64 Matching Annotations
  1. Sep 2024
    1. I enjoyed this podcast but got the feeling they see PKM as a kind of grueling Fordist production line. The process in your book seems a lot less like a grind and a lot more like fun!

      Zettelkasten is a method for creating "slow productivity" against a sea of information overload

      Some of the framing goes back to using the card index as a means of overcoming the eternal problem of "information overload" [see A. Blair, Yale University Press, 2010]. I ran into an example the other day in David Blight's DeVane Lectures at Yale in which he simultaneously shrugged at the problem while talking about (perhaps unknown to him) the actual remedy: https://boffosocko.com/2024/09/16/paul-conkins-zettelkasten-advice/

      It's also seen in Luhmann claiming he only worked on things he found easy/fun. The secret is that while you're doing this, your zettelkasten is functioning as a pawl against the ratchet of ideas so that as you proceed, you don't lose your place in your train of thought (folgezettel) even if it's months since you thought of something last. This allows you to always be building something of interest to you even (especially) if the pace is slow and you don't know where you're going as you proceed. It's definitely a form of advanced productivity, but not in the sort of "give-me-results-right-now" way that most have come to expect in a post-Industrial Revolution world. This distinction is what is usually lost on those coming from a productivity first perspective and causes friction because it's not the sort of productivity they've come to expect.


      In reply to writingslowly and Bob Doto at https://discord.com/channels/992400632390615070/992400632776507447/1285175583877103749<br /> Conversation/context not for direct attribution

  2. Jun 2024
    1. 04:00 Allen compares GTD to F1, here. Funnily enough, the most productive people are the ones that get most into GTD. Similarly, the fastest people, in F1, want to get even faster, "by reducing drag in the system".


      Interestingly, DRS can thus be used in other contexts, like productivity. "How can you open your flap, and reduce drag, like F1 cars do?"

  3. Apr 2024
  4. Mar 2024
    1. I have two mindmaps for my areas of focus - one for work and one for home. Within the mindmaps I have 7 areas for work and 12 areas for home. This may sound like too many, but I find that my focus shifts around naturally and having all the areas on the map helps me to keep them aligned. I'm ok with some of them having no projects and others having quite a few. I review them once a month and this works well for me.

      19 areas of focus with mind maps

    1. First, agendas are great for grouping actions for frequent communications, so yes, they're actions. However, it's absolutely crucial that agendas be used only for *regular* meetings, i.e., those that are automatic, say once-a-week or so. If you don't have meetings reliably, then put them on your regular NAs list. That said, there are some actions which don't mind sitting for a while for opportunistic meetings. For example, I put car issues under my mechanic's agenda, and medical issues (non-pressing) under my MD's agenda.

      Only use GTD agendas list for regular meetings. Else, put it on a Next-Action list (one off communication).

    1. When processing an item in your in list the first question you need to ask is: is it actionable?—in other words, do you need to do something? If the answer is NO, you either throw it away if you no longer need it, keep it as reference material (“I will probably need this article again some day…”), add it to a some day/maybe list (for things like “learn Indonesian”), or incubate it. Wait, what‽ Sit on it? Yes, sort of. If it’s something that you want to remind yourself about later (“I really didn’t understand this article, I should have a look at it again in two weeks”) it should go into your calendar or your tickler file which will soon be explained. (Yes, even the weird name.)

      First, ask yourself if the item is actionable. Then, series of stuff you might do: throw away, reference, someday/maybe, incubate (calendar/tickler)

    2. GTD in 15 minutes – A Pragmatic Guide to Getting Things Done
  5. Feb 2024
    1. While it can be used as a productivity tool specifically for writing, some are adapting and using it (and tools built for it) for productivity use writ-large. This includes project management or GTD (Getting Things Done) functions. Some are using it as a wiki, digital garden, or personal knowledge management system for aggregating ideas and cross linking them over time. Others are using it as a journal or diary with scheduling and calendaring functions tacked on. Still others are using it to collect facts and force the system to do spaced repetition. These additional functionalities can be great and even incredibly useful, but they’re going far beyond the purpose-fit functionality of what a zettelkasten system was originally designed to do.

