Growing up
IHeitlager
into principles without being judgemental. Basically he is
saying:'Well, (young apprentice) you have accepted you want to be more
productive, you have to find for yourself, but I am a master so read
carefully you might learn something.' Somehow I just can't get this
Yoda image out of my head.
In his "Ready for Anything" he is mentioning several times that people
just resist organizing themselves because of fearing to lose freedom or
creativity, while he just proving the opposite: Creativity comes after
not being bothered about trivial things since they are organized in
your system.
I just remember that moment, still being at college, feeling horrified
watching a friend organizing his DIY tools in some kind of toolbox.
Toolboxes seemed to be so bourgeois... Needless to say I was always
looking for my hammer and stuff. I now have multiple toolboxes of my
own.
Seeing my one year old daughter growing up, I feel very daddy feeling
sorry about the fact that she has to go through all of this AGAIN. How
can I teach her without killing her right to experience for herself?
How can she learn without wasting all this energy? When should I give
her The David? How will I become a David?
Experience anybody or should I just watch Star Wars III?
stevecooper
there are still nasty bits of my subconscious which still believe that
organisation == being controllled.
So two things; an essay, and some ideas of my own.
The essay of Paul Grahams' is very appropriate; it's a speech to high
school students about doing your own, productive things:
http://store.yahoo.com/paulgraham/hs.html
and my ideas are these;
Organising, School, and Identity
=====
I wonder if, as a kid, you find that most of the time your activities
are being dictated to you. As a young kid, your parents mould you into
shape. A bit older, and school is dictating a workload at you.
Now, if all you've got to do is schoolwork, then 'getting organised'
tends to be focussed on going homework, making revision timetables, and
owning too many protractors. Getting organised means being a
swot.Getting organised really does mean submitting to someone else's
control.
If, on the other hand, you've got side-projects of some kind, then
organising _those_ means that you will see more progress on your side
projects, which gives you a feeling that your life isn't all about
other people's demands.
For example; let's imagine that a kid likes to draw. If she's bad at
organising herself, work will drag on and she'll get no time to draw.
If she got her homework out of the way quickly, and was ready to draw
when she wanted to, she's get lots of time to draw. Her identity as an
artist would be strengthened by her organisation.
Role Models
=====
Can you find role models to help your kid? For example, if they want to
become a pop star, it would be worth finding out who your kid likes,
and then looking up the stories of how hard they worked to get where
they are. These stories can often fall into the same quest-like format
as a fairy tale; a kid decides they want to do something fantastic, and
go through challenges, and then triumph. Might make great bedtime
stories, if you find the right ones.
Examples
=====
Now, I wonder if the way to teach this is to teach, through small
examples, that preparation yields results in any area. For example, my
mum taught me early on that, if you're going to cook something, have
everything chopped and defrosted before you put the oven on. Prepare,
then cook. You become a better cook, and less stressed. Teach it, and
then just point out that the preparation helped her do something
worthwhile.
Questions
=====
Similarly, it seems to me that you can teach organisation by asking the
right questions. The GTD workflow is just a series of questions; "What
is it? Is it actionable? What's the outcome? What's the next action?"
So when your kid comes enthusing about a new idea, ask questions that
help turn enthusiasm into plans; "When do you want to finish this? Do
you have everything you need? Do you know anyone who can help?" And, of
course, the central question of GTD: "What are you going to do next?"
Time limits
=====
Oorganisation helps us get more out of limited time. So how about
giving her fairly strict windows on things. If I can reuse the drawing
example; offer to take her landscape drawing for exactly one hour; if
she's got herself organised and prepared, she'll get more out of the
hour than if she's not ready, doesn't have the right equipment, etc.
The Rules of the Game
=====
Lastly, I remember a rule my parents set up for me as a kid that was
incredibly influential. My dad had bought one of the first home
computers, a BBC Micro. I was told that I could play games on it for an
hour a day, but I could also program it as much as I wanted.
Well. Once game time is up, programming looks like a pretty good
option. As a result, I now enjoy fiddling with computers about as much
as playing games. My parents had set up an environment where I was
allowed to experiment and 'play' with computers in a productive way,
Anyway, I've talked enough. ;) Hope there's something useful in there.
Steve
IHeitlager
my work we are guided by the Theory of Constraints principles of Eli
Goldratt, this guru is also a great believer in the so called Socratic
Method: guide the person through asking questions. Funny thing is, if
you know Eli Goldratt well, he is probably the impersonation of the
most respected but horrible dad ever: 'always these questions, leave me
alone' ;-)
Autobiographies are always great. For me Richard's Feinmanns' is one of
the best, especially the bits were he remembers his own dad. This
Nobelprize winner didn't get there just because he was a modelstudent,
he was just interested and his dad was just feeding this.
I love your suggestions on starting to ask the right (GTD type)
questions at the right time.
BTW: Anyone noticed this Google side ad:
Suicide Thoughts?
Take this quick test
to find answers.
www.GodTest.com
Does this sound all that depressing? or is it just my Eurotrash
selfreflecting mind messing up the Google global settings. Just
wandering what keyword triggered this ad.