***Please note: This post is cross-posted to my new WordPress site, Executive Dysfunctions, which will be the home of my ADD-management work. This site will continue to be updated with posts related to my minimalist-inspired journey, but will likely be phased out over the next few months. Please follow me at the new place!***

In the realm of time management and productivity, I draw inspiration from several outside sources.  In terms of developing a consistent system, I have adapted some of my recommendations from David Allen’s Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity, an organization book geared toward business professionals that can be (mostly) translated to any and all areas of life.  Although it is definitely written from the perspective of a highly privileged, upper-class, able-bodied, educated, heterosexual, white American male, this book is an anomaly among mainstream organizing approaches in that many of its tools can be used by people with ADD and other executive function disorders.  

 
A keystone of David’s system - and my own, which incorporates tactics from other sources as well as my own special brain - is what he calls a Next Actions list and what I have dubbed a Next Steps list.  This is not the same as a to-do list, which for most people includes everything from two-minute actions like “Call for a hair appointment” to gargantuan undertakings like “Achieve world peace.”  A Next Steps list provides an easy reference for specific, actionable tasks - those which you can do, which will move you forward.  David’s explanation of this concept provided me a lightbulb moment as far as what wasn’t working in my attempts at time management - especially why it seemed that I could rarely accomplish much of what was on my to-do list.  In this aspect, people with and without AD/HD have a common problem: differentiating between “projects” and “actions.”  
 
For example, one cannot, in one fell swoop, “Find a better job.”  If that’s on your to-do list, chances are it’s been there for a while and frustrates you every time you see it.  You cannot “do” that item because it is a multistep process.  It is therefore pointless to put it on your list of actionable items.  In this example, “Find a better job” is a project, not an action.  In order to execute a project, you first have to break it down to its Fundamental First Step.  The process of doing so is often, itself, the Fundamental First Step — breaking things down is an action.  Its key question is “What has to happen first?”  and it looks something like this:
 

Big Picture: Find a Better Job

What has to happen first?

/   \ \

Interview for Jobs Update my resume  Search for Available Jobs

What has to happen before any of these can be done?

-> Determine what kind of new job I want

 -> A. Stay in current field 

-> B. Do something else

From here, my next action will vary, depending on whether I choose A or B:

-> (A) Update my resume

OR

-> (B) Brainstorm what “something else” entails (which breaks down into several other steps, but we will stop here for the purposes of this illustration)

And so forth.  For me, drawing this out mind-mapping style is more effective than typing it out; I encourage you to experiment and find your own method.  Please note: The point of this exercise is not to outline, in minute detail, every step in the process of reaching your goal (though it does provide a convenient overview of the stages you’ll go through).  The point is to find the Next Step you need to take to move toward your goal.  

So, key terms:

1. Project or Goal:  Any task that has more than one step (i.e., “Find a better job”)
2. Action or Step:  Any single-step, “do-able” task; always begins with a verb (i.e., “Call Bob for a reference,” “Review my resume”)
3. Fundamental First Step:  The action you must take toward a goal/project before any further actions can be taken.  (i.e., in order to “Find a better job,” you must first determine what kind of job you want; once you’ve determined that, you can do things like update your resume, browse Craigslist for available positions, etc.).
4. Next Step or Next Action:  Literally, the immediate, next step toward your goal; what must be done before anything else can occur. 

**The most important thing to understand about Next Steps - and everything we will talk about from here on out - is that they are self-perpetuating; in taking one, the step that comes after it will be revealed.**  

For example, when you call Bob for a reference, he may tell you that he heard of an opening at this great new web organization, or say something that brings to mind a key point for your resume. Even if nothing more than the intended reference comes out of the phone call, you have already broken down your goal enough to easily extract a Next Action from your brainstorming; this becomes more intuitive as time goes on (and, as we translate this concept into a system, you’ll have a master list to refer to when you feel “stuck”).

This means that almost as soon as you reframe your approach to the traditional “to-do” list, all the hours you used to spend painstakingly outlining your step-by-step plan of action will be completely unnecessary - a thought both scary and liberating.   Scary because you have to give up the (erroneous) idea that you can know and control exactly what will happen on the way to your goal; liberating because you will quickly find that you have a lot more time to devote to doing your goals rather than planning them.  

Disclaimer: This does not mean that you will not be thinking ahead or that you will be acting with reckless abandon - quite the opposite, in fact.  Planning and reviewing are key parts of the process of time management and goal-accomplishment - but ones that will take up very little of your time once your system is in place.

What is the Next Step you can take toward your current goal?

(Next post: An overview of the system.)

Minimalism has gone on the back burner as of late, due to a combination of a reading-heavy semester and some physical health issues that have impeded my typing abilities. Thus, the blog has been neglected. I apologize for the lapse and hope you all will bear with me until I get back to it regularly.

My major setback has involved problems with my joints, particularly in my hands and shoulders. After about two months of debilitating pain and mobility problems, a couple of blood tests, and a lot of frustration, I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia last week. Good news is that it’s not progressive and is treatable through minimal drug therapy and increased physical activity/yoga/stretching; bad news is they don’t know what causes it, so it’s not curable. The effects on my hands have meant that despite my better time management this semester, I still got behind in all my classes because typing was so unpleasant.

At any rate, I’m getting treated, already feeling better, and will return to regular blogging once the semester is over (first week of December).

Until then, a brief progress report:

*In terms of stuff, I have successfully located the one jacket to replace all six others, along with one pair of all-purpose boots and a pair of versatile athletic/casual shoes to replace my 10+ pairs. I’ve also begun gradually scanning photos and journals onto an external hard drive to keep what I want for posterity without the bulk of the physical items.

*In terms of time commitments, I’m still struggling with the inhibited executive function of time management that is part and parcel of my ADHD, but I’m getting much better. I’ve found and implemented some strategies that are helping on a micro-level at work, and am working on implementing them at the macro-level in life. I have pared down to 5 major commitments + 1 general category: Relationship w/ my fiancee, Care of my dog Jack, Work, School, and Youth Group advising; plus the general category of social interaction. I’m still trying to determine how physical well-being, maintenance of my home environment, and short-term projects/to-dos fit in all this - but I’m somehow managing to keep better (if not perfect) track of these than I ever have before!

In upcoming blog posts, I will share with you:

* My strategies for minimizing stuff and commitments without getting rid of that which you actually want
* Time management and organization strategies (what has and hasn’t worked)
* Applying minimalism at the office
* Applying minimalism in interpersonal relationships: how to improve and deepen your best connections by cutting the crap

Til December.

Namaste,

Steven
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