      The ZK is a simple system. It isn't't a Second Brain. Nor is it GTD. Nor all the other things that people sometimes use it for. I have held this opinion for a while, and it is reassuring that Chris holds the same opinion.

  6. Jan 2024
    1. How to beat procrastination?

      07.00 Clear goals — goals that focus on the action, not the outcome. (Very specific)

      See GTD on next-actions that make a distinction between outcomes (projects) and clear goals (Next-Actions)

      "This keeps your brain from wondering, what is the first step?"

      10.00 Challenge-skill balance. Find sweet spot where challenge is slightly more than your skill level. Too much challenge is anxiety, too little is boredom. How to tune it? (1) Lower the hurdle. (2) Compress time for a given task. (3) Define scope (What needs to be done? Why? How long?)

      14.00 Bypassing/response inhibition. Engaging in a task as soon as you are committed. Don't waver. Sleep to flow is an example.

      17.30 Flow payoff — have long blocks of focus, where the struggle to get into flow is actually worth it.

    1. a blog post that deals with integrating The Today System into the Bullet Journal Method!

      The creator of the Today System was definitely aware of GTD, Bullet Journal and likely other methods, and intended his to be an added piece on top of them.

    1. https://betterhumans.pub/i-built-my-own-personal-productivity-system-around-a-3-x-5-index-card-147d7a8d83de

      Melange of GTD, card index, and gamification....


      Update 2024-01-04: I knew I had heard/seen this system before, but not delved into it deeply. I hadn't seen anyone either using it or refer to it by name in the wild until yesterday. All the prior mentions were people sharing the URLs as a thing rather than as something they used.

  7. Nov 2023
    1. Are you spending too much time transferring uncompleted tasks to tomorrow’s schedule?

      Example of someone suggesting the migration of uncompleted tasks from one day to another in 1998.

    1. What do you do for a calendar? I'm considering moving from a moleskine GTD system to index cards for reasons you mention (waste paper, can't re-order), but love my 2-year calendar at the front

      reply to verita-servus at https://www.reddit.com/r/gtd/comments/15pfz8o/comment/k7iqjwa/?utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=web2x&context=3

      Last year I had a Field Notes card with the year's calendar on it that I kept with my daily cards when necessary. (I think it came included with their "Ignition" edition.) Many companies give these sorts of calendars away as PR.

      This year I used a Mizushima Perpetual Calendar Stamp to create my own custom card with the coming years' dates. (I also often use this stamp for individual months on other types of cards.) I'm sure you could also find something online to print out or draw your own if you wish. These index card specific templates might give one ideas: https://www.calendarsquick.com/printables/free.html.

      Pretty much any spread one might make in a bullet journal can be recreated in index cards. Some of the biggest full page spreads or double page spreads are still doable, they may just need to be shrunk a bit or broken up. I've also printed things onto larger 8x12" card stock and then folded them down to 4x6" before to use as either larger notes or mini-folders as necessary. Usually I do this for holding the month's receipts.

      This set of calendar cards from Present & Correct which are done in letterpress looked nice if you wanted to go more to the luxe side as well as to the larger side.

      Given the sticker market for Hobonichi and other similar planners, you could also buy some custom decorative stickers which you could attach to cards as well. And there's nothing keeping you from just writing it all out by hand if you wish.

      Options abound.

  8. Oct 2023
    1. 15:00 "David, you are so organised, can't you be spontaneous" GTD actually allows for spontaneous action

  9. Sep 2023
    1. Guys and gals, we are selling out our stock and closing the Capturewallet shop. This is just a heads-up that when we shortly are sold out - we will not restock. Thanks for all of you that have bought from us since 2019! It's been a treat to serve the GTD community!

      via u/MortenRovikGTD at https://www.reddit.com/r/gtd/comments/n6g3d2/comment/iv6s0eh/?utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=web2x&context=3

      Capture wallet was a site he ran with his wife as a side project for several years from 2019 to late 2022.

    1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vww7JLcrJl4

      8:05 - 16:20 GTD - Capture - Clarify - What is it? - Is it actionable? What is the action? - Is it a project? - Batching - Reflect - Review over lists/calendars daily/weekly - Engage


      17:30 They use the phrase "atomic" paper based index cards, so they've been infected by the idea of "atomic notes" from somewhere, though it seems as if he's pitching that he's "invented" his card system as if from scratch.


