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    Mark L. Casey

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    In the Unlikely Event of a Loss of Cabin Pressure

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    http://airlineworld.files.wordpress.com/2008/01/safety_oxygen_mask.jpg

    http://airlineworld.files.wordpress.com/2008/01/safety_oxygen_mask.jpg

    If you have ever flown, you have heard the speech:

    In the unlikely event of a loss of cabin pressure, panels above your seat will open revealing oxygen masks. Reach up and pull a mask towards you. Place it over your nose and mouth, and secure with the elastic band that can be adjusted to ensure a snug fit. The plastic bag will not fully inflate, although oxygen is flowing. Secure your own mask first before helping others.

    Notice that curious last sentence. Why should you secure your own mask first before helping others? Isn’t that selfish? What if your small child is seated next to you and is gasping for air? What if your elderly mother is traveling with you and needs help? Are you really supposed to look out for Number One?

    Of course, most of us can explain the reason why we should secure our own mask first. Of what use will you be to your child or mother if you have lost consciousness because of a lack of oxygen? In this emergency situation we can see the importance of taking care of ourselves.

    For some reason, though, when we start to think about all of our different responsibilities, many of us feel guilt about taking care of ourselves with regard to our physical, mental, and spiritual health.

    Realms

    I want to suggest that each of us operates in many different realms. The concept of realms was introduced in our series on mind maps. The three realms I like to work with are the realms of:

    • Family
    • Personal
    • Career

    These categories could be named differently and can be expanded in different ways, but I think these three realms can encompass everything I need to take care of in my life in order to be happy, healthy, and productive. All of these realms impact the other. For example, Personal includes my body and my health. When I make a point of eating right, getting proper exercise, and going to the doctor, am I being selfish? Let’s say that in the interest of not being selfish I do not eat right, do not do proper exercise, and do not go to the doctor. What is almost certain to happen? From experience I know that I would get sick, get fat, feel terrible, and likely shorten my life. In that condition what is my capacity to take care of my family or my career? You see, this is like putting on your oxygen mask first. As I take care of myself, I have more energy and health to take care of my responsibilities and dreams in the realms of Family and Career.

    It is important that we also avoid extremes. What if I have really bought into the importance of taking care of my body and my health to the point that I exercise five hours per day, and spend half the family budget on nutritional supplements and personal trainers? No good. That is an extreme. That much time spent on body and health would likely harm my family relationships, which require time. It would also likely harm my relationship with my employer and negatively impact my career. There is delicate interplay between all three of these realms. If I go crazy in any one of them, it will likely be to the detriment of one or both of the other realms.

    So, am I arguing for balance? I think the word balance is going a bit too far. If by balance we mean an equal allocation of time to all three realms, that is not what I mean. There are times when my job and career take an inordinate amount of time and focus. During those times I may feel pressure in the realms of Family and Personal. If a family member is sick and needs my attention, I may feel pressure in my Career and Personal realms. The important thing is to be conscious of all three realms and to not let one dominate the others for great periods of time. If your job and career dominates your life for a long period of time, for example, divorces often follow. If your focus on health and body dominates for long periods of time, your Career may suffer.

    So, back to the oxygen mask. The fact that you put your mask on first means that you are taking care of the caregiver. That is not where you stop, though. You have taken care of yourself SO THAT you can take care of your child or mother. The reason we take care of our own health is so that we have the capacity to do all of the other things we need to do. In the next article we will expand our three realms more and discuss each sub-realm in more detail.

     

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    Can Kanban Improve Your Work and Unlock GTD®?

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    © Bellemedia | Dreamstime Stock Photos & Stock Free Images

    © Bellemedia | Dreamstime Stock Photos & Stock Free Images

    People who are categorized as “knowledge workers” often struggle with managing all of the information that comes their way on a daily basis and with getting everything done that needs to be done. My wife and I are both knowledge workers, and for years we have been mutually searching for a way of working that allows us to stay on track, manage a flood of information, keep our promises, get things done, and be great at everything we do. Modest goals, right?

