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Blogs and Discussions Best Picks for November
It is near impossible to find positivity on any one’s lips these days, with the world’s economies sliding into recession. However, encouragement and a much-needed positive perspective are pouring from the web’s foremost authorities in personal and career development. The Management Issues blog, the Harvard Business Publishing and Get Rich Slowly blogged on how to survive through the crisis. Advice from well respected individuals like Michael Hyatt and Dr. Marshall Goldsmith reminded readers of the light that indubitably exists at the end of this dark tunnel, advising people to stay focussed in their careers and daring to be remarkable to stand out from the crowd.
In the area of Personal Effectiveness, the current economic climate gave a platform from which bloggers asked readers important questions on life choices. Pick The Brain reminded readers to take control of life by realising that lifestyle design can be a result of deliberate choice, and not chance. Goodlife Zen ran a revelatory post on Near-Death Experiences that underscored the importance of living with love. Marc And Angel Hack Life encouraged readers to tell their life stories in one sentence, to gain clarity on the life that you want to lead.
Another topic discussed at length was that of creativity, and how to harness both in work and life. The All Things Workplace blog and the Dumb Little Man blog posted their thoughts on creating space for free thinking and alertness, as well as a discipline to capture those creative thoughts and using them.
[Author's note: Initial reactions to Malcolm Gladwell's hotly anticipated book "Outliers: The Story of Success" are trickling in, but bloggers are already starting to create buzzwords like "the 10,000 hour rule" and "seeing what others do not". We will be monitoring the web for the most important opinions on this thought-provoking book.]
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How to Motivate Creative People
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Our Top 5 Online Discussions Picks
Get Everything Done Forums
Multiple Actions From One Meeting
Over the two discussions, Mark Forster, author of the popular time management book “Do It Tomorrow”, touched on two very important ideas in personal time management. The first idea was highlighted in a confusion regarding managing projects in a time management system. Mark asserted that it was critical to differentiate between managing the project in its entirety (which could involve a chain of tasks including other people’s tasks) and managing one’s personal commitment to the project over time.
The second was that the point of a time management system was to ensure everything that you have committed to do is done. These ideas highlight that effective task prioritisation happens at the level of goals and commitments and not at the levels of tasks and to-do lists.
The David Allen Company Forums
Franklin Covey / GTD
David Allen’s Getting Things Done (GTD) system has been frequently compared with Stephen Covey’s 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, and the most glaring dissimilarity is GTD’s lack of a prioritisation process. Most of the arguments finally lead to members showing preference for either a “top-down” or “bottom-up” approach to life management, where the “top” looks at priorities and goals, and “bottom” refers to the day to day tasks that one faces. While both have their merits, the true test of its efficacy lies in whether the person takes action to move forward in their lives.
Steve Pavlina’s Forums
Work-life separation: Does It Still Exist In This 24/7 And Over-Networked Era?
The thread started with a member citing frustrations over an overly connected job market, where not having connections can cost you a position in a desired job. He implied that being employable meant accepting jobs that take up far too much time. Members who responded agreed that the trend was disturbing, calling for a need to start drawing boundaries. Interestingly, some members talked about jobs that they were passionate about, where the extra hours did not seem like a chore – more in line with the idea of work-life integration.
It was generally agreed that a person must make an informed and conscious decision on the kind of life they want to lead, which many people do not manage to do.
Get Organized Now
Organizing Time For “No Energy
How does one overcome the energy slump that one frequently comes to at various points of the day? Members suggest tips ranging from cold showers to new diets to writing out the entire list of tasks to be completed for the day. While some suffered from physiological ailments like thyroid issues, most contributors mentioned that writing a to-do list greatly increased energy. It is common that getting going on a series of small tasks can cause a boost in much-needed energy to move on eventually bigger tasks.
Getting Things Done Yahoo! Group
Another Bottleneck Removed
The members of the group touched on a often argued aspect of David Allen’s Getting Things Done (GTD) productivity system, which was trying to practice GTD as closely to the book as possible for a long enough period of time to get used to it and hence reap the benefits (David Allen’s advice is to allow for 1 to 2 years). While many experienced the instant relief that using GTD brought, many still argued that they were personally able to identify what worked and what would not work for them in the GTD system. One member, Kal, placed GTD in perspective with this thought “Just ask yourself what you want and what’s the next action to get there” – this is arguably the essence of what the GTD method was about.
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Money isn’t everything. But can you still say that in times of recession? As recession hits United States comes President-elect Barack Obama’s plan to get you some extra cash on payday so you won’t need a payday loan. He’s putting forth a tax cut and the Make Work Pay credit, as he calls it. The current administration’s efforts to get the economy back on track haven’t been helping so far, and he wants to get right into the middle of it to get things back on track. As with anything, the future isn’t clear, and impossible to tell exactly – but since the mortgage and credit crunch have arrived, things have been getting worse and the need for a payday loan has increased. Obama is hoping that bigger checks on payday will restore consumer confidence so you won’t need to take out a payday loan.
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