Productivity Workflows

A post on the David Allen Company Forum draws attention to an intriguing academic paper, available for download as a preprint, which seems worth a read. It is: Francis Heylighen and Clément Vidal (2007) Getting Things Done: The Science behind Stress-Free Productivity.

Says the abstract: “Allen (2001) proposed the “Getting Things Done” (GTD) method for personal productivity enhancement, and reduction of the stress caused by information overload. This paper argues that recent insights in psychology and cognitive science support and extend GTD’s recommendations. We first summarize GTD with the help of a flowchart. We then review the theories of situated, embodied and distributed cognition that purport to explain how the brain processes information and plans actions in the real world. The conclusion is that the brain heavily relies on the environment, to function as an external memory, a trigger for actions, and a source of affordances, disturbances and feedback. We then show how these principles are practically implemented in GTD, with its focus on organizing tasks into “actionable” external memories, and on opportunistic, situation-dependent execution. Finally, we propose an extension of GTD to support collaborative work, inspired by the concept of stigmergy.”

Please allow me to wish you a happy and successful year in 2008.

According to Le Monde, the Directorate general of the French police was reporting on 1 January 2008, that “the night has been relatively calm, without notable incidents”.

The oddity is indeed that no less than 372 vehicules have been burned across France during the night (against 397 the previous year). A very strange tradition seems to have been invented to celebrate the new year.

This post in French is a brief presentation of Gina Trapani’s Simplified GTD method.

* * *

Gina Trapani, la célèbre blogeuse du non moins célébre site Lifehacker, vient de publier un très intéressant billet dans lequel elle décrit son système GTD simplifié. Avec un joli sens de la formule, elle le décrit même en huit mots: “Faire trois listes. Les réviser quotidiennement et hebdomadairement.”

• “Faire trois listes”

La liste des choses à faire ressemble beaucoup à la la liste des prochaines actions de Getting Things Done. Une différence fondamentale est toutefois, qu’elle comprend tout au plus “une vingtaine de petites choses, très faisables”, qu’elle s’engage à faire dans les quatre semaines.

La liste des projets est limitée à une dizaine de ceux-ci tout au plus. On est donc bien loin de la centaine de projets en cours que l’on rencontre fréquemment avec la méthode GTD.

La liste des possibles joue exactement le même rôle que dans GTD. Elle sert à recenser les choses qu’elle pourrait peut-être faire un jour. C’est une sorte de bassin de décantation.

Ses trois listes sont tout simplement gérées en utilisant autant de simples fichiers texte (.txt) et un logiciel éditeur de texte.

• “Les réviser quotidiennement et hebdomadairement”

Gina Trapani met l’accent sur la nécéssité de travailler à partir de ses listes et de les réviser et mettre à jour régulièrement. Ces trois listes ne sont utiles que si l’on s’en sert!

Son travail quotidien repose véritablement sur la liste des choses à faire. Au fil de la journée elle en supprime ce qui a été fait et ajoute les nouvelles choses à faire.

Elle procède d’autre-part à une rapide revue hebdomadaire, d’une vingtaine de minutes tout au plus, pendant laquelle met à jour ses trois listes.

* * *

Une bien intéressant méthode qui brille véritablement par sa simplicité. Or, comme l’écrivait Léonard de Vinci: “La simplicité est l’ultime sophistication”.

A great idea for Christmas: the USBwine!
The video is in French - bien sûr! - but this should not be an issue!

See www.usbwine.com

R.I.P. Marc Orchant (1957-2007).

I am very deeply moved by the passing of Marc, the Gentleman Blogger.

James Kendrick has said it all, so eloquently, he who writes: ”I hurt where my heart and soul meet. We miss you, Marc.’

Words escape me to convey how shocked I am by the terrible news that Marc Orchant has suffered a massive heart attack and is currently in a critical condition at the Presbyterian Hospital in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

My thougths and prayers are with Marc and his family and I hope Marc will very soon make a full recovery.

The Mindjet blog has recently announced a series of new Customer Vignettes. Of special interest is the vignette presenting how productivity guru and star blogger Marc Orchant uses MindManager as part of his implementation of Getting Things Done.

Marc Orchant’s Mindmanager template is available for download from the Mindjet blog post.

Readers will remember that I had the pleasure of publishing an Interview with Marc Orchant on GTD last year. Marc has recently left Foldera and become an independent consultant in the areas of personal and team productivity, leveraging new media for marketing and PR, and organizational learning. He now runs Platform Agnostic Consulting.

I have been trying a new gadget for the last month or so: Easy-read, the ergonomic book holder, which I very strongly recommend.

I first came across it during my recent research trip in Oxford, as it was on display in the famous Blackwells bookshop on Broad street, just near the Bodleian library.

I was initially unconvinced, but thought it was worth a try, as it only costs £12.95, and I spend so much time reading for work. I am totally conquered and I do not know how I managed before without it.

Many thanks to Rich McIver for drawing my attention to a very useful list No More Hard Drive! 100 Free Software Apps to Go Online-Only.
Can you think of a potential hundred and first item?