    Getting Things Done

    In 2009 we discovered David Allen‘s book Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity. His book has had so much impact that many people (including us) simply refer to his system as GTD®. We highly recommend the book and his method of organizing everything in your life. We are committed to his method of putting all tasks in writing and keeping them in context-specific lists. For example:

    Errands

    • Buy groceries
    • Mail tax return at post office
    • Make deposit

    At Computer

    • Finish RISE proposal
    • Request meeting with James for the 22nd
    • Schedule web conference for new project

    You define your own contexts and add everything in your mind that you need to do in those contexts. My list is very large and evolves daily. If I trusted my brain to remember all of this, I would surely fail.

    After understanding the purpose and power of GTD®, one of the first questions most people have is: “What software tool should I use to implement this system?” The beauty of GTD® is that there is no one tool that David recommends for everyone. He wants you to understand the system and then find the tools that work best for you. Finding that perfect mix of tools has been a challenge for us. Initially I used an iPhone tool (and related website) called Toodledo. This tool allowed me to create unlimited contexts and unlimited tasks. It also allowed me to include due dates. However, it was still not a natural part of my work day. I did not find myself using it effortlessly the way Zamfir uses the pan flute. My tasks were all “there,” but I wasn’t doing much with them.

    Lean Manufacturing

    I now believe that what I was missing to properly implement GTD® was right under my nose the whole time. In my day job I help companies and individuals manufacture their products. This career gives me the opportunity to be in many different types of factories (I wrote about my affection for factories here). Great factories have nearly all adopted Lean Manufacturing practices that were first developed in Japan. Among the many concepts used in Lean are:

    • Kaizen (“good change” – continuous improvement)
    • Muda (“wastefulness” – waste elimination)
    • Poka-yoke (“fool-proofing”), and
    • Kanban (“sign-board” – an inventory pull system)

    Please hang in here with me. The payoff will be worth it. All of these Lean concepts are powerful, but I want to focus on one of them: Kanban.

    Kanban

    A kanban pull system is the way many factories are organized today for Just-In-Time (JIT) production. For a brief explanation for what a kanban system looks like, please check out this video:

    So the kanban system relates to the inventory of parts and sub-assemblies that flow through a factory to completed product and customer order fulfillment. What does that have to do with knowledge workers or GTD®? Well, think of your capacity as a worker as you would think of a factory. In a sense you are your own factory with a set capacity to do work each day. You have a lot of people making a lot of demands on your time. You have work to do, promises to keep, and miles to go before you sleep (Robert Frost reference). Not to mention the fact that you have to attend that piano recital tonight, pick up a gallon of milk at the grocery store, and call to check on Aunt Edna’s gall bladder surgery. You only have so much time in the day. How will you balance your workload so as to not break promises or create big bottlenecks?

    Let me introduce another book. My wife is currently reading a book titled Personal Kanban: Mapping Work | Navigating Life by Jim Benson & Tonianne DeMaria Barry. Think about the title for a moment – Personal Kanban. Remember, you are your own factory. You have only so much work that can flow through your factory today. You need a personal kanban system to effectively manage the inventory of tasks you need to do, those you are currently doing, those that are waiting for something or someone else, those that have been completed, and the entire backlog of all things that need to be done. I have not read the book yet, but as she and I have discussed it, it has become clear to me that implementing my own personal kanban is the secret to unlocking GTD®. It is in harmony with David Allen’s concepts. It is very possible that David even has the same idea just stated differently, but the concept of me being my own factory and having my own kanban has been powerful to me.

    However, the question of tool still lingers. How do I implement my personal kanban? My wife has started using a physical white board with sticky notes for each task that are placed in one of several columns that reflect her workflow bins. This is the way kanbans are still used in some factories while others have gone to electronic kanban systems. I have found a software tool that is working beautifully for me.

    Workflowy

    I must give credit to John Jantsch at Duct Tape Marketing for sharing a terrific tool called Workflowy. John’s article provides a nice overview of the capabilities of Workflowy. The Workflowy site also has a good video introduction. My special recipe, though, is the combination of GTD®, Personal Kanban, and Workflowy. With the three of these merged together I am starting to use these tools like our buddy Zamfir and his pan flute. It feels natural to me.

