JoS

This year I resolved to focus on bettering my outlook on life. I know, it's broad. But, it gave me the flexibility to change up my approach throughout the year instead of deciding on a particular behavior I wanted to adopt and feeling bad when I gave up three weeks in.

I never thought I had a negative outlook in general, but given the stressors I deal with day-to-day, I thought the focus on maintaining a positive frame of mind would be beneficial.

So, I have adopted a few daily habits I wanted to try out through January and I'm really enjoying one in particular. Everyday, I take a picture to represent my day and think of 5 things I'm grateful for. I keep track of it on my phone and look back on the week every so often. Sometimes I put down something deep and thought provoking, but often it's something benign that made me smile during the day.

It's kind of a personal thing for me, but seeing how it's going so far, I'm enjoying the reflection at the end of the day and wanted to share :).

For some reason, people think I'm a big tech guy. I mean, I do like my toys and being up on the latest. But on a sliding scale for my age group, I'd think I'm about average. Still, to many that I know, they think of me as the techy-ist they know. Maybe it's my circle if friends/family? What surprises them most is when they learn about the non-tech aspects of my life. So for all your benefit, I have put together a list of things about me to prove that I'm not as tech as you think I am:

1. I no longer own a real computer - We used to own a Mac, but that broke. We also own a netbook that I used since the Mac was Wendy's, but I don't consider that a real computer (fine, a technicality). Between my work computer and our phones, we've just gotten by for a while without anything else.

2. I shave with 10 cent razor blades, a safety razor, badger hair brush and a brick of shaving soap - I owned an electric razor back in college, then downgraded to a Gillette after a while when the razor burn got too annoying. Then the cost of the replacement cartridges added up and I started stretching out the lifespan of the razor blades longer than dermitologically recommended. Old school shaving gives me a chance to slow down in the morning and the gear is much cheaper in the long run. I would really like a straight razor, but am working my way up (down?) to that.

3. My TV is still rear-projection - Yup. It's big. It's heavy. We own special furniture to hold it. And it's not LCD or Plasma. While we're at it, it's also under 40 inches so I don't even get size cred. TVs are still expensive and I think we overpaid for ours right when the good stuff peaked below ridiculous and into affordable.

4. I only work with one monitor - All of a sudden, all my co-workers dropped cash on a second monitor. Yes, they paid money so they could fit more work stuff in front of them, so they could do more work stuff at the same time, faster. A second monitor just wouldn't work for me. It takes up too much space; I like to keep as much real estate clear as I can. I also travel and move in-between offices too much to haul a monitor around.

5. I print those emails with the signatures that say "Please consider the environment when printing emails" (or something like that...I don't usually read that part) - Ok, this one will also go on my list of "I'm not as Green as you think I am". I just have a hard time concentrating on things I'm reading on screen. If I really need to focus on something I'm reading, I print it out. Hey, when I'm done, I recycle it. Or at least I think the shred company does.

6. I don't know code - Java, CSS, C++, UNIX, don't know it. I barely know HTML. Heck, add that to the list. If I were taking an "Are you a geek" online quiz, I would not get points for this one.

7. I still can't get my wireless printer to work - I can't get the drivers to install on the netbook. I can get it to work when I connect directly to it with my work laptop, but I still can't print wirelessly. Maybe if I owned a real computer?

8. I'm an accountant - Ok, this one is a cop out. Accountants can be techie. But, at least I'm not in a tech industry. Fine...my clients are in the tech industry, but let's not think about that. I'm still a pencil pushing, 10 key crunching, opinion writing, accountant.

So there you have it, a little more about me. As humorous as that may be. Now that I'm done drafting this blog post in the Evernote app (which syncs online and on my netbook and work computer) on my iPhone 4, I'll paste it into my Posterous app so it can push to my Posterous blog, which auto posts to my GoDaddy hosted josrbailey.com domain (re-directs from joerbailey.com too) and pushes to my Twitter and Facebook accounts...

 Like the rest of you out there, my life is packed and it never tends to let up (at least not by much, and not for very long).  After all, it is what makes it all interesting.  With a wife a daughter and a son on the way, my hectic work schedule as a Big 4 accounting firm manager, the added obligations as a college campus recruiter and class speaker, and all the other random responsibilities that pop up along the way- I have a lot of plates in the air.  I am on a constant quest to keep track of everything on my plate, break as few as possible, and hopefully get something productive done at the end of the day.   

I won't say I have the magic bullet, or that I even get much accomplished.  But, I do like to share what works for me and how I experiment with keeping my mind as clear and focused as possible.  As a caveat: this works for me.  I share the same struggles with many of my staff and peers.  As much as I attempt to share my method, it is not for everyone.  It takes a considerable amount of time to set up and discipline to perfect; but, it's just geeky enough to keep me engaged.  So if you're interested, this is a glimps of what I do.  

