Focus: GTD can help ou boost your focus, when you start doing things and get things rolling GTD can help give you the stepping stones on how to be more focused when doing your work. Creativity: GTD teaches you how to organize and prioritize. This can help give you a better insight on the bigger picture and change your perspective which can help you benefit from different opportunities and situations. There is a noticeable increase in creativity after learning how to GTD.

What can GTD (getting things done) do for you?

You know when you have this great idea but then forget it. Well, from now on this is what you're gonna do. First of all, when you ever catch yourself things "I need to, or I should" you need to write it down, these types of phrases mean you have something on your mind. If you don't these open loops can become a source of mental stress and distraction.

Step 1: Capture... everything that has your attention

You're gonna want to set up a couple of different systems so you can write any ideas down whenever. Personal notebook: Get a physical notebook, one that you can carry around. Nothing beats paper and pen. You can jot down any ideas, events anythings coming up in this notebook. Paper tray: Get yourself a nice paper tray and put it on the corner of your desk. Even though it takes up a good amount of space on your desk, you will use it a lot. You can use it to put any memos, business cards, sticky note will be put on this tray. Note taking app: evernote, google keep, notion...

How can I implement this in my day-day life?

In the image above, if you click on it, it is a visual representation of how you can clarify your ideas from step 1. Question #1: Is it actionable?If "No" refer to next pointIf "Yes" follow up with two more questionsQuestion #2: What's the next action?Question #3: Will it take less than two minutes?

Step 2: Clarify... what needs to be done?

For your non-actionable items you can put it into 4 different categories. 1- TrashTrash is trash. If you don't need it, throw it out. 2- Someday/MaybeThese items don't require your attention at the moment but you might need to do it later. You can put a reminder on your calendar or write them down on a list. (e.g. a software that you'd like to try but don't have the time to download right now.)3- RemindersAdd them to your calendar (aren't at the top of your list). 4- Reference materialPotentially useful info that you want to keep

Non-actionable Items

Refer to question 2 and 3. After answering question 2 and 3 here's what you can do...1- Do itIf it's less than two minutes, do it now. (e.g. Email short response, follow up with a quick phone call, new calendar invite(check schedule))2- Delegate itIf you're. not the best person for the job, decide who you think is and how you're going to pass on the information to them (e.g. email, call..)3- Defer itThings you need to do - just not right now.

Action Items

The organization framework for GTD has 7 parts to it...1- Next Actions ListsOrganize into things to do at work, things to do at home and agendas. 2- Project ListsAnything that requires more than one step to complete.. Consolidate it all into one list and mark them either "On Hold, In Progress or Completed". 3- CalendarUse for things that must be done by a certain day or time or things that need to be done as soon as possible.4- Waiting For ListKeeps track of things you're waiting to get back from other people.Continued in next point...

Step 3: Organize...information so you can find it later

5- Someday/Maybe ListsOrganize the things you want to reassess sometime in the future.6- Reference MaterialStuff that's interesting but doesn't represent something you need to act upon. (e.g. quotes from a book, notes, articles..)7- Project Support MaterialInformation that relates to a project you're working on. Google drive and gmail are both very useful tools you can utilize to organize your files and information.

Step 3 - Continued

Daily planning and weekly review are the two habits that keeps your GTD system running. Daily planning: Start with your calendar, it should give you everything you need to do for each day. Once you've seen what you are going to do prioritize your tasks off your Next Action lists. Taking a couple things from that list everyday can help get things done as long lists are intimidating, short lists get things done. Finally, review any other lists as needed. Weekly review continued in next point...

Step 4: Reflect... and prioritize your work

Weekly review: You can do a 30-minute weekly review in three steps. 1- Empty all of your inboxesProcess everything you've collected in your inboxes that hasn't been dealt with yet. Start with you notes, then your lists, then your notebook, then your paper tray and finally your inbox. 2- Review your calendarReview events of past two weeks then look ahead to next two weeks. While doing that write down anything that reminds you to do something or sparks an idea.3- Update your listsUpdate all of the lists that you use for you daily workflow and determine if you need to follow up on something.

Step 4 - Continued

It's now time to get to work, here's the four-criteria model that you can use to make intuitive decision about what to do next.  1- ContextAt any point in time, you can only do what you are capable of doing in your given environment. This is the reason your next action list is organized into things to do at home and to do at work. 2- Time availableDo you have enough time to complete a task, or at least make meaningful progress?Continued in next point...