      19:45 He mentions potentially using both sides of the card, against the usual (long term) advice.

      20:00 Analogizes his cards as ballerinas which work together, but each have their own personalities and function within the ballet

      He's using a leather cover for Moleskine pocket notebook and Manufactum A7 index cards, as well as a box

      Sections of his box: - to erase - inbox - next actions - projects (3 categories of projects) - someday - to delegate - tickler (by month and by day; 12 months and 31 days) - blank cards

      Mentions erasing cards as he finishes them rather than archiving them.

      Inspiration by How to Take Smart Notes by Ahrens

      Recommends one item per card to make things easier and more actionable; also improves focus versus having a longer list. (28:00)

      Portability

      Sustainable (he erases)

      High quality textile experience

      The ability to shift between associative modes and sequential modes seems to work well with such a system.

      They distinguish between atomic notes and "stellar" notes. Stellar being longer lists or more dense notes/outlines/etc.

      Project cards<br /> titles and project numbers (for reference) Project numbers in the top right with a P and/or M below it for<br /> - P for paper<br /> - M for email data<br /> - D for digital files which helps him find reference materials

      Weekly review with all cards out on the table

      Expansion pack includes: - action - calendar - waiting

      Search was quick and easy, but had to carry his box back and forth to work.

      Stopping doing it because he was losing the history (by erasing it). Moving to notebook and he likes fountain pens. He likes the calendar portion in his notebook.

      He tried it out for the sake of experiment.

      In the paper world things are more present and "in your face" versus digital formats where things can disappear.

  10. Aug 2023
  11. Jul 2023
    1. Spirit has always been recognized as squirrely, hard to pin down, interpret, and hold onto. Consequently, having a system in place to capture this slippery subject is not only not new, but is an ancient practice

      Capturing (GTD etc.) inspiration and spirit

  12. Jun 2023
    1. 12:00 Allen talks about the science of flow, but doesn't coin the term explicitly, he only refers to it as being in the zone. This makes sense: gtd makes you know your commitments, and helps you to focus on one thing at a time, undistracted, which gets you into flow.

  13. May 2023
  14. Mar 2023
  15. Feb 2023
    1. Smart Notes (Sönke Ahrens’ delineation of Luhmann’s method

      For my money, a lot of the magic is in the smartnote categories; knowing what fleeting, literature and permanent notes are is the basis for recognising and almost automatically doing what you should be doing now.

      This is similar to the gardening categories I use: cold compost (annual weeds), submerge (perennial weeds), stones, rubbish. You need a container on hand for each of these as they turn up at random. The benefit of this is that you eliminate the decision-making process which interferes with a gardening task and it's associated potential flow state. This is very much like the cognitive outsourcing aspect of GTD.

  16. Jan 2023
    1. May 19, 2004 #1 Hello everyone here at the forum. I want to thank everyone here for all of the helpful and informative advice on GTD. I am a beginner in the field of GTD and wish to give back some of what I have received. What is posted below is not much of tips-and-tricks I found it very helpful in understanding GTD. The paragraphs posted below are from the book Lila, by Robert Pirsig. Some of you may have read the book and some may have not. It’s an outstanding read on philosophy. Robert Pirsig wrote his philosophy using what David Allen does, basically getting everything out of his head. I found Robert Pirsigs writing on it fascinating and it gave me a wider perspective in using GTD. I hope you all enjoy it, and by all means check out the book, Lila: An Inquiry Into Morals. Thanks everyone. arthur

      Arthur introduces the topic of Robert Pirsig and slips into the GTD conversation on 2004-05-19.

      Was this a precursor link to the Pile of Index Cards in 2006?

      Note that there doesn't seem to be any discussion of any of the methods with respect to direct knowledge management until the very end in which arthur returns almost four months later to describe a 4 x 6" card index with various topics he's using for filing away his knowledge on cards. He's essentially recreated the index card based commonplace book suggested by Robert Pirsig in Lila.

    1. Sanke and others seem to try to integrate GTD (Getting Things Done) into the Zettlekasten, thus making a frankenbaby. Having a frankenbaby of my own I shall throw no stones. But GTD is about making this same decision, and being specific about taking in ideas and deciding what to do with it. Without this self-discipline, self-awareness, neither GTD nor Zettlekasten are useful.

