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- [00:10]
A
So here we are at our skills lab and we're going to dive right in. Actually, I should introduce myself first. I'm John Forester and my colleague here is Ana Maria Gonzalez. Hi, Ana Maria.
- [00:23]
B
Hey, John. Let me know when I'm ready to start officially. Whenever you want.
- [00:29]
A
Okay, let's consider that we've started officially and I think most people know that I'm sort of managed GTD Connect, and some of them know you, some of them don't. So if you would say a quick word about where you are and who you are.
- [00:44]
B
Happy to. Okay, thank you. Well, thank you again, John, for inviting me to co facilitate this workshop with you. Thank you everyone for joining. I'm not sure what the group size is to be expected, but I can see we're a small group, which is wonderful because then it allows us more time to probably interact and engage with you and for you to engage with us. So I'm joining you from Colombia. I live in a city called Retiro, which is outside of Medellin, and that's where my home and home office are located. And don't know how much I need to tell you about me other than I've been with the David Allen Company for a good number of years, probably 22 or so years, and I've been teaching GTD one way or the other throughout these years. And I really love this small group engagements because I think it's a wonderful opportunity to see the value of getting things done and to be able to assist in helping you further install and implement this methodology, which, as you probably have discovered, it's never ending. Meaning that there's always probably a deeper layer that you can go for or a new subtlety that you will uncover. So I'm saying this for myself because regardless of the years that I've been on this path, I continue to see how it unfolds and how much more I can go deeper with it. So thank you and I hope you enjoyed this session today.
- [02:19]
A
Great. Thanks for that little introduction. So, one thing I'd like to say as far as the technical side of it, is with the chat window, we're going to ask you to interact in the chat window quite a bit during this webinar. So if you were looking for a chance to take a nap, we're going to be waking you regularly and we hope that when you chat you'll see an option there to chat with either hosts and panelists or everyone. We hope you'll choose everyone because that way everyone can learn from your answer your question. Your comment, whatever it is. So we'll start with our learning objectives. We've got three learning objectives here.
- [02:59]
B
Yeah. So why don't you just take a quick moment to read through these three learning objectives. I'll pause for a minute here. So, as John said, it's going to be a very interactive webinar, therefore the name, it's a skills lab. So we're going to be asking of you to pretty much demonstrate and learn. Just let's go back to the previous job. We're going to ask you to be interacting with us just to build up your skills in that way. Specifically, we're going to be looking at the Engage step. And two specific areas from Engage that we're going to focus on today are the threefold nature of work, the four criteria model for choosing action in the moment. So let's move to our first question here to get started and I'm going to ask you to give us the right answer, hopefully in the chat box related to what is the threefold nature of work. So you have four possible answers. So take a moment to read and pick your answer, please. And as soon as you know your answer, you can just go ahead and type in the chat box. And if you. Ideally you don't want to see what the answer is before you type yours.
- [04:07]
A
So far it's unanimous.
- [04:10]
B
I know so far it seems like everybody, it's getting the wrong answer.
- [04:17]
A
Don't worry. Anna Maria and I were going through a little planning session on this two days ago and we rearranged some of the later quizzes in this to make them more challenging because we just recognized that a lot of you have been around this, so we didn't want to make them too easy for you.
- [04:32]
B
This is the first one, so I think this was relatively an easy one, as you can see. So, yes, correct the categories of what we do as we go through our day. So we move over to the definition slide. Dawn, please. As we look at the threefold nature of work, we want to understand that on any given day you're going to be gravitating between three possible types of work, one should say, or three possible categories. One would be doing work previously defined or doing predefined work. You may have seen that in our literature, it's the same thing. It's basically working off your lists or working off your calendar. So whatever you had predefined as a result of having clarified and organized, then that would be one of the options that you have throughout your day. The second one would be doing unplanned work, or doing work as it appears, or just basically handling whatever shows up in that moment. There is most likely a percentage of your day where that's going to be the work that you are meant to do or supposed to do or should be doing. So it's not like somehow magically, because we have a list of predefined work which is number one, then somehow work as it appears, disappears it does it, it's part of the day for all of us. It's one of the categories that becomes available, let's put it that way for you. And then last is defining work, which as many of you know, it's basically getting your ends to empty or getting whatever you have, however many sources of in you have to empty, also known as your email inboxes, your IM messaging boxes, whether that's Team WhatsApp, Telegram, instant messenger, et cetera, and your paper entry, right amongst many. So basically defining work, it's investing the time, as we suggest, on a daily basis or every other day basis to get your in to empty through clarifying and organizing. So defining work is pretty much putting steps two and three of mastering your workflow to practice, because that's what you do. When you define work, when you empty your ins, you're clarifying and organizing. So there are three different options that you have throughout your day and probably some several times during the day. So this is not static. It's not like, okay, well I define my work, then I'm done, then I can do the other one. It's probably there's an element of dynamic steering that it's built into this because throughout your day you may find yourself moving from one to the other several times. Go ahead, John. I'm sorry.