Step 5: Engage... in the right activities

3- Energy availableAs the day passes, your energy and focus diminishes. tackle your most important, most difficult work first thing in the morning . Things that need to be done but require very little mental horsepower can help you stay productive at all hours of the day. 4- PriorityOf all the things you could do, what should you do? When you have a clear picture of what your goal is in each area of your life, it helps your decision become easier to decipher what work is more important than others.

Step 5 - Continued

This diagram can help you make decision about what you are doing. this priority framework is based on a similar idea proposed by Stephen Covey in his book ( The 7Habits of Highly Effective People). Covey teaches that everything we do falls into one of four quadrants. A time management matrix can be created by one axis of relative importance, and second axis of relative urgency.

The Quadrants

This is based off of a article from Tyler Devries on how to get things done and what it can do for you. It is a long read so I do recommend stashing it so you can look back to it for reference if you forget. 

Learn the method for Getting Things Done (GTD). I'll show you how to get started using specific examples of the habits and tools that I use.

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Productivity

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Motivation & Inspiration

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Habits

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Problem Solving

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Time Management

How can you get things done?

Ikigai = Reason of beingIkigai is the reason you wake up every morning. It is your purpose. When your ikigai is found, your life is more fulfilling and satisfying as you have found a sense of purpose and direction.

#1 Ikigai

"Your ikigai is a work in progress, because you are a work in progress. Knowing your ikigai, then, takes patience, insight, courage and honesty."

Wabi-sabi is a reminder that nothing is perfect. But, that's okay. We can find beauty in the flawed things. Wabi-sabi can help us appreciate the imperfections of life and accept the ebb and flow of life.

#2 Wabi-sabi

"The natural melancholic beauty of things imperfect"

Gaman is to persevere when faced with hardships. It is to face them with patience, determination, dignity and grace. It is about accepting the challenges of life and facing them with patience and determination. To apply gaman to life, when you are faced with hardships you can say gaman like a mantra to remind you to persevere.

#3 Gaman

"Perseverance, the secret of triumph."

Shikataganai =  "it cannot be helped" or "let it be"It is a philosophy and reminder that encourages acceptance of things we cannot control and the importance of moving forward and adapting despite the circumstances. However, this must not be used as an excuse of laziness. It encourages us to find solutions and take action where possible while accepting the limitations of our control.

#4 Shikataganai

"Let go of the things out of your control, keeping them is going to take away time from the important things."

Kintsugi is a Japanese art form that involves reparing broken pttery with gold or silver lacquer. The idea it that something broken can be made even more beautiful through repair. It represents the beauty of imperfection and acceptance of change. It means to embrace the scars and flaws in life and turn them into something beautiful.

#5 Kintsugi

"The broken pieces are what make us beautiful. Its the belief that when something has suffered damage and has history it makes it beautiful.

Shrin-yoku = forest bathingIt is the practice of spending time in nature and immersing yourself in the sights, sounds, and smells of the forest. It improves cognitive function, creativity, and concentration. It also relieves stress and lowers blood pressure. It is a spiritual practice that connects individuals with nature. In a fast-paced world, Shinrin-yoku provides a much-needed opportunity to slow down and unplug.

#6 Shinrin-yoku

I hope you learned something from these 6 Japanese concepts. Furthermore, I hope that you will use them in your life. It may take some discipline but, remember that discipline is doing something difficult now to benefit yourself later.

Conclusion

These 6 concepts are important to life and spirituality.

Here are seven valuable lessons from Japanese culture that can empower, humble, and drastically change you.

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Mindfulness

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Health

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Mental Health

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Meditation

6 Japanese Concepts That Can Change Your Life

We all know studying a lot can lead to a great mark. However, if you cram it all it will be difficult to comprehend. So, we need to know how to space out our study times. Spread out study times beats crammed by a significant amount. This is because when you study and then come back to it in the time that you left your brain was slowly comprehending.

1. When to study and how much?

Spacing

You should also not study very late the day before the test. Late night studies are going to make you very tired the next day and not have the right mindset to be ready to take a test. Instead, you can study briefly before you go to bed and then in the morning you should take another look at your notes before you head out the door for your test.

Once you have figured out how you are going to space out the time now its time to see what you have to study. You are going to want to study anything that is necessary for your test. Learn it to the best of your ability and then use "the testing effect"

2. What to Study and How to Do It

The testing effect is simply to test oneself. For example using flashcards or questioning yourself with questions you expect on the test. This is the best way to remember and comprehend what you are learning because you must retrieve the information to the answer from your memory.

