Transcripts
1. Introduction: Thank you very much for clicking this video. Welcome to this course. My name is lambda and I'm a fourth year medical student and part-time filmmaker. Now about a year ago, I just have too much in my plate. I used to shoot and edit videos for TDD channels. I had a part-time filmmaking company that really commercial. They also use the shoe commercial for professional bikers and all that. While I was attending and running exams for medical school, it was just too much for me. This is where this book right here actually came into my hands, getting things done. God of stress-free productivity from David Allen inside the 310 pages of this book, David L explains in detail how to create this system that functions as an external mind in which we note every single open-loop of our lives to achieve stress-free productivity. So this is exactly what we're doing in this course. In this course we're going to analyze how to create this system that functions as an external mind that will help you note every single open-loop of your life and prevent it from entering your subconsciousness and causing stress.
2. Setting up the System: Thank you very much for joining me in this first lesson of this course where we're going to analyze how to build, how to create this system that will make your productivity stress free. Now the first step towards stress reproductivity is to learn how to create this system that will help you clear your mind and organize your thoughts without any effort. The aim of this system, of this workflow system is to first of all, capture anything that has a shoot or a need in front of it, verify what to do with organize the results after this clarification process, reflect on these results, of course, and then engage with them. Now I know that this may sound overwhelming and complicated, but trust me, everything's gonna make sense. So what is this system? Let's go ahead and actually set it up. This system, this workflow basis of discourse and this book is actually based on, is made of seven categories. You can think of each category of the system as a folder, a place to store a decent content. You can have a digital system with digital folders that you can access through many devices such as your laptop, your cell phone, or you can have an analog system if you're old school with little folders. I personally use this website called notion to set up my system, which is very useful because I can exit through the obligation in my phone and through the BC. That works perfectly and flawlessly. It also updates automatically. So anything that you add from your BC gets updated in your phone and vice versa. So in this course, I am going to show you how to create this system in this application or website called notion. It is completely free by the way, so you don't have to stress about that. But in general, for now, all you need to know is that the system needs to be easily accessible at all times and at a relatively easy way. You don't need to have a hard time accessing the system. You need to be able to knock down the simplest idea in the system in order for this whole thing to work. Now here are the seven categories of the system, or if you will, the seven folders that we need to set up. The first one is called the basket. We're gonna talk about the basket later in this course. Then we get a folder named Project folder, named Project plans, a waiting for folder calendar, a folder named next actions, a someday folder, and the reference material. So let's analyze each one of these categories in order for you to understand what to put in its folder, starting with the in basket. Now I wouldn't say that the basket is actually a folder. I will think of the mascot as the lobby of the system. Everything that should be filed in one of these categories that I mentioned first goes into the basket. It is a waiting basket for you to arrange stuff afterwards. This is a place to temporarily store stuff before you have the time to arrange them in a category, examples of stuff that should go in the basket is, for example, a phone number that someone gave you and you don't have the time to arrange it in a contact or a note by a screwdriver or a business idea that you have literally anything that being said, there are some rules that you should take into consideration when adding stuff in the basket. The first rule is that what goes in must come out fast. If you don't clear the in basket in a relatively fast manner, all of those things that are in the basket will enter your subconscious mind and cause stress without you even noticing. And this is exactly what we're trying to avoid here with this whole system thing. The whole point of the system is to capture everything that has a mass or a should in front of it to have a clear mind where broaching life. So the first rule in the basket is to clear it out as soon as possible. The second rule of the basket is that the top item gets processed first. Another rule is that you should process one item at a time. You should approach its task that is in the basket as a separate thing. The fourth and final rule of this in basket is that you should never put something back in the basket. In general, when you add something in mean basket, you are called to decide what it is, what it means, and what to do with it. Now I'm going to add this image right here, which is the key algorithm of this whole system thing. Feel free to screenshot or save this image. And this is