~ [[PKM & Magic]] x [[2025 3 06 - BASB JIT Workshop - 1 - The Late Starts]] y [[2025 3 27 - BASB JIT Workshop - 2 - The Iron Triangle]] z [[2025 4 24 - BASB JIT Workshop - 3 - Modular Thinking - The 3 S']] a [[TFM - Summaries]] ## 1 Just-In-Time Project Management: A Digital-First Framework for Modern Projects - Forte Labs by: Tiago Forte https://fortelabs.com/blog/just-in-time-project-management-a-digital-first-framework-for-modern-projects > A new paradigm for project management in the digital age has a few requirements: > Digital-native > Explicitly enable knowledge workers > Thrive in the face of uncertainty and change > in the face of the VUCA (volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity) we find ourselves > Accommodate any team or organizational structure > **Leverage emerging digital technologies** > Operate through and within networks > Integrate deeply with learning > Assume remote collaborators > Maximize return-on-attention > the key metric of Just-In-Time Project Management (JITPM): **Return-on-Attention** > The fall of Return-on-Investment > **Return-on-Investment** (abbreviated as ROI). The logic is straightforward: any given project has a required input (or investment), and an expected output (a return). > If I invest $10,000 into a project and it returns $11,000, that project had an ROI (Return-on-Investment) of 10% (the profit of $1,000 divided by the original investment of $10,000). > Every industry is hypercompetitive, and opportunities need to be created, not simply chosen. Now we need to _nurture_ promising projects, products, and situations to profitability. > The rise of Return-on-Attention > Projects have become **non-linear** – not simply a sum of the time and dollars spent on them, but complex emergent phenomena we can barely understand or control. > The question of how to manage projects is now the question of how to optimize the quantity AND quality of the attention we deploy each day. > Knowledge management is project management > **Personal knowledge management (PKM)** is the key capability in modern work, because it allows us to continuously make use of attention we’ve already deployed. But for it to be viable in the short term, PKM must also be integrated into how we manage day-to-day projects. ## 2 Just-In-Time PM #2: The Fundamentals of Flow - Forte Labs by: Tiago Forte https://fortelabs.com/blog/just-in-time-pm-2-the-fundamentals-of-flow > Units of currency are always uniform and interchangeable. Units of attention, on the other hand, are _not at all_ created equal. > One hour of close collaboration with a thought partner potentially produces 100 times more value than an hour of small talk. > “A mental state of operation in which a person performing an activity is fully immersed in a feeling of _energized focus_, _full involvement_, and _enjoyment_ in the process of the activity.” > “transient hypofrontality.” “Transient” because it is fleeting. “Hypofrontality” because our prefrontal cortex, the seat of higher-level thinking that also contains our inner critic, seems to go dormant. > * **Norepinephrine** tightens focus, as we lose track of time and our surroundings and that attention is redirected to the task at hand * **Dopamine** makes us anticipate the next discovery with excitement, while also improving the pattern recognition essential to creativity * **Anandamide** improves lateral thinking, helping us route around obstacles in our thinking * **Nitric oxide** suppresses the stress response that comes with creative risk-taking * **Endorphins** give us a sense of inner tranquility and enjoyment as our efforts begin to pay off > the state of flow is that it represents the intersection of peak **enjoyment**, **performance**, and **learning** > In an economy based on creativity and self-expression, we cannot afford to be frazzled worker bees only occasionally emerging from our caves. > the fragmentation of work into tiny pieces, distributed through time and space, could be seen not as a threat, but as a great opportunity to reinvent how work is done. ## 3 Just-In-Time PM #3: Flow Cycles - Forte Labs by: Tiago Forte https://fortelabs.com/blog/just-in-time-pm-3-flow-cycles > The way work is currently organized and performed, it takes a _tremendous_ investment of resources to get into flow. First, you have to set up your **environment** > Second, you have the **mental** setup: > Third, you have the **emotional** setup: > This whole ramp-up period is the first of four stages of flow, known as “struggle.” > Our brains evolved this “struggle” stage as a feature, because getting into flow is tremendously _expensive_. It’s expensive neurochemically, as the brain burns neurotransmitters much faster than it can produce them. As I explained in [A Pattern Recognition Theory of Mind](https://fortelabs.com/a-pattern-recognition-theory-of-mind/), multiple layers of cortical neurons have to build up their action potentials as they recognize patterns and make connections, which takes energy. > The pain