Protocol 80 Productivity Blog

Over at http://rickyspears.com/blog/?p=134 Ricky’s gone to a lot of effort to search out the past articles of David Allen from various places on the internet and provide a handy list of them all for quick click access.

I haven’t had much chance to read them yet (There is a lot of them) but they all look to extend around his “Getting Things Done” themes, and while I haven’t seen anything that I’d count as “new” in them, it’s always good to go over old ground from new view points and that’s what this does. And I’m sure some more reading will turn up some lost gems of insight along the way.

I’ve taken a bit of a detour in my reading/listening of the “7 Habits” because my audio book is either abridged, or a different edition to my hard copy (I have the latest revision), plus there are clear cuts in sections. Which makes it near impossible to follow since I can’t tell how much I’ve missed by flicking into my book.

So, not to be put off I picked up one of the other collection of audio books I read, “21 ways to be more productive” by Brian Tracy. Wow, was this a different approach, while reading “Getting Things Done” and “Seven Habits” had given me pause for thought on my opinions of various self help styles, this guy just reconfirmed some of the worst clinches. Continue Reading »

Here’s a refreshing new idea, a book about being happy at work. I’ve seen lot’s of things that indirectly lead to been happy at work, as a rule models like the “Seven Habits” result in a generally happier state of being, GTD reduces stress but  happiness is a by-product, not the goal it’s self usually.

What really caught my attention with this book is the fact it looks at a more holistic approach to happy work places, it’s not about building shared visions and mission statements and the normal rar-rar activity that rely more on hype then real genuine contentment with working. Or at least that’s the impression I’ve got from reading that parts available already.

It’ll be interesting to see where the whole project goes.

The second habit is a bit harder to skim over, as Stephen Covey said right in the start, there are no quick and easy solutions. So I guess I shouldn’t try and race ahead.

Habit two, “Begin With The End In Mind” is about self image, reflection and comitment to personal ideals. To take it to heart you can’t just read a few pages and move on, you need to actually think about what is been said. Not so easy to do when clunking along on the train, but the message is clear if you do not create your own reality, other people will create it for you. Continue Reading »

I’ve dug about half way into the first of the “Seven Habits” now, I’m not sure how I’m feeling about it right now, for a start I keep getting told there are no “Quick Fix” solutions. Damn.

Oh well, the first habit is “Be Proactive“. I was a little mistaken in what I though this meant at first, I sort of looked at it in lines of the Next Actions and the art of actually getting down to doing the things that need to be done. But it goes a lot deeper then that, suggesting that you should not just do all you need to do, but all you can do. Continue Reading »

I got to reading the first section of the seven habits book this morning, and while I’m not into the meat of it yet, the overview has kept my interest and the basic underlying theme is layed out plainly enough for me to get a feel for the direction I’m been taken in which keeps with my initial assesment. The book is about changing yourself and thinking about why you do things rather then how you do things (As a system like “Getting Things Done” is).

It’s a subtle but important shift in the focus of the material I have been reading lately, and yet better reflects my world view as a whole. After all, organization can only take you so far, and I guess recently I’ve started to put a lot of energy into reshaping my life even before I started reading the book.

Not that I’ve been waiting for something like this book to come along or anything, I can see how some people could pick it up and see it as a huge eye opener, if you haven’t put much thought into how you as a person fit into your enviroment as a whole, then it might offer a new way of thinking. For me it sits nicely with a path I was already on, and so gives me insight into someone elses thoughts on a similar path that I can draw on as I wish.

When the opening tag line of a post is “Don’t have time to read Steven Covey’s book, Seven Habits of Highly Effective People? Take a look at our summary articles written by Michael Gray.” I was pretty much compelled to take a look at it, more so because I actually own the book, it’s here right now on my desk, all but untouched.

You can have a look yourself at http://www.profitadvisors.com/7habitlist.shtml.

The summaries make for good reading, and though they are pretty lightweight they do give a healthy insight as to what is held within the book, and for me at least has reawakened my interest in picking up the book and actually making the time to read it fully.