    Let me show you the way I have set up Workflowy bins to give me unprecedented productivity in my personal factory:

    • READY [Work Waiting to Be Processed – Tasks That Need to be Completed First]
    • TODAY [Work I Need to do Today]
    • DOING [Work In Progress – Limit 3]
    • WAITING FOR [The Pen – Things I’m Relying on Others or Time to be Able to Complete – Additional Actions Beyond My Control]
    • DONE [Completed Work]
    • BACKLOG [Work Yet to Do]
      • Personal (By context)
      • Work (By context)

    Not only can I access my free account directly on Workflowy.com, I also have the Workflowy app on my iPhone. Each task listed in my personal kanban bins on Worklowy can be easily moved from one bin to another by dragging. It is very powerful to be able to look at the task I am currently DOING, to drag a completed task to DONE, and to pull a new task from TODAY or READY down into DOING. I hope you will at least give it a try by setting up your free Workflowy account as I have above. To really fine tune it all, I recommend you read the two books cited above. For me, implementing my own Personal Kanban on Workflowy helps me with Getting Things Done.

    Forward Story

    To me there is an obvious connection between all of this and Forward Story. The future I am working toward depends in large part on how I do my daily activities. This is true whether I am a student, an employee, a business owner, or a stay-at-home parent. The more effectively my personal factory runs, the more positive possibilities will show up in my future.

    What tools and/or practices do you use in your daily life to help you keep on track and be more effective in your work?

     

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    Trajectory

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    http://www.stockfreeimages.com/

    http://www.stockfreeimages.com/

    Think of your life as a dart on a certain trajectory. Are you likely to hit your target?

    When you think of your current life trajectory you are immediately forced into a glimpse of the future. While none of us can truly glimpse the future, I believe we all walk around with some sense of how our lives are going and whether we are “on track” or not. Of course, “on track” for you is likely quite different from “on track” for me. You cannot define my track, and I cannot define yours. This relates to ambition. We all get to have our own. The important thing is to make an honest assessment of where you currently are, what you are currently thinking and doing, and where you want to go. Are you likely to get there or not in the right time with your current bearings?

    The powerful thing about the human experience is that in a free society you possess the power to alter your course. Unlike a dart that has been hurled, you are capable of course correcting from this point forward. For you that course correction might be new education, different friends, a different job, a different career path, or a new relationship. Whatever it is, you can do it if it really matters to you. It comes back to what “on track” means and how much you desire that outcome.

    It may be that your honest assessment of your current trajectory reveals that you are indeed on track. If so, your challenge will simply be patience and endurance. Make that a priority by keeping your eyes on the prize.

    Is your current trajectory likely to lead to your desired outcome?

    If so, endure.

    If not, make a move.

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    Practicing What I Preach

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    http://www.stockfreeimages.com/

     

    I made a commitment several years ago to revise and update my personal Forward Story at the beginning of each year. Experience teaches me that in order for my Forward Story to be a powerful tool for living and action, I need to regularly update it. This is why each of my Forward Stories has an “as of” date:

    Mark’s Forward Story as of January 1, 2013

    These two little words remind me that the story contained in the following pages represents my vision for the future as it existed at a set point in time. To me a new year, even though it is just a function of human calendars, is like standing on a mountain and looking out over a long view. It is a great place and time from which to do some visionary work.

    Given that we are in the first month of a new year, I am putting the finishing touches on my revised Forward Story. I wanted to take a brief break from the revision to answer the question:

    Why does my Forward Story need to be updated regularly?

    • My plans for the future change as I grow older. I no longer see the world or my future the same way I did when I was younger — even one year younger. To be honest about the future I now envision as a more mature person, I have to take a fresh look at what I hope for now given where I am. I sometimes look at my older Forward Stories from years ago and marvel that that young man valued different things than this older man now values.
    • My circumstances change from time-to-time requiring a fresh look. One of my previous revisions in the area of health expressed the desire to reach a certain weight by this point in time and to maintain that weight into the future. The truth is that I have now lost below that original target weight. Now that my vantage point has changed with regard to that goal, I am now revising my goal lower because I am convinced I can get even healthier. The same is true for family and career domains as well as health. Sometimes the revision goes the other way. Perhaps I have not reached a goal, and I revise my desire with regard to that goal. I may restate it, eliminate it, or attack it a different way.

    An amazing exercise is to go back and review previous Forward Stories. Over time they tell quite a “back story” about my life. As I read the hopes, dreams, and plans of my younger self, I see what authors and storytellers call a “character arc.” I can see the way my life has changed from inside of my thinking in those earlier timeframes. I highly recommend it.