the gold standard series of questions that you should ask yourself to understand where to categorize each item that is on your inner basket. Stay with me here. Everything's gonna make sense. Now let's start with the first step. We should ask yourself, is this thing that I just put in the basket actionable? Can I take actions in this project? If it is completely not actionable, then you can either throw it in the trash added in the reference material which we're going to analyze later or in the Sunday folder to perhaps tackle in another day for future. Now, if this thing that you put in the basket is actually actionable and you can take action to it. There are two routes to follow depending on the time that it will consume. The key here is to remember that if anything takes less than two minutes to complete, then you should do it right now, an example would be to water your plants or charge your phone or charged speaker. Again, now you might be thinking, that's pretty dumb. To create a complicated system, just remember to charge a speaker. Think about what would happen if you didn't have the system. What happens now? You would probably try to remember to charge the speaker after you doing something in your mind, but eventually forget about it, and it would just sweep into your unconscious mind. And this is the worst part. This is what completely demolished this stress-free productivity term that we have when something sweeps into your unconscious mind. And it could be something as users as just charge a speaker at when this sweeps into your unconsciousness, it consumes your mental energy without even noticing it. For example, you could be doing something completely different. But just the thought that when you go home, you need the water, your plans or your plants will die in your room, will not look good with that, lands on it will drain your mental capacities. That is why when you add something in this basket that we discussed about, you allow yourself to completely forget about it because you know that you will be reminded of it when you check again the system and you will tackle this project. Okay, now back to the image. Now what happens if something is in the in basket? It takes more than two minutes to complete. And it is a multi step process. Well then this becomes a project. So this is the definition of a project. A project is something that takes more than two minutes to complete and is a multi-step process. So whenever you recognize that something from the basket is a project, you need to arrange it in the projects list. Now, what could be a project? Current issues, problems, and opportunities in which you're always called denote what the next action required is inorder for their completion of the project folder should also include reference material for the project, such as telephones, e-mails, or websites that could assist you, anything that can be referenced and assist the completion of the project. Now, during this system, during the creation of the system, you're going to learn to navigate with this simple question when tackling a brunch, what is the next action? The next action on a project is the single best way to move towards the completion of the project. Because what is it project really, a project is a series of actions that lead completion. So all we need to do to complete the project is to ask what is the next action? And the next action of a project is based on four factors. The first factor is the context. So the next action that you're going to take in order to complete a project? First of all, depends on the context, meaning your location, and the tools that you have. You can take, of course, the same next action. If you're in your desk at home with do huge ultra-wide monitors and a powerful BC. And in the bus while traveling to work with your cell phone, your location and tools available are a factor that will determine the extent of your next action. The second factor that determines next actions is the time available. Ask yourself, how much time do I have? If you have a lot of time in your hands, you can tackle bigger next action, like writing five emails or editing a huge video. On the other hand, if you don't have enough time, you can perhaps just search something or a web or make a quick phone call. The third factor that determines your next action is the energy available. You should always keep an inventory of stuff that require little mental energy to be completed to tackle one, of course, you're not fully energized. The final and fourth factor that determines the next action is of course, your priority. What do you think that should be the next action for the completion of this project? Understand it and notice at the top of the page, another sub folder of your project folder should be the project planning folder. In the project planning folder, you should define the purpose and the principles of this project and use it as a guide to determine those next actions in the project glands subfolder you should vision the outcome of a project brainstorm, organize, and identify the next action that you should be doing in order to reach those goals. Now that the system is done and the setup is complete, we can move in the next lessons in which we are going to analyze how to properly use it and maximize your efficiency while working towards those goals. I know this lesson sounded complicated, but trust me, everything is going to be more clear as we proceed with the next lessons.
