7Breaths

We all know how important having goals are and I'm sure many of us have got into the habit of writing our goals down to help ensure success. I've been doing this since reading Unlimited Power by Anthony Robbins, where he quotes a study -
In 1953, researchers surveyed Yale's graduating seniors to determine how many of them had specific, written goals for their future. The answer: 3%. Twenty years later, researchers polled the surviving members of the Class of 1953 -- and found that the 3% with goals had accumulated more personal financial wealth than the other 97% of the class combined.

Seems great - and so simple, unfortunately it appears this study has never been done! Fast Company has a great article about it, as does Positive Psychology.

I'm not sure where this leaves me and my goals, intuitively I feel having written goals does help - but again where is this evidence for this?

I've been involved recently in an interesting discussion with Stephen over at HDBizBlog, regarding the time it takes to establish a new habit. The accepted wisdom is it takes 21 days - but researching into this has revealed some interesting points. The full discussion can be found here & here. The main points are:

Maxwell Maltz wrote a book in 1960 called Psycho-Cybernetics. It was in this book that the idea of 21 days first arose.

All other sources quote this book as proof of the 21 day time frame.

The book seems to offer no firm scientific evidence that it takes 21 days to establish a new habit - just the authors empirical observations.

So a whole raft of self help literature all quote a single source from over 40 years ago, a source that does not seem scientifically based. Is this something we should be accepting when trying to change our habits?

Don't always accept conventional wisdom - do your own research. If your habit takes longer to establish you are not a failure - some habits can take longer depending on a multitude of factors.

More on habits later...

I've been tagged by Stephen over at HD BizBlog with the latest GTD meme - What's Your Killer GTD set up- which has been started by the Getting Things Done blog.

Man, have I tried to nail down the killer GTD setup. For ages I checked out each and every new GTD app out there. Eventually I came to realise that you will never find the perfect GTD application - what you need is a perfect GTD mindset . Once you are truly "doing GTD" anything you choose will become a killer app. So I have stopped searching, got on with my system and began getting things done. With this in mind here is what I currently do.


Tools:

Microsoft OneNote
SPV m600 Phone running Microsoft Windows Mobile 5
Microsoft Outlook


System:

OneNote setup is the cornerstone of my home GTD system, tracking my projects, next actions and keeping a tab on all my reference material. It also acts as my daily journal. I've blogged in detail about my OneNote System here.

If I'm working at home OneNote is always open so things go in there straight away.
I find these days that I always have my mobile phone with me - this acts as the perfect capture tool when I am out and about. I can either use it to write quick notes, make voice notes or take a photograph of something. All of this information can then be quickly transferred into my OneNote system when I return home. I use Outlook for contacts and calendar information and using the phone allows me to have all this to hand where ever I am negating the need for web based services. I have just got hold of a copy of Outlook 2007 and am exploiting its very tight integration with OneNote to further manage my to do items and reminders.

Any paper based items are scanned in, transferred to OneNote and processed like any other item, with the original document being filed away. I don't use a tickler file as I tend not to have any physical objects to put in it - any reminders I need are place in Outlook.

Application:


Each morning I rise with enough time to review my days commitments, plan what projects I want to move forward and then select my 3 Most Important Tasks.
During the day I collect anything that comes to my attention and then process it at the end of the day. I set aside a little time to review my day and preview the coming days plan of action.
I use the weekly review to maintain the system and also look at higher levels of focus, checking I am still moving towards my goals. It is so true - "if you are not doing the weekly review you are not doing GTD".

Benefits:


It's the focus and clarity GTD brings to planning which makes it so useful. Collecting everything and then moving it through the workflow allows me to know my commitments and make decisions on what I should be concentrating on and just as importantly what I should NOT be doing.





Well that's my set up - I think I'll tag Greywolf

Just a short post with the links to all my OneNote GTD series .

[Edit 21/6/07 - I have upgraded to Outlook 2007, I'm currently intergrating this into my system so stay tuned for developments]

Set up
Collection
Processing
Organise
Screen shots
Deferred Items
email and Outlook
Out and About