Neil Sattin.com

Lately my wife and I have been looking around at our mountains of “things to do” and feeling a bit overwhelmed.  Now we’ve (all of us – you included!) have already discussed a way of tackling the feeling of being overwhelmed with all the goals/tasks on the road to accomplishing your dreams.  But what do you do when the list of EVERYTHING that you need to get done in your life starts to add up and overwhelm you?  Do you have a system for managing the little things in your life, or do things literally pile up around your house until you have no choice but to do something about it (like, say, move away and leave it all behind)?  And how do you fit in everything, managing the stuff that you NEED to get done with the stuff that you absolutely WANT to get done?  And keep the bills paid?

I’m not even going to pretend that I have been able to execute perfectly in this regard.  Not even close.  It’s funny – awhile ago a friend of mine dubbed me “Action Man” – meaning that this person (a very action-oriented person in his own right) perceived me as someone who takes charge and gets things done.  And judging from the sheer number of things that I’ve managed to do in my life, I suppose that I have been successful.  But in my heart of hearts, I know that I should be able to figure out a way to keep the laundry from escalating to the point where it alters the gravitational pull of my corner of the universe BEFORE I put on my Action Man unitard and head out into the neighborhood. 

I’m good at accomplishing the BIG goals, but the little goals tend to fall by the wayside.  So what I’m after is a personal productivity method that helps keep the rest of my life manageable while I go after the big dreams.  I’ve already developed the vision of what that’d be like – how it would feel to live in a clean, well-organized life, where there’s nothing undone that nags at me for more than a day or two.  Can you feel it too? 

So over the past week or so I’ve been putting it out there as I talk to people, asking the question:  “Hey, how do YOU do it all?”  Most people that I ask have a tip or two, but judging by the expressions on people’s faces, I can tell that this is a pervasive problem that not many have solved.  Hope arrived, though, with an e-mail that I received a few days ago -

“I’ve been so productive the last week I am actually, no joke, shocking myself.” – Fred Antell

My friend Fred has apparently experienced a Eureka moment in the realm of personal productivity.  It comes in the form of an eBook called “Zen to Done”, which costs less than $10 ($9.50 to be exact) and aims, in its own words, to be the Ultimate Simple Productivity System.  The system was created by Leo Babauta of ZenHabits.net as an answer to the successful-but-overly-complicated GTD (getting things done) system by David Allen.  The eBook is a compilation of information on Leo’s blog (I’ve linked to his post on ZTD below) with some added resources, compiled into an easy-to-follow format.

Have I read it yet?  No!  I’m just sharing my enthusiasm with you, as I feel like it’s possible that I could have climbed to the top of an enormous mountain, with Shangri-La firmly in my sight in the valley below.  You CAN read more about the Zen to Done system on the ZenHabits blog to get a sense of whether the system has anything useful for you.  As I work through the system, I’ll let you know how it’s going.  From the reviews I’ve read (and my friend’s testimonial) I have high hopes.  I mean, if personal productivity can be revolutionized with a less-than-$10 investment, what could be better than that?

I definitely encourage you to check out more on ZenHabits.net.  Here’s a link for you if you want to buy the book - and when you’ve read it, I encourage you to keep us informed of how the book has helped you in your own quest for a simple personal productivity system.  Consider this to be the “pre-review” – because I will definitely keep you posted on how it’s going.  I’ll need to change my superhero costume, of course – to cover the little things as well.

The first snowstorm of the year is always exciting, especially when it arrives in the middle of the night, and we wake up to a world that looks totally different than it did mere hours before.  Then reality sets in:  how to MOVE all that snow?  That’s what I’m thinking about right now, as I type this post.  And I just realized that shoveling snow is about more than shoveling snow.  It’s about procrastination, and the way we wrestle with everything we want to accomplish in our lives.  Just as there are many different options for getting the snow off your driveway, there are many ways to overcome the influence of procrastination in your life.  Imagine that the “things you want to get done” in your life is like having a driveway full of that white stuff.  And more is coming down.  The beauty is that any way you approach it, you will clear your driveway.  Grab your earmuffs and read on (for a more direct discussion on overcoming procrastination, you can also check out this article by K. Stone on lifehack.org) !

1. Shovel each time the snow accumulates 4-6 inches.  You wake up in the morning, and there’s already nearly half a foot of snow on the ground.  The blizzard is underway.  You start thinking about shoveling now, but then you realize that by the time you’re done shoveling, the driveway will be covered with yet another layer of snow.  Perhaps you should just wait for the snow to stop?  On the other hand, it’s MUCH easier to move 6 inches of snow than it is to move 12 inches of snow.  Head out there and start shoveling!  So what if you have to shovel twice – at least you won’t throw your back out doing it!
2. Do something else.  Wait for the snow to stop.  Then shovel.  Oh, how I can relate to this one.  There are lots of pressing things that can be done, of course, while the snow is a-flying.  Remember that novel you bought two years ago, and that’s been sitting on the bookshelf, neglected and forlorn, ever since?  Grab it!  Read!  Plus, it’s so cozy inside.  Did you notice how much the bookshelf needs to be dusted too?  Be prepared to set aside some major time for shoveling later, when you actually have to get somewhere (or before guests arrive).  And make a call to your massage therapist for urgent backcare upon completion.
3. Shovel after every two inches.  You can shovel two inches in no time at all!  You run outside, clothed in cold-weather gear, and zip, zip, zip – snow is gone!  You barely even broke a sweat.  Rest up inside for an hour – do something else on your list – and then, once another two inches has fallen, the driveway is yours!  Rinse and repeat, until the storm is over. 
4. Buy a snowblower.  Who wants to mess around?  Spend some moolah – then wait ’til the storm has passed.  Your new snowblower might require fossil fuels, but ain’t it better to let some old dinosaur do the work for you?  Better yet, buy a plow truck!  Plow your driveway clean at your convenience.  I fantasize about having my own winter-time pickup, a clunker of a plow truck that gets the job done (and occasionally fetches plywood and sheetrock from the local lumber yard).
5. Hire someone else to do the work for you.  Time is money, after all.  Can’t you outsource your shoveling?  Of course you can!  You can spend your valuable time doing something else while someone else clears the driveway for you.  Just be prepared to have a clean driveway on their schedule, which might differ from your own.  Unless you pay even more moolah – which is always an option.
6. Park at the end of your driveway.  Shovel only what’s necessary.  You didn’t really need to park in your garage, did you?  And why shovel a long driveway, when all you need is enough room for your car?  Minimize the effort required, and in the meantime
7. Just wait for warm weather.  Or a snowblowin’ neighbor to take pity on you.  Or your partner to kick your ass.  After all, that snow WILL disappear all on its own, if you wait long enough, won’t it?  It might take “forever”, but eventually even forever comes to pass.

As you can see, all roads lead to Rome, a Rome that’s completely clear of all snowy obstacles.  You can take the long circuitous route, you can take the quick path, or you can just fly your own personal jet.  It all depends on how much time you really want to take, how much physical effort you want to expend, and how much money you have to throw at the situation.  Just choose your method consciously, and, in the case of a winter-time snowstorm, use your non-shoveling time wisely.  There’s lots of tea to drink, lots of books to read, and MANY shelves to be dusted.  Now off to shovel!  FYI – I’m going with option #1.