- [07:34]
A
That's okay. On the doing unplanned work, I wanted to say that I'm aware of a one or more systems productivity approaches that say you shouldn't be doing any unplanned work. It all needs to be planned ahead of time. That's called a system of closed lists. So when you start your day to day, you'd have a closed list. You work off that during the day. And anything new that comes in, it never gets handled today. It's always after today. And that's, that's okay if that works for you. But what if somebody said, I'd like to hand you a winning lottery ticket today, and you said, nope, give it to someone else. I'm, I have my closed list for the day. So there's, there are limitations to trying to artificially Say, no, I'm not going to do any unplanned work. There are times when the best thing to do is unplanned, and there are plenty of times when the best thing to do is work. You already defined and know that that's the most important work.
- [08:34]
B
Well, I'm so glad I didn't learn their close list system because I think it's very unnatural to begin with because I don't know if there's a fire I'm going to run. I don't care how much there's on my list.
- [08:45]
A
Yeah, sorry, sorry. The fire alarm was not on my calendar or my to do list today.
- [08:51]
B
So, folks, you know, sometimes, and John and I were discussing this, you know, when we redoing unplanned work, I think it may mean something different than if we read doing work as it appears. So they're used interchangeably, if that helps you. Neither are John and I suggesting either that you only then do work as it appears. And at the same time, I don't know, because if your job is one where it's expected of you to respond to work as it shows up, then that is the right thing to be doing. So there's more complexity to this than just saying do one versus the other or only do one or spend this much time on one or the other one. It would be very responsible for John and I to say that because it's really going to be closely tied to what's your job. And I think someone typed something. I wasn't able to read it. John, there's something in the chat box here.
- [09:52]
A
Yeah, Somebody commented that they get upset when something unplanned shows up. So this would be a paradigm shift.
- [09:59]
B
Well, all right, Rick, and I'm going to ask you a little more as soon as we finish this quiz. So let's take a moment to answer this statement. Whether it's true or false, the time that you allocate to each category in the threefold nature of work is divided equally. Wow, John, these were too many very easy questions. Or these people are an advanced group of gtders.
- [10:22]
A
Somebody broke into the answers last night, apparently.
- [10:25]
B
Yeah. Go back to previous. Back, back. Oops. John, Swingers are very quick. There we go. Stop. Beautiful. So, yes, correct. You all got the right answer. And I want to ask a little more and hopefully I'm pronouncing your name correctly. So I apologize if I'm not written one. I want to understand a little better. And I love that it's a paradigm shift for you, so thank you I just want to understand a little better why, and maybe this is asking too much from you, but when you say I do get upset when something unplanned shows up, do you mind sharing why? What's the source of the upsetness? Why would that. And maybe upset. It's a bit word. Why would that make you feel discomfort? Let's say. Oh yeah, so you can answer on the chat box or. I don't know, Don, if there's a possibility to open mics here or.
- [11:20]
A
No, let me look at that and see
- [11:26]
B
because this could be a helpful discussion for all as we understand why are we disturbed by unplanned work if we are.
- [11:36]
A
Okay, Ridwan, I think you can talk now if you. If you want to and find the chat, use it in the chat box instead.
- [11:42]
B
Thank you.
