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Get In Gear Newsletter
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a note from Cairene
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announcementsWelcome new subscribers! Thanks for joining the conversation. I'm glad you're here. Twitter is my favorite discovery of 2009 so far. Come tweet if you're not already following along. Remember, if you need a little guidance or a nudge in the right direction - just ask here. And, I need your help. Please take this short survey about the email guide you received when you subscribed. I'm making some revisions and I would love to know how it has been helpful and what would make it better - and if the subject warrants a class of its own. Thanks in advance for your feedback.
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classesthe true discipline of time management Those productivity gurus aren't writing books for someone like you. You are rare. Unique. You need to create your own system. And you already have the answers. You just need a way to get at the information. Through a process of compassionate self-observation and a right-brained approach, you'll learn how to organize time and tasks in ways that feel natural and are effective.
I know this works, because I use this process every day to stay organized and get things done (and feel good doing it). If you are tired of trying to force your activities into boxes on a calendar and discipline yourself to conform to a schedule... If you would like to stop punishing yourself and learn how to change your relationship with your own unique sense of time... please read more about the course and consider joining me. By this spring, you could be on your way to calm, prepared, on time, energized, confident – and ready for anything. course begins Monday, February 16
bite the candy That is so not what these sessions are about. It's about having guilt-free fun finishing something you've been putting off. It's about discovering the treats at the bottom of your to-do list . Learn more here. next session: Thursday, January 29, 9:30am-1:00pm. $25
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one-on-one coachingWant more individualized attention than is available in a class? Need help with a specific area of your business or special project? I currently have four openings available for one-on-one coaching at 2008 rates. [learn more]
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working with the rough shapes of businessI talk about systems and structures quite a lot. As in: Having systems frees your mind for more important work. Or: Creating structure supports the growth of your business. But I am frequently worried that I'll be misunderstood. These words have connotations that I don't mean to imply. For instance, I've tried to explain that the best structures are liberating rather than constricting, like Dr. Who's TARDIS (my #1 top blog post, by the way, which I like to think is helping people, but I suspect it's just disappointing a bunch of googling Dr. Who fans). Clever comparison if I do say so myself, but perhaps fundamentally flawed.
Perhaps it would be better to look at structure in another way. I've been thinking about fractals ever since viewing an episode of Nova about them last fall. Fractal geometry, if you don't already know, is a branch of mathematics that describes the structures found in nature. Classical geometry (the stuff we learned in high school) does a great job of describing the built world, but it doesn't work very well if you are trying to understand mountains or clouds or waves or trees or the human body (not to mention the human brain). The underlying assumption of classical mathematics is that everything is extremely smooth and regular. This is not common in nature, and I'm guessing there isn't much that feels all that smooth and regular about your days or your business either. The conventional ways we try to organize our time and information would seem to be patterned after classical geometry – all lines and boxes (think of a calendar grid or a file cabinet). It's no wonder it feels so unnatural. And I suspect it's why using an architectural metaphor, even the TARDIS, is not so useful in the end.
What would happen if we organized ourselves fractally instead?
Like a tree, the structure of a growing business can appear very complex. But behind the seeming chaos is order if you know how to look for it. Mandelbrot's advice:
What it takes to produce complexity is repetition – many, many cycles of repetition – which generates the defining characteristic of a fractal, what mathematicians call self-similarity. Basically, no matter what distance it is viewed from – zoomed in or out – the object looks the same, and its parts are miniatures of the whole. For example, a "y" pattern or structure, repeated enough times, eventually yields a y-shaped tree.
Enough with the geometry lesson. How does this apply to my business? First, it confirms the fundamental importance of repetition. I've yet to meet or read about a successful person, creative or otherwise, who does not diligently practice regular habits when it comes to work and self care. It's not about talent so much as consistent persistence. It also means you can start small. Begin with a simple pattern or structure that works well and repeat as necessary. You don't need to figure out the big picture in advance. The repetition will create it for you. (I don't know about you, but I find that to be a huge relief.) Better yet, as it grows, the larger form will become increasingly efficient. It turns out in nature there is an economy of scale with an increase in size. An elephant, for example, is 200,000 times heavier than a mouse, but uses only about ten thousand times more energy in the form of calories it consumes. As far as scientists know, this economy of scale is nearly universal – and shows up in everything from microscopic bacteria to whales and sequoia trees.
Evolution has come up with a very simple and effective model for us to follow – a model that is built into very our bodies and minds. (Like, we're probably doing it already, if we'd just pay attention.)
Give us some examples, please. Okay, I'm still working this out for myself, but it seems this idea of repeated or branching structures might show up in these ways. What if you created your business manual in the way you would chart a family tree? Only reorganizing or subdividing information about your business on the occasions of marriage and birth (or divorce and death)? What if your time was always three parts doing to one part resting? What would that basic ratio look like repeated over an hour, a day, a week, a month, a year - again and again over decades...?
But how do I learn the code that tells me when to branch? By paying attention to the turbulence. Remember The Universal Cycles of Change we discussed back in November?
Turbulence is the feedback from your environment that will tell you when something has to be reorganized or changed within your system for it to reach the next level of creation and growth. It's your signal to branch. This feedback may come in the form of feeling drained by activities that were once energizing, tension in relationships that are usually easy and kind, not being able to finish tasks you've normally been able to complete, not being able to find information when you need it. Confusion, overwhelm, resentment, exhaustion. Basically, what was working isn't anymore. So you listen to the feedback and make adjustments. And here's the good news: according to the author, Kristine Hallbom, with each cycle of Creation "The system now has less mass, yet more energy because it contains all the learnings from the previous cycles." Which is pretty much what the scientists were saying about elephants being more efficient than mice.
A hypothesis to test. So, I'm wondering: How much of our frustration and struggle might disappear if we lived and worked according to a more organic fractal model? What would happen if we used systems and structures that accommodated all the beautifully rough shapes and edges of our work and lives, instead of asking us to try (impossibly) to smooth them out? This is the sort of exploration of imagery and metaphor, rhythm and pattern, self-observation and feedback we will be undertaking in The True Discipline of Time Management. If this speaks to you, please consider joining us.
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talk backLike what you've read? Irked? Confused? Have a suggestion? Got a question? Let's start a conversation. I'd love to hear from you - send me a line or comment on the blog.
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subscription infoI encourage you to share this newsletter with people you think may enjoy it. When doing so, please forward it in its entirety, including my contact and copyright information. Thanks! If you received this issue of Get In Gear from a reader and would like your own subscription, please click here. To update your email address or unsubscribe, please click the link at the bottom of the newsletter. An archive of past issues of the Get In Gear newsletter can be browsed here. Unless otherwise attributed, all material is written and edited by Cairene MacDonald. Cairene MacDonald from overwhelmed to ready for anything Third Hand Works | administrative guidance for independent creative professionals |
