I loved this piece from Rands in Repose. If you’re familiar with his writing, he often talks about flow and how to get into the zone in order to achieve it. > The Zone is a place, and Flow is an activity that occurs within this precious mental place. Flow is the ability to consider a project or a problem deeply. In Flow, you can keep a superhuman amount of context in your head and can traverse that context with ease. With Flow, you can produce extraordinary value. In this article, he describes…
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There's a growing desire to use non-digital tools. Pen and paper are at the top of the list for knowledge workers.
John Piper pens a good reminder for us regarding our task lists, our “systems”, and what they mean in the big picture. > By all means, make your list of to-dos for the day. By all means, get as good at that as you can get. Prioritize the list. Get first things first. Make your plan. Do the very best you can. Go ahead and read a book about it. Then walk in the peace and freedom that, when it shatters on the rocks of reality, which it will most days, remember, you’re not being measured by God by…
CJ Chilvers posted a short blurb [https://www.cjchilvers.com/blog/getting-more-from-your-calendar] in response to a recent article I wrote for The Sweet Setup, Getting More From Your Calendar [https://thesweetsetup.com/get-more-from-your-calendar/]. His main point is that I suffer from a common misconception about scheduling: > I hear this sentiment a lot, but I think this is the wrong way to approach scheduling (and, sorry David Sparks, I just hate the term hyper-scheduling). If your week is f…
Cheesy title, yes. But it describes how I’ve developed my use of various digital and analog tools over the past several years to live in a way that fits my beliefs and brings satisfaction. Is there room to improve? Of course — there’s always room to improve. But my combination of habits and tools is feeling settled and peaceful. And as many people seem interested in these topics, I wanted to share my overall system. Why paper and digital tools? Simple. Both have advantages. Digital tools are…
There comes a time when your tasks and responsibilities will get out of hand. Despite your best efforts and disciplined approach, you suddenly find yourself with overflowing inboxes, tasks and notes scribbled out on paper, and a sense that you're not in control. Something will be missed or forgotten. This happens to all of us. And this is when people feel their “system” is broken and they jump ship. This can come in the form of reverting to old habits and ways of doing things. Or you start look…
Ha, talk about my worlds colliding. Cal Newport covers the Bullet Journal system (aka BuJo) and suggests how it could be improved to better meet the demands of the modern day knowledge worker. I thought it interesting that all his suggestions fit my own current usage: * I use weekly plans for my notebook, not the monthly log that BuJo suggests * My days are outlined in my calendar … not every hour of the day is there, but the major items get slotted in * He suggests keeping a deep work t…
As I slowly move increasingly to using paper over digital tools, I can’t help but wonder exactly what makes the act more satisfying.