Week 2 Entry - Chapter 2 and 3

Once we take all the steps to collect, process, organize and review we come to the part where we actually do the actions we set out.  When choosing what task to perform, a valuable criterion that Allen touches upon in Chapter 2 is energy availability.  The consideration of the energy we have is important because actually doing the work requires physical and mental energy.  Reflecting on our sacrifice in energy can easily be overlooked when the motivation behind the action is that we must do them, and people are constantly pushing through the tiredness to complete tasks.  I believe that energy and motivation play off each other.  For example, I would feel that I had no more energy at the end the day of doing required tasks, but I would suddenly have new found energy if my motivation changed (e.g. something I want to do).  That is why allocating our energy at appropriate times for a task is important, so we feel that we can complete them.

Tasks we perceive as overbearing may be pushed until we really have to deal with them, such as in Chapter 3 in which Allen talks about the Reactive Planning Model.  People try to compensate for waiting until the last minute to plan by working in overdrive.  This just emphasizes the need for more front end planning.  Allen’s steps of organization seem to unclutter our in-basket of stuff in order for us to see where our energy should go, instead of spreading ourselves over many large and small tasks leading us to feel stuck.  Also, the system clears up our mind so we can spend more mental energy toward doing tasks rather than trying to remember what the tasks are. 

Another valuable point from Chapter 3 is not judging, challenging, evaluating, or criticizing during the brainstorming process of natural planning.  The purpose of brainstorming is to productively flush out all the ideas in order to come up with how to go about the task.  If there is fear of “bad ideas” this may create a more stop-and-go type of thinking rather than efficient flow.  This habit of stop-and-go thinking can translate to staggered actions, in which we do not follow through with our tasks particularly in fear of judgment.