Cure 1 – Write everything down and achieve ‘mind like water’
Water reacts appropriately to what happens and gets back to a still, calm state.
1A – Write everything down
“I can’t forget to do X” – write it down. Can’t sleep?, someone/boss asks you to do something?, random idea in the shower? email needs to be followed up? write it down.
Write everything down. Your mind is for having ideas, not holding them.
This way, you don’t have to have the same thought twice, unless you like the thought. You’ll also avoid lying awake at night thinking about all the things you didn’t get done.
To keep the things you wrote down out of your mind, you also need a system you trust, and you have to…:
1B – Clarify and close loops – 3 step simple productivity system
- Capture – write everything down
- Clarify into next actions (must have a verb and doable in 4h. Not “cat” but instead “buy cat food”).
- Plan (optional) – select 3 Most Important Tasks (MITs) daily, and put it in your calendar
- Do – no distractions, no multitasking
By writing things down, you’re not committing to doing them. When clarifying, you can also trash, delegate, or file for reference. If it takes less than 2 minutes, just do the thing.
Reducing the number of open loops greatly reduces stress. Consider moving things to a “someday/maybe” list, and revisit them 1 year later.
1C – Reflect/think on paper
Mind sweep – take 30 mins to write down everything on your mind, using a trigger list.
Journaling – write down something you’re grateful for at the end of each day; write down your worries, detailing what can go wrong, and what you would do in that case; write down the highlight of your day to be told as a story later (storyworthy)
Morning pages (for creatives, and everyone is a creative) – write three pages of longhand, stream of consciousness writing, first thing in the morning
Plan out projects – for complex goals, use the natural planning process
Superpower – mind like water – no open loops, ready for anything
books: ZTD, GTD, Storyworthy, The artist’s way
Leo :) 