GCTD - How to get creative things in order: how to fit heavy mental work in a tight schedule
GCTD - Getting Creative Things Done.
It started a few weeks ago. I needed to write a research report, an important, ambiguous, difficult task was ahead. In the first week I repeated to myself that at the moment this is my most important task and addressed her as soon as possible. I constantly felt guilty for not having enough time to write a report. One night at the end of the week I locked myself in the office until 9 am, completely desperate to put things in order. The result of the work was practically useless. I got 15 pages of random text (a research report should be a maximum of 3-5 pages), and there was still much to cover. The work was confusing and "sinking" in adjectives.
This situation is quite typical for creative people with a list of "what to do (to-do)" - workers who are forced to combine creative work, such as writing works or thinking through strategies, with a routine, such as responses to emails and meetings. I am just such an employee. Being a theorist in the field of computing, I have to switch between finding mathematical evidence - one of the most creative processes, and the routine of reviewing articles and meetings with people involved in the allocation of grants. In order not to lose interest in the work, I also sometimes write.
')
So, the problem: “creative people with to-do lists” succeed in their careers depending on the quality of their creative result. Our routine duties, while hindering the achievement of this goal. Most of these people can not give up everything and spend days in the concentration of the hermit. Instead, as a result of compressed creative work under the pressure of deadlines, mediocrity comes out. The first draft of my research report is a vivid example.
However, fortunately, there is hope ...
Under pressure from the requirements of the Academy, according to which it is necessary to regularly publish the results of high-quality creative work in order to save the position, I developed a system. Paying tribute to David Allen, I called it “Getting Creative Things Done or GCTD”. This system allowed me to publish academic articles much more often, while writing three books and running a popular blog. And all this while doing the never ending routine work my job requires.
Most to-do list creators cannot abandon everything and spend days in the hermit's concentration.
For example, driven by the possible need to find a new job at the faculty, I did not use my system when I first plunged into a research report. After the failure of that first week, I stopped, took a deep breath, and allowed the magic of the GCTD system to take place. Three days later I had a beautiful finished draft.
In this article I want to explain how this system works. I will begin by describing what is required to produce high-quality creative work, then I will describe how the GCTD system integrates such requirements into a regular schedule.
What is needed for good creative work?
In his frequently cited article, “The Creator's Schedule, Manager's Schedule,” Paul Graham emphasizes the unique demands of creative work (the work being done by the “creator”, according to Graham's terminology).
He explains that the schedule of the creator is characterized by long segments of continuous work. For the creator, "one meeting can ruin the whole evening." Graham describes his own schedule of those times when he worked on a software start-up, as starting in the afternoon and lasting until three in the morning. He explains it simply: “no one could stop me at night”.
In the construction of Graham, I identified two rationales for the importance of long periods of continuous operation:
1. Switching between intelligent modes: When consciousness knows that interruptions do not loom ahead, it can switch to the “flow” state necessary to produce a high-quality result.
2. Ensuring the freedom of research: This creative work is not linear and often requires long, unforeseen wanderings in search of the outlines of the problem. Long periods of time provide the freedom you need to feel comfortable and enjoy these walks.
So, the problem standing in the way of creative people with to-do lists is that we don’t have enough time to include Graham long intervals in the schedule (even if we want to devote all day to one project, our bosses may think differently) . Based on this, the GCTD system is trying to transfer the two mentioned advantages of continuous work to a more realistic structure of the working day, taking into account routine tasks.
The GCTD system works as follows:
1. At the beginning of each week, one (maximum two) large creative projects are highlighted, which will receive your attention over the next five days. You can not resist the temptation to gradually promote a large amount of projects. Creative work is hard work. If you need a high-quality result, then you need to focus your strength.
2. Set aside time for projects on your calendar. The intervals of this time should be at least an hour long, and preferably from two to three. Highlight this watch according to your schedule for the week. However, it is further important to consider these intervals as well as other important events. This time is inviolable. You must do other work outside these time periods, and also take them into account when making appointments and other tasks.
3. Set the rules for your “creative blocks” of time. The rules should describe what is NOT allowed to do while performing creative work. For example, I have a strict ban on email during the "creative intervals".