      Example of someone who's also noticed the idea of "zettelkasten overreach" though they call it "frankenbaby".

  17. Dec 2022
    1. https://borretti.me/article/unbundling-tools-for-thought

      He covers much of what I observe in the zettelkasten overreach article.

      Missing is any discussion of exactly what problem he's trying to solve other than perhaps, I want to solve them all and have a personal log of everything I've ever done.

      Perhaps worth reviewing again to pull out specifics, but I just don't have the bandwidth today.

    1. Take Away: The 4D Framework In summary, Task Nesting in TickTick helps you with GTD in terms of: * Dividing tasks into subtasks * Defining subtasks’ context * Distributing subtasks to time blocks * Delegating subtasks

      مفهوم 4D در GTD: * Dividing tasks into subtasks

      • Defining subtasks’ context

      • Distributing subtasks to time blocks

      • Delegating subtasks

    2. actionable items

      مهمترین بخش GTD شکستن هر کاری به Actionable Steps هست و سپس Next action step توی اون Sequential

  18. Oct 2022
    1. GTD 依赖于任务标准化而明确的拆分,但知识工作在最初往往仅有模糊的想法,思路必须在研究过程中才会变得清晰。GTD 所要求的对任务的可预期性并不适用于知识工作,而知识工作需要一个更具有开放性的组织方式。

      GTD对于标准化的工作是可以明确拆分的,但是不适用于仅有模糊想法,需要再研究才能清晰思路的知识工作(需要更开放的组织形式)

      知识工作系统 - MBA智库百科

    1. GTD Card Icon : Square (check box)Tag : 4th block. Squared as open-loop first, and filled later as accomplished. The GTD is advanced To-Do system proposed by David Allen. Next action of your project is described and processed through a certain flow. The GTD cards are classified into this class. 4th block is squared as open-loop first, and filled later as accomplished. The percentage of GTD Cards in my dock is less than 5 %.
    1. https://lifehacker.com/the-pile-of-index-cards-system-efficiently-organizes-ta-1599093089

      LifeHacker covers the Hawk Sugano's Pile of Index Cards method, which assuredly helped promote it to the GTD and productivity crowd.

      One commenter notices the similarities to Ryan Holiday's system and ostensibly links to https://thoughtcatalog.com/ryan-holiday/2013/08/how-and-why-to-keep-a-commonplace-book/

      Two others snarkily reference using such a system to "keep track of books in the library [,,,] Sort them out using decimal numbers on index cards in drawers or something..." and "I need to tell my friend Dewey about this! He would run with it." Obviously they see the intellectual precursors and cousins of the method, though they haven't looked at the specifics very carefully.

      One should note that this may have been one of the first systems to mix information management/personal knowledge management with an explicit Getting Things Done set up. Surely there are hints of this in the commonplace book tradition, but are there any examples that go this far?

    1. Posted byu/raphaelmustermann9 hours agoSeparate private information from the outline of academic disciplines? .t3_xi63kb._2FCtq-QzlfuN-SwVMUZMM3 { --postTitle-VisitedLinkColor: #9b9b9b; --postTitleLink-VisitedLinkColor: #9b9b9b; --postBodyLink-VisitedLinkColor: #989898; } How does Luhmann deal with private Zettels? Does he store them in a separate category like, 2000 private. Or does he work them out under is topics in the main box.I can´ find informations about that. Anyway, you´re not Luhmann. But any suggestions on how to deal with informations that are private, like Health, Finances ... does not feel right to store them under acadmic disziplines. But maybe it´s right and just a feeling which come´ out how we "normaly" store information.

      I would echo Bob's sentiment here and would recommend you keep that material like this in a separate section or box all together.

      If it helps to have an example, in 2006, Hawk Sugano showed off a version of a method you may be considering which broadly went under the title of Pile of Index Cards (or PoIC) which combined zettelkasten and productivity systems (in his case getting things done or GTD). I don't think he got much (any?!) useful affordances out of mixing the two. In fact, from what I can see looking at later iterations of his work and how he used it, it almost seems like he spent more time and energy later attempting to separate and rearrange them to get use out of the knowledge portions as distinct from the productivity portions.