The Testing Effect

<ol><li class="ql-align-justify">Mock tests and exams</li><li class="ql-align-justify">Problems</li><li class="ql-align-justify">Self-generated questions or writing prompts</li></ol>The best kind of practice is called transfer-appropriate processing. In short TAP. The next idea will explain what that is.

3. What Kinds of Practice to Do

This basically means that the more your practice resembles the exam, the more your practice efforts will transfer into actual results. Which means whatever material that you use to study, the closer it is to the test the easier the test will be when done.

Transfer-Appropriate Processing (TAP)

A deep understanding of you material is required as memory alone will not help you in some cases.Understanding material is > than memoryDo not fall in the trap of "the illusion of explanatory depth"Below will explain this.

4. Make Sure You Really Understand

This is when you this that your understanding of something is a lot deeper than it actually is. You need to know the difference between what factual knowledge you have in order to build of of it. There are ways to avoid this however, the best one is to us the Feynman technique.

The Illusion of Explanatory Depth

I will not expand on this except the fact that this is one of the best ways to understand material for any subject. Here is a link to the video that I recommend <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_f-qkGJBPts">Feynman Technique - Thomas Frank</a>.

The Feynman Technique

The solution to beat anxiety is to do a full stimulation of the test. For example, same seating posture, materials and, most importantly, the same time constraints.There’s three benefits to doing full simulations:<ol><li class="ql-align-justify">You increase your temporary anxiety while studying, which makes it easier to recall the information due to state-dependent memory effects .</li><li class="ql-align-justify">By exposing yourself to the exam situation you’ll be less anxious when the eventual test comes.</li><li class="ql-align-justify">You’ll actually know what your performance is likely to be on the test!</li></ol>

5. Beat Anxiety by Simulating the Exam First

Exposure Reduces Anxiety

"Once you stop learning, you start dying."

I have had 2 tests this week and I got 93% on both of them which is totally an ace for me so here's how I did it. For all the tips there is a diagram provided below. 

Don't make studying for your next exam harder than it has to be! Here's five strategies, backed by cognitive science, to ace your next big test.

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Reading & Writing

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Learning & Education

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Science & Nature

Study tips on how YOU are going to ACE your next test!

" The moment you give up, is the moment you let someone else win."

" The magic you are looking for is in the work your avoiding."

" Once you understand the power of you words, you won't just say anything. Once you understand the power of your thoughts, you won't just think anything. But, once you understand the power of your presence, you won't just be anywhere.

" They say you don't know what you have until it's gone, but the truth is you knew exactly what you had. You just didn't think you'd lose it. "

" The heaviest things in life aren't iron and gold, but unmade decisions. The reason you are stressed is that you have decisions to make and your not making them. "

"  A wise person once said, what surprises me most about human kind is that we get bored of our childhood. Rush to grow up, and long to be children again. That we lose our health to make money, and lose our money to restore our health. That by thinking anxiously about the future we forget the present. Such that we live in neither the present nor the future. That we live as if we are never going to die, and die as though we never lived.

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Philosophy

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Career

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Personal Development

Quotes that hit different

"No alarm clock needed, my passion wakes me up."

The Ulysses Pact is a technique for holding yourself accountable to stick with a goal even when it’s hard. The key ingredient in a Ulysses Pact is that we make a choice in the present (when things are relatively easy) that binds us to perform an action in the future (when things are hard). For example, suppose you want to stick to a plan of going for a run two times per week in the morning with a friend. You could write your friend a series of checks, each for $20, and instruct them to cash one and use the money on whatever they want if you miss a workout with them.

The Ulysses Pact

Chunking works to increase our motivation because by splitting things into smaller pieces, it increases our sense of self-efficacy, the belief that we can successfully accomplish a goal. For example, a number like 28932798288 it might be easier to remember if you chunked it. 289-932-798-288 now it might be easier to remember.

Chunking

Employees are more likely to come to management with useful suggestions and feedback if managers listen to that feedback carefully, take it seriously, and offer genuine thanks and appreciation. Pick a small amount of reading you would like to do each evening. Let’s say 1 chapter. Choose a small but enjoyable reward. I like Oreo's. Keep your copy of Moby Dick and your reward on the shelf by the coach. Each time you finish your chapter, put the book away and reward yourself with an Oreo.