of struggle is your brain’s way of asking you, “Are we _sure_ this task is worth getting into flow for?” > You only want to spend these “flow cycles” on pursuits that are truly valuable. > nearly all the value is created at the very end – when you package up what you’ve created for delivery to a colleague, to your boss, or to a customer. > The truth is, you can’t afford to let all that intermediate work go to waste. > Every year you have 261 flow cycles to spend (assuming one per workday, which is generous). > If we consider these flow cycles as our most important asset as knowledge workers, and think about how precious little time we have to make our dent in the universe (or really, just make a decent living), it becomes imperative that we build a knowledge base that appreciates over time. That is our challenge in building a second brain. ## 4 Just-In-Time PM #4: Intermediate Packets - Forte Labs by: Tiago Forte https://fortelabs.com/blog/just-in-time-pm-4-intermediate-packets > The first benefit of working this way is that **you become interruption-proof**. > Second, you have **more frequent opportunities to get feedback**. > You become more adaptable and more accountable, because you are performing your work in public. > You will find that others give much better feedback when they are included early and the work is clearly in draft stage. > Third, you can **create value in any span of time**. > Productivity becomes a game of matching each available block of time (or state of mind, or mood, or energy level) with a corresponding packet that is perfectly suited to it. > Fourth, **big projects become less intimidating** > But if your only goal is to create an intermediate packet and show it to someone — good notes on a book, a Pinterest board of design inspirations, just one module of code — then you can trick yourself into getting started. > Finally, you gain the ability to **reuse previously built packets for new projects** > working in intermediate packets has a positive impact on all six triggers: > 1\. Clear goals > 2\. Immediate feedback > Your efforts feel more connected to the impact you’re having on others, which also makes them more **meaningful** > 3\. Challenge-skill ratio > It’s much **easier** to calibrate the challenge of a project versus your skills if it’s smaller and shorter > 4\. Presence of risk > You substitute the risk of not delivering on something large, with the creative risks of going deeper on something small. > 5\. Deep embodiment > As you offload more and more of your abstract thinking to external tools, new bandwidth begins to open up. > 6\. Rich environment > Breaking our work into smaller chunks directly creates the conditions for flow > your productivity is not dependent on your state of mind at any given moment. It depends instead on all the knowledge and expertise you’ve acquired throughout your life, documented in a personal knowledge base. > This is what it looks like to create compounding gains by investing in Knowledge Capital. ## 5 ## 6 ## 7 ## 8 Just-In-Time PM #8: Divergence and Convergence - Forte Labs by: Tiago Forte https://fortelabs.com/blog/just-in-time-pm-8-divergence-and-convergence > There is a very simple model drawn from Design Thinking that is helpful when thinking about abstract work. It is called **divergence and convergence** > In divergence, you are **_widening_** the range of **possibilities**, **options**, **ideas**, and **pathways** you’re considering. > **consuming** > **investigating** > **experimenting** > Then at some point, you must start converging on a **conclusion**, **decision**, or **deliverable** > **discarding** > **eliminating** > **producing** > At some point you _must_ kill off possibilities to allow some of them to come to fruition. > But the new economy favors those who can operate at all points of the spectrum. > Inspiration from other disciplines > Painters > Engineers > free-writing > Writers > writing different variations of the same scene > moving passages around. > converge > killing off a character > settling on a plot point > sending their manuscript to the publisher. > Dancers > Designers > Photographers ## 9 Just-In-Time PM #9: Placeholders - Forte Labs by: Tiago Forte https://fortelabs.com/blog/just-in-time-pm-9-placeholders > The main feature of the modern workday, you may have noticed, is _fragmentation_. > What we need to make that happen is the ability to “freeze” a project in its current state, preserving its context and details > What we need is better _placeholders_ > _you have no idea when is the next time you will be able to come back to a given project_ > * At the end of a few hours of online research, create a short **summary** of the best websites you found, and why you found them valuable * After a meeting where a lot of ideas were raised, spend a few minutes assigning **action items** * As you’re leaving an event or conference, take a little time to jot down an **outline** of your top learnings * When finishing a book, write a short **review** on Goodreads * When watching a presentation, save a couple **photos** of the best slides with a few points on their relevance * After finding an interesting travel website, clip it to Evernote with a #travel **tag** > Convergence required > a placeholder is that it can only be done in convergence mode. > Flow cycles are a precious commodity. > end each work session with a clear deliverable, send them off for feedback whenever possible, and offload to your digital notes every possible bit of thinking during this entire process. ## 10 Just-In-Time PM #10: Structure, Features, and Purpose - Forte Labs by: Tiago Forte https://fortelabs.com/blog/just-in-time-pm-10-structure-features-and-purpose > a set of core principles for how **Digital Knowledge Work** is fundamentally different from previous kinds of work. > The key tenet of the Just-In-Time paradigm is that the best possible time to do most tasks is “as late as possible.” > #1 Structure can be added later > Defining a structure too early in the process not only consumes your time and attention, it presents real risks. > It makes much more sense to just start collecting things > and only later choose the appropriate structure based on the patterns that emerge from the material. > #2 Features can be added later > Adding too many features too early also presents serious risks. > It makes much more sense to launch a **container**, and fill in the features slowly over time via **releases** – discrete packets of incremental value delivered to users. Most knowledge work is nothing but files on computers or servers, which means it’s all mutable. > #3 Purpose can be added later > You can produce a schedule for an individual project, only to realize that it can become a template for future ones. > Settling on a purpose too early imposes perhaps the most serious risks on a project. A purpose powerfully constrains what is allowed and what is possible. > Flexibility in outcomes is one of the most powerful features of digital knowledge work. ## 11 Just-In-Time PM #11: Late Starts on the Critical Path - Forte Labs by: Tiago Forte https://fortelabs.com/blog/just-in-time-pm-11-late-starts-on-the-critical-path > Principle #4 of Digital Knowledge Work is therefore to “Start everything as late as possible.” ### 4 Start everything as late as possible > This practice is known as “late starts,” and is taken directly from Critical Chain Project Management (CCPM), a methodology developed by business management guru Eliyahu Goldratt, based on his Theory of Constraints. > CCPM proposes that _attention_ and _people_ are now the most important constraints in projects > To understand why and how, we first need to understand the concept of “critical path.” > the “critical path” (CP). It is defined as “the longest chain of dependent tasks.” > It tells us **where to start** > It tells us **what to prioritize** > It tells us the **soonest possible completion date** for the project as a whole > With so much activity going on early in the project, it’s easy to lose focus on the tasks that will have the greatest impact on final delivery – the critical path > The critical path is often the longest path because it includes ambiguous tasks like research, testing, and discovery > With late starts, we push tasks as late as possible on the timeline. This tends to create clusters of tasks just before key milestones, represented here by diamonds: > The amount of time needed to perform tasks is reduced, by limiting the amount of time available to work on them > By adding people to the project as late as possible, you avoid yanking them from other projects, only to wait around with nothing to do as the critical path finishes > It creates a collaborative culture where everyone understands the importance of the critical path > it focuses everyone’s attention on the critical path > But the best reason to adopt late starts is… everyone does it anyway! > what if we acknowledge the reality that this is how humans work? ## 12 Just-In-Time PM #12: Just-In-Case to Just-In-Time - Forte Labs by: Tiago Forte https://fortelabs.com/blog/just-in-time-pm-12-just-in-case-to-just-in-time > Downscoping and upscoping > Placeholders > Intermediate packets > Convergence and divergence > Just-in-Time PM also requires significant changes in the culture and politics of teams: > Collaborators have to **trust each other implicitly** > Collaborators must have **strong alignment and buy-in** on the purpose of the work > Managers have to trust in people’s **ability to self-manage and take responsibility** > The environment must be one of **openness and candor** > Working digitally tends to make the risks of early starts even worse, because there’s such a strong bias to starting things. > the potential benefits for digital teams are proportionally even greater: > **aligns more naturally with human rhythms** > **easier for contractors and outside collaborators** > **more room at the beginning of a project for high-impact, creative activities** > From Just-In-Case to Just-In-Time Paradigm > Instead of suffering through grueling **heavy lifts**, we create many small, **intermediate packets** of value > Instead of treating products as fixed objects, we evolve and morph their scope through a series of prototypes. > Instead of **deep focus** over long stretches of time, we create **placeholders** every step of the way > we do things **as late as possible**, to take advantage of the latest information. ## 13 Just-In-Time PM #13: Component Thinking - Forte Labs by: Tiago Forte https://fortelabs.com/blog/just-in-time-pm-13-component-thinking > **Principle #5: “Create subcomponents as early as possible.”