An entire industry has been built around the concept of personal management and productivity. The best known of these experts is probably David Allen and his Getting Things Done system. David’s books and system have been very helpful in my own life and I always try to recommend his work to anyone who seems to be drowning in their own commitments and responsibilities. There are countless other gurus out there who do the same thing as David Allen– helping people organize and manage their work and daily lives in the most effective way possible. These individuals are doing beneficial work and I applaud them, but, I think that sometimes the whole process is over-complicated.

At the very core, a personal management system is supposed to help you decide what to do and when to do it. In Getting Things Done the workflow is centered around project lists that each have discrete next action steps that keep them moving toward completion. Each next action has a context assigned to it that should help you decide what to work on based upon where you are located. For example, you can look at your @office list while you are at work and not be distracted by those things you can only do at home or at the grocery store. Additionally, there are weekly reviews and a whole GTD workflow that must be memorized and executed. While extremely effective if done correctly, it can also be very complicated. Some, such as Leo Babauta, have tried to simplify the entire process. Leo took the GTD system and created his own take on it called Zen to Done (affiliate link). I highly recommend this ebook as I think it does a great job taking the core principles out of GTD and stripping away all the ancillary fluff.

However, I think all task management systems can be broken down into one sentence. Are you ready?

Do what is weighing on you most, most of the time.

That’s it. We all know at some level what is causing us the most psychological discomfort in terms of our work. Whatever that is nagging at the back of your mind when you are sitting in front of your computer or walk into your office is quite often the thing that you need to get done most urgently. For me, writing these articles is what is usually gnawing at my subconscious. It’s the very core activity to keeping this blog going and when I have finished a writing session I feel a burden lifted off my shoulders. It’s not because this is a particularly onerous task– in fact, I quite like writing these articles. It’s not even that these are the most urgent in terms of deadline. I’m scheduled several weeks in advance so my blog will not shutdown if I don’t write this article today. It’s just that I know this is what I’m supposed to be doing. This is what drives my blog forward and this is what drives my own intellectual curiosity and sense of accomplishment forward. The more I write the better I feel.

If you aren’t sure what you need to do and are drowning in your work, take a second to be still. Close your eyes and decide what would feel the best to have completed. When you’ve decided what that project is, make the next thing you work on be something to make that your reality. You might not finish it, but even taking small steps toward it’s completion can lift that mental weight a little bit. Chances are the reason an activity is causing you stress is because you know that it’s important and that you have to get it done.

Just remember, at the end of the day after you’ve made all your to-do lists and project lists and mind maps and brainstorms and outlines and meetings and conference calls you still need to actually DO something.

Do what is weighing on you most, most of the time. It doesn’t get much simpler than that.

Photo by macmuc

Today’s post is brought to you by my good friend Glenn. You may remember that he wrote a guest post for me back in the early part of February titled, “How Much is Too Much?” He currently writes for his personal blog Right After Left in which he explores many different facets of entertainment, business, and life in general. In today’s post, Glenn talks about the importance of documenting your opinions on various issues. I’ve mentioned before that I think a key component to living a simple life is being able to think for oneself. Formulating your own opinions and take on the world is crucial to being an independent individual. I love Glenn’s approach and I hope you find it as useful as I did. I’m honored to have him post again today and I hope you consider following him on Twitter, checking out his blog, or following him on Buzz.

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Often times I find myself reading an article or listening to a news broadcast and then, three minutes later, I have partially (or completely) forgotten about it. If the topic is raised again, my brain will trigger a response of recognition, but I won’t really be able to recall what my thoughts on the topic were. I have begun to document and write down my thoughts and opinions when I take something in. It has paid off almost immediately in many ways.

Helps to formulate a base opinion

Most information outlets will proclaim their independence and neutral stance on stories. Try as they might, it is nearly impossible to report news without leaning in a direction (I see you Anderson Cooper!). Subtle as it might be, you will find yourself influenced by these forces if you casually take an interest. By forcing yourself to formulate in words your own take on the issues, an honest opinion will form. If you feel uncomfortable when you write out what you think, you might need to reconsider your stance. Or this may just reinforce what you had thought was your true opinion. You just want to avoid losing your voice and succumbing to prepackaged opinions.

