Discussion Forum > Journaling approach: Topics du Jour
Hi, Mike
Thanks very much for giving this reference. Topic du Jour sounds a great idea. I must try it out.
I followed some of the links in Luciano's article and came across two other great ideas:
The List of 100
http://litemind.com/tackle-any-issue-with-a-list-of-100/
The Idea Quota
http://litemind.com/get-mentally-fit-with-an-idea-quota/
I wonder which will prove the most effective?
Thanks very much for giving this reference. Topic du Jour sounds a great idea. I must try it out.
I followed some of the links in Luciano's article and came across two other great ideas:
The List of 100
http://litemind.com/tackle-any-issue-with-a-list-of-100/
The Idea Quota
http://litemind.com/get-mentally-fit-with-an-idea-quota/
I wonder which will prove the most effective?
July 19, 2008 at 17:35 |
Mark Forster
Mark Forster
Glad you enjoyed the Topics du Jour approach. I share the opinion that journaling is a great companion to traditional productivity systems. I love how such a 'soft' tool such as journaling can complement 'hard' productivity concepts such as deadlines, batching, etc.
I haven’t seen the DREAMS book -- it seems that’s not on sale anywhere anymore :( Mark, can you confirm?
Mark: It's interesting that you highlighted these two particular articles (The List of 100 and the Idea Quota) as they resemble the difference between traditional journaling and Topics du Jour.
List of 100 (and traditional journaling) is a tool to get deep in a problem at once, to get immersed in it.
Idea Quota (and Topics du Jour) goes in a more 'lateral' approach, where ideas marinate for a long time.
It's hard to say which one is more effective. I’ve got benefits for both. I think it depends on the problem you’re working on. Needless to say, you get maximum effectiveness when you combine both.
Luciano.
I haven’t seen the DREAMS book -- it seems that’s not on sale anywhere anymore :( Mark, can you confirm?
Mark: It's interesting that you highlighted these two particular articles (The List of 100 and the Idea Quota) as they resemble the difference between traditional journaling and Topics du Jour.
List of 100 (and traditional journaling) is a tool to get deep in a problem at once, to get immersed in it.
Idea Quota (and Topics du Jour) goes in a more 'lateral' approach, where ideas marinate for a long time.
It's hard to say which one is more effective. I’ve got benefits for both. I think it depends on the problem you’re working on. Needless to say, you get maximum effectiveness when you combine both.
Luciano.
July 23, 2008 at 22:13 |
Luciano Passuello
Luciano Passuello
Luciano
I'll be very interested to see how the methods compare. I have so far tried out the 100 ideas method on the question "100 Ways to Make Money". I stuck all the ideas I came up with into a mind map and I think I got at least as much benefit from organising the ideas into categories in the mind map as I did from thinking up the ideas themselves.
In answer to your question about "Dreams", it is now out of print and will not be re-printed. I have got the distribution rights and the text back from the publisher and am in the process of making it available as an e-book.
I'll be very interested to see how the methods compare. I have so far tried out the 100 ideas method on the question "100 Ways to Make Money". I stuck all the ideas I came up with into a mind map and I think I got at least as much benefit from organising the ideas into categories in the mind map as I did from thinking up the ideas themselves.
In answer to your question about "Dreams", it is now out of print and will not be re-printed. I have got the distribution rights and the text back from the publisher and am in the process of making it available as an e-book.
July 24, 2008 at 9:15 |
Mark Forster
Mark Forster
Mark, may I ask you how much was the print run of the "Dreams" book? (I don't know if I managed to express that correctly, I mean how many copies were printed.)
It's strange that there isn't a single copy to be found at Amazon Marketplace, much unlike the GED and DIT books, where there are a lot of used and new copies from third-party vendors. So I presume that maybe there was a rather small number of "Dreams" books printed. Or maybe, it's just because nobody is willing to sell their used copy :-)
It's strange that there isn't a single copy to be found at Amazon Marketplace, much unlike the GED and DIT books, where there are a lot of used and new copies from third-party vendors. So I presume that maybe there was a rather small number of "Dreams" books printed. Or maybe, it's just because nobody is willing to sell their used copy :-)
July 25, 2008 at 14:19 |
Alex W.
Alex W.
Alex:
The first (and only) print run for "Dreams" was 5,000, which has now sold out.
I suspect the lack of copies in Amazon Marketplace reflects the fact that it's not possible to buy it new, rather than the total number of copies printed.
Since the other two books can be bought brand new quite cheaply, there is not such a demand for used copies.
By the way, it's just come out in Arabic (I received my copies today), though I doubt if that's much comfort to you!
The first (and only) print run for "Dreams" was 5,000, which has now sold out.
I suspect the lack of copies in Amazon Marketplace reflects the fact that it's not possible to buy it new, rather than the total number of copies printed.
Since the other two books can be bought brand new quite cheaply, there is not such a demand for used copies.
By the way, it's just come out in Arabic (I received my copies today), though I doubt if that's much comfort to you!
July 25, 2008 at 16:28 |
Mark Forster
Mark Forster
Anyway, he describes a journaling approach from the book "Journal to the Self" in his latest post, "Topics du Jour" (http://litemind.com/topics-du-jour/ ).
Mark has discussed journaling on this blog and in his books, and I used the dialoging technique described in DREAMS for a while; I also did the 3 morning pages for a while. I do still occasionally (ie, not often enough!) use the DREAMS book's Future reality/Current reality device to prompt my big-dream journaling.
What I like about the Topics du Jour approach is that it provides a structure to pull various topics to the fore for a few minutes of full attention, probably enough to prime the brain so that it can work on options in the background over the next 2 weeks or so. But because you have multiple topics to choose from, there's enough novelty that one doesn't get too bored.
I could see using this approach to "check in" on dormant projects, habits one wants to encourage, and so on.
Mike