Peake Productivity

You can free the locked energy of incompletions in this moment, by moving your body into action and starting the process of completing. As you start to do this, you will feel the energy coming loose and free inside of you, and you may find that all sorts of aches and pains will release.

This is a healing action, not necessarily healing in terms of disease, but certainly healing in terms of completing your life patterns and your goals. It's so extremely important because as an area inside of you that was asleep awakens, your energy stops leaking away into it and becomes immediately available to you as a conscious, awake person.

- John-Roger with Paul Kaye
(From: The Rest of Your Life, p. 201)

I've often heard John-Roger say, "Doing does it." My interpretation of that is that the best and only way to complete and move on is through taking action. Another favorite quote springs to mind, "The best way out is always through." - Robert Frost

Whatever challenge you may be facing today, whether its a backlog of paperwork, a financial loss, or a frustration with someone in your life, I invite and encourage you to consider a way that you can go "through it". Not over it, not below it, not around it. How can you use your wisdom, your inner goodness, and your courage to go through this successfully?

All things can be overcome. No situation or circumstance is stronger than the human capacity to create, clarify and complete, and to do these things with love. If you don't believe my eternal optimism in this moment, I dare you to watch the following video:

Nick Vujicic - Life Without Limbs 8:59

Have a beautiful and productive day.

My clients increasingly ask me for support with keeping focused on one thing at a time. Most people are familiar with the concept of "solo-tasking", but putting it into practice continues to elude the masses from what I can tell. At work we usually have dozens of available tasks competing for our attention and endless distractions provided by phone calls, emails and news updates. Never mind the amount of attention wandering to the current financial crisis at this unique time of global concern.

Common wisdom tells us that we would be happier and more productive if we held only one thought at a time and performed each task with greater care and attention to the moment. Even our greatest worries and concerns can be dropped if we consciously choose to make the present moment more important.

As a coach it's easy to tell someone how to be present and focus: "Be present and focus," but it's quite another thing to train someone (or oneself) to be more conscious and aware. I continually monitor my progress in this area, sometimes to my satisfaction, but not perfectly. For me, yoga is one of my favorite exercises for increasing "mindfulness". I hope you'll enjoy the follow tips for keeping yourself on track, by Daily Dharma:

Daily Dharma 04: Do One Thing At A Time
June 23rd, 2008 Posted in Daily Dharma

“There is no royal road to anything. One thing at a time, all things in succession. That which grows fast, withers as rapidly. That which grows slowly, endures.” — Josiah Gilbert Holland

Do you multitask? These days it is hard to avoid doing two, three, or even five things at once. Multitasking is the antithesis of mindful action, however, and multitasking can actually make you more stressed and less productive than if you focus on doing one thing at a time.

Today, Do One Thing At A Time.

Here are eight ways to learn to “solo-task”.

1. Pick Your Objective – Are you writing a report? Or checking your email? Or eating your cereal? Yes, you may be doing all three, but which one is most important? First of all, choose one thing to do, and do just that.

2. Remind Yourself of Your Goal – We are so used to multitasking, solo-tasking can take effort. To keep focused, remind yourself of the one thing you want to be doing, and when the temptation comes into your mind to do something else, push the thought away. Tell yourself: “Not right now, Mind. I’m presently doing this.”

3. Think About, and Enjoy, What You’re Doing – We perform so many daily tasks without even thinking: brushing our teeth, driving to work, even greeting coworkers. Yet there are simple pleasures to be found in all of these things. The next time you brush your teeth, for example, think about brushing your teeth. Enjoy the feel of the bristles on your gums. Look at yourself in the mirror. Cherish the fact that you are taking time to care for yourself.

4. Eliminate Distractions, a.k.a. Temptations – If you frequently get sidetracked from a project by an email or phone call; turn off your email or phone. Unplug the internet if you have to. And turn off the TV when you’re eating or writing or studying.

5. Breathe – Okay, so you can allow yourself to do two things at once: you can breathe! Focus on your breath to center yourself. Take a moment before starting something, be it a project or a meal, to take several deep breaths. Doing so will calm you and allow you to focus more clearly on your objective.

6. Slow Down – Life is hectic. There is never enough time to get everything done and do everything we want. Instead of trying to get more into your day, try getting more out of your day. Slow down enough to do things well, and enjoy doing them. Be patient – with others and yourself. The difference will amaze you.

7. Plan Your Time – Set aside blocks of time to complete certain things, and protect that time. If you have a project to complete that you can’t seem to get to, block out an afternoon to do it, and don’t let anything get in the way – even an important meeting request, for example. If they ask, you’re already busy.

8. Avoid the Never-Ending To-Do List – Keep a list of the most important two or three things you want to get done each day. Everything else can wait, so it doesn’t need to clutter your desk, or your mind.

