I captured the task:

Check antifreeze


But I didn't do that task. Instead, I used that task, and any similar ones, as a springboard to a higher-level of thinking, seeing the tasks as clusters of outcomes, and asking:


1. What do I really want?

Easily and quickly winterized vehicles by tonight.


2. Why do I want this?

• No burst heater core
• No water damage
• Easy while warm
• Reliable transport
• Doors easily open
• Tools within reach


3. What specific things could I do to make that happen?

I might have just "checked the antifreeze", but instead look at everything that wasn't even on my list until I knew what I really wanted and why:

Check antifreeze
Verify antifreeze protection level
Run engine to circulate antifreeze and oil
Replace wiper fluid with antifreeze wiper fluid
Google "rubbing alcohol to wiper fluid?"
Top off gas tank
Oil hinges and locks
Remove water bottles
Ice scraper to front
New hood bulb
To TM forum: remove water bottles from cars! (Pow. Done!)

Mark:

"I think I'd have written "Prepare Cars for Winter" as a task on my AF list and then worked off a project sheet. A project sheet is just a list of tasks which you add to as you think of them. The advantage is that you don't have to spend time at the beginning thinking. You can just get straight to work and the list will expand naturally as you work."


It might help to compare Mark and I to better understand why systematizing thinking about a greater end result can be beneficial:


First
Mark: Thinks, "I should check the car's antifreeze."
Me: Thinks, "I should check the car's antifreeze."

Second
Mark: Writes down "Prepare Cars for Winter" because he knows the bigger picture of that task as thinking in greater end results is ingrained in him.
Me: Writes down "Check Antifreeze" because he does not know the bigger picture of that task beyond "to protect the heater core and engine from freezing weather", as thinking in greater end results is not ingrained in him. He does not think to prepare the car for winter beyond that specific what and why.

Third
Mark: Creates a project sheet titled "Prepare Cars for Winter" and lists tasks that could make that happen as they occur to him, while he takes action.
Me: Creates a project sheet titled "Prepared Cars for Winter" and lists tasks that could make that happen as they occur to him, while he takes action, after having first asked himself what the bigger picture of that task really is. Is it just to ensure he doesn't blow his heater core? Or, is there some greater more important result?

Conclusion
Mark: He's focused on the greater end result without needing to systematize that thinking as it's ingrained in him.
Me: He's focused on the greater end result with a system of thinking as it's not ingrained in him.

Avrum:

"I'm less keen on internal dialoguing or journaling (though I do it). I agree with Barbara Sher that "isolation is a dream killer" and that support and accountability is one of the best ways to head towards one's North Star."


I met her years ago at a seminar. We stood in a smaller group at the end, about 15 of us, and we bounced ideas back and forth with her. She advised each of us personally. She was really professional, but real, and funny.

She was so proud of showing the crowd during the seminar that with enough people in a room you could come up with any desire, and if the people in that room were freely giving, openly communicative, and non-cliquey, anything anyone wanted to make happen could be made to happen, right now.

GMBW:

"Sounds close to Tony Robbins ideas and the concept of RPM. Applying this, has simplified productivity for me."


Ha. The process I was describing *is* RPM. I thought it was obvious.


1. Capture tasks.

2. Group related tasks together on a project sheet/sheet of paper/index card.

3. Look at the grouped tasks and ask:

• What do I really want?

• Or more specifically: What's the outcome I want?

• Or even more specifically: What's the most important result I want from this group of tasks for this day/week to feel both successful and fulfilling?

4. Write this result down to the right of your grouped tasks, in the center of the page. Circle the result.

5. Write down a few short emotionally motivating reasons why you want this result to the right of the result, so you can motivate yourself now and later if resistance sets in.

6. Add more tasks to your grouped task list as they occur to you if they'll get you your result.

7. Start on the 20% of tasks that will get you your result the quickest and drop the rest.

8. Stay focused on your target, the result, not the tasks, so that if another set of tasks occurs to you that could get you your result quicker, you can easily drop the previous list and do those as you're not attached to the specific tasks. You're attached to the end result, not the specific map of activity that gets you there. This way your plan is flexible. There are all sorts of ways to get the same result. If you don't succeed in getting your result, change your map until you do.

It's very easy to write down "buy new running shoes" and then drive to town hunting for shoes when what you really want isn't to "buy new running shoes" or even "run to improve health", it's really to "easily make progress on my physical health and enjoy the process" which might well mean coming up with an entirely different set of actions to get you there and dropping the "new shoes" task entirely.