The core of my productivity system is David Allen's Getting Things Done (GTD) methodology.  I was introduced to GTD by my very insightful and sympathetic EY "counselor", who recognized my plight and gave me a copy of this book early on into my career.  Over the years I have read and re-read the book, and tweaked my system to be as effortless and effective of a tool to execute as possible.  The GTD process definitely has it's pros and cons, though the main premise is to maintain a system that captures every 'action' in a trusted system and to save the brain from the responsibilities of tracking all the 'to dos' (a process that the brain tends to be the least effective at) and to focus it on creating.  

 

The following graphic illustrates the GTD workflow:

A favorite topic among GTDers is describing their GTD implementation.  As with most GTDers, I’ve tried a number of different setups.  For now, let me describe my current setup:

• Remember The Milk – This by far has been the most ubiquitous and easy to use list manager I have come across, to date.  For an extra $20 a year, I have my RTM lists synced across the web and various mobile devices I have with me throughout the day.  The site even has a blog post dedicated to setting up an advanced implementation of GTD.  I have recently overhauled my system to this setup, and has worked fairly well for me over the past few months.
• Pocket notebook – I carry my Moleskine pocket notebook around everywhere simply as a capture tool.  Any thoughts, to-dos, projects, calendar stuff that I collect while I’m not at the computer or with my iPod touch gets captured in the notebook and transfered to my action lists or calendar later.
• GCal/Lotus Notes - OK, I’m not the first GTDer to love Google Calendar, but it’s simply the best, and it takes care of all my calendaring needs.  Unfortunately, my work subscribes to the Lotus suite.  Therefore, my work related items are stored on Lotus notes calendar and synced (as much as I am allowed) into GCal.
• Gmail/Lotus Notes - Gmail is my main go-to for personal email correspondence.  Although, the vast majority of my emails are work related and are managed through Lotus Notes.
• Misc - Other than these main tools, I have an inbox at home and work and filing systems at both locations.

Well, I’m not going to explain the whole system in this post. Instead, I’ll provide some links to help you get started, if you’re a beginner GTD disciple.

Other GTD Resources

• Wired: A guide to GTD
• Mine Zone: Getting Things Done
• 43 Folders: Getting Started with GTD
• Davidco’s Lisa Peak: 10 beginner behaviors

Tomorrow I start a new habit: my morning routine (to be honest, I started a year ago with a good run of about 5-6 months then stopped and now continue along with false start after false start).  For the next 30 days, I will focus on getting back into the swing and making my morning routine solid.

I’ve actually tried different versions of a morning routine in the past year, and have enjoyed them immensely. I just haven’t been able to stick to a routine once a sickness, vacation, travel or a busier-than-usual work schedule interrupts the flow.

The reason I like having a morning routine is that not only does it instill a sense of purpose, peace and ritual to my day, but it ensures that I’m getting certain things done every morning … namely, my goals. I’m setting aside morning time as a time of peace and quiet, and time to take small steps each day towards my goals.

Here’s my morning routine, at least for now (subject to tweaking later):

Morning routine

1. Wake at 4:30 a.m.
2. Drink water
3. Exercise (Yoga/Jog) or meditate
4. Eat breakfast/Drink coffee
5. Fix lunch
6. Info binge (RSS feeds, social networks, national/local/business news, books)
7. Set no more than 5 FOCUS items for the day
8. Shower/Bath
9. Get dressed and off to work at 7:30 a.m.

A couple of explanations: My FOCUS list each day includes one item towards a big project goal and probably the 3-4 things I MUST complete at work. There will be more that I do during the day, but my FOCUS will be the things that I will do my best to finish by the end of the day.  To hold myself accountable for completing my FOCUS goals, I have made it a daily habit to communicate (via email) my FOCUS list to everyone I work with whom I report to, or report to me.

As for the exercise and meditate item, I will have an alternating schedule of Yoga and Jogging each morning  (with the exception of Fridays, where I plan to meditate for at least 10-15 minutes and Sundays, which will be a sleep-in day).  As a caveat, I recently purchased a pair of Vibram FiveFingers. They are as ugly as sin, but just the type of funkiness that I go for.   I have read up on barefoot running and with the Vibrams, I am itching to pick up running.   

As for waking up at 4:30 a.m., I got really good a 'jump-out-of-bed' start to my day earlier in the year.  However, as my work schedule packs up more and more, bed times push into the wee hours and rest becomes a necessity in the mornings.  I am hoping through this process I will be able to will myself to go to bed a bit earlier at night (targeting 10pm).  

Look for updates to my goal of sticking to my morning routine.