Helps to set a mental agenda

What would happen if you watched CNN all day? Well, for one, you would drive yourself insane. But more importantly, you would walk away with a set of assumptions of what was important for the day. If you were to go all day without documenting your opinions, CNN’s programming lineup would become your own thoughts. If someone were to ask you if anything important happened, you would just recap what was on CNN. No longer are you answering for what you found important. You are letting infotainment dictate your thought priorities. By writing down your take on events throughout the day, you are forced to think about what is important to you. You take back the control.

Helps you process further developments

A passive thinker will hear hundreds of different stories a day. Some will catch their attention (Headline: Monkey Saves Town Mayor…I’m listening), others will not. What happens for most people when they are engaged by a story? They read the entire article or the listen to the whole broadcast. This is step one. Without any further progression they would be stuck with only a snapshot of the issue. For some reason, news sites are still lagging in the ability to track stories (with one new exception, Google News).

Think of a river. If you were to go to the beginning, the middle or the end of the river and snapped a picture, you would have some idea of the river itself. In no way, however, would you develop a real understanding the river as a whole. You need the entire picture . A single news article is much like the picture of the middle of the river. The story had its break somewhere, and it is going to continue to flow after you read the article. How confident are you in your ability to judge a topic by one snapshot?

Helps you remember more

Time and time again it has been proven that writing information down improves memory. If you really want to be able to recall the things you are reading and hearing, you are in better shape if you write them down.

Helps you track the progression of your thoughts

Do you feel the same way about taxes as you did seven years ago? How about a full decade? Did you support the Iraq War when it began? How do you feel about it now? Ideas change, opinions are a fluid concept ebbing and flowing with the addition of more information. Think about how interesting it would be to be able to pull back the curtain from your mind and see what you thought about the topics of the 1980s. It would be both fascinating and helpful. Some topics go decades between appearances in the news. Do you remember what you thought about the savings and loans crisis of the 1980s and 1990s? It would give you both a foundation for what you previously thought and a basis for moving forward.

How to do it?

All you need is something to write with and something to write on. Depending on your level of tech savvy, you can use a multitude of devices to record your ideas. Personally, I use Google Documents because of the search features it offers. It is the easiest way to track my thoughts, reorganize issues and add to topics. A pen and paper works just as well, if it makes you comfortable.

What do you use and how do you handle your opinions?

Photo by Nic’s events

As I said before, I will be including any ebook reviews with my weekly Simple Saturday Links post. Here are my thoughts on Tammy Strobel’s, Simply Car-Free. If you are uninterested in this review, please feel free to skip to the bottom for this week’s excellent links.

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On March 1st fellow blogger Tammy Strobel of Rowdy Kittens released her ebook entitled Simply Car-Free: How to Pedal Toward Financial Freedom and a Healthier Life. I was excited to read this book because of it’s very specific focus. Sometimes ebooks tend to take a very broad topic and dance along the surface without really getting into the meat of the ideas. By focusing her book on a very specific concept, Tammy is able to explore it to a much deeper extent.

Tammy’s book is full of practical tips and useful information for transitioning to a car-free (or car-lite) lifestyle. If you have thought about using a bicycle as your main form of transportation I highly recommend checking out this book. I know how to ride a bike but there is really so much more to living a car-free lifestyle than that. With chapters on “car-free grocery shopping,” “biking attire,” and “biking in the winter,” almost everything is covered.

My only gripe is that the entire premise behind this book is very, very reliant on living in a bike friendly area. I’m from Metro Detroit (Motor City) so obviously automobiles are basically the only serious choice for someone in my situation. However, Tammy does address the idea of going “car-lite” if car-free is not really an option. I appreciate the nod to those of us that would like to make the transition but are really prevented by means beyond our control.

You can pick up Tammy’s book through this affiliate link for $9.95 (first 500 purchasers).

