More on this book
Community
Kindle Notes & Highlights
Until you’ve captured everything that has your attention, some part of you will still not totally trust that you’re working with the whole picture of your world.
You can only feel good about what you’re not doing when you know everything you’re not doing.
want or need to do about that
keeping it current and usable.
The categories must be kept visually, physically, and psychologically separate, to promote clarity.
Manage the commitments of others before their avoidance creates a crisis.
is the only way to effectively relieve those inherent
How you list projects and subprojects is up to you; just be sure you know where to find all the moving parts and review them as frequently as needed to keep them off your mind.
The inherent danger in the digital world is how much data can be spread into how many different places so easily, without coordinating links.
As a rule, it’s best to stick with one general-reference system except for a very limited number of discrete topics.
You may also be surprised to find that some of the things you write on the list will actually come to pass, almost without your making any conscious effort to make them happen.
Make an Inventory of Your Creative Imaginings
Things to get or build for your home Hobbies to take up Skills to learn Creative expressions to explore Clothes and accessories to buy Toys (hi-tech and otherwise!) to acquire Trips to take Organizations to join Service projects to contribute to Things to see and do
Reassess Your Current Projects Now’s
What lies in our power to do, lies in our power not to do. —Aristotle
It’s OK to decide not to decide—as long as you have a decide-not-to-decide system.
The maintenance of life and the pursuit of happiness are not two separate issues. —Ayn Rand
You will invariably take in more opportunities than your system can process on a daily basis.
Every now and then go away and have a little relaxation. To remain constantly at work will diminish your judgment. Go some distance away, because work will be in perspective and a lack of harmony is more readily seen. —Leonardo da Vinci
Your best thoughts about work won’t happen while you’re at work.
The Four-Criteria Model for Choosing Actions in the Moment Remember that you make your action choices based on the following four criteria, in order: Context Time available Energy available Priority
organize your action reminders by context—Calls, At Home, At Computer, Errands, Agenda for Joe, Agenda for Staff Meeting, and so on.
“Brain Gone”
It is often easier to get wrapped up in the urgent demands of the moment than to deal with your in-tray, e-mail, and the rest of your open loops.
Success is learning to deal with Plan B. —Unknown
To ignore the unexpected (even if it were possible) would be to live without opportunity, spontaneity, and the rich moments of which “life” is made.
Do unexpected work as it shows up, not because it is the path of least resistance, but because it is the thing you need to do vis-à-vis all the rest.
Your ability to deal with surprise is your competitive edge, and a key to sanity and sustainability in your lifestyle.
What’s in your e-mail? What are the projects you need to start or complete with your kids? What do you need to handle in your current roles at the office? What’s pushing you to change or attracting you to create in the next months or years?
The best place to succeed is where you are with what you have. —Charles Schwab
Handle what has your attention and you’ll then discover what really has your attention.
If you’re not totally sure what your job is, it will always feel overwhelming.
The middle of every successful project looks like a disaster. —Rosabeth Moss Kanter
If you don’t have a good system for storing bad ideas, you probably don’t have one for filing good ones, either.
Let our advance worrying become our advance thinking and planning. —Winston Churchill
“What about this do I want to know, capture, or remember?”
