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Today’s post is from Mike St. Pierre of The Daily Saint

An absolute GTD core principle is to write things down.  “Capturing” your thoughts on paper (or via computer, voice recorder, etc.)  I’ve found that it’s too easy to let thoughts build up, each time under the guise of something like, “I’m sure I’ll remember that later.”  Unfortunately, that gem of  a thought rarely comes back home.  That’s why writing things down makes so much sense.

Check out Laura Stack’s article about the capture habit.  Worth a quick read.

If you found this post useful, please share it with your friends on Twitter using the tinylink http://tinyurl.com/de47l8. Thanks, I appreciate it! Feel free to comment below, I enjoy discussing these ideas. ~@Stephen

Today’s post is from Mike St. Pierre of The Daily Saint: Exploring the Spiritual Side of Work

I fear that Penelope Trunk is missing out on something. In case you don’t know her she is the author of Brazen Careerist, a thoughtful blog that is all about work and life. She’s intense, smart and very much to-the-point. So much so that some people love her stuff and others…well, you get the point.

I don’t always agree with Penelope but she speaks from the heart and does offer some truly brilliant career advice. This post of hers bothers me though.

She talks about parenting as difficult, occasionally boring and often unsatisfying. She cites evidence of this that she says backs her up.

The Missing Link

What I think Penelope is missing is a sense of contemplation. Contemplation cannot be easily measured just as parenting cannot be summed up in a Harvard Business Review article. I know of no metric that calibrates one’s contemplative(ness). Just as it is intuitive that a mom-dad family unit makes the most sense for kids, being a contemplative parent just seems right.  When you develop a pattern of screaming at your kids, you know deep down that there’s something that’s “off” about what’s going on.

I’ve witnessed three child births and while I did not have the “religious experience” that I’ve heard others dads speak of (I was much too nervous for that!), it was nothing short of mind-blowing. To later hold your child and have him/her stare back at you, no blinking necessary, is nothing short of incredible.

Ordinary and Contemplative Moments

Most nights, I will just wash up and go to bed but occasionally, I’m reminded of the treasures that await as I walk upstairs to the children’s rooms. I watch them sleeping for just a few seconds and see the face of God.

As Mother Theresa described the poor as “God in his distressing disguise”, I wonder if parenting provides us with a string of contemplative moments. Moments that allow us to see the very presence of God in something as innocent as a child.

Contemplation is good. It’s been described as “the long, loving look at the real” and it can apply to nature, to one’s work or to the face of a child. It’s probably what each of us can use more of- more frequent loving looks at what really matters in life.  So, for Penelope and any other parent out there who feels stressed or out of place spending time with your kids, see it as a contemplative moment.

Sometimes contemplation is the most important “work” we can do.

GTD Spin

So what’s GTD got to do with parenting and contemplation?  I think it comes down to one word- focus.  When your attention is wholly on one thing at a time, you’re more likely to really crank at whatever you’re doing.  I believe that this ability to focus chunks of attention is a very contemplative habit.

Related Post

What You Can’t Expect from Email

If you found this post useful, please share it with your friends on Twitter using the tinylink http://tinyurl.com/cebrsp. Thanks, I appreciate it! Feel free to comment below, I enjoy discussing these ideas. ~@Stephen

Today’s post is from Mike St. Pierre of The Daily Saint

Email is for grownups.  There, I said it and now I’ll walk away.  Seriously though, for those of us who work with young people, texting is the preferred medium of communication, not email.  Facebook postings would be a close second.  As for email, many young people think of it as old school, “so 1990’s” they will tell you.

But as an adult, I rely on email to send documents, communicate on a number of levels and in general get things done.  There are however some things that you just can’t expect from email users…

1. That people check email as often as you. It’s frustrating for folks who check email often to communicate with those who don’t.  Don’t expect that everyone else has the same availability or even desire to check email as often as you might.
2. That email will be the norm for business communication within five years. With the power of Facebook posts, texting and Twittering, email just might become a thing of the past within the next few years.
3. That sending an email ensures that the recipient will read it when you want them to. It’s not enough to send something very early in the morning and then expect that your recipient either got it or had the time to read it an hour later.
4. That emailing is a habit more than anything else. Most of the people I know have poor email habits.  I can fall into this from time to time as well.  Joan checks it daily.  Bob every other day.  Cary lets it pile up and then blitzes her inbox once a month at best.  Just accept this and figure out best ways to communicate with people- email might not be their thing.

In a GTD world, email is a must.  From a human nature standpoint, the habit of email may need work.  Clearing out open loops (i.e. an in box) and negotiating the agreements that email may symbolize is clearly a GTD principle.

If you found this post useful, please share it with your friends on Twitter using the tinylink http://tinyurl.com/dkjlze. Thanks, I appreciate it! Feel free to comment below, I enjoy discussing these ideas. ~@Stephen

Today’s post is from Mike St. Pierre of The Daily Saint

His name is Bob and he’s a landscaper.  A super nice guy who works his tail off and has a beautiful home.  He also happens to be my neighbor.  What makes Bob more than a blog post is that he’s constantly working on his yard.  Cutting down trees,  trimming shrubs, planting grass.  Makes sense since he’s a professional.

Each year, I watch Bob ramp up in the Spring for what will be another round of yard projects and each year I fantasize about what it would be like to really Get Things Done in my own yard, which isn’t shabby in its own right.  As I watched him spread some grass seed yesterday while our family was sitting down for dinner, one thought crossed my mind…

Game on.

This year, I plan to use the GTD methodology to go from project plan to project done. I wrote 9 Ways to Take the Stress Out of House Repair for LifeHack and a quick review of that article is a good primer for anyone who owns a home and is trying to do some repairs.

For me, I’ll use the following (simple) system for this year’s projects:

1. List projects now and as they come into my head; put them in one place so it will be easy to find them.
2. Collect photos, ideas, etc. in two places.  In my journal, I’ll keep the master project list and insert clippings from the newspaper or magazines.  On my MAC, I’ll use Evernote for web clippings.  My iPhone version of Evernote will also come in handy.
3. I’ll then sketch out a tentative time frame for my projects, prioritizing them in a fluid way that allows for flexibility.  In other words, in the Spring, I’ll do X and in June, I’ll tackle Y.
4. I’ll also use some key dates as benchmarks.  My daughter’s first Communion party will be in May so that’s a good date to keep in mind.  July 4th weekend is also key as we’ll have folks over, etc.
5. Get it done. By not tackling four projects at one time, I’ll aim for one project from start to finish, then move on to the next one.

I’m thankful for my neighbor.  Without him, I might not have the motivation to do some home improvements that will ultimately make our yard more enjoyable.  How about you?  What’s your system for getting things done around the house?

Resources for the Road

GTD at Home: Your Family Can Get Things Done

Michael Sampson: Applying GTD at Home

Kelly Forrister: Building Your GTD House

If you found this post useful, please share it with your friends on Twitter using the tinylink http://tinyurl.com/c4dpvy. Thanks, I appreciate it! Feel free to comment below, I enjoy discussing these ideas. ~@Stephen