4. Focus on the process, not the goals. The last part is probably the most important. Do not set goals for their "creative segments". Creative work is not a task to tick as completed in the to-do list. If, for example, you decide that you need to complete this particular project by the end of the segment, you will most likely be disappointed with the lack of progress, or in a hurry you will get some mediocrity. Instead, focus on the process. Decide how exactly you are going to do your job. It will concentrate your energy. High quality results will naturally follow from this concentrated work.
I want to present some examples of GCTD in action. You see a snapshot of my calendar for the last week:
The cases highlighted in red are my GCTD blocks. Please note this is a pretty busy week. I have many meetings made on the calendar, many of which were scheduled during the week. The GCTD system keeps my “creative blocks” intact, forcing me to plan other arrangements around this assigned work.
My smaller tasks, on the contrary, were performed to the free places left on the calendar. The advantage of the GCTD method is to assign a “creative time” in advance. I can do small tasks without feeling guilty for not doing something more important.
When doing things my strategy depends on the nature of the work. To carry out a research report, for example, such a device of the process allowed me to finish and “polish” every small part before moving on to the next. It means to think carefully about what I want to say, it is clear to write this, then add links and edit, before continuing on. I found that with this style of writing, my mental energy is used better than when I quickly run forward to return to the same place someday again, and then correct everything.
When working on evidence, I use a different approach. I highlight the last 30 minutes of the “creative block” to thoroughly summarize my thoughts on the problem with the help of a laboratory laptop that I bought specifically for this. The price of a laptop reminds me of the importance of the information recorded on it. Thoroughly summing up my thoughts makes me streamline thinking. It also helps me stay focused during the initial part of the “block,” switching between the intellectual pieces that form the evidence, and not giving in to the impulses of delusion.
Here's how GCTD provides the benefits of Graham long continuous intervals of time over smaller free sites in the schedule:
First, the untouchable nature of the planned “creative blocks”, combined with strict rules to avoid interruptions during these “blocks”, provides a quick “intellectual mode switching”. Protecting these pre-planned periods of time from other meetings and affairs helps you take them seriously. You quickly get used to the system. When the time comes for the creative block, your mind knows what to do.
Secondly, focusing on the process and not on the goal contributes to avoiding the “straight road”, in a good way. When you meet the block of time allocated to finish the job, your mind avoids deviations from the straight path, as this prevents progress. When you instead focus on the process, your mind can freely follow the “creative curve,” which ultimately leads to high-quality results.
Focusing on the process, rather than on the goal contributes to the deviation from the fastest way, in a good way.
For example, when working on evidence, it is not unusual for me to take 10-15 hours of creative time to tinker with a completely abandoned strategy. This explanation may be key to gaining an intuitive understanding of the problem. My process, which focuses on clarity in thoughts, allows us to go that curve at first glance. If I instead require measurable progress (such as “Give me 5 lemmas a day!”), Then I can just get stuck in a short time.
In addition, GCTD is stable due to its flexibility. It effectively uses a system of assigned cases and a calendar, which is already an expected part of the work process of most people working in the intellectual sphere. There is no need to force a boss or employees to cooperate with your system (this is a rather dubious enterprise), because they will understand what yours means: “I'm busy from 2 to 4 pm, can we try later?”
At first glance, GCTD seems banal. You might think, “Ha! Reserve time on the calendar for large projects! “I've tried it already!”
Nevertheless, a creative worker is an inexplicable phenomenon. If your mind is not exactly in the right condition, then it is very difficult to get high quality results. Therefore, details are very important here. That's what's important about GCTD. Not the main idea to reserve time, but carefully worked out details of the system that help in this: “blocks” are considered as “real” cases and are allocated only for one (maximum two) projects per week; No interruption is allowed during the "blocks". And be sure to focus on the process, not the goals.
These small elements make up a system that consistently produces ambitious results, as Graham speaks of them, on the "limits of your abilities."
Coal Newport writes how to arrange outstanding life at Study Hacks. His latest book, “How to be a High School Superstar,” explains how to successfully cope with the learning process and not hate college.
PS: This translation was made after I found the link habrahabr.ru/links/108601 published by FlamingDeth on Habré . Special thanks to him for digging this thing.
