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Unfinished Business - and death by a thousand cuts
23/01/2010
I'm thinking of rebranding the manual for 'Taking Control of Your Time' as 'Unfinished Business - How to Take Control of Your Time'. Why? Simply because I think the sense of 'unfinished business' is at the very heart of the process. When we have endless 'open loops' (as David Allen calls them in his process), we have this all pervasive nagging sense of unease over all the unfinished business we have yet to deal with. This makes it virtually impossible to relax, and place the elusive 'Flow-state' of productivity beyond our reach. Two parts of our psyche must be at peace: our Working Memory, cleared of RAM-based reminders, and our 'Other-than-conscious-mind' with a sense of discomfort over tasks and promises, commitments and intentions left undone.
By RAM in Working Memory, I mean that all-too-fragile capacity to hold 7+/-2 points of focus in our multi-tasking mind at any one time. Keeping this clear through the use of the lists and other memory management tools allows us to apply the full power of our mental processing to the single focus before us. We even praise the concept of being 'single-minded' when it comes to fulfilling a goal or mission. We can clear RAM through the use of the right systems. We can Feng Shui our minds!
Having great systems in place also reassures the more emotional psyche that simmers below-the-threshold-of-consciousness. The systems (when used!) say clearly that not only is there a place for everything, but also that there will indeed be a time for everything, and everything will be dealt with in its time.
We will thus move from a dreadful sense of 'Unfinished Business' to a motivating sense of 'Business doing well'.
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