One Fit Sizes All

When you’re Reducing Friction, it isn’t necessary to use only one todo-tracking method, or blank gray background forever, or always this or never that. It isn’t just what works for you… it’s what works for you right now.

I’m finding that I have modes… rather like vi — no wonder I prefer it! ;)

Sometimes I am in Programmer Mode, doing a metric crapload of coding. At those times, a plaintext file accessed on the CLI works better for me, especially since I’m most likely already there.

Other times, I’m multitasking like a madman — call it Frenetic Mode, with twenty-seven windows open, each with twelve tabs, iTunes blaring podcasts while I read up on better anti-spam methods for mail servers — at those times, I find an outliner like OmniOutliner fits in better. Plus I have the keyboard commands down pat, so that helps speed up everything.

And still other times, I am in Analog Mode and need paper and ink to run my life.

I think where I and (extrapolating wildly to the rest of the human race) everybody else run into the most problems creating and maintaining productivity is trying to stick to One True Way of doing things, or only buying One True Notebook, or believing only One True Stack of Index Cards will work — forever and always. The GTD methodology refers to having “belief” in the capturing methods, but belief does not necessarily mean fanaticism.

We are not static creatures.

Friction is Reduced in many ways. Things are Gotten Done in many ways. Like choosing only the tools you need for your Zen Pockets, it seems to me that choosing the right methods for the right “mode” is just as important.