It started a few weeks ago. I needed to write a research report, an important, ambiguous, difficult task was ahead. In the first week I repeated to myself that at the moment this is my most important task and addressed her as soon as possible. I constantly felt guilty for not having enough time to write a report. One night at the end of the week I locked myself in the office until 9 am, completely desperate to put things in order. The result of the work was practically useless. I got 15 pages of random text (a research report should be a maximum of 3-5 pages), and there was still much to cover. The work was confusing and "sinking" in adjectives.
This situation is quite typical for creative people with a list of "what to do (to-do)" - workers who are forced to combine creative work, such as writing works or thinking through strategies, with a routine, such as responses to emails and meetings. I am just such an employee. Being a theorist in the field of computing, I have to switch between finding mathematical evidence - one of the most creative processes, and the routine of reviewing articles and meetings with people involved in the allocation of grants. In order not to lose interest in the work, I also sometimes write.
')
So, the problem: “creative people with to-do lists” succeed in their careers depending on the quality of their creative result. Our routine duties, while hindering the achievement of this goal. Most of these people can not give up everything and spend days in the concentration of the hermit. Instead, as a result of compressed creative work under the pressure of deadlines, mediocrity comes out. The first draft of my research report is a vivid example.
However, fortunately, there is hope ...
Under pressure from the requirements of the Academy, according to which it is necessary to regularly publish the results of high-quality creative work in order to save the position, I developed a system. Paying tribute to David Allen, I called it “Getting Creative Things Done or GCTD”. This system allowed me to publish academic articles much more often, while writing three books and running a popular blog. And all this while doing the never ending routine work my job requires.
Most to-do list creators cannot abandon everything and spend days in the hermit's concentration.
For example, driven by the possible need to find a new job at the faculty, I did not use my system when I first plunged into a research report. After the failure of that first week, I stopped, took a deep breath, and allowed the magic of the GCTD system to take place. Three days later I had a beautiful finished draft.
In this article I want to explain how this system works. I will begin by describing what is required to produce high-quality creative work, then I will describe how the GCTD system integrates such requirements into a regular schedule.
What is needed for good creative work?
In his frequently cited article, “The Creator's Schedule, Manager's Schedule,” Paul Graham emphasizes the unique demands of creative work (the work being done by the “creator”, according to Graham's terminology).
He explains that the schedule of the creator is characterized by long segments of continuous work. For the creator, "one meeting can ruin the whole evening." Graham describes his own schedule of those times when he worked on a software start-up, as starting in the afternoon and lasting until three in the morning. He explains it simply: “no one could stop me at night”.
In the construction of Graham, I identified two rationales for the importance of long periods of continuous operation:
1. Switching between intelligent modes: When consciousness knows that interruptions do not loom ahead, it can switch to the “flow” state necessary to produce a high-quality result.
2. Ensuring the freedom of research: This creative work is not linear and often requires long, unforeseen wanderings in search of the outlines of the problem. Long periods of time provide the freedom you need to feel comfortable and enjoy these walks.
So, the problem standing in the way of creative people with to-do lists is that we don’t have enough time to include Graham long intervals in the schedule (even if we want to devote all day to one project, our bosses may think differently) . Based on this, the GCTD system is trying to transfer the two mentioned advantages of continuous work to a more realistic structure of the working day, taking into account routine tasks.
GCTD. Description of the system.
The GCTD system works as follows:
1. At the beginning of each week, one (maximum two) large creative projects are highlighted, which will receive your attention over the next five days. You can not resist the temptation to gradually promote a large amount of projects. Creative work is hard work. If you need a high-quality result, then you need to focus your strength.
2. Set aside time for projects on your calendar. The intervals of this time should be at least an hour long, and preferably from two to three. Highlight this watch according to your schedule for the week. However, it is further important to consider these intervals as well as other important events. This time is inviolable. You must do other work outside these time periods, and also take them into account when making appointments and other tasks.
3. Set the rules for your “creative blocks” of time. The rules should describe what is NOT allowed to do while performing creative work. For example, I have a strict ban on email during the "creative intervals".
