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Outgrowing Habits

teenager.jpgBuilt into the 2Time philosophy is the idea that a user can choose to evolve their habits over time. Once they determine which belt level they are currently at, they can change it when they know the new practices that they need to master.

But at the same time, there is a somewhat natural evolution that takes place for every professional. They get to the point where they are using a certain set of practices they feel comfortable with, say at the Yellow belt level. They are adequately dealing with a certain number of time demands, and are feeling no sense of being overwhelmed.

Then, a natural change occurs. Continue reading “Outgrowing Habits”

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The Now Habit Schedule

Neal Fiore has a book that I haven’t read called “The Now Habit” that seems to be pretty interesting.

I say this because he has developed a schedule for himself that appears to conform to Yellow Belt scheduling, in the 2Time lingo. On his website you can see the schedule he has created for himself for each week. Luckily for him, each week looks more or less the same.

It is better than a mere schedule of appointments, but the items in the schedule are fairly broadly defined, which is good for creating a bucket of scheduled activities, but not so good for completing smaller time scheduled activities.

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A Simple Technique to Overcome Procrastination

From JimGibbon:

One Simple Technique to Help You Overcome Procrastination and Start Writing Now

August 5th, 2006 | Productivity

For the last three weeks I’ve been using something called “contingency management” to write more, and more consistently, than at any point in my entire life. I now write an average of three pages a day (typed, double-spaced) during one 30-minute session. I’ve also used this technique to jump start two projects that were stalled for months.

Only a small fraction of my writing would be publishable, but I now have over 60 pages of new ideas, hunches, questions, and possible solutions that simply didn’t exist a month ago. On top of everything, I no longer cringe when I think about writing and my self-confidence has skyrocketed.

Contingency management has been around for years, but I just learned about it in a great book by Robert Boice called Professors as Writers: A Self-Help Guide to Productive Writing. This is required reading for writers in all fields who want to overcome the inertia of writer’s block and procrastination. Continue reading “A Simple Technique to Overcome Procrastination”

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Tips for the Kitchen

I know that I play the same tune over and over – “Forget about the tips, focus on the fundamentals” and that I think most of us are making a mistake by focusing on tips when we look to improve our productivity. Here is an example of what I mean when I think about focusing on the wrong things.

This comes from a newsletter I subscribe to that sends out a series on improving one’s productivity.

Time Saving Tips For Your Kitchen from PlanYourTimeNow.comAre you spending too much time in your kitchen? Would you like to have a lot more time to spend on your children, or simply to pamper yourself, chill out or relax? Well, if you follow some of these time saving kitchen tips, you will find yourself with some extra time that you can use for any purpose that you want.

Let’s look at some of these time saving tips: Continue reading “Tips for the Kitchen”

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Reader’s Questions

Laura sent me the following question, which made me stop and think, and to attempt an answer in just a few words. Thanks to her for asking. Laura, by the way is the author of the blog: http://simpleproductivityblog.com – which I strongly recommend.

I really like your idea of taking these ideas of self-management (because it really is more than managing your time) to people who are not already inclined to adopt them. I was thinking more about it, and while I understand the “belt” analogy, if you really want to reach the non-users of other management systems you might want to consider a different term, one that would be more approachable than a martial arts one. The martial arts one conjures up ideas of discipline and toughness. That might scare most non-adopters off.

Good luck!

LJ

On 10/19/07, Francis Wade <[email protected]> wrote: Continue reading “Reader’s Questions”

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Hate the Martial Arts’ Belt System?

belts.jpgA keen reader made the point recently that the martial arts structure built into 2Time might have some drawbacks. One is that the martial arts are seen by some as being difficult, arduous and combative. 2Time, on the other hand, is meant to be natural and organic. Perhaps it could be compared with the non-violent martial arts, if there are any!

Also, just the idea of the existence of a Black Belt is enough to get some Type A users thirsting after its attainment.

In 2Time, getting to the Back Belt level is hardly the point. In fact, given that the Black Belt level involves research and development of new methods, plus teaching, it might not be of interest to any, other than the most ardent.

The point of the belt levels in 2Time is that anyone can function successfully at any level, and that it all depends on what the user is trying to accomplish with their life.

In other words, 2Time users should get to the point where they have determined that further investments in changing their habits is not worth the extra effort.

This gives the user peace of mind knowing that they are doing their best given the current state of the art, and until there are some breakthroughs in the way time is managed, there is no need for them to improve their skills.

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An Analysis of a Single System

I just read a fascinating account of how how a blogger called Ricky Spears experimented with a new paper-based time management system that he ultimately rejected.

It reminded me of why I could never go back to using paper, and why I bought my first Palm PDA without ever looking back.

He goes into some detail about the habits the new system was forcing him to adopt, against his better judgement.

See Goodbye Planner Organizer, I Hardly Knew Ye.

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Changing Habits – Neatly and Simply

Neat and Simple is a blog well worth reading for those who are serious about 2Time or any other thinking around time management.

In this article on changing habits, the author (Ariane Benefit) delves into what it takes to overcome deeply ingrained habits, and to take on new ones. She identifies four different phases an erstwhile habit breaker must go through:

  1. Initiation
  2. Disorientation
  3. Reorientation
  4. Integration

It’s just great thinking and writing.

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Voting ends on Friday (whew!)

In a prior post on September 20th, I mentioned that I had entered my proposal to write a new, hopefully revolutionary, manifesto on the skill of time management.

What I have neglected to mention is that it’s the most popular proposal of the 11 being offered up this month.

I have no idea what the threshold is to be asked to take the next step and “write a manifesto” but… if you haven’t voted, please do so.

The final date is Friday Oct 19th.

The title is “On Time Management: Toss Away the Tips, Focus on the Fundamentals”

Click here to be taken to the proposal.