- [11:45]
C
Yeah, I think you hear perfectly. Hear me? Yep. All right, Brilliant. So basically, you know, like, I like, I work in a sales environment so, you know, like, you know, but I actually like start my day. I tried to, you know, like plan out. Like I wanted to achieve, you know, certain sort of outcomes or you know, like packages of work to do. But when, like, you know, like when we have got some urgent thing that's actually not totally unplanned, it kind of, you know, like messes up my pre. Agreed. Sort of, you know, like, you know, like, you know, like next action list or like outcomes for the day. So it kind of upsets me and then like I had to really go back to the people and like, you know, renegotiate everything. But I don't leave this sort of, you know, like this sort of like buffer, sort of, you know, like buffer space to like, do these sort of, you know, like unplanned work. I think like now I'm going to be really incorporating it into my schedule, I suppose.
- [12:44]
B
Yeah, yeah, very smart, very smart. I mean, to always have that buffer with one. I mean, they say that if we schedule ourselves for more than 40% of our time, we're going to start falling behind on either doing work as it appears or defining work. So it's very smart to always have some windows of opportunity or open space or let us. Another way of thinking, let's not be so hopeful or ambitious of how much we can get done on any given day because there is for sure going to show up stuff that we didn't plan for. And sometimes that stuff that shows up, yes, it could just be an annoying interruption from someone else's disorganization. I understand. Or it could be something really valuable, important. Wonderful to engage with. That actually adds even more value than anything else on my list. So not just because it shows up, it requires my response. Unless it does, or not just because it shows up, it should disturb me. I don't know if you've heard from David when David says there are no interruptions, there are only mismanaged inputs, which basically means we are the ones to determine if I'm going to open the door to that interruption or not, because I can also park it on my entry or in my inbox, let it sit there until I take the time to define work again, and then it gets clarified and organized into my system. So I think it's a very smart idea that you're getting that moment of, you know, hey, here's a paradigm shift for me, and let me give a buffer, and let me understand that just because it's unexpected doesn't mean it has to be negative. It could be a very positive thing.
- [14:29]
A
All right, well, shall I move on to the next one, then?
- [14:31]
B
Yes, thank you, great one. Okay, so I think we have another question here. Maybe I gave away the answer, Don. I'm sorry. So sometimes unplanned work is higher priority.
- [14:48]
A
I have a quick story about this one. It looks like, okay, we've got a false. No, just kidding. Like, everybody knows that unplanned work can be a higher priority. A number of years ago, a long number of years ago, in the middle of an afternoon.
- [15:07]
B
Like 40 years ago, John. Like 40 years.
- [15:09]
A
Not that long. Not that long, precisely. It was about 18 years ago. I got a call in the middle of the afternoon, and it was David Allen's wife, Catherine. And she said, do you want to come to dinner with us tonight? We're flying back into Los Angeles. We'll meet you at this restaurant. So I hadn't planned that. It wasn't on my schedule. And in fact, it did interfere with some things that were on my schedule, because to get across Los Angeles at rush hour traffic for dinner takes at least an hour and a half. So I had to stop doing some stuff that I had planned to do, But I don't get to see them that often. So I went ahead and did it, drove across town. They offered me a job. None of that was on my schedule. None of that was planned. I hadn't. There was nothing in there that was anything other than an entirely pleasant surprise. And here I am today. I mean, I'd known both of them for many years before that, but that was completely unplanned. And you can see it changed my Life in a wonderful way for years after that. So unplanned work can often be a higher priority. It's always up to us to decide whether it is or not. I could have said no to them, but as far as I'm concerned, that was sort of like saying no to that. Here's a potentially winning lottery ticket.
- [16:29]
B
Very much so. So let me just comment on something else, John, that you made me think, and I think I was perhaps I'm thinking this for the first time, so I apologize if it doesn't come through as clear as I'm seeing it in my mind. In John's example, he didn't know the purpose for the invitation. He didn't know what the topic was. He just accepted it and was able to change things around and make it. However, here's a thought. How would you know if the unplanned work or whatever, this new input that just showed up in your life, how would you know it's higher priority compared to everything else if you don't have everything else? So here's a very important aspect I think, for us to understand, which John, you made me think when you were saying, I looked at my calendar and it sort of, you know, there were other things that had to move around, what have you to make it through LA because it's rush hour, etc. That's why it's so important to keep your systems always up to date, complete and consistent. So remember, a system is not a system until it's current, complete and consistent. Because if a new source of input comes through and there is the, the known, let's say, topic for that, in John's case, it wasn't, but it comes in and now you know what it is. How can you evaluate that to determine it's a higher priority unless you have a complete inventory? So there are many subtleties here to understand. And sometimes because we, whether we like to hear these or not, do not have our systems complete, current and consistent. That's the source of our annoyance. That's what makes us feel the disturbance, or that's what makes us feel upset because it's a new thing, right? Yeah, but if I have something complete and then I can measure it against, it's a beautiful dance where I'm the one saying, take it, not take it, take it, not take it, put it through the clarifying and organizing pipeline, or not attend to it or just simply decline, it takes us back to that place of us being on the driver's seat and being the ones determine it 24,7 what we engage with or not.