4. Focus on the process, not the goals. The last part is probably the most important. Do not set goals for their "creative segments". Creative work is not a task to tick as completed in the to-do list. If, for example, you decide that you need to complete this particular project by the end of the segment, you will most likely be disappointed with the lack of progress, or in a hurry you will get some mediocrity. Instead, focus on the process. Decide how exactly you are going to do your job. It will concentrate your energy. High quality results will naturally follow from this concentrated work.
I want to present some examples of GCTD in action. You see a snapshot of my calendar for the last week:
The cases highlighted in red are my GCTD blocks. Please note this is a pretty busy week. I have many meetings made on the calendar, many of which were scheduled during the week. The GCTD system keeps my “creative blocks” intact, forcing me to plan other arrangements around this assigned work.
My smaller tasks, on the contrary, were performed to the free places left on the calendar. The advantage of the GCTD method is to assign a “creative time” in advance. I can do small tasks without feeling guilty for not doing something more important.
When doing things my strategy depends on the nature of the work. To carry out a research report, for example, such a device of the process allowed me to finish and “polish” every small part before moving on to the next. It means to think carefully about what I want to say, it is clear to write this, then add links and edit, before continuing on. I found that with this style of writing, my mental energy is used better than when I quickly run forward to return to the same place someday again, and then correct everything.
When working on evidence, I use a different approach. I highlight the last 30 minutes of the “creative block” to thoroughly summarize my thoughts on the problem with the help of a laboratory laptop that I bought specifically for this. The price of a laptop reminds me of the importance of the information recorded on it. Thoroughly summing up my thoughts makes me streamline thinking. It also helps me stay focused during the initial part of the “block,” switching between the intellectual pieces that form the evidence, and not giving in to the impulses of delusion.
Why does it work
Here's how GCTD provides the benefits of Graham long continuous intervals of time over smaller free sites in the schedule:
First, the untouchable nature of the planned “creative blocks”, combined with strict rules to avoid interruptions during these “blocks”, provides a quick “intellectual mode switching”. Protecting these pre-planned periods of time from other meetings and affairs helps you take them seriously. You quickly get used to the system. When the time comes for the creative block, your mind knows what to do.
Secondly, focusing on the process and not on the goal contributes to avoiding the “straight road”, in a good way. When you meet the block of time allocated to finish the job, your mind avoids deviations from the straight path, as this prevents progress. When you instead focus on the process, your mind can freely follow the “creative curve,” which ultimately leads to high-quality results.
Focusing on the process, rather than on the goal contributes to the deviation from the fastest way, in a good way.
For example, when working on evidence, it is not unusual for me to take 10-15 hours of creative time to tinker with a completely abandoned strategy. This explanation may be key to gaining an intuitive understanding of the problem. My process, which focuses on clarity in thoughts, allows us to go that curve at first glance. If I instead require measurable progress (such as “Give me 5 lemmas a day!”), Then I can just get stuck in a short time.
In addition, GCTD is stable due to its flexibility. It effectively uses a system of assigned cases and a calendar, which is already an expected part of the work process of most people working in the intellectual sphere. There is no need to force a boss or employees to cooperate with your system (this is a rather dubious enterprise), because they will understand what yours means: “I'm busy from 2 to 4 pm, can we try later?”
Conclusion
At first glance, GCTD seems banal. You might think, “Ha! Reserve time on the calendar for large projects! “I've tried it already!”
Nevertheless, a creative worker is an inexplicable phenomenon. If your mind is not exactly in the right condition, then it is very difficult to get high quality results. Therefore, details are very important here. That's what's important about GCTD. Not the main idea to reserve time, but carefully worked out details of the system that help in this: “blocks” are considered as “real” cases and are allocated only for one (maximum two) projects per week; No interruption is allowed during the "blocks". And be sure to focus on the process, not the goals.
These small elements make up a system that consistently produces ambitious results, as Graham speaks of them, on the "limits of your abilities."
Coal Newport writes how to arrange outstanding life at Study Hacks. His latest book, “How to be a High School Superstar,” explains how to successfully cope with the learning process and not hate college.
PS: This translation was made after I found the link habrahabr.ru/links/108601 published by FlamingDeth on Habré . Special thanks to him for digging this thing.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/138609/
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