A couple years ago I discovered David Allen’s Getting Things Done philosophy, and wow, it’s gold. While I still haven’t read the whole book yet and still don’t do most of the things he proposes (like the review sessions), the one thing I have done has made a huge difference already: next actions.
The secret of getting ahead is getting started. The secret of getting started is breaking your complex overwhelming tasks into small manageable tasks, and then starting on the first one. —Mark Twain (p. 239 of Getting Things Done)
Big projects are overwhelming, and overwhelm tends to stuckify us. No good. But small things are definitely doable. That’s the trick.
For example, writing a book is hugely intimidating. Books are long and complicated beasts, and the thought of writing that much and hoping it actually turns out good is very, very daunting. That’s why most people who want to write a book don’t end up writing one. It’s scary.
But writing, say, a paragraph? Anyone can write one, even on a bad day. And once you’ve written one paragraph, why not write another? It’s magic.
By small and simple things are great things brought to pass. —Alma 37:6
Next actions have to be concrete. If they’re abstract, they won’t happen. “Write a genealogy web app” is too vague. Better: “Find a Python library to read GEDCOM files” or “Sketch out some possible source entry pages.” Those are solid, concrete, physical actions and they’re a bazillion times more likely to make something happen.
Another example: we needed to wash our car. For weeks I knew I needed to get it done, but nothing happened. I realized I was stuck, sat down for a moment and thought about it, and decided that I needed to find a car wash nearby. A few seconds later I found one on Google Maps nearby, called it to get their hours and prices, and got our car washed later that day.
This technique — deciding a single small, concrete action needed to do to push each project forward — is how I get things done.
Do it right now: take a project you’re stuck on and decide what the next physical action is that you need to do to move forward on the project. Write it down.
Doesn’t it feel good?
Comments
Good thoughts. They touch on two things I have been thinking about recently: time management and genealogy.
First, time management. You might be interested in reading the blog of Mark Forster. He is a time management guru in the UK. I migrated from GTD to his Autofocus 4 systems; it is very simple. I think he’s right up your alley; both the blog and his time management systems (Autofocus 1-4 and Do It Tomorrow). Here’s the sight: markforster.net
Second–and very related–genealogy. Way back when I took CS 428, Dr. Chuck Knutson did an experiment on the class: he made us into a “company” and we worked on his pet idea: the 20 minute genealogist. It looks a lot like your Beyond project, and nothing seems to have progressed on his project since I took the class.
The idea is simple. People only have a limited time to do genealogy–say 20 minutes. But when Average Joe sits down to work on genealogy, he has no idea where to start or he has forgotten what he was doing when he got interrupted last time. Joe then spends 20 minutes figuring out what to do next. He is again interrupted, accomplishing nothing. Joe’s lack of accomplishment is deflating, and he is unmotivated to pick up genealogy for a very long time. A vicious cycle.
To break the cycle, according to Dr. K, two things are needed: setting up a context (or research process) and maintaining this process over time. Dr. K’s paper, fht.byu.edu/prev_workshops/workshop09/papers/2-Lunch-Knutson.pdf , gives a few examples of what this could look like. Something to the effect of “Last time, you were working on Ben Bookbinder, on your wife’s maternal grandmother’s line. You need to find a death date and place. On the right are some possible matches. If none of those are correct, you may try searching in the following places:…”
I bring this all up because
1. it was on my mind
2. I think it will be my next project
3. I like you mockups of Beyond, a bit better than the mockups I did for CS 428 (After all, I am only a developer with an eye for good design).
4. Dr. K has always been asking for volunteers to work on the 20 minute genealogist.
Thanks for the link on Mark Forster. I love reading up on productivity stuff. :)
And I very much like the 20-minute genealogist idea. For genealogy software to work, I think we have to take a step back and stop trying to do everything. Simplicity is the key. (At least on the user’s end.)
Throw in your two cents