Discussion Forum > Looking for BETA testers... new productivity system
You should post it here. Of course that is up to Mark, however I've not yet noticed him against other systems being posted here, even seems to be ok occasionally when someone is promoting something. And I assume you are not selling this? Posting here you will be open to feedback from all of us and Mark.
The reason I want you to post here, is I might be open to try, but I may or may not want to be directly and deeply involved in the BETA, until I read about and decide how if interested. So, you may get a bunch like that. If that is useful, and full on careful testers and comments pro/con from Mark and everyone else, then yes, please post here.
As for other way, then how does someone get in touch with you?
The reason I want you to post here, is I might be open to try, but I may or may not want to be directly and deeply involved in the BETA, until I read about and decide how if interested. So, you may get a bunch like that. If that is useful, and full on careful testers and comments pro/con from Mark and everyone else, then yes, please post here.
As for other way, then how does someone get in touch with you?
August 27, 2016 at 20:49 |
matthewS
matthewS
Hi matthewS.
<<And I assume you are not selling this? >>
No - I designed this for me. Though I'm hoping to introduce some iteration of this workflow into my private practice.
The video is here: http://vimeo.com/180450462
I'd be more than happy to share the full workflow:
1. How I end/start each day
2. How I capture tasks/ideas throughout the day
2. How I use this system to do my weekly review.
For now, I'm mostly curious to hear how you would fix my narrative problem (you'll understand when you watch the video).
Looking forward to your response.
<<And I assume you are not selling this? >>
No - I designed this for me. Though I'm hoping to introduce some iteration of this workflow into my private practice.
The video is here: http://vimeo.com/180450462
I'd be more than happy to share the full workflow:
1. How I end/start each day
2. How I capture tasks/ideas throughout the day
2. How I use this system to do my weekly review.
For now, I'm mostly curious to hear how you would fix my narrative problem (you'll understand when you watch the video).
Looking forward to your response.
August 28, 2016 at 1:56 |
avrum
avrum
matthewS.
And just like that, I solved the problem last night. I'll post an updated video this afternoon.
And just like that, I solved the problem last night. I'll post an updated video this afternoon.
August 28, 2016 at 12:37 |
avrum
avrum
Avrum,
Good morning. I am very interested in this. I'm going to try to answer these questions before I start each Pomodoro. I'm going to track them in Workflowy and see what kind of trends I can recognize.
I'm looking forward to your second video this afternoon, as well as your full workflow, as you mentioned.
Good morning. I am very interested in this. I'm going to try to answer these questions before I start each Pomodoro. I'm going to track them in Workflowy and see what kind of trends I can recognize.
I'm looking forward to your second video this afternoon, as well as your full workflow, as you mentioned.
August 28, 2016 at 17:07 |
tomcal
tomcal
No problem using this forum as far as I'm concerned.
Btw for some reason Squarespace doesn't recognise https addresses. So, Avrum, if you want your links immediately live delete the 's' so that it's http. Don't worry if you forget. I'll correct it anyway next time I log in.
Btw for some reason Squarespace doesn't recognise https addresses. So, Avrum, if you want your links immediately live delete the 's' so that it's http. Don't worry if you forget. I'll correct it anyway next time I log in.
August 28, 2016 at 18:50 |
Mark Forster
Mark Forster
Having just watched the video, I think I'd like to know a bit more about how it works out before commenting. However one thing I got from it was that I'd never had the idea of using emails to Evernote to make a list of titles in the way you have done. That's something I'm sure I can use.
August 28, 2016 at 19:08 |
Mark Forster
Mark Forster
Mark - would love to read your comments.
I think this new video (see below) provides a good overview of the system:
http://vimeo.com/180542432
I think this new video (see below) provides a good overview of the system:
http://vimeo.com/180542432
August 29, 2016 at 4:56 |
avrum
avrum
avrum:
I've had a look at the second video and I'm still feeling what I felt after watching the first, i.e. that I need to know a bit more about how it actually works out in practice.