Still not convinced that multitasking does any harm? Checkout the scientific data provided by CNN.com.

I was watching a beautiful Christmas episode of The West Wing: Season 1 the other day. A charming blonde 3rd grader asks President Bartlett, "What is your favorite part about being president?"

He replies, "I'm doing it right now," and swiftly kisses the top of her head.

What is my favorite part about being a coach?

Easy. Watching people expand, unfold and transform. So in honor of a friend who has taken her next steps as a poet, please enjoy:



You can read more about how much I enjoy her live performances, here.

In the last few weeks, I've received countless questions from friends and clients about my opinion of the iPhone as a "GTD-friendly" productivity gadget. My answer might sound like a cop-out: "use it if it works for you."

But ultimately how you choose your essential portable productivity tool is a personal choice based on preferences, your work style and what your job requires (portability, accessibility, focus time, research capabilities, etc.).

I've compiled a few remarks on the iPhone for the consideration of the productivity-conscious consumer:

Pros

• Liking your tool automatically increases the probability that you will use it, take it with you everywhere, and look at your lists with a little less resistance.
  
• Many options = flexibility. Some people will download custom applications to the phone, others will use iCal to manage their to do's and synchronize with their significant other's calendar.
  
• All in one place - multiple applications in one place means you waste less time switching between gadgets. This was the concept behind the the original line of smartphones. And ladies know, one can never underestimate the value of less clunky objects in her purse.

Possible Cons

• Are you seeing your lists of things to-do in the most effective format possible? Can you categorize based on the context in which you will do the next action step? When you test drive an iPhone, be mindful that many smartphones (some BlackBerry's included) don't offer the ability to see categories easily. Instead tasks appear in a long "flat" list - not very useful when you only want to see your Errands or Calls quickly.
  
• Distractions. If we were already complaining about information overload because of our laptops, now you have countless hours of YouTube videos in the palm of your hand - yikes!
  
• Paper vs. Digital - a lot of people easily overlook whether their tendency is towards a kinesthetically-pleasing paper experience or towards a faster digital productivity experience. Consider in your evaluation whether you are a) proficient with new technology tools (how easily did you adopt a laptop scroll pad instead of a mouse?) and b) your natural inclination towards either a pen or a keyboard.

I'll leave you with these clever comments from the GTD master himself about the iPhone and the difference between having a cool tool and having the discipline to fully use the system.

[Reposted from BusinessWeek]

Cool Tech -- A Cautionary Tale
Posted by: David Allen on July 24

I was just talking with a friend who was boasting about all the nifty features of his new iPhone, especially all the capabilities it now has to collect data and input. Taking pictures of business cards that can then be text-searched, recording notes, etc. Seemed, indeed, like the result of lots of creative thinking and design. Then I asked him how often he cleaned up all that exciting new input – i.e. emptied his virtual “in-basket” the phone had assisted him in generating. He sheepishly admitted that was a major problem.

This is indicative of the potentially frustrating side of all the new technology. Lots of new and exotic ways to capture, slice, search, and retrieve data. But no matter how slick the gear, nothing has yet been able to replace the personal and individual executive function of actually deciding what, exactly, all that input means. What action, if any, do I need to take about that interaction that produced the business card I can now take a picture of? How critical is that data, for what purpose(s), now or later on? Until the very specific and discrete meaning of data is determined, there is no criterion for how to organize it.

The cool tech is cool, to be sure - but only if you have installed the best practices of processing the exploding plethora of miscellany it fosters. When they come up with an iBrain you can plug into your iPhone, so you actually don’t even have to think about the contents it collects any more – wow! Of course then you’ll have to choose whether you want the Fast-Track-Executive, Laid-Back-Retiree, or Liberal-Arts-Student version of the premier Decision-Support package add-on (for a nominal additional fee).

If you’re betting on the latest feature-laden nifty small and sexy tool to relieve the pressure of life and work, be careful. The weekend it will require to learn how to use it will be a mere drop in the bucket compared with the extra time you’ll need to wade through the additional stuff it may foster.

A lot of my readers seem to be enjoying Beauty Secrets from Audrey Hepburn. Here's another piece of beauty education that I think every thirteen year-old girl should watch:

Click to start the video:

Loving Each Day
"You will be happy when you learn to center yourself in your own divine love, love that flows out to all God's creatures.

So stand up in the beingness of your own love, and let that love be your connection to all things. When you can enter your loving, your spiritual center, it doesn't much matter what the world presents to you. You have the inner resources to create your own happiness and fulfillment."

- John-Roger (From: Living Love from the Spiritual Heart, p. 25-26)
Watch today's Moment of Peace.

What if you already have all the inner resources necessary to effectively resolve the challenges in your life? Suspend your "yeah but"s for a moment. Imagine what your life would be like if you chose to create and promote all of the experiences you want, starting now? Begin it today with one small step.