3. Capturing Process: Now the first step to work with the system that we discussed in the previous lesson and live a stress-free and hybrid productive life is to learn how to capture anything that has your attention, anything that has a shoot or a medium front of it. Now, here comes the big question, how can I capture everything successfully? The golden rule here is that every open-loop in your everyday life should be captured in the system and not in your head. Secondly, we meet, have this scattering bucket in basket, and this in basket should be empty regularly, as we discussed in the previous lesson, the third golden rule is that everything that takes less than two minutes to complete should be addressed. Now, remember, the more things you capture in the system, and the more information you add in this system, the more complete and personalize the whole experience becomes, and the more you trusted. Trusting the system means that you want to capture more information and more stuff to add in the basket. And this creates this vicious cycle. As we said, there are gaps or anything that has a should or a in-in front of it. For example, I need to send John an email about this, or I need to pick up a basket from the post office or I should change the income, my Ben, anything. Now, in order to better understand the functionality of this system, Let's say that you just captured a note that you should clean the garden. Now, let's run it through the algorithm together to better understand it, you should try it along home with your system. So we just captured that we should clean the garden and this is currently sitting on our basket. We don't have time to address it right now. So let's say that we come home and we actually now have time to address it when we open our system, the first question we should ask ourselves is, is this actionable? Yes, it is. Will it take more than two minutes? Probably not accepted. You have a very small dark. So there's probably means that we're going to have to create a project that is called lean garden because this is, as we said, a multi-step process that takes more than two minutes to complete. So we create a project called Glean garden, in which we blend the basic approach of this, define the purpose of the project vision, the outcome, organize and identify the next action. Then we create the project plans folder with support material for this project, for example, by cleaning materials and for example, buying new plans to replace the dead ones, you get the point. Then we should write all of the next actions and start completing them in order. This is by far the most efficient way to approach any project by visioning the outcome of the project, by noting down the next actions, and by toggling the next actions based on the factors that we analyzed in the previous lesson. Time available, energy available context, all of those factors, I can't stress enough the importance of capturing everything before you move into the clarification process that we're going to analyze in the next lesson, capturing everything will boost your focus and your control over your life. But remember, in the capturing process, in this process of discussing right now, you're really going to need to The completely your head. Think of faults and ideas that have been living rent-free in your brain. And trust me, when you write them down and actually see them written inside the basket, knowing that they will be addressed, you will feel much better. But remember what enters the basket should be addressed immediately. Or as we said, it will sweep in urine consciousness and create more stress. And this is exactly what we're trying to avoid here, as we said, in order to function with the system, indeed be great at capturing stuff, clarifying, reflecting, and engaging with those stuff. So in the next lesson, we're going to move to the clarification process.
4. Clarification Process: So the capturing process is done. You know what the capture and where to capture it, as well as some basic rules of the basket that you should follow in this lesson right here, we're going to follow together the algorithm that I showed you in the setup of the system to learn how to clarify what we have captured in the basket and prepared to engage with it again after we've captured anything that has a must or a suit in front of it, we are called to decide what to do with it. So we asked this question, is this thing actionable? Let's start with the things that we have captured and are not actionable. Some examples could be a phone number or a food catalog of a place that we'd like to visit, or a birthday of a friend that we don't want to forget about, or the fact that we want to learn how to play the guitar. Literally anything that is not actionable, but we have captured in the basket. Now, there are three routes for stuff like this. The first route that we didn't talk about in the previous lessons is the reference material. General reference materials should be easily accessible, informal, and again, right at hand, we should have easy access to the reference material. This is where the phone number and the food catalog would go. Of course, inside the reference folder, you can have more folders. I like to file subfolders depending on the location. For example, reference material for the house, for the office, for a car, and from any hobbies that I have now, contact information's, emails and phone numbers should be listed somewhere separately. I wouldn't encourage you actually to list all those stuff inside the system. The contacts on your phone or the e-mails began on your phone are perfect for those contacts. Again, you can have creative freedom when structuring the reference folder. Just remember that it must be easily accessible. Now a second estimation of something that has no action is the Someday folder. The Sunday folder contains a list of things that you want to do or have to do, but are not actionable at the moment. Again, this folder contains subfolders and it is directly related to the calendar. Examples of suffered could go in this folder, our future