To make it a bit clearer what I'm having difficulty grasping, you say in your opening post on this thread:
"I've been working on a productivity system** that is less about minutiae i.e. Buy milk at grocery, and more about meaning".
Yet in the example you give in the video what you end up doing is:
Walk (abandoned)
Manuscript
Inbox
Buy milk at grocery
These seem very much the sort of things one does with any system. So I'm just not quite sure what you see as the really significant differences between this and, say, what I'm using at the moment "The Next Hour of Your Life" http://markforster.squarespace.com/blog/2016/7/2/the-next-hour-of-your-life.html
I've had a look at the second video and I'm still feeling what I felt after watching the first, i.e. that I need to know a bit more about how it actually works out in practice.
To make it a bit clearer what I'm having difficulty grasping, you say in your opening post on this thread:
"I've been working on a productivity system** that is less about minutiae i.e. Buy milk at grocery, and more about meaning".
Yet in the example you give in the video what you end up doing is:
Walk (abandoned)
Manuscript
Inbox
Buy milk at grocery
These seem very much the sort of things one does with any system. So I'm just not quite sure what you see as the really significant differences between this and, say, what I'm using at the moment "The Next Hour of Your Life" http://markforster.squarespace.com/blog/2016/7/2/the-next-hour-of-your-life.html
August 29, 2016 at 11:37 |
Mark Forster
Mark Forster
Hi Mark:
<<So I'm just not quite sure what you see as the really significant differences between this and, say, what I'm using at the moment "The Next Hour of Your Life">>
I haven't seen your system. I've been using some variation of what I posted for the past year or so.
<<that I need to know a bit more about how it actually works out in practice>>
In time, I'd like to create a similar video to the one you did in the hotel lobby for AF. Where you walked the user through the rules, using a real page from your AF notebook.
However my first task is to tweak the system, keep using it myself and slowly introduce it into my private practice with clients.
<<having difficulty grasping... these seem very much the sort of things one does with any system>>
The focus of my system is capturing a narrative using the title portion of Evernote notes. So during a weekly (or annual) review, a tale is told about your thoughts, feelings and actions. The question than becomes... do you like this tale? Is it representative of your best "principled" thinking, or not?
It's a hybrid journal and task/project management system, minus the bits that weren't working for me. Specifically:
Journaling: Lends itself to long, rambling thoughts that I tend to ignore. Also, very hard to categorize by project. In my system, because each note is tagged with a project, you're able to either read your narrative chronologically (as mentioned in the video), or sort by project, and see your progress (or not) that way.
Task/project management: I never received the dopamine rush of crossing off tasks. Worse, at the end of my week, my completed tasks didn't teach me anything.
With some refinements, a client would be able to share their notebook with me, and by simply reading the titles (as laid out in the video), I could get a sense of their journey... what they stand for, where they're stuck, and what they're moving towards.
<<So I'm just not quite sure what you see as the really significant differences between this and, say, what I'm using at the moment "The Next Hour of Your Life">>
I haven't seen your system. I've been using some variation of what I posted for the past year or so.
<<that I need to know a bit more about how it actually works out in practice>>
In time, I'd like to create a similar video to the one you did in the hotel lobby for AF. Where you walked the user through the rules, using a real page from your AF notebook.
However my first task is to tweak the system, keep using it myself and slowly introduce it into my private practice with clients.
<<having difficulty grasping... these seem very much the sort of things one does with any system>>
The focus of my system is capturing a narrative using the title portion of Evernote notes. So during a weekly (or annual) review, a tale is told about your thoughts, feelings and actions. The question than becomes... do you like this tale? Is it representative of your best "principled" thinking, or not?
It's a hybrid journal and task/project management system, minus the bits that weren't working for me. Specifically:
Journaling: Lends itself to long, rambling thoughts that I tend to ignore. Also, very hard to categorize by project. In my system, because each note is tagged with a project, you're able to either read your narrative chronologically (as mentioned in the video), or sort by project, and see your progress (or not) that way.
