Beating the little hater

When I'm drinking my morning coffee and perusing the morning edition of the internet, it always amazes me when I find something that really resonates. You know those "you too?" moments that we have when someone posts something you thought was your own little cross to bear? I found this this morning via my week+ backlog of feeds.


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23 open browser windows? delays between postings? The perfectionist vibe psyching you out? I completely understand. My little hater is a real scutch.

My little hater says:

1. "Somebody already posted that (and said it better than you could)."
2. "You're not nearly as clever as you'd like to think you are"
3. "You used to be much funnier."
4. "Everyone else's pictures look so much more professional than yours"

You might not know it, but I went to school for art. It's amazing I made it out alive, with so much energy spent on worrying about what others think. As for beating my little hater, these are the things most likely to succeed:

1. Work fast (the more time you have to think, the more time to overthink).
2. Work often (momentum can be your best friend or your biggest roadblock)
3. Stop watching that TV!
4. Don't think about the next "big idea" -- post two small ideas instead.
   

Our little girl is less that 11 weeks away from the big move. While it may not translate into more activity on this blog, I am going to be getting things done (and being productive). Setting up the baby area (are there a lot of baby rooms in Manhattan?), putting together some furniture, and ...picking a real name for Sprout. :)

To Do: Finish Getting things Done (GTD)

According to my local Borders' search receipt/bookmark, it looks like I bought Getting Things Done almost a month ago, and have yet to finish it. It's funny how people sell books to those looking to manage their time, when it's the time to read the book they don't have. I have faith that the read will payoff in spades, assuming I get to the last page.

I try to read on the subway when I get the time, and Saturday morning I go through a few pages -- I'm just at the point where I can visualize what he's actually talking about. From the 43 folders GTD forum, It came as a great relief that not everyone implements the process during the first read, as I was beginning to get down on myself about it. I found it particularly difficult to set up an inbox on the 1 train during rush hour. I guess that won't be my home base for this implementation.

While I'm not done, sites like lifehacker and simple dollar don't let you get through a day without mentioning some great piece of GTD software, new GTD hacks, or some gotta-have-it gizmo like an uber-sexy space pen to go with my new hipster PDA.

I also am not about to run out and spend all my nickels on a file cabinet for something I may decide was not the best program for me. Looking for a low-cost solution was definitely a priority. That's why this post was such a relief:

How to Make a GTD System for About $20

$20 is something I can work with. After getting buying into the safety razor hype at the simple dollar, I need to watch my wallet from blog-lusting.

Anyway, I'm on page 144 -- I hope to be done in the next week or so. While I've been trying to do more 2-minute-or-less items as they come into my life (which has been helpful in increasing productivity) I'm eager to finish and begin the actual process. Until then, I'm just delaying gathering all of my open loops... God, what a frightening endeavor...