plans or hobbies that you want to pick up, ideas and concepts that you want to work on the future. But again, you can't at the moment, you can think of as somebody folder as a project folder for stuff that are not actionable yet. The reason that this list exists is again, as we said, the brain is perfect for creating ideas, for brainstorming stuff, but absolutely the worst at remembering them. This is why we need to take the time and not everything. So this was the Someday folder. Now let's move to the third route, which is the transform. Now, if something is in the basket, it is not actionable, it is not worth referencing or adding in the Sunday list. Then guess what? There is nothing to do with it. You should throw it away. Now, here comes the tracks folder. Anything that follows the above description should be added in the transfer folder. You should empty during your weekly review. Now we're going to talk about how to engage with the system and how to daily and weekly review all of this functional system that we are creating right now in the next lesson. But keep in mind that the trust should be emptied in the weekly review once a week. Alright, so now that we know what to do with things that are not actionable, it's time to figure out what to do with those things that actually are actionable. We have talked about projects and project plans, then what to do with all the stuff that take more than two minutes and are a multi-step process in order to be completed. Now, it's time to talk about the things that are in our in basket. They are actionable and they will take more than two minutes, but are a one step process, not a multi-step process, then you can follow to path. The first path is to delegate the thing that you want to achieve into someone else to do. For example, if an essay needs to be written, is a one-step process, right? You just write the essay or an e-mail that needs to be sent or to pick up something from the store. These are again, one-step process that regard more than two minutes to be completed. Now if any of those things has a data that's do it, you need to add it in your calendar. For example, if you need to pick up a friend from the airport at that time, you need to have this on a calendar. In general, we add things on the calendar that have a date attached to them. Finally, stuff that you can't delegate to others and don't have a date attached to them to be added in the calendar, should be added in the general next action lists. We have talked about each folder and subfolder that we have set it up in this system and we have clarified what delegate in each one of these folders. Now, it is time to discuss how to reflect on the things that we add in the system. So in the next lesson, we're going to be discussing about the reflection process.
5. Brainstorming: Welcome to the brainstorming lesson. In this lesson, we're going to learn how to brainstorm staff had to create ideas and take them out of your brain. Now, brainstorming is the act of coming up with new ideas and new projects. And it is literally what our brains are made to do. The problem is that before you were introduced by me to this system of getting things done in the hands of stress-free productivity and creating this system that will help you collab, refining, end gauge, and capture all of your thoughts and ideas you had no place to capture, store, and reflect on those ideas that your brain constantly creates. And if there's one thing for sure is that the brain is perfect for coming up with new ideas, but absolutely the worst in remembering them. Considering that now you have a functional system to capture and reflect on those ideas. In this video, I'm going to show you how to brainstorm these ideas in the most optimal way. The first step of brainstorming is coming up with an idea or an improvement of a concept that you have already been thinking off. There are two ways that I have found that worked perfectly for me. The first way which we're going to analyze in this lesson is called mind-mapping. Now, mind-mapping is a brainstorming method in which you right in the middle of a paper, the key concept that you want to brainstorm and connect any relevant words, phrases with it, with lines, you will see that as you gradually know more and more relevant words in this map, mind-mapping, brainstorming process, your brain will literally non-stop coming up with new ideas. Again, I use this method for literally everything and it has helped me very, very much since I learned about it. The second brainstorming method that you can try and also works is based on the principle that the more stuff you brainstorm, the more ideas come. Try to think of a project, but the project, nothing else for thirty-seconds. The key here is to aim for quantity, not quality of the visit to think of. Because remember, the greater the volume of ideas that you work with, the better the context that you will create after you have started to generate some ideas with those two methods, it is time to start working on them as projects. Remember, it is of utmost importance to clarify the next action when grading your project. This is what is going to give you the relaxed control that we're striving for here. A very common question that I also had when I was introduced into this systematic thinking is the following. How much planning Do I have to do in order to be okay with the project? The answer is that you must plan as much as you need for this project, too, escape your unconscious mind to get it off your mind. And there are two types of projects that stick in your mind. The ones that haven't been defined yet and the ones that we haven't added to the system to start working with. If you have a lack of clarity on those projects, you need to start brainstorming more. If you have a blurry brainstorming process and they hard time generating more ideas. You need division, a more clear background. If the outcomes and clear, then you need to start yourself. Why did I start this project in the first place? What is the purpose of these self questions should be enough to keep you on track.