Task/project management: I never received the dopamine rush of crossing off tasks. Worse, at the end of my week, my completed tasks didn't teach me anything.
With some refinements, a client would be able to share their notebook with me, and by simply reading the titles (as laid out in the video), I could get a sense of their journey... what they stand for, where they're stuck, and what they're moving towards.
August 29, 2016 at 12:16 |
avrum
avrum
I haven't watched the video or dug into this in any detail, but from the description in this last post, it sounds similar to iDoneThis. I like the idea of how you are emailing to Evernote to capture it. That might be a good way for me to implement iDoneThis if I find limitations in the tool that I don't like.
August 29, 2016 at 18:50 |
Seraphim
Seraphim
Seraphim:
iDoneThis has just done a major upgrade. However I haven't had a chance to have a long enough look at it to see what the differences are.
iDoneThis has just done a major upgrade. However I haven't had a chance to have a long enough look at it to see what the differences are.
August 29, 2016 at 21:09 |
Mark Forster
Mark Forster
<<it sounds similar to iDoneThis>>
Similar spirit, yes.
Similar spirit, yes.
August 29, 2016 at 21:41 |
avrum
avrum
The context / answer seems like it would be good. One of the things I tried recently was noting a problem and then writing down my action in response to the problem. I thought of it as a chess game and I was taking notation on the moves. The situation was the opponent and then I'd note what I did my move (hopefully a good strategic one!) It was motivating because you could first notice something that needed an action taken before deciding on the action (if any).
I like that it has the potential of being a journal. I wonder if each section could have a small no-list in it. For example if you combined it with "the next hour of your life", you would choose a new list whenever the situation changed or maybe take notes as you work the list on what the context was at the time.
You mentioned taking notes after your actions to reflect on how it went (what to do different for example). That's similar to some things I would note in my chess notation which is similar to how people add comments in actual chess notation (particularly bad/good moves etc).
I like that it asks "what is the best use of my time right now?" I was actually just thinking about that as a key question to a system prior to reading this thread, but not knowing how to apply it.
I like that it has the potential of being a journal. I wonder if each section could have a small no-list in it. For example if you combined it with "the next hour of your life", you would choose a new list whenever the situation changed or maybe take notes as you work the list on what the context was at the time.
You mentioned taking notes after your actions to reflect on how it went (what to do different for example). That's similar to some things I would note in my chess notation which is similar to how people add comments in actual chess notation (particularly bad/good moves etc).
I like that it asks "what is the best use of my time right now?" I was actually just thinking about that as a key question to a system prior to reading this thread, but not knowing how to apply it.
August 30, 2016 at 2:14 |
Don R
Don R
<<I like that it asks "what is the best use of my time right now?" I was actually just thinking about that as a key question to a system prior to reading this thread, but not knowing how to apply it.>>
Covey suggested doing something similar during your weekly planning session. But I didn't find it helpful - because what I thought would be "the best use of my time" five days from now, will obviously change minute to minute. I prefer asking the question in the moment, writing down my answer, and then (possibly) doing what I set out to do.
Covey suggested doing something similar during your weekly planning session. But I didn't find it helpful - because what I thought would be "the best use of my time" five days from now, will obviously change minute to minute. I prefer asking the question in the moment, writing down my answer, and then (possibly) doing what I set out to do.
August 30, 2016 at 2:46 |
avrum
avrum
avrum, i've watched the 2nd video ( by the time I got to the 1st, seems not to be there anymore?). i'll attempt to summarize what i understood. please let me know if/what i got right/wrong.
this system is good for those who are not so good at long term careful make and follow a detailed plan/tasks.
for those that might by temperament live moment to moment?
so to get self control over their life, and to work WITH this way of being, you ask them to be more self aware of what is going on in the moment. everything from what they think needs to be done, want to do, options, mood, weather? their entire situation in the moment.
