Difference between revisions of "Talk:Self organisation"

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*http://www.priacta.com/forum/index.php?topic=308
 
*http://www.priacta.com/forum/index.php?topic=308
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== Personal organisation ==
 +
After looking at the most popular systems for personal organisation, the two main paradigms that emerge are Covey's "[[w:7 Habits of Highly Effective People]]" and David Allen's "[[w:Getting Things Done]]".
 +
=== Summary ===
 +
;Top-down leadership
 +
Covey applies a [[w:top-down]] approach, beginning with the creation of a personal mission statement and instilling 7 key habits in one's life. These habits may be sub-divided into three areas:
 +
 +
*1. '''Private victory''', or the the movement from dependence to independence. Having achieved mastery of the self, which is focused on being proactive, having clear goals and managing one's time effectively, one can then move on to...
 +
*2. '''Public victory''', moving from independence to interdependence. The second area focuses on how to communicate and work with others for maximum mutual benefit.
 +
*3. '''Sharpen the saw''', being able to sustain productivity depends on looking after one's health, learning new skills, taking time out to replenish one's energy stores. The activities discussed here cover the spiritual/mental/social and physical aspects of being.
 +
 +
Covey comes from a leadership (big picture) paradigm and does address important issues like lifetime goals and deeper underlying principles for guidance, however it is lacking in practical hands-on information on how to empty one's inbox, organise files and just "get stuff done".
 +
 +
;Bottom-up management
 +
Enter David Allen's "Getting Things Done", often shortened to "GTD". His approach is centered around emptying one's mind into "100% leak-proof, trusted external buckets and inboxes" to achieve "stress-free productivity". Allen's approach can be called [[w:bottom-up]] since it focuses on the the "stuff" in various inboxes and how to create processes and filing systems to manage one's commitments and handle ever-changing workloads. Allen's advice is highly practical and goes right down to recommending how to set up a filing system and scheduling system. He has inspired many productivity blogs, websites and even online GTD services like [[w:Nozbe]].
 +
 +
At the core of Allen's system lies a workflow which has five phases:
 +
 +
*1. Collect
 +
**Capture anything that has your attention (paper notes, emails, voice mail) in leak-proof, external buckets
 +
**Have as few of these buckets as possible and as many as necessary
 +
**Empty buckets regularly (process and organise)
 +
*2. Process
 +
**Make decisions about what you have collected
 +
***If '''not''' actionable
 +
****Throw out
 +
****"Tickler file"
 +
****Reference file
 +
***If '''actionable'''
 +
****Less than two minutes - decide on next action and do
 +
****Delegate - "waiting for" list
 +
****Defer - action list, calendar
 +
****Project - project list
 +
*3. Organise
 +
**Group the results of processing into appropriate action categories and contexts
 +
***Projects
 +
***Calendar
 +
***Next Actions
 +
***Waiting for
 +
*4. Review
 +
**Review calendar and action lists daily
 +
**Conduct a weekly review to maintain, tidy up and develop the system
 +
**Review longer term goals, visions and values as often as necessary to keep project list complete and current
 +
*5. Do
 +
**Allen recommends choosing what to do based on what you can do (context), how much time you have, how much energy you have and what your priorities are - in that order of priority.
 +
**There are three main types of work that need to be done: predefined work, work "as it shows up", and defining one's work. Allen's system is designed to help deal with interruptions and surprises, because one knows what is being put off.
 +
**He recommends following one's intuition in deciding what work to do but recommends doing regular reviews of high level goals, making sure the various levels are aligned and build on each other:
 +
*** Runway: Current actions (daily)
 +
*** 10,000 feet: Current projects (weekly)
 +
*** 20,000 feet: Areas of responsibility (monthly)
 +
*** 30,000 feet: One-to two-year goals (quarterly)
 +
*** 40,000 feet: Three- to five-year visions (yearly)
 +
*** 50,000 + feet: Life (yearly +)
 +
**As expected, Allen recommends working from the bottom up, to ensure current action lists are complete, because working from the top down while there is pressure to get stuff done can cause frustration.
 +
 +
;The missing link
 +
From what I have seen so far, there is no clear connection between personal organisation and (self-) organising groups of people, so this is where a wiki-based personal organisation system could be a valuable addition to the above mentioned systems. I could easily share certain contexts or projects with others.
 +
 +
=== Goals ===
 +
Current goals are to apply elements of both the top-down and the bottom-up approaches and document the process. Once this is working well, I want to figure out how to run such a system in a wiki and devleop it further in there. I want to investigate whether this can form the basis for organisational wiki systems and peer-based applications.
 +
 +
=== Notes ===
 +
Personal organisation has a lot to do with managing lists and acquiring habits to apply to those lists. A wiki should be pretty good for managing bunches of lists, but I find the wiki interface unintuitive in experimenting with different layouts to find something that works for me, so I'll work with paper for a start.
 +
 +
From what I have studied so far, the main element currently missing from my organisational system is weekly review and planning. Weekly planning allows me to focus on my mission statement and roles and create concrete actions for these. When I plan my days, I can use the weekly plan as a guideline. What this does is create the connections between daily actions and big picture goals that I have been looking for.
 +
 +
=== Todo ===
 +
*Complete personal mission statement
 +
*Read GTD summary
 +
*Develop weekly overview layout on paper
 +
*[[Milan/Weekly review|Weekly review]]
 +
=== Links ===
 +
*[http://www.pocketmod.com/ Pocketmod - design your own paper pocket organiser]
 +
*[http://www.softsland.com/3000_calendar_2007_templates_a4_paper.html 3000 paper templates for download]
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*[http://www.lifehack.org/ Plenty of personal organisation paper templates]
 +
*[http://www.wikisummaries.org/Getting_Things_Done:_The_Art_of_Stress-Free_Productivity GTD Wikisummary]
 +
*[http://www.diyplanner.com/taxonomy/term/20?page=7 List of links, tips for setting up a planner, etc.]
 +
*[http://www.lifehack.org/articles/lifehack/wikify-your-life-how-to-organize-everything.html Ideas for wiki organisation]
 +
*[http://www.diyplanner.com/templates/official/beginner Creating a D.I.Y. Planner]
 +
*[http://www.help4adhd.org/en/living/organdtime/WWK11 ADHD tips for time management]
 +
*[http://jasonalanmoore.wordpress.com/tag/the-7-habits/ Combining the 7 Habits and GTD]
 +
*[http://www.orgcoach.net/sixsteps.html Weekly planning in 6 steps]
 +
*[http://www.diyplanner.com/handbook/hb07_settingupyourplanner Things to consider when setting up a planner]