      I've generally seen people mixing these ideas in the digital space usually to their detriment as well—a practice I call zettelkasten overreach.

    1. there might be a miscellaneous division, which wouldserve as a "tickler" and which might even be equipped with a set ofcalendar guides so that the "follow-up" system may be used.

      An example of a ticker file in the vein of getting things done (GTD) documented using index cards and a card file from 1917. Sounds very familiar to the Pile of Index Cards (PoIC) from the early 2000s.

  19. Sep 2022
    1. This method, devised by Japanese economist Noguchi Yukio, utilizes manilla envelopes and the frequency with which you work on certain projects to organize your projects.

      The Noguhchi Filing System is a method developed by Noguchi Yukio, a Japanese economist, that organizes one's projects using envelopes and sorts them based on the frequency upon which you work on them.

    1. https://lu.ma/az338ptc

      Joey Cofone: Are there laws to creativity?

      Joey Cofone, author of the upcoming book The Laws of Creativity, is selling the idea of "float" (in comparison to Mihaly Csikzentmihaly's "flow"), which is ostensibly similar to Barbara Oakley's diffuse thinking framework, Nassim Nicholas Taleb's flâneur framing, and a dose of the Zeigarnik effect.

      I'm concerned that this book will be broadly prescriptive without any founding on any of the extant research, literature, or science of the past. I'll think more highly of it if it were to quote/reference something like Merton and Barber's The Travels and Adventures of Serendipity: A Study in Sociological Semantics and the Sociology of Science.


      Following on the above:

      David Allen (of GTD fame) indicates that one should close all open loops to free up working memory, but leaving some open for active thought, follow up, and potential future insight creation can be a useful pattern too. (2022-09-09 9:05 AM)

  20. Jun 2022
    1. Here are more specific examples of what those opportunitiesmight look like

      He's got a very specific type of notes for productivity compared with the sort of notes a student, academic, or researcher might take. This has consequences to the sort of system one has and how productive or not it is.

      At some point in the book he sounds as if he's talking about notes for content creation/production, but he's also mixing in work productivity sorts of notes which can be treated dramatically differently.

      Modern systems need to better distinguish between these two sorts of modes. (Are there others?) What should we even call these things to distinguish them and how they might be differently handled?

      What do the two things have in common that allow them to be conflated? What is different that suggests distinguishing them and separating them?

      Which digital tools are better for each of these? Do some handle both well? Should there be a mental or physical separation of them?

      Am I just wholly wrong here?

    1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWkwOefBPZY

      Some of the basic outline of this looks like OER (Open Educational Resources) and its "five Rs": Retain, Reuse, Revise, Remix and/or Redistribute content. (To which I've already suggested the sixth: Request update (or revision control).

      Some of this is similar to:

      The Read Write Web is no longer sufficient. I want the Read Fork Write Merge Web. #osb11 lunch table. #diso #indieweb [Tantek Çelik](http://tantek.com/2011/174/t1/read-fork-write-merge-web-osb110

      Idea of collections of learning as collections or "playlists" or "readlists". Similar to the old tool Readlist which bundled articles into books relatively easily. See also: https://boffosocko.com/2022/03/26/indieweb-readlists-tools-and-brainstorming/

      Use of Wiki version histories

      Some of this has the form of a Wiki but with smaller nuggets of information (sort of like Tiddlywiki perhaps, which also allows for creating custom orderings of things which had specific URLs for displaying and sharing them.) The Zettelkasten idea has some of this embedded into it. Shared zettelkasten could be an interesting thing.

      Data is the new soil. A way to reframe "data is the new oil" but as a part of the commons. This fits well into the gardens and streams metaphor.

      Jerry, have you seen Matt Ridley's work on Ideas Have Sex? https://www.ted.com/talks/matt_ridley_when_ideas_have_sex Of course you have: https://app.thebrain.com/brains/3d80058c-14d8-5361-0b61-a061f89baf87/thoughts/3e2c5c75-fc49-0688-f455-6de58e4487f1/attachments/8aab91d4-5fc8-93fe-7850-d6fa828c10a9

      I've heard Jerry mention the idea of "crystallization of knowledge" before. How can we concretely link this version with Cesar Hidalgo's work, esp. Why Information Grows.

