Kaizen 0.2 – my current continuous improvement plan

[This is the plan I read every day when I start to work. I'm evaluating it every month, & see how it works. It probably applies only to myself, due to my fantastic set of defects, but anyway I'm the only one reading this.]

1. Non-related work may be done only in 5 minute breaks, every hour – :00 – :05
2. Have an exact realistic plan each day in todoist, & resolve to perform all of it!
3. If there’s a chance you’ll miss a deadline – communicate it!
4. Update supervisors on progress & status – daily.
5. Maintain highest quality. There shouldn’t be bugs in your code, only very rare ones.
6. Remember what is expected from you. Deliver at least that & if possible even more.
7. Think how to create value for share-holders, & pro-actively create it.
8. Must go to sleep before midnight.
9. Do what’s fun to you – the only way to be productive.
10. Figure out what scares you, & quickly go & do it. In worst case you’ll fail & learn.

[See also these Simple Guidelines for Workday quality over quantity]

 

New perspective on GTD tools

I’ve been using Todoist for some time, & just love it! It’s simple, but not too simple (like To-done). It’s powerful, but has great interface, optimized for fast & efficient work. It has very useful views, reminders & integration options. In short, it’s just working, which is the characteristic I like most in software.

However, there’s one problem with Todoist: it’s great for ants, but humans shouldn’t be “mere” ants. I mean of course that humans should have a vision that views the big picture & not just the track of tasks. & the big picture includes possible targets one can navigate to, & the predicted value from reaching them. As GTD sensei David Allen says, one should have the Imagined Outcome in mind, & not just the next actions to execute.

This is why I wish to switch to tools such as LifeTick, which are goal oriented & value(s) driven. LifeTick seems to be following a clear methodology, enforcing the user to derive concrete reachable goals from his core values, & their weights. This should enable users to focus on targets, & their importance, & not just on the next task at hand.

Compared to Todoist, the interface is a bit more slick & user-friendly – optimized for new users. But I like it as well. Unlike Todoist, LifeTick isn’t completely free – the free edition has limited features & other limitations, but I’m more than pleased to pay them the 20$/year for the unlimited version & would have probably donated it anyway.

So, I wish to migrate to Goal oriented tools, such as LifeTick. Will I make it? Am I more than an ant? Not sure, I’ll post an update if/when I find out.

 

According to Barry Schwartz

the secret to happiness is low expectations (see TED lecture on the Paradox of Choice).

management wisdon also speaks on the Satiscficer (vs Optimizer) approach of setting a target level of requirements that meets the needs, but doesn’t strive for optimum. after reaching it, you can make it higher.

in GTD too, you don’t work on fulfilling a full project at once, but rather always focusing on the next physical action.

in general all is evaluated according to expectations. which of course means you can always improve your evaluation, by lowering the expectations. for example, this is the best way to excel in work place.

so, I’m setting here my low expectations for the last quarter of 2007, just starting. and will try to meet them. I’ll let you know whether I strived to reach my goals just the same, but this time had some fun & satisfaction while doing it.

Personal life expectations for Q4-2007:

1. not be fired from day-job
2. not get divorced
3. not file for bankruptcy
4. play 5 minutes per week with my child
5. visit my family once
6. do 1 activist act against the israeli occupation
7. get feedback from 1 corporate executive prospect on my Value-Creation open-source product
8. have 1 unit-test of my autonomic computing open-source framework pass
9. work out once every week
10. write 1 blog post per month

 

GTD tools I’m using

• iGTD - main GTD system. Available only for Mac OS X. The main weakness is that it’s a desktop app, and you can’t work on it from multiple machines.
• FreeMind – for daily GTD practice & work environment + calendar reminders. Here’s my daily template (to view it, copy the link & open it in FreeMind, in Browse mode).
• NetVibes – for all inboxes, viewed all the time as it’s the browser’s homepage
• Vitalist – online GTD application. It’s online, which is great, but suffers from serious usability problems, & frequent downtime periods (at least it seems to be not accessible from my network perspective. Perhaps in Europe/US it’s better).
• EverNote - for reference, all deliverables are stored there.
• 30boxes - Google Calendar – for calendar

Except for EverNote, all work just as well on my Linux.

Some screenshots:

iGTD:

FreeMind:

Older screenshot (click on the image to enlarge):

NetVibes:

EverNote:

30boxes: