4 posts tagged “journal”

Chicken or the Egg

I received ‘Ready for Anything’ (RfA) as a belated birthday present from my sister. She saw it on my Amazon wish list. It proves that once it’s on a list, the mind can forget about it and go on to the next thing. This came as a surprise. I don’t remember putting it on the list. Earlier, I dismissed this book in a conversation with Jennifer George, who thoroughly analyzed the text. I’ve been wondering several points about this slim book. I want to make comparisons to it as investigations into the organization philosophy. This book was born after ‘Getting Things Done’. In the order of thing, ‘Ready for Anything’ is the egg. If I compare the two, Ready for Anything is the philosophy in which GTD is the systematic execution, a methodology. There are some 52 short sections, which can be read as or compare to Koan. At times they are like Koan, because of they are mysterious in nature. At times, it’s hard to understand without a through understanding, and systematic practice of GTD. At times, RfA is a ‘Cliffnote’, a synopsis for the real text. Even though it is written after GTD, I wonder if this could have been a prequel, a predecessor, a subconsciousness lurking underneath GTD. It acts as if an introduction to the systematic execution of a process. In some ways, I prefer RfA, as it is not as dogmatic as GTD nor is it as instructional. It is rather a pondering about a methodology, a pretense for the rigor which is spelled out in GTD. The marvel of it is that, as systematic as GTD is, people who have read it devised their own system. GTD methodology is flexible. Another book by David Allen could not have conjure up a better scheme. It is better to revisit the existing scheme with new eyes and perspectives. I think that this is what RfA does best.

Eastern Philosophy or emptiness….

Interestingly, the majority of the book is spent defending his theory against the ‘Priority Based’. This was and may still be the pervasive thinking. When I was a ‘Franklin Covey’ (FC) guy, I didn’t prioritize my tasks either. In Eastern Philosophy, we are taught not to look at the duality of good or evil. Thus, prioritizing seems to pass on a judgment. I struggle with the goals and mission statements. Because at the time, I concentrate on the moment, the present. Again, this is a Zen philosophy. The other is the notion of Emptiness, which relates to Feng Shui. It is an idea that if your mind is empty it can receive insights. If your channels of energy is clear, more energy will flow. I would say that the majority of GTD philosophy is based on Easter Philosophy. David’s analogue to the ‘Mind like water’ is a zen practice. Stephen Smith has caught on to this and have found quotations from ‘The Book of Five Rings’ which matches David’s thinking. In RfA, much of the quotations are peppered along the margin. I find these quotes match well with the text and marvel at how David has found them to seamlessly illustrate his point.

52 card pick up

Strangely enough, the number 52 made me think of Decks of Cards. Because GTD has been adapted into the Hpda, index size, I wonder if the whole book can be squeezed down into this playing card version. Each sections can be on a card, maybe in a form of a Haiku: Collect, Process, Organize,/Review, Do (it). I think Jenifer George is right in saying that the chapters don’t relate or appear to be in any particular order. True to the form of non- prioritization, this book can function well as a shuffle deck of card. There is a theory of randomness and chance and organized chaos. This is where we step into the new age territory.

digg story

thesimpledollar.com/2007/06/03/review-ready-for-anything/

tags: ready for anything, david allen, gtd, productivity, philosophy, organization

To ease the pain of Manic Mondays, I received from Isaac Childs, the founder and designer of Rustico a beautifully hand written note and the Traveller’s Journal! The book arrived in shrink wrap to protect the leather. I will have to photograph and post . There are 5 signatures of hand torn deckle edge papers. The deckle edges alternate between signatures in a little dance to create a fluffy feeling when one ruffles through the pages, and the little bits of torn paper floats down like the clouds of a dream. A signature is a stack of paper folded in half. There are eight pages folded in-half to make a signature. There are 80 pages in 5 signatures making it a total of 160 pages per journal. On the spine one can see the threads (more like sinews) that binds, sews these signatures together. Because of the flexible but sturdy spine, writing on the (VERSO) left hand side of the book is pleasant. It can be laid flat, unlike the stiff bindings of thick books. There is not a drop of glue. This is a unique feature, as most books hide the way it is bound. It is like looking into the workings of a transparent clock. You can also request your name or logo to be laser engraved any where you want. The back of the journal has the Rustico brand and a proud ‘Made in USA’, ah that should be ‘Hand-Made’. The look and feel is rugged masculinity, something that would feel at home in Indiana Jones’s hands while he travels to recover the relics. It has a feel of something made by the hand of some fine craftsmanship. There seems to be a welcoming emptiness to be filled with clippings, pasting, of maps and the meaningful detritus of life. Unlike most books, the pages are not pressed, compressed and flatten, lifeless. Between the covers, the porous pages can breath. It is the sort of book that one might find in the hands of Ralph Fiennes as the English Patient; reading to Hannah a quote from Herodotus, in the bombed out Italian Villa.

I was inspired to find some quotes to write in the journal:

“All men’s gains are the fruit of venturing” - Herodotus

“Hoard moments that can be held in the hand and examined later, like found stones” - Alexander Johnson, ‘Leaving a Trace’

flickr.com/photos/ducly/tags/rustico/

tags: Rustico, Rustico leather journal, travellers journal,