Revision as of 08:03, 21 July 2011

Personal organisation

After looking at the most popular systems for personal organisation, the two main paradigms that emerge are Covey's "w:7 Habits of Highly Effective People" and David Allen's "w:Getting Things Done".

Summary

Top-down leadership

Covey applies a w:top-down approach, beginning with the creation of a personal mission statement and instilling 7 key habits in one's life. These habits may be sub-divided into three areas:

  • 1. Private victory, or the the movement from dependence to independence. Having achieved mastery of the self, which is focused on being proactive, having clear goals and managing one's time effectively, one can then move on to...
  • 2. Public victory, moving from independence to interdependence. The second area focuses on how to communicate and work with others for maximum mutual benefit.
  • 3. Sharpen the saw, being able to sustain productivity depends on looking after one's health, learning new skills, taking time out to replenish one's energy stores. The activities discussed here cover the spiritual/mental/social and physical aspects of being.

Covey comes from a leadership (big picture) paradigm and does address important issues like lifetime goals and deeper underlying principles for guidance, however it is lacking in practical hands-on information on how to empty one's inbox, organise files and just "get stuff done".

Bottom-up management

Enter David Allen's "Getting Things Done", often shortened to "GTD". His approach is centered around emptying one's mind into "100% leak-proof, trusted external buckets and inboxes" to achieve "stress-free productivity". Allen's approach can be called w:bottom-up since it focuses on the the "stuff" in various inboxes and how to create processes and filing systems to manage one's commitments and handle ever-changing workloads. Allen's advice is highly practical and goes right down to recommending how to set up a filing system and scheduling system. He has inspired many productivity blogs, websites and even online GTD services like w:Nozbe.

At the core of Allen's system lies a workflow which has five phases:

  • 1. Collect
    • Capture anything that has your attention (paper notes, emails, voice mail) in leak-proof, external buckets
    • Have as few of these buckets as possible and as many as necessary
    • Empty buckets regularly (process and organise)
  • 2. Process
    • Make decisions about what you have collected
      • If not actionable
        • Throw out
        • "Tickler file"
        • Reference file
      • If actionable
        • Less than two minutes - decide on next action and do
        • Delegate - "waiting for" list
        • Defer - action list, calendar
        • Project - project list
  • 3. Organise
    • Group the results of processing into appropriate action categories and contexts
      • Projects
      • Calendar
      • Next Actions
      • Waiting for
  • 4. Review
    • Review calendar and action lists daily
    • Conduct a weekly review to maintain, tidy up and develop the system
    • Review longer term goals, visions and values as often as necessary to keep project list complete and current
  • 5. Do
    • Allen recommends choosing what to do based on what you can do (context), how much time you have, how much energy you have and what your priorities are - in that order of priority.
    • There are three main types of work that need to be done: predefined work, work "as it shows up", and defining one's work. Allen's system is designed to help deal with interruptions and surprises, because one knows what is being put off.
    • He recommends following one's intuition in deciding what work to do but recommends doing regular reviews of high level goals, making sure the various levels are aligned and build on each other:
      • Runway: Current actions (daily)
      • 10,000 feet: Current projects (weekly)
      • 20,000 feet: Areas of responsibility (monthly)
      • 30,000 feet: One-to two-year goals (quarterly)
      • 40,000 feet: Three- to five-year visions (yearly)
      • 50,000 + feet: Life (yearly +)
    • As expected, Allen recommends working from the bottom up, to ensure current action lists are complete, because working from the top down while there is pressure to get stuff done can cause frustration.
The missing link

From what I have seen so far, there is no clear connection between personal organisation and (self-) organising groups of people, so this is where a wiki-based personal organisation system could be a valuable addition to the above mentioned systems. I could easily share certain contexts or projects with others.

Goals

Current goals are to apply elements of both the top-down and the bottom-up approaches and document the process. Once this is working well, I want to figure out how to run such a system in a wiki and devleop it further in there. I want to investigate whether this can form the basis for organisational wiki systems and peer-based applications.

Notes

Personal organisation has a lot to do with managing lists and acquiring habits to apply to those lists. A wiki should be pretty good for managing bunches of lists, but I find the wiki interface unintuitive in experimenting with different layouts to find something that works for me, so I'll work with paper for a start.

From what I have studied so far, the main element currently missing from my organisational system is weekly review and planning. Weekly planning allows me to focus on my mission statement and roles and create concrete actions for these. When I plan my days, I can use the weekly plan as a guideline. What this does is create the connections between daily actions and big picture goals that I have been looking for.

Todo

  • Complete personal mission statement
  • Read GTD summary
  • Develop weekly overview layout on paper
  • Weekly review

Links

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