and to, instead of write something such as
"make breakfast"
to instead write
"i am hungry, it will be 3 hours until i get a chance to eat again, i have work i need to do now, usually when i just dive into work and forget to eat i then crash in 1 hour and as just said, it will be 3 hours until i get a chance to eat again ... SO i will make a healthy breakfast NOW and then work for 3 hours on my project"
and at the end of day, week, month or whenever review what did, a story will emerge that is more useful to just read that on Tuesday i made breakfast
this story will be useful for the person and if needed, useful for a professional working with them
is that close?
this system is good for those who are not so good at long term careful make and follow a detailed plan/tasks.
for those that might by temperament live moment to moment?
so to get self control over their life, and to work WITH this way of being, you ask them to be more self aware of what is going on in the moment. everything from what they think needs to be done, want to do, options, mood, weather? their entire situation in the moment.
and to, instead of write something such as
"make breakfast"
to instead write
"i am hungry, it will be 3 hours until i get a chance to eat again, i have work i need to do now, usually when i just dive into work and forget to eat i then crash in 1 hour and as just said, it will be 3 hours until i get a chance to eat again ... SO i will make a healthy breakfast NOW and then work for 3 hours on my project"
and at the end of day, week, month or whenever review what did, a story will emerge that is more useful to just read that on Tuesday i made breakfast
this story will be useful for the person and if needed, useful for a professional working with them
is that close?
August 30, 2016 at 18:31 |
matthewS
matthewS
<<this system is good for those who are not so good at long term careful make and follow a detailed plan/tasks>>
Primarily, the system is designed to answer two questions:
1. What is the story of your week? Month, etc.
2. How can you use this information to better align your principles with your actions - to live a meaningful life.
I’d imagine this system is best suited for people who are naturally drawn to journaling, therapy, increasing self-knowledge.
<<everything from what they think needs to be done, want to do, options, mood, weather? their entire situation in the moment.>>
The thinking behind the first question (context) is to help you understand two things:
1. How the context (weather, mood, place, time) impacted your choice of “principled action"
2. how the context may have impacted what you actually did
It also supports the narrative idea. So, when you re-read your entries from last year, the context will help flesh out the drama of what was going on - internal and external - in your life at that time.
<<“i am hungry, it will be 3 hours until i get a chance to eat again, i have work i need to do now, usually when i just dive into work and forget to eat i then crash in 1 hour and as just said, it will be 3 hours until i get a chance to eat again ... SO i will make a healthy breakfast NOW and then work for 3 hours on my project”>>
As discussed in the video, I use the title bar in Evernote to capture a one line journal entry. I like the limitation of one line - it avoids me rambling on and on... something I will not read at the end of the week. If I were to write your entry, it might read something like this:
Context (what is happening right NOW):
I am hungry, my day is packed, and I won’t get to eat for another few hours.
Best Action (Choosing the best action given one’s mood, energy, tools, etc):
I will make a healthy breakfast.
I dropped “and then work for 3 hours on my project” because I would find “make a healthy breakfast” a challenging enough task/project. Once I finished eating, and returned to my computer, I would update Evernote, something like:
Context (what is happening right NOW):
Breakfast was delicious - feeling full and a bit lethargic.
Best Action (Choosing the best action given one’s mood, energy, tools, etc):
Still, I really need to make some headway on X project… off to do just that.
<<and at the end of day, week, month or whenever review what did, a story will emerge that is more useful to just read that on Tuesday i made breakfast>>
Bingo!!
<<is that close?>>
Yes - the basic idea. I’m still experimenting with how I phrase things to ensure there is drama to the narrative. It’s a lot more fun to read that way.
Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts matthewS.
Primarily, the system is designed to answer two questions:
1. What is the story of your week? Month, etc.
2. How can you use this information to better align your principles with your actions - to live a meaningful life.
I’d imagine this system is best suited for people who are naturally drawn to journaling, therapy, increasing self-knowledge.
<<everything from what they think needs to be done, want to do, options, mood, weather? their entire situation in the moment.>>
The thinking behind the first question (context) is to help you understand two things:
1. How the context (weather, mood, place, time) impacted your choice of “principled action"
2. how the context may have impacted what you actually did
It also supports the narrative idea. So, when you re-read your entries from last year, the context will help flesh out the drama of what was going on - internal and external - in your life at that time.