- [18:55]
A
Yes. My way of saying that is I was able to say yes to dinner with David and Catherine because I knew what else I had said yes to already.
- [19:03]
B
Correct? Correct. So thank you, John. All right, so we're going to move into a couple of practice scenarios, and basically I'm going to give you a moment to read through this and of course, give us your answer in the chat box. So just take a moment to read, think about your answer, and give us your answer in the chat box. All right.
- [19:25]
A
Looks like most everybody has answered. And I saw only twos, except for Peters, which said, but it might involve doing a lot of three defining work for the patients.
- [19:41]
B
It could. Which then, Peter, if that was the case, would you think there's a conflict for this person when it comes to doing their job?
- [19:53]
A
Peter just unmuted you in case you want to answer that aloud instead of typing.
- [19:59]
D
Thanks, John. Am I coming through all right?
- [20:00]
A
Yes.
- [20:01]
B
Yes.
- [20:02]
D
Cool. Yeah, no, I don't think there's a conflict. I think primarily it does look like it's unplanned work because, yeah, you're just meant to be available for needy people to come at you and say, help me, I need something. It just occurred to me that it's probably going to exercise a lot of that part of your brain which is defining work, because you're probably needing to work out a lot of their needs and figuring out what to do with them at that point. So, yeah, I'd say the answer is two, but you're probably going to work a lot of that part of your brain that does three.
- [20:32]
B
Perhaps it could, Peter, and I agree with you. I would say that sometimes I've seen as we work with clients, that sometimes they're given jobs, that they're in conflict because. And that makes it for a very difficult situation, because imagine if this person is in charge of greeting and answering the phone, but at the same time, it's supposed to then be sort of coming up with some kind of working plan for the patient. So they're working on that when at the same time someone's showing up and then they cannot read that person, that could become a problem. If, on the other hand, as they answer the phone or they greet the person, they have good GTD practices in place. They can always then make a note of that. Right. Adding to their entry, and then at a later time, either before open phase hours or after, then that is their opportunity for defined work. But I could potentially see a complaint if they're pretending to define work as they're trying to do work as it appears because both cannot be happening at a distance, same time.
- [21:37]
A
Yeah.
- [21:38]
D
You certainly don't want it slowing it down.
- [21:39]
B
Yeah, right. Yep. Okay, thank you.
- [21:42]
A
The other thing that occurred to me is this ties in with what Ridwan was saying a few minutes ago about working in sales. I look at somebody at the front desk of say a doctor's office as being involved in sales.
- [21:55]
B
Yes.
- [21:55]
A
If that person as the face of the health practitioner's office is discouraging customers or anything like that, that's kind of anti sales. So I want this person to be just happy as possible to be assisting people with their next appointment and checking in for their current appointment and all
- [22:15]
B
that and fully present. So anyone on a sales role or a client interface role, the more present they are, I'm sure the better job they'll do and the happier the customers are. So being present is one of the promises of getting things done right. But it doesn't come for free. It's the result of capturing, clarifying, organizing, reflecting and engaging. Okay, so let's move on to the. Hopefully this is a more difficult one. John, please show the next practice area.
- [22:44]
A
Okay.
- [22:45]
B
Okay guys, so take a moment to read and give us your answer, please. I think there. Yeah, we have a couple of more answers maybe. Yeah, we're good.
- [22:56]
A
The correct answer is the sum of all three divided by the square root of the second one to the fourth power.
- [23:04]
B
Oh my God, you just sounded like a professor when we used to learn this stuff. Do you want to comment on this one, John?