** > #5 Create subcomponents as early as possible > Principle #5 to bring all the **low-risk, but time-consuming activities** (researching, summarizing, annotating) as early as possible. > By pushing the bulk of the work later, we create room on the front end for research, exploration, and discovery, where it makes the biggest difference. > This is called **Component Thinking**, which recognizes that every product is made up of smaller subcomponents. > Having many subcomponents at your disposal gives you numerous benefits: * Each one gives you **optionality**, increasing the number of options you can consider * Each one can be **reused** in different projects, allowing you to leverage past work * Each one can **remove uncertainty**, making future projects less risky > We can take advantage of this **_modularity_** of digital products – there’s no longer any need to wait until you have all the pieces in place: > to our advantage – if nothing is ever final, there’s no point in waiting to get started. > When building a bridge, perhaps 10% of the work is in design, with the rest being construction. With knowledge work, it is the opposite. The actual production of knowledge work deliverables is so fast and cheap it might as well be free, whereas the difficult intellectual labor of design constitutes 90% or more of the work. > The actual production of knowledge work deliverables is so fast and cheap it might as well be free, whereas the difficult intellectual labor of design constitutes 90% or more of the work. > The way designers solve problems is through **synthesis** – by making things and putting them together. > The way designers solve problems is through **synthesis** – by making things and putting them together. > The best subcomponents are those that: * Answer questions or test assumptions * Need to be done anyway * Simplify or speed up future projects * Make future decisions faster or easier > By postponing heavy production work, we create time and space for thinking about and bundling together subcomponents. ## 14 Just-In-Time PM #14: Personal Productivity Networks - Forte Labs by: Tiago Forte https://fortelabs.com/blog/just-in-time-pm-14-personal-productivity-networks > The implicit model of human productivity that most people hold is a pipe with a fixed diameter. > The history of telecommunications suggests that a 100-fold increase in bandwidth is possible just by changing the way the network operates. > **packet switching**. Instead of sending the data through one channel, one bit at a time, in a certain order, packet switching networks break up the data stream into discrete packets. These packets were able to fill in the in-between spaces in transmissions that were often wasted. > we need to do is replace the model of a fixed pipe with a **personal productivity network**. > The “nodes” in your personal productivity network are “any work session where intelligence is applied.” > Every time you write a note to self on the fridge, or save your notes on a book, or write down a to do, you are transmitting a packet of data through time to your future self. > Nodes include **other people**. When I send a collaborator an email with instructions to complete a task, I am sending them a neat little packet of work. Once they have applied the necessary intelligence, they send back a “processed” packet, which I can then integrate into what I’m doing. > Nodes can include **organizations and communities** > And finally, **software programs** are becoming increasingly effective nodes. > As the owner and manager of a personal productivity network, you step back from your role of “individual contributor,” > You move from being a “knowledge worker” to a “knowledge manager,” routing jobs to the best nodes and only occasionally stepping in to do the work yourself. > **This network is your second brain**: a system of people, software, and organizations working together in a decentralized way, with your own personal efforts dedicated to tweaking and tuning how the system operates. > Once it reaches critical mass, it grows almost without your involvement. After that point, its expansion is limited only by your ability to get out of the way. ## 15 Just-In-Time PM #15: Multithreading - Forte Labs by: Tiago Forte https://fortelabs.com/blog/just-in-time-pm-15-multithreading > “personal productivity networks.” > These