    I will admit that doing the annual revision can be a bit of a tedious task, but I have developed some helpful tools that make the task a bit more fun and effective. I will be sharing those tools in future posts.

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    Holidays Don’t Scare Me

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    Pumpkin Swirl Cheesecake (Wheat-Free & Sugar-Free)

    In February 2012 my wife and I transformed the way we eat. We did something radical and eliminated all wheat from our diet. Cold turkey. One day I was eating a sandwich – the next day I was not. The results have been amazing. If you consider all of the foods we eat that contain wheat, you could end up with the same reaction as comedian John Pinette:

    The winter holidays for our family are dominated not only by the warm glow of being with family and loved ones, but also by incredible food. Like many Americans, our holiday food is rich and delicious, but not ideal for people concerned about their weight and health. As we approached Thanksgiving 2012, our first Thanksgiving without wheat, I was a little concerned. Would I really be able to say no to the macaroni and cheese? Could I pass on the cookies, cakes, and pies that are such a wonderful part of our family’s tradition? Would I hurt someone’s feelings by saying “no thanks” to their famous goodie? This really was a concern.

    I should have known that our family would be very supportive and non-judgmental about our food. We are very fortunate to have a family that wants what is best for us, even if it seems weird to them. Going wheat-free or gluten-free certainly does seem weird to many people. I also attribute our holiday success to two factors that relate to our Forward Story.

    1. Forward Vision. Because our health is such a priority for us, we try to view each daily decision through the lens of the future. If I choose to eat these cookies, will the ensuing discomfort and negative health consequences be worth the temporary pleasure enjoyed? Listen, for my wife’s pies and cookies, the answer is almost yes. But we try to follow the philosophy that “Nothing tastes as good as being lean and fit feels.” By considering the future consequences of the current decision, I tend to make better decisions. In a previous article we referred to this as future-oriented behavior.

    2. Planning for Success. The photo at the top of this post is the pumpkin swirl cheesecake that my wife made for Thanksgiving. It is a wheat-free and sugar-free recipe from Maria Emmerich. It is remarkable. The fact that we knew Thanksgiving could be a challenge for us led us to plan to have a viable alternative. This cheesecake was so good that even the wheat eaters in our family liked it. Along with the non-judgmental attitude of our family, having this alternative led to our success. It has given us confidence that in the future we can handle Thanksgiving, Christmas, and the challenges presented at birthday parties and other family gatherings as long as we plan for success. Planning for this success and actually following through on that plan was a key.

    I accept the fact that having forward vision and planning for success does not come naturally for everyone. In fact, it may not come naturally for any of us, but some of us do seem to more naturally adopt these practices. If you struggle in this area, I want to encourage you that these are skills you can cultivate. If you do, you will be pleased with the results. It is worth the effort to grow in this area of your life.

    I am now only 13 pounds away from my weight as a senior in high school 32 years ago! I am now 37 pounds lighter than when I began. I want to say thanks to our family for their support. It means a lot to have a good network of people that care about us.

    Tell me about your own Forward Story. How do you employ forward vision and plan for success?

    Has the role your family has played been a positive or a negative for you?

     

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    Doomsday Is Here?

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    As I write this post, we are two days from the Winter Solstice 2012, which is on Friday, December 21, 2012. This is the day each year when we in the northern hemisphere have the shortest daylight and longest darkness. For many years now I have had this particular Winter Solstice in my calendar under the heading:

    End of The World (Mayan Doomsday Prophecy)

    You are either reading this before or after 12/21/12. If before, you may laugh off the prophecy or you may be really expecting the world to end. If after, you will know that either the prophecy was false or the interpreters of the prophecy were mistaken. This idea of the end of the world intrigues me with regard to writing and living my Forward Story. The fact is that on Friday life will end for many people on earth. Even if it doesn’t end for all of us, many will meet their own end as a result of natural causes or the risks of life as mortal beings.

    Any Forward Story that does not take into account the fact that life here is not forever will be lacking. It will not lead to true happiness because it is not based on the truth. My encouragement to us all is to live each day understanding how precious and short life is and to be sure our plans and activities properly value those people and causes that we truly care about. These need to all be included in our plans and stories.

    See you in 2013.

    Unless I don’t.