kangmi: learning korean

Tools for Concentration - Part II

Tools for Concentration - Part I

The second tool I’ve been using are the methods I’ve learned from David Allen’s Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity. Allen talks about “open loops,” which are:

...anything pulling at your attention that doesn’t belong where it is, the way it is. Open loops can include everything from really big to-do items like “End world hunger” to the more modest “Hire new assistant” to the tiniest task such as “Replace electric pencil sharpener.” (page 12)

All of these open loops are internal commitments, agreements you’ve made with yourself to do something about something. Part of the process is to collect all of those open loops in one place (every last one of them...even replacing that pencil sharperner), decide if you need to accept that commitment, what the successful outcome looks like, and then decide the “very next physical action required to move the situation forward.”(page 14)

How does GTD relate to my Korean language learning? First, with many of my commitments already defined, I have that much more space to concentrate. Second, whenever I’m studying and my mind wanders, I take a moment to write down the thing that made my mind wander. Then I go back to studying. When I’m done, I have a list. At least half the things don’t require any further action on my part...they’re just things that wander through my mind for no apparent reason. The rest of them do require some further action. I either complete the action right then, or process it into one of my collection systems (GTDese).

If you’re interested in learning how to apply GTD principles, the book is an excellent place to start.

This flowchart is a fairly complete nutshell of the book.

Some of the numerous online GTD resources are:

- The David Allen Company
- 43 Folders
- Open Loops

Covey was good. Allen is much better.

Posted by kangmi on May 23, 2005 at 2:01 AM1 comments