networks are made up of packets of work that move between “nodes” where some kind of intelligence is applied, whether human or software-based. > While _multitasking_ is switching rapidly between tasks, and is absolutely not a good idea, _multithreading_ is switching rapidly between projects, and is essential. > **Principle #6 is: Multithread projects to make progress on many fronts simultaneously** > Digital technology has dramatically lowered many of the costs that once made switching focus so prohibitively expensive: > cost of materials > storage costs > transmission costs > cost of changing locations > reproduction costs > Small bits of time that in the past wouldn’t have been of much use have become available for meaningful progress on virtually any other project. > Opportunities in the modern economy tend to be **non-linear** > They also tend to be **asymmetric** > It starts to become imperative that we have many, many balls in the air, because we simply can’t predict when and where we’ll hit it big. And we only need to hit it big once. > One way to think of this is that we each have a personal **surface area**, for both opportunities and risks (this is captured in the term _exposure_, which can be positive or negative). > Instead, we can _expand our surface area_, by drawing on more diverse sources of inspiration, cultivating more interesting projects and challenges, and developing a larger mix of colleagues and collaborators. By opening our projects up to our network, we have the potential to accomplish vastly more than we could ever do on our own, and much faster too. > I’ve found that by regularly publishing blog posts on any topic that interests me, with no overarching strategy or philosophy, I vastly increase the “surface area” of opportunities available to me. > Each one of my blog posts is a node in my network, offering a little bit of intelligence to anyone who reads it. > What you accomplish can only become more than the sum of its parts if you’re exercising agency in choosing the parts, _and_ their sequence. > By always having another project to turn to when we get stuck, we can prevent temporary setbacks from becoming crushing defeats. ## 16 Just-In-Time PM #16: Effective ROA - Forte Labs by: Tiago Forte https://fortelabs.com/blog/just-in-time-pm-16-effective-roa > To take advantage of the benefits of multithreading, it’s critical that you begin to think of yourself not as a lone project manager, but as a _project portfolio manager_ (PPM). > The two most important skills you’ll need as a PPM are: * Choosing the right projects to start (good inputs) * Maximizing project completions (good outputs) > Most people correctly sense that it is project completions that matter, and often will resist starting new ones until their current ones finish. > It is not throughput that matters so much as **throughput per constraint unit** > You might have an average “attention budget” each week of: * 6 hours of deep focus * 8 hours of mild focus * 10 hours of light focus * 22 hours of administrative work > With this budget, the constraint is clearly deep focus, and a **constraint unit (CU) would be one hour of deep focus time** > the _effective ROA_ (or eROA) of a given project is a function of the _kind_ of attention it requires, not just the amount. > If you can find a way to make progress on projects without deep focus, by _moving quickly and touching lightly_ instead of heavy lifting, you will find there is lots of available attention. > Choosing the right projects to start (good inputs): > on projects that expand how many CUs we have available, such as establishing a repeatable process > prioritize projects that take CUs to build, but not to maintain, like an online business that, once established, brings in passive revenue > kill projects or commitments that consume a disproportionate number of CUs for the return they produce > use our mild and light focus times specifically to take on projects that improve the _quality_ of our CUs, such as meal planning or exercising > collaborate with others who have different skills, trading our light focus time for their deep focus time (and returning the favor when the opportunity arises) > your CUs are fundamentally limited, not just by your environment and circumstances, but by your biology and social needs. ## 17 Just-In-Time PM #17: States of Mind - Forte Labs by: Tiago Forte https://fortelabs.com/blog/just-in-time-pm-17-states-of-mind > our biggest constraint as knowledge workers – not just our attention but our _deeply focused attention_ > Attention emerges from deep within the human psyche, which means that all aspects of human psychology come into play. > I believe that our states of mind have become our most important assets as knowledge workers. > Our ultimate competitive advantage is a _way of thinking_. > “state of mind.” A SOM is: > * difficult or expensive to reproduce (in contrast to simple emotions) * illegible and more-than-the-sum-of-its-parts (in contrast to cause-and-effect