Artificial Positive Reinforcement

Visualizing works on a simple principle of motivation that says the more specific, concrete, and available our mental representation of a goal and its benefits are, the more we’ll feel motivated to achieve it. Meaning, if you are trying to have a consistent exercising habit, try to visualize the outcome. See the benefits and how it can help you so that in turn you'll feel more motivated to achieve it.

Visualization 

When you feel upset that you couldn't complete something instead of talking down to yourself look at it positively. Try to get a different perspective as to why you couldn't complete it.  Avoid harsh and negative self talk and try a gentle positive self talk.

Gentle Self-Talk

Advice from comedian Jerry Seinfeld telling someone:He told me to get a big wall calendar that has a whole year on one page and hang it on a prominent wall. The next step was to get a big red magic marker.He said for each day that I do my task of writing, I get to put a big red X over that day. “After a few days, you’ll have a chain. Just keep at it and the chain will grow longer every day. You’ll like seeing that chain, especially when you get a few weeks under your belt. Your only job next is to not break the chain.”“Don’t break the chain,” he said again for emphasis.

The Seinfeld Strategy

The point of this is that every day you get to put a big red X over that day giving the feeling of accomplishment (the positive reinforcement). And the avoiding the thought of losing that streak you created is the negative reinforcement. When you finish a task cross it out with a big X. Continue this and "Don't break the chain".

The Seinfeld Strategy (Explanation) 

A social support person could help help you stay motivated. For example, if your end goal is to lose 30 pounds, tell your social support person that their job is to help you show up at the gym 5 days a week, nothing more. The more focused you and your social support person are on the regular routines you need to do to be successful, the more likely you are to stay motivated to stick with them.

Social Support Person

Suppose you’re working on staying motivated to keep up your journaling habit every evening. But you find yourself regularly procrastinating on doing it. Instead of fighting this, build in a little enjoyable activity right before your journaling.Chances are, if you give yourself permission to procrastinate in small ways on a regular basis and in a structured deliberate way, you’ll be less likely to end up procrastinating in major, chaotic ways.

Productive Procastination

When you do your task of the day keep a notepad and pencil. Whenever you notice you are getting distracted quickly right it down on the notepad. Once the task is completed look at your list for anything that's important before addressing it. The list will help you address your distraction to deal with them in the future.

Distraction List

Avoid negative self-talk at all costs. Text your social support buddy right away and own the slip-up. Avoid over-interpreting failure. Acknowledge that at some point you will fall off the wagon and slip up. And when you do, remind yourself that it doesn’t necessarily mean anything. Slip-ups happen. If you are consistently slipping up in the same way, do some reflection.

The Bumpy Wagon Plan

I walk-through 10 of the best techniques to stay motivated. These techniques are based on solid principles of psychology and behavioral science.

10 Psychological Tricks to Stay Motivated and Stick with Your Goals

"There are 2 traps in life you have to avoid. One, caring what people thing. Two, thinking people care."

"By changing nothing, nothing changes."

"Either say something and mess things up or say nothing and mess yourself up."

"To get something you never had, you have to do something you never did."

"I was toxic to some, I was a blessing to others. Some I healed, others I hurt. I'm willing to admit that I wasn't always right."

"Stars can't shine without darkness"

"Truth is a seed planted deep. If you want to get it, you have to dig deep."

"Trust takes years to build, seconds to break, and forever to repair. Don't trust everything you see. Even salt looks like sugar."

Life Changing Quotes

I recently watched all of "Rocky" and "Creed". The movies made me want to do one of these quote things. Thus, the following are mostly quotes with little to none explanation.

Intro

1"Because if you're willing to go through all the battling you got to go through to get where you want to get, who's got the right to stop you?"

2"The world ain't all sunshine and rainbows. It's a very mean and nasty place and I don't care how tough you are it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But, it ain't about how har you hit. It's about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward. How much you can take and keep moving forward. That's how winning is done!"

If you don't know how to stand back up after taking a fall you won't keep moving forward. People are going to pass you by, you have to get up and move along. That the way you succeed.

Re: Quote 2

3"That's the toughest opponent you're ever gonna have to face."

In your life you will always be competing against yourself. Don't worry about anyone else focus on your goal and perform.

Re: Quote 3

4"Going in one more round when you don't think you can. That's what makes all the difference in your life."

You don't know how much you can push yourself until you do. You might be tired after doing 20 push ups but you have to mentally push yourself to keep on going.