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Here are this week’s Simple Saturday Links. Each week I pick out three of my favorite articles from across the web and share them with you guys. Sometimes they are articles that have inspired some of the writing on this site, sometimes they are something I found fascinating and sometimes I’m not really sure why I found them so compelling. Whatever my reason for choosing it, I guarantee it will be a good read.

far beyond the stars: the indispensable guide to timejacking your way to success– Everett hits the nail right on the head when he writes about the importance of harnessing our attention and focus into productive pursuits. This is something that I struggle with on a daily basis and yet provides the greatest amount of personal success when I can do it well.

the art of great things: the case for the low-risk start– This article struck a chord for me because it describes what I am currently doing. I’m taking steps to make this blog a source of passive income, but I haven’t completely removed my safety net. I still live at home with my parents and thus save a lot of money. I still substitute teach a couple days a week so I at least am guaranteed enough money to pay my minimal bills. If you’ve found entrepreneurship to be too scary in the past, I suggest you give this article a read.

right after left: quitting as the first step– My good friend from college, Glen (who has written guest posts here), has recently quit his job. He writes more about his decision in this very inspirational and insightful article. More and more people my age who are just finishing college seem to be making similar decisions. I think the age of putting in your time with a good company and retiring with some healthy benefits is not only no longer possible but is also no longer desirable.

As always, I’d love to get to know you via Twitter, Google Buzz, or even samspurlin AT gmail DOT com. Also, please consider getting automatic updates via RSS or email. Thanks!

Abraham Maslow was a psychologist that developed a theory known as the Maslow Hierarchy of Needs(see image to right). This theory describes what people must have in order to live a fulfilling life. At the very lowest level of his hierarchy are the very basic physiological needs of food, water, shelter, sex etc. Without first fulfilling these needs, a human cannot move forward toward a more complex existence. I wouldn’t be writing this article if I was starving and Leonardo da Vinci wouldn’t have painted the Mona Lisa if he was spending his time trying to find shelter.

As these basic needs are met people can start achieving bigger and better things. Each level of Maslow’s hierarchy must be attained before the next level can be reached. At the very tip of his pyramid is the pinnacle of human existence or self-actualization. This level is characterized by creativity, problem solving, spontaneity etc. In Maslow’s theory, this is what people are striving for and the more their prerequisite needs are met the more likely they are to achieve self-actualization.

Despite criticisms of Maslow’s actual theory, I think the concept can be applied to the process of simplification. I recently made the connection between Maslow’s theory and my own quest for a simpler life. At the very basic and broadest level of my simplicity hierarchy is the identification of values. I’ve written many times about how the whole point of simplifying must be something other than simplification for its own sake. For me, I am trying to live a simpler life so I can make decisions based on the values I think are important.

Once my values are articulated, the second level is physical decluttering of my space. Decluttering is a very basic activity that most people think of when they think about simplicity or minimalism. Of course, you could simplify without articulating your values first, but what’s the point? If you don’t know why you’re doing it I doubt your living space will stay very decluttered for long. Physical decluttering serves as a very important base for further simplification, but it is not the ultimate goal.

The next level is mental decluttering and the cultivation of attention/focus. I argue that mental decluttering cannot happen until physical decluttering is completed. In my own experience, it is nearly impossible to clear my head and focus when surrounded by chaos. This level is all about learning to harness our minds to focus on one thing at a time.

The fourth level is where we take our newfound mental clarity and strengthened focus and apply it to our passionate work and leisure. For me, it is coaching and writing. Whatever your “great work” is, this is the level in which you make strides toward achieving it. Passionate leisure may seem like an oxymoron but I see it as the cultivation of productive hobbies. There is no reason our leisure time cannot be as productive and beneficial as our passionate work while also being an outlet for relaxation and stress reduction.

Lastly, at the very tip of the simplicity hierarchy is “living a life driven by personal values.” When I first sat down and began planning this blog I wrote that I thought many people lived a life stuck on “autopilot.” Instead of examining their own values and passions, people allow themselves to be directed from one frivolous pursuit to another by advertisement and others’ values instead of their own. By identifying personal values, decluttering our physical space, decluttering our minds and cultivating our attention/focus, and then applying our attention/focus into passionate work and leisure we can live a fully actualized life. Instead of being stuck on autopilot we have our hands firmly on the controls of our own existence.

Image from Wikipedia