<<“i am hungry, it will be 3 hours until i get a chance to eat again, i have work i need to do now, usually when i just dive into work and forget to eat i then crash in 1 hour and as just said, it will be 3 hours until i get a chance to eat again ... SO i will make a healthy breakfast NOW and then work for 3 hours on my project”>>
As discussed in the video, I use the title bar in Evernote to capture a one line journal entry. I like the limitation of one line - it avoids me rambling on and on... something I will not read at the end of the week. If I were to write your entry, it might read something like this:
Context (what is happening right NOW):
I am hungry, my day is packed, and I won’t get to eat for another few hours.
Best Action (Choosing the best action given one’s mood, energy, tools, etc):
I will make a healthy breakfast.
I dropped “and then work for 3 hours on my project” because I would find “make a healthy breakfast” a challenging enough task/project. Once I finished eating, and returned to my computer, I would update Evernote, something like:
Context (what is happening right NOW):
Breakfast was delicious - feeling full and a bit lethargic.
Best Action (Choosing the best action given one’s mood, energy, tools, etc):
Still, I really need to make some headway on X project… off to do just that.
<<and at the end of day, week, month or whenever review what did, a story will emerge that is more useful to just read that on Tuesday i made breakfast>>
Bingo!!
<<is that close?>>
Yes - the basic idea. I’m still experimenting with how I phrase things to ensure there is drama to the narrative. It’s a lot more fun to read that way.
Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts matthewS.
August 30, 2016 at 20:44 |
avrum
avrum
Mark Forster wrote:
<< iDoneThis has just done a major upgrade. However I haven't had a chance to have a long enough look at it to see what the differences are. >>
They have a new "goals" feature that works really well with a no-list system. I think it would work really nicely with your Next Hour no-list system. I still prefer working with a whiteboard, but over the weekend this way of using iDoneThis worked really nicely. And it gave me a nice list of everything I got done.
<< iDoneThis has just done a major upgrade. However I haven't had a chance to have a long enough look at it to see what the differences are. >>
They have a new "goals" feature that works really well with a no-list system. I think it would work really nicely with your Next Hour no-list system. I still prefer working with a whiteboard, but over the weekend this way of using iDoneThis worked really nicely. And it gave me a nice list of everything I got done.
August 30, 2016 at 21:22 |
Seraphim
Seraphim
avrum, thank you, useful explanation, and clear how you re-wrote my samples. yes, reduce to short sentence makes sense.
August 31, 2016 at 4:46 |
matthewS
matthewS
This is just an annoying little note, but ist has to be done. During the video you are clicking your tongue constantly. You should not do this. It is annoying.
Yeah, such a fun comment. I know. :-)
Yeah, such a fun comment. I know. :-)
August 31, 2016 at 16:44 |
Christopher
Christopher
Christopher -
I never noticed that before, so thank you for pointing that out! Listening to my podcast - I don't hear the "clicking" sound - http://www.learningtocommit.com/podcast/ - so I'm assuming it is exacerbated because I used a cheap headphone mic to record the productivity video (for the podcasts, I use a high end mic, with pop filter). Anyway, something to work on.
I never noticed that before, so thank you for pointing that out! Listening to my podcast - I don't hear the "clicking" sound - http://www.learningtocommit.com/podcast/ - so I'm assuming it is exacerbated because I used a cheap headphone mic to record the productivity video (for the podcasts, I use a high end mic, with pop filter). Anyway, something to work on.
August 31, 2016 at 17:32 |
avrum
avrum
Do you think it would be best to record a screen recording, post the link, with rules, on this forum, and carry on the discussion here? Or do this privately, via Skype and email. I'm open to either arrangement. In the end, this is Mark's space - and I will defer to whatever he prefers.
Thanks.
- Avrum
** while the system can be used with any software, it's best managed with Evernote.