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Too often “managing by wandering around” is an excuse for getting away from amorphous piles of stuff.
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.
—Stephen Covey
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.
Research has now proven that you can’t actually multitask, i.e. put conscious focused attention on more than one thing at a time; and if you are trying to, it denigrates your performance considerably.
And ultimately, in order to know whether you should stop what you’re doing and do something else, you’ll need to have a good sense of all your roles and how they fit together in a larger context.
5: Life Horizon 4: Long-term visions Horizon 3: One- to two-year goals Horizon 2: Areas of focus and accountability Horizon 1: Current projects Ground: Current actions
Your work is to discover your work and then with all your heart to give yourself to it. —Buddha
from the other direction, you’ve decided that you want to be your own boss and unlock some of your unique assets and talents in a particular area that resonates with you (life). So you create a business for yourself (vision), with some short-term key operational objectives (job goal). That gives you some critical roles you need to fulfill to get it rolling (accountability), with some immediate outcomes to achieve (projects). On each of those projects you’ll have things you need to do, as soon as you can do them (next actions).
The best place to succeed is where you are with what you have. —Charles Schwab
There is magic in being in the present in your life. I’m
Getting things done, and feeling good about it, means being willing to recognize, acknowledge, and appropriately engage with all the things within the ecosystem of your consciousness. Mastering the art of stress-free productivity requires it.
You’re never lacking in opportunities to clarify your priorities at any level. Pay attention to which horizon is calling you.
The trick is to learn to pay attention to the ones you need to, at the appropriate time, to keep you clear and present with whatever you’re doing.
Trying to manage from the top down when the bottom is out of control may be the least effective approach.
Because everything will ultimately be driven by the priorities of the level above it, any formulation of your priorities would obviously most efficiently begin at the top.
The problem is that without a sense of control at the implementation level (current projects and actions), and without trust in your own ability to manage those levels appropriately, trying to manage yourself from the top down often creates frustration.
From a practical perspective, I suggest going from the bottom up instead.
Handle what has your attention and you’ll then discover what really has your attention.
the most important thing to deal with is whatever is most on your mind.
Once you handle what has your attention, it frees you up to notice what really has your attention.
So don’t worry about what horizon or what content of your life is the highest priority to deal with—deal with what’s present.
When you do, you will more effectively uncover and address what’s really true and meaningful for you.*
experience has shown me that when we understand and implement all the levels of work in which we are engaged, especially the Ground and Horizon 1 levels, we gain greater freedom and resources to do the bigger work that we’re all about.
Ground The first thing to do is make sure your action lists are complete, which in itself can be quite a task.
If you’ve followed through rigorously with the steps and suggestions in part 2, though, you may have them already. If not, and you do want to get this level up-to-date, set aside some time to work through chapters 4 through 6 in real implementation mode.
Horizon 1 Finalize your Projects list.
Taking the inventory of your current work at all levels will automatically produce greater focus, alignment, and sense of priorities.
Horizon 1 is the level that seems to incorporate some of the most interesting challenges. For all of us, there are situations and circumstances that emerge that bother, interest, or distract us, but with which it is not immediately obvious or evident how to engage.
Horizon 2 This is the level of “current job responsibilities” and “areas of my life to maintain at an appropriate standard.” What are the hats you wear, the roles you play? Professionally, this would relate to your current position and work. Personally, it would include the areas of responsibility you’ve taken on in your family, in your community, and of course with yourself as a functioning person.
When you’re not sure where you’re going or what’s really important to you, you’ll never know when enough is enough.
Horizons 3–5 Whereas the three lower levels have mostly to do with the current state of things—your actions, projects, and areas of responsibility—from Horizon 3 up the factors of the future and your direction and intentions are primary. There is still an inventory to take at these plateaus (especially at the top level, purpose and principles, which represents an ongoing criterion for monitoring and correcting activities and behaviors), but it’s more about “What is true right now about where I’ve decided I’m going and how I’m going to get there?” This can range from one-year goals in your job
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Pick battles big enough to matter, small enough to win. —Jonathan Kozol
The changing nature of your job, given the shifting priorities of the company.
The direction in which you feel you need to move in your career.
The organization’s direction, given globalization and expansion.
Lifestyle preferences and changing needs.
At the topmost level of thinking you’ll need to ask some of the ultimate questions: Why does your company exist? Why do you exist? What is the core DNA of your existence, personally and/or organizationally, that drives your choices? This is the big-picture stuff with which hundreds of books and gurus and models are devoted to helping you grapple. Why? This is the great question with which we all struggle.
The real need is to capture and utilize more of the creative, proactive thinking we do—or could do.
There are two types of projects, however, that deserve at least some sort of planning activity: (1) those that still have your attention even after you’ve determined their next actions, and (2) those about which potentially useful ideas and supportive detail just show up ad hoc.
The most common types of planning-oriented actions will be your own brainstorming and organizing, setting up meetings, and gathering information.
Brainstorming
Organizing
Setting Up Meetings
Gathering Information
One of the great secrets to getting ideas and increasing your productivity is utilizing the function-follows-form phenomenon—great tools can trigger good thinking.
Keep good writing tools around all the time so you never have any unconscious resistance to thinking due to not having anything to capture it with.
also suggest that you keep nice pens at each of the stations where you’re likely to want to take notes—at your desk(s), in the kitchen, in your briefcases, satchels, purses, and backpacks.
you may find it valuable to keep some of your early and informal jotted mind maps and notes (original or scanned) in appropriate files. The handwritten trails often contain rich context memory jogs that prove valuable later on.
They give you plenty of space on which to jot down ideas, and it can be useful to keep them up in front of you for a while, as you incubate on a topic.