7. The Flow State: Thank you very much for sticking with me up until the end of the scores in this lesson right here, we're going to talk about the flow theory. You might have heard about the flow or you might even have experienced of low. So in this lesson right here, we're going to deep dive on what it is and how to achieve it. This idea of a flow state is a very important aspect of stress-free productivity. The flow theory describes a state of optimal performance and engagement with the activity that you're doing. The flow is basically what athletes referred to as being in the zone to experience the flow and enter the so-called flow zone, it is necessary that your skills in a given task match the challenges you're given. These two need to be on a constant, perfect balance to experience the flow state. Because if the challenge that you're called to complete exceeds your skill level, you will experience anxiety. And if your skill level is actually way bigger than the challenge that you're called to complete, you will be bored. The flow state is characterized by extreme concentration in a given task while again, feeling in control and having clear goals insight, individuals that have experienced the flow state describe an increase of action and awareness during this time while they lose both their self-consciousness and the sense of time, people that have entered the flow state that actually intrinsically motivated performing this activity for its own sake and not for an external reward by adopting this, getting things done mentality and implementing this system that we have analyzed, we enable you to enter the flow state more easily and increase the productivity levels of your work and love your whole life in extent by getting things out of our mind. And in this external system that we described in this course, we can more easily see and track progress, which by itself is a formal feedback. This complete picture that the system provides us off one's commitments in work and life helps us make better decisions. And again, allows us to engage with them more fully by increasing the chances of entering this flow state. Now how do I enter this flows that go hear you asking, I have listed three ways to end this course in the best way possible to actually help you enter this flow state and maximize your productivity. The first trigger that will help you do enter this flow state is to eliminate all external disturbances. It is proven by research that in order to reach flow state, you must eliminate all external disruptions. Because every time you get pulled away from your focus, you will be taken further away from entering the flow state only when you can focus with undivided attention for 10 to 15 minutes, you have a higher chance to enter the flow state, tried to maintain a consistent lighting environment in your workspace. Mute your phone, of course, close the windows and tried to eat and stay hydrated before you sit down in your desk and boggled work, you don't want to be hungry while being on the flow state because of course this will distract you. Another thing that will help you enter the flow state, and many people actually don't think about this, is to eliminate any internal distractions, whether you experience stress or have too much in mind, it will be incredibly hard of you, of course, to enter the flow state and keep your mind focused. Now we have talked about eliminating the stress and living a stress-free and productive life by noting every open loop in every aspect of your everyday lives into this system. And we also talked about how to eliminate negative thoughts from actually not bringing agreements that we made with ourselves, but some other things in general you can experiment with in order to eliminate those internal distractions include the practice of meditation perhaps or journaling. But we're not going to get into too much detail in this course about validation and journaling. Finally, a last way to increase your chances to enter this flow state is actually to start working. So to opening your BC and opening your system and engaging with the projects that you need to complete on your BPP or biological big-time. Of course, if we tried to enter this flow state of optimal performance and engagement with the stuff that we have to do while being tired and energy drained is out of question. And it will constantly feel like an uphill battle in which we're gonna get distracted. The simplest thing. So therefore, it is recommended for you to locate your biological big-time and choose to start working during these hours. For most of us, the biological big-time is first thing in the morning. So this was pretty much it with the scores. I hope that you enjoyed this book really helped me organize my life and actually reaching this level of stress free productivity. So I think that many of you will benefit from this course. Let me know if you enjoyed it and also make sure to complete the course assignment in which I'm going to give feedback to each and every single one of you that completed. Thank you very much for sticking with me for all these lessons. And I'm going to see you in the next course.