Committing to collecting

I’ve read David Allen’s Getting Things Done several times, and I’ve tried unsuccessfully several times to stick with it. For a while, I was interested in designing and tweaking my own geeky, low-tech system, and treating it like an engineering problem. Well, now I could care less about the system. All I want are the promised results. But I’m willing to make gradual changes, and I don’t expect everything to happen all at once. As wonderful as David makes it sound, I still haven’t gotten to that point of having 100% of everything into that proverbial trusted external system. I believe him that it makes a difference, but I have to content myself with an intermediate, incomplete system on my way there.

Today, I’m reading through Leo Babauta’s “Zen to Done (ZTD)” e-book. The key insight that he offers is that implementing GTD involves a series of habit changes, and attempts to change habits are much more successful when they’re tackled one at a time. So I’m hereby committing to developing the first of the 10 habits he lists: Collect. I’ve got a pocket-sized Moleskine in one pocket and a pen in the other pocket, so I have everything I need. The next time something pops into my head about something I need to do or some bill I need to pay, I’ll immediately offload it from my brain and into the notebook.

1 Comment »

  1. Johannes K. Drinda said,

    April 18, 2009 @ 6:52 pm

    Hi Evan,

    Pondering about … Janko, actually all Janko does is equalizing the Kbd in key size and heights (!) The pattern itself is not really equal, because only chromatically placed keys, regular in size and heights would yield a truly equal Kbd pattern.
    (Sadly, our hand are unable to span chords with the black keys in the same row.)

    Thus, my idea is creating the next best thing to the latter:
    Instead of a Janko pattern, where some of the keys of any scale are in another row, let’s might as well stick to the ordinary (zebra) piano pattern we already know, but with the huge difference, by equalizing its keys in in size and heights!! (I.e. no narrow sticking out black keys! All white and black kwys equal in size and heights!!)

    Result: This would offer the same advantage Janko offers (added advantage: without the need to relearn a new Kbd pattern). I cannot see any disadvantage, can you?

    Also, I reason that longish pentagonal buttons might even be better, because they offer room for a second (or several) Kbd(s) in parallel.
    D/l my pattern here: http://rapidshare.com/files/223061450/Zebra_Button_Kbd.jpg.html
    Please, let me know what you think of it. Thx, Johannes K. Drinda from Chile

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