(last edited on April 29, 2014 at 1:25 am)
SUMMARY: After spending two days rationalizing myself into action, I get broadsided by a bunch of work-related phone calls and am derailed! However, by the end of the day I’m surprised once more at how just a tiny action can turn into something new and interesting.
I faced the mountain, and faced it some more. And then a host of other productivity-stealing demons descended:
- The Sudden Surge of Phone Calls and Emails – And these were related to work and other important personal things.
- The Business-Related Side Project – I got a question from someone about my design process, and realized that I probably should write it up. So that took a couple of hours. On the plus side, I have a new piece of content I can further develop.
- The Interminable Wait for a Conference Call – In one of my earlier phone conversations, I was told that I would get a call later. So I had to head home and wait in anticipation, which is a terrible way to stay focused.
This onslaught delayed my start by 8 hours, and I didn’t make it to the gym to do my cardio. However, I still looked at the mountain again, and experienced a small moment of clarity by making a decision that required little new thinking: I would start updating the forms in chronological order, starting with the Concrete Goals Tracker (CGT), to use an Open Font called DejaVu Sans. It’s one of the open source Unicode fonts, which means that it should allow people to localize the form data and not change the look as much. However, since the font is different, I have to relayout a lot of the form to make it fit.
Four hours later, I had the beginnings of an entire new design, which for fun I’m called series 2. The CGT is one of the oldest designs in the form repository, and it was in need of an update:
The old form is on the left. I’m getting rid of extraneous lines and relying more on implied grouping. I think I’m somewhat influenced by the Census forms I saw today at Starbucks lying on a table as well.
The new design isn’t done yet, because I’d like to add some instructions to the source files, providing tips on how to make edits and change fonts easily. I also can pack a little productivity theory in there as well, which might help a designer adapting the form for a specific use. Once I get that done, it will be on to creating the HTML web page and look into eJunkie to set up a download account. Then, it’s up to me to start creating more and more digital downloads for the library.
The path isn’t entirely clear, but as I walk down it I’m getting a sense of where it might go. So far, so good.
5 Comments
Thanks for sharing this new design, as my humble opinion, I find the new one clearer despite the bright blue total line which attracts too much attention. I also don’t really know what to do of the bottom half of the page in new design.
The new design is certainly clearer (although there are visual elements to the old one that I still enjoy). When you write about the redesign, would you mind discussing any changes that you think make the CGT function better?
I ask because I’ve been using a modified version of your 2008 CGT and would love to incorporate any tweaks you’ve discovered.
Hi Dave:
Ah the difficulties for us knowledge workers who have home offices and the need to structure ourselves, which is why you developed the CEOs to begin with. I procrastinated for almost a year on a chapter I ended up writing for a book on Pathological Altruism, to be published by Oxford U. Press. And everyone says its a great chapter. Truth is, I write in a flow state and don’t even know what I’ve written until later.
I too have been facing the mountain, riddled with indecision. But I think I am beginning to get it, I’m a writer and a psychologist. The Chief Editor at *Psychology Today* has been asking me to be one of their bloggers, using the regular commentary I put out on my listserv. I think I am going to do it, the editor says I can cross post; in other words send out things I wrote for my listserv, and I have brought in a colleague, a psychopharmacologist, Tom Lewis, who is quite brilliant, and neither of us would really do it without the other. And so it goes for my chapters, as well, I always write the first draft, then Tom hits the neuroscience, my statistician Jack goes over how we represent our research. Alone, I just would not do it. So I am back to knowing I need and want what you called co-conspirators, and I need and want to write. I write almost daily to my student listserv—which is no longer just for my students, its how the *Psychology Today* editor got on to me. And yet I hedge, balk. There is the mountain. I am studying Tibetan Buddhism for almost three years now—and for the moment it seems to be my main interest. I can hardly believe this is me. But on obligations I am faltering, procrastinating. I have a book I didn’t finish, I have research reports to write up and get out there, I have to finish the chapter going into a book published by Oxford Press.
You know, I think the buddhists are absolutely right. We live our lives in samsara, misery, because we always think we should be doing something else. Actually, I think the state of “samsara” is the state of denigrating what we do, and thinking we should do something more. We are, it seems, chronically dissatisfied. We always want more. Looks, lets jump over that mountain. Enough is enough. Let
Your frank, simple, and direct honesty moves me and resonates with me. When things get commercial I sort of freeze. As you know I teach doctoral students in clinical psychology, I do work,conduct research, and have a very small private practice. A few years ago I got a huge grant, intended to fund my research forever so to speak. I don’t give patients regular bills, sometimes I go six months without billing people. This has to stop. But I find the commercial aspects of my work incredibly tedious, boring and if there is one central characteristic of me is that I can’t stand boredom.
Keep writing, it is going somewhere. Likewise for me. I think I am going somewhere also, and it is always a relief to read your blog because standing between me and the path I want to go on, is that damned mountain. You don’t pretend for one second to have figured it all out, to have discovered a perfect way to do things and that is a really fascinating, compelling draw. Thanks for sharing your process. Now I think I have to go back to GTD, list everything from small tasks to monumental ambition.
Long winded again, your blog inspired me to reasond.
Lynn
I really like the new layout, especially the small vocabulary changes – “When is something worth doing?” was (and still is, in a way) a good way of prioritizing one’s activities. By changing the heading to “Suggested Best Practices for Freelancers” it takes on a whole new character – that of “these are some of the activities that one should be paying attention to” – automatically creating a new Context with which to categorize one’s tasks and activities for the day.
The way that I interpret it (YMMV) is that anything not on that list is technically not building your business, and you should be wary of spending time on it. Anything that does match that list is worth <b>investing<b> your time in.
Nice work.
Anthony: You’ll be happy to know I got rid of the bright blue at the bottom! :)
Christopher Harwood: There’s not much different, other than a respacing to work better with the font I’m using and a bit more labeling. The reason it’s changing is because I don’t expect people to run out and buy the Helvetica Neue type family, so I chose a font that should be available on all platforms. I’d prefer to find a good OpenType font, actually.
Lynn: Wow, I love this from what you wrote: You know, I think the buddhists are absolutely right. We live our lives in samsara, misery, because we always think we should be doing something else. Actually, I think the state of “samsara” is the state of denigrating what we do, and thinking we should do something more. That is really on the mark. And thanks for the encouragement…I really do look forward to meeting you someday!
Stephen: Yup, the new subhead there is looking forward to making a line of such sheets, each targeting a different area of endeavor, which is a combination of old thoughts and things we’ve discussed you’ll be happy to know :)