      Cross reference Jerry's Brain: https://app.thebrain.com/brains/3d80058c-14d8-5361-0b61-a061f89baf87/thoughts/4bfe6526-9884-4b6d-9548-23659da7811e/notes

  21. May 2022
    1. .Adopting the habit of knowledge capture has immediate benefitsfor our mental health and peace of mind. We can let go of the fearthat our memory will fail us at a crucial moment. Instead of jumpingat every new headline and notification, we can choose to consumeinformation that adds value to our lives and consciously let go of therest.

      Immediate knowledge capture by highlighting, annotating, or other means when taking notes can help to decrease cognitive load. This is similar to other productivity methods like quick logging within a bullet journal system, writing morning pages, or Getting Things Done (GTD). By putting everything down in one place, you can free your mind of the constant need to remember dozens of things. This frees up your working memory to decrease stress as you know you've captured the basic idea for future filtering, sorting, and work at a later date.

  22. Apr 2022
    1. hard work is magically done for you!

      Haha, it can totally be like that. My garden demonstrates it.

      But over time I've gotten another impression as well: over time, things do get done -- in some shape or form. It usually happens after I end up again in some node which I'd forgotten, but which feels relevant at the time. Reinforcement and all.

      So in a way you could say I believe in magic: some of what I intend to do will eventually be done by some versions of me -- at least in the [[multiverse]] ;)

    1. main principles that I apply from GTD:Capture everything that is relevant: what I’ve explained above and also the mindmap that I always carry around with meReview the notes a first time and decide what is actionable2 minute rule: if it takes less that 2 minutes, do it immediately; otherwise, delegate what can be (see Management 3.0 delegation guidelines)Put reminders for important tasks / tasks where there’s a strict deadlineReview the backlog regularly enough to update/prioritize and decide what to do nextJUST DO IT

      main principles of modified GTD

    1. About the same time I came across the PARA Method which works well with a GTD system to provide some structure and management around your filing system. Within the first book of GTD the filing system is referenced as a store that needs reviewing every so often for cleaning it out, with PARA it splits the mass into “Areas” and “Projects' much like GTD, and assigns the useful information storage to “Resources”.

      How PARA relates to GTD. It provides structure and management to one's filing system.

  23. Mar 2022
  24. Feb 2022
    1. Zeigarnik effect: Open tasks tend to occupy our short-term memory –until they are done. That is why we get so easily distracted bythoughts of unfinished tasks, regardless of their importance. Butthanks to Zeigarnik’s follow-up research, we also know that we don’tactually have to finish tasks to convince our brains to stop thinkingabout them. All we have to do is to write them down in a way thatconvinces us that it will be taken care of.

      The Zeigarnik effect is the idea that open or pending tasks tend to occupy our short-term memory until they are done or our brain is otherwise convinced that they're "finished". This is why note taking can be valuable. By writing down small things, we can free up our short-term or working memories to focus or work on other potentially more important tasks. It is named for Soviet psychologist Bluma Zeigarnik.

      The Zeigarnik effect is some of the value behind David Allen's "Getting Things Done" system. Writing down to do lists tricks our mind into freeing up space from things we need to take care of. If they're really important, we've got a list and can then take care of them. Meanwhile our working memories are freed up for other tasks.

    1. The Workflow: How to Use the Zettelkasten Method

      The entire basis and process of the Zettelkasten method. - Capture - Elaborate - Connect

  25. Aug 2021
    1. The Zeigarnik effect should not be confused with the Ovsiankina effect. Maria Ovsiankina, a colleague of Zeigarnik, investigated the effect of task interruption on the tendency to resume the task at the next opportunity.
  26. Jul 2021
  27. Jun 2019
    1. Recent cognitive science research shows that the number of things you can mentally prioritize, manage, retain, and recall is . . . (hold on) . . . four! If you park any more than that in your head, you will sub-optimize your cognitive functioning. You will be driven by whatever is latest and loudest—rather than by strategy, intuition, or objective assessment.
  28. Jan 2017
  29. Dec 2016
    1. use Evernote as a frictionless GTD list application

      How to use Evernote with the Getting Things Done system.

  30. Nov 2016
  31. Jan 2016