- [23:14]
A
My comment is that we need to make the harder questions even harder because you all got it. And this one we think is a little more nuanced because. Yes, that there is one obvious answer which is defining work. Arita is to be setting strategy and that's kind of long term planning for her whole team. So defining work is going to be a big part of her job, but she's also going to need to be available to do unplanned work. Her team will need to come to her and say this thing showed up. How does this affect our strategy? This showed up. Does this affect the timing? So we think she will also need to be allowing for a fair amount of unplanned work.
- [23:57]
B
Yeah, so it's a bit of the opposite, Peter, to the previous one. The previous one main focus was doing work as it appears. Right. The person at the doctor's office with potentially some spending some time defining work before or after, but not as she's doing the other job. Or he's doing the other job. In this case for the senior manager, Haritha, her main focus is, as John was saying, but also some percentage for being available to her team. So as Ritwan was saying as well, that buffer, leaving that buffer is very important regardless, particularly in a situation where you are the leader of a team. If they need you, you have to be available to them, otherwise you won't be doing your job.
- [24:43]
A
So that could be somebody like a sales manager in Ridwan's case, who may not be doing as much direct selling, may not have the same responsibility for hitting the same number as Ridone has. But if, if that person isn't available, when Ridwan says, I need to ask you about this or I need your help with, with what to do to tailor something to make this sale, if that person's not available, then it affects the whole team.
- [25:10]
B
Correct. Become a, it can, it can easily become a bottleneck. Yeah. Okay, guys, so we're going to take a moment now. This is going to be self reflection. You don't really need to share these answers with us. And I'm going to give you a couple of minutes to think through this. And I would love for you to think through this from a higher perspective, as in from horizon two, from that place where you know what your areas of focus and accountability are. In other words, given your job, given your role, on a scale of 1 to 10, how well are you balancing the threefold nature of work? Remember, it's doing work previously defined or doing predefined work, doing unplanned work or doing work as it appears. And last, defining work, which is clarifying and organizing. So give yourself a number. Just rate yourself understanding, giving. What's your job? How well are you then balancing the threefold nature of work? Obviously 10 being you're a superstar and one being you need to, you know, I don't know, revisit your job description because you forgot and you could look
- [26:20]
A
back on some recent days when you finished your day and did you feel good about how things went? Did you feel good about what you chose to work on during the day or did you say, oh, I was, I was responding to little fires all day long and it didn't really have a chance to get up and climb the fire tower, as David says.
- [26:40]
B
Okay, so now a second part to this self reflection activity is for you to think about and answer for yourself and you can show those questions. John, please, where, sorry, so here's one question. Where are you spending more time than you should? Again, given what's your job and what your areas of focus and accountability are. And there are exceptions. You know, maybe there's a day where you're only putting off fires. That's fine. You just don't want it to become a pattern unless you're a firefighter. So if there's a pattern, then where are you spending more time than you should? And another question is, where are you not spending enough time? I mean, you need to recalibrate, you need to reassign percentages of times. You need to be more consciously aware at what you're saying yes to and what you're not saying no to. And of course, you're welcome to share with us any of your insights and or self reflections. Okay, so I just want to ask by raise of hand, I think you all know how to raise your hand on Zoom, right? We've been doing this for two years now, so. So by raise of hand, I just want to know, raise your hand if you found that there is an opportunity for you to rethink how you're spending your time as a result of this self assessment. So just show me raise of hand if you found that there was an opportunity for you to change things around, improve.
- [28:09]
A
Yeah, we have lots of raised hands here.
- [28:13]
B
Why am I not seeing them?
- [28:15]
A
Do you have the list of participants?
- [28:18]
B
Yeah.
- [28:18]
A
Or just the chat? Okay, there you go. You'll see lots of hands.
- [28:21]
B
Beautiful. Great. So thank you so much. So you can lower your hands. So basically that lets us know that there was value in you taking a time to think. Think about this and going through this short, effective lecture around understanding the threefold nature of work. And then I'm just going to conclude that if you didn't raise your hand, it's probably because you're good. I mean, you're kind of. You feel that you're on a high scale when it comes to how you are balancing the threefold nature of work. Okay, now we're going to move into our second category here, or framework as we refer to in the Engage step, which is the four criteria model for choosing action in the moment. So which one is not an option when choosing what to do? And you have five possible answers. So tell us which one is not an option when choosing what to do. And remember to not look at the previous answers. When you answer this one is a
- [29:22]
A
bit more of a little trickier because the question is phrased as a negative. Which one is not an option? But I don't think we tricked anyone.