Re: Quote 4

After working so hard to get to what you wanted to get you keep going. No one can tell you to stop. You've reached your goal, now keep striving.

Re: Quote 1

The Rocky movies are incredibly inspiring, as proven by these iconic quotes and sayings that never left our hearts and minds

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Movies & Shows

Rocky Balboa: Inspiring quotes and lessons

In this post you will learn some tips and tricks to use if you're a basketball player or if you just wanna learn. I'm not going to do all 37 but I will do a couple.

There is nothing more important than having a plan of what you want to accomplish every time you step in the gym. Having a plan will allow you to stick to a schedule and be efficient.You know exactly what to do and you go in and do it. You won't get distracted.

Always Have a Workout Plan

You can write or type up you workout plan and print it. It's good to have a physical copy so you can make sure you go through all of it. You can type it on a doc and use the table function or do it on a spreadsheet.

Example of Workout Plan

Here are 5 quick reasons why tracking shots will make you a great shooter:<ol><li>You cannot improve what you don't measure.</li><li>It makes every single shot important.</li><li>Players can set shooting goals and commitments.</li><li>Players will see improvements.</li><li>Players will find out their weak shooting areas.</li></ol>Get a little notebook and a pencil and you can do form shot's out of ten and track to see when you can make ten out of ten.

Always keep a detailed shooting log

Shooting is one of the vital skills in basketball. It's important to develop a consistent form and repeatable shot.Here are the 10 steps players must follow:<ol><li>Shot preparation</li><li>Hand placement on the ball</li><li>Balanced base</li><li>Feet direction (the turn)</li><li>Consistent shot pocket</li><li>Eyes on target</li><li>Wrinkle the wrist</li><li>Elbow under the basketball</li><li>Balance hand</li><li>Rhythm shot + follow through</li></ol>

Perfect your shooting technique

Start close to the rim and go through the five spots around the rim. Get into a rhythm of shooting the basketball with good technique first and then gradually extend the range of your shot. The absolute worst thing you can do is step into the gym and immediately start throwing up shots from behind the three-point line.

Start with form shooting every time

Workout quality is more important than workout quantityYou might hear those stories about someone shooting thousands of shots for 10 hours in the gym. This is unnecessary (and can often be harmful. You could do more giving it your all in 1 hour VS someone who was carelessly chucking the ball up like hot garbage for 10 hours. By having a pre-planned workout and then getting in the gym with a determined mind you executing the workout at game speed and with 100% focus.

Quality over Quantity

"Practice like you play"

"Basketball is a beautiful game when all five players on the court play with one heartbeat."

Whether you're a young player still learning the game, a college athlete attempting to turn pro, or a coach looking to help out their team, you should always be on the search for new basketball training tips to improve your game.

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Exercise & Fitness

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Sports

Training tips for basketball

Fake friends only talk to you to take advantage of what you can do, they talk to your for what they need and tend to belittle you. Good friends help you grow as a person and empower you, they make you genuinely laugh and are always there for you.

Fake friends/Good friends

They are never there for you when you need them. So let's say you need help with your work and invite them to come over to your house to study, they just disappear/avoid you that day to not have to help you. But when they need help they are all over you asking for help.

They are a fair-weather friend

"You're the one that's carrying the friendship, and the friend is not

Fake/false friends usually want something from you and expect to not give something back in return. And this thinking allows more situations like they will do a favor for you and pretend to be nice, but the next time they expect you to give them one back.

They always need something from you

This person might always try to one up you in a conversation, whether it's just you two or even in a group they try to come off as more likeable and generally want to seem better than you.

They're competitive with you

They are "friends" with you because they have something to gain. Whether it's popularity, they are friends with you that have an underlying jealousy.

They're jealous of you in some way

Similar to competitiveness, a fake friend may feel the need to sabotage you in certain scenarios. Say you're at work and say at work and you are talking to your higher ups and this "friend" says something purposefully embarrassing about you to make your higher up think of you differently.

They try to sabotage you

These ideas are important because not a lot of people know how to tell the difference between fake friends and good friends.

Something in your gut may be telling you that you've got a fake friend in your midst—but it can be hard to know for sure, and even harder to admit.

How can you get things done?

6 Japanese Concepts That Can Change Your Life

Study tips on how YOU are going to ACE your next test!

Quotes that hit different

10 Psychological Tricks to Stay Motivated and Stick with Your Goals

Chloe Yu