Some would say "Just be more clear about what you really want when writing down tasks". But that's the point. If you systematize that, eventually you *will* be more clear about what you really want.

An RPM block is basically a project sheet with three columns and the answers to three questions which provide clarity, motivation, and often an improved task list that you do less of.

Mark:

"...the net result of Michael B.'s "What for?" exercise was an additional ten tasks over and above "Check Antifreeze"."


Another way to look at the net result is:

• An additional ten tasks, of which 20% may get you your higher level result quicker than the one you had listed.

• Intrinsic motivation because "Checking Antifreeze" may not be something you particularly want to do, nor may it be motivating to think you're just crossing off another "have to do", another "demand" from your environment. But now that it's part of a bigger connected whole that you *do* want to do, you may find yourself doing the task quickly because you're motivated by the bigger whole you're accomplishing. And because your focus is on your result, and not the activity which can change, you may come up with a better set of tasks that produces your result faster than the original task you had listed.

GMBW:


"I think I misinterpreted the exercise's purpose. I think 'what for' is useful for higher level items, like goals."

... Since what I described is RPM and you seem to know RPM, you would know that it's not used primarily *for* higher level items, like goals, but rather is used to *create* higher level items from a capture list of tasks, projects, results, outcomes, goals, wants, and needs. You then group that capture list and turn each group into a higher level result or pick out the goals, projects, results or outcomes and group single tasks with them.


"For simple tasks like 'check antifreeze', it should be simple enough to do it and get it over with."

Simple enough until you look at a list of 70 simple tasks that should be simple enough to do. When using RPM if there are single tasks on your long capture list that can't be grouped you use that one single task to create a higher level item and then add that task to that result block and brainstorm other possible ways of getting that higher level result, adding to the list as they occur to you. No tasks should remain on your capture list, they should all be grouped into an RPM block/project sheet.

Having said all that I've said in this entire thread, it should be noted that I've been trying to distill the best of what works for me in RPM (and I mean the entire program, not just the three questions and three columns, but all of the little details and distinctions from the 10-day audio program, workbook, summary cards, video seminars as well as personal observations and refinements) down to something that can be elegantly integrated into one of Mark's systems.

I think Mark's and Anthony Robbins' systems are the closest in psychology than any others. They both use unfiltered capture, a series of closed-lists, take human emotions and procrastination into careful consideration, use a flexible approach, and operate primarily on a pull principle rather than push, while narrowing down to the important and taking care of the urgent.

A minor correction to my earlier post:

Me: Creates a project sheet titled "Prepared Cars for Winter" and lists tasks that could make that happen as they occur to him, while he takes action, after having first asked himself what the bigger picture of that task [Check Antifreeze] really is. Is it just to ensure he doesn't blow his heater core [or engine]? Or, is there some [higher level] more important result [like Cars Completely Winterized]?

GMBW:

"I stand completely corrected then. :)
Your exercise makes sense to me now. I thought you were doing this process (steps 1-8) for each item on your list, which obviously seemed a bit hectic."

... That would be a lot of work!


"I think the exercise gave off that idea."

... I agree.

Mark:

"The AF system does basically incorporate much of what this thread is about."

... I agree.


"That is why I say that projects and tasks can be incorporated at any level into your AF list, e.g. "Set up new branch in New York" or "Buy New York street map". If you have a high-level project like the first, then it would be normal to open a project sheet."

... Is there a way to incorporate project tasks elegantly into the running AF/FV list and easily group them together when you need them yet allow for random capture? Can task lists and project lists exist in one flowing list in one bound notebook? In other words, in as much as project management and time management are different sides of the same coin, can we melt that coin into a pool of oneness? (michael: That was a nod in your direction.)


"Although I don't discount pre-planning entirely, my belief is that thought should develop out of action rather than action out of thought."

... I have observed this in my own life. No matter how thoughtfully I plan out a project, as soon as I take action many of the tasks change or drop off, and any pre-sequenced tasks instantly change sequence. All the 1, 2, 3, 4 goes out the window. I remember you advising that one should prioritize projects from one another but not any one project's tasks.


"I think I might write a proper blog post about Project Sheets. Although I have talked about them a lot in the Forums, I'm not sure that the concept has ever been systematically dealt with by me."

... I support this!

Mark:

Ha!

Wow. Spooky editing my comment and seeing your replies in my edit box. Ahhh.