- [29:31]
B
I know it's very good. I'm very Happy to say this, yes, the correct answer is D time of day. That's not an option in our four criteria model for choosing what to do in the moment. It may still be, think about it, something that you may weave into or incorporate into when perhaps you're at deciding how to organize your calendar. I'm going to speak for myself. There are some activities that I know that I do better at a certain time of the day versus others but this me then scheduling that time for myself in the calendar only comes after. Right. I have pondered upon everything else, context, time, available energy, etc. Or better said I think time of day, it's an element that one can certainly or criteria factor that one can certainly use for calendar time it won't necessarily be for your next actions list but for calendar time there might be some things you go look, I do so much better when I schedule meetings in the mornings or I do so much better when I do review of materials in the mornings versus the afternoons et cetera. So time of day could be an element for calendar.
- [30:57]
A
Yeah and for I was just noticing a couple of the comments that had to do with time of day can also tie in with say time of day would be connected with resources as in energy level. And I think of that in two ways. One is what's my energy level? And if I'm communicating with someone else what's the other person's energy level? There are, there are definitely times of day when it's better not to ask me some complicated question that involves making a decision and long term planning. It's before the first coffee and say after 10 o' clock at night you'll get a different answer than if you ask me right now at this time of day and I think the same is true for other people. We, our small team here, we work in very different time zones so we, we know that there are certain times I don't, I don't try to get David or Catherine to answer when it's after midnight their time or, or my colleague Anne on the east, the west coast of the U.S. i don't try to get her to answer me at six in the morning because I just know she's not quite in that frame of mind yet.
- [32:09]
B
Yes, I would say Alan, that one could think time of day as a subset of energy, of resources more so than Peter. A subset of time available perhaps. But here's why this question is even trickier because the second part to it says when choosing what to do often what's on your calendar really doesn't have an option for choosing. It has to happen. That's why it's on your calendar. So for me, time of day is certainly an element I use for calendar, like exercising. I do so much better when I exercise in the morning. So for me that's a criteria than if I do it in the afternoon. But if it's in my calendar, it's not like, oh, let me see what from a calendar, am I going to choose what to do or not do? No, if it's there, it happens. That's what goes on the calendar. Right. Time specific actions, day specific actions or day specific information. There was another trickier aspect to this question.
- [33:07]
A
Ready for me to move along?
- [33:09]
B
Yes. Basically what we want to understand is that in this framework, the four criteria model for choosing actions in the moment. Basically it's a model that helps you make action choices based on the following four criteria. Right. And they come in context, time, available resources and or energy. Sometimes people refer to it last priority. So these are the four criteria that you're limited by. One should say when choosing what to do on a moment to moment basis. So with that understanding, let us go into a discussion here and let me ask you the following question and you can move on to the next slide. Why do you think context comes first as a limitation? So in the four criteria model that comes in order, context is the first one. Right. So why do you think that's the first limitation? Correct, Alan? Because basically you know you're limited by where your body is. Yes, I would love to be shopping cheese in Amsterdam, but I happen to be in Retiro Colombia, so maybe I My option for chop shopping for cheese is not going to happen. I'm limited by where my body is first, always. Unless of course I move my body. But that's always the first limitation. You can think of context as in what can I do given where my body is? And then what's the benefit of organizing your lists by context?
- [34:48]
A
I'm going to point out that the answers we got were terrific. They showed that everybody understands that if you can't do something right now, if you're just not in that context, then you're only annoying yourself if you see a bunch of options for other contexts that you're not in. So good on all of you for that.
- [35:07]
B
It's a way of narrowing your options. The way of giving yourself a filter
- [35:12]
A
or as Alan said, a focus. Yeah.
- [35:15]
B
So that you only see what you're able to do. What's the. It's not very productive to look at reminders of things that you cannot do. So this just gives you the options of what you can do. I just want to go back quickly here. John, give me a sec. To a comment, Peter, that you were saying on the calendar when I was saying time of day. Thank you. Thank you. Okay, so I think we're good, right, John?
- [35:48]
A
All right, so thank you all, and this has been a very rich discussion.
- [35:53]
B
Take care, everyone. Bye. Bye. All right, thank you, John.
- [35:56]
A
Bye.