habits) * primarily somatic and affective, not intellectual (in contrast to belief systems or worldviews) * temporary and ephemeral (in contrast to mindsets or attitudes) > “Making a path” is the new “finding yourself.” > Making such a path is not a linear, step by step process, like laying one stone after another. Because the path exists only in your mind, it can bend and break, reshape and reform at a moment’s notice. It is an act of pure creation. Each and every one of you is an artist, and your greatest masterpiece is your future. > To succeed in a creativity-driven economy, you need to get to know yourself, getting down to the bedrock of who you are and what matters to you. Self-awareness and personal growth are now aligned with effectiveness and success. In fact, personal growth is now your #1 job, because it is the only thing that can never be outsourced. > Qualities of SOMs > * Expensive * Unpredictable * Valuable * High leverage > Expensive > often requiring long spans of time, certain substances, rituals, or environments to reproduce. > Unpredictable > they come and go as they please. > You have to let it emerge. > Valuable > They can’t be easily imitated, because they arise from a complex intersection of one’s past, personality, intuition, affinities, and bodily states. They’re not easily transferred from one person to another. > The apprentice will need to gain those years of experience himself. > High leverage > they dramatically influence how much energy it takes to complete a given task. > if you’re in the middle of a deep focus session, even the simplest errand can feel like a harsh imposition. > unusually creative people are characterized by “their ability to mix seemingly incompatible states of being depending on the task, whether it’s **open attention with a focused drive, mindfulness with daydreaming, intuition with rationality, intense rebelliousness with respect for tradition**, etc.” (also called “blends of emotions”). > emotions”). _Affective engagement_ — the extent to which people are open to the full breadth and depth of their emotions — was found to be a better predictor of artistic creativity than IQ or intellectual engagement. > The more states you have access to, and the better you are at juggling them from situation to situation, the higher your chances of producing work that no one else can produce. ## 18 Just-In-Time PM #18: Motivational Waves - Forte Labs by: Tiago Forte https://fortelabs.com/blog/just-in-time-pm-18-motivational-waves > Our challenge becomes clear: **how do we capture the value from a series of valuable, yet fleeting mental states?** > * **Mischievous cleverness** would be good for hacking a piece of software to do what you want * **Geeking out** is good for late night projects tinkering in the garage * **Appalled incredulity** can inspire wonderful reserves of anger and motivation toward a goal * **Righteous indignation** is very useful for writing passionate thought pieces arguing for a change you care about * **Melancholy** has long been used by artists to tap into deep reserves of creativity * **Motivated curiosity** is great for exploring a rabbit trail through Wikipedia to try and understand an idea > Human attention is not designed to pay close attention to anything for very long. > Their arrival isn’t _completely_ random – they come in **motivational waves** > Why _waves_? > Because humans are wired for rhythm. Everything we do and experience is in [cycles](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultradian%5Frhythm) > Why _motivational_? > Because for our purposes, the most important feature of these cycles is that they _strongly_ bias us toward certain kinds of activities. > Motivation has a direction. > Instead of trying to force our state of mind to fit the task at hand, we can change the task at hand to fit our state of mind > This is the job of a Project Portfolio Manager: understanding both the tasks and the workers well enough to route the right job to the right person at the right time. Except now the “workers” are your states of mind across time, instead of other people. > Emotional agility > 1990s, Daniel Goleman > _Emotional Intelligence_ > that it is _emotional_ intelligence, not just _analytical_ intelligence, that determines a person’s success and happiness. > we’re entering a new era in which it is _emotional agility_ that matters most. > As the leader and manager of your own business > you have to wear many hats: > What’s challenging about this is not just the knowledge and skills associated with each one. It is the _ways of being_ required for each of them. > How seamlessly can you jump from lone wolf on one project, to team player on another? How much agility do you have moving between intellectual rigor, and vulnerability? > By building a second brain, we have a system for turning the _flow_ of random ideas into _stocks_ of valuable knowledge. > With our second brain totally focused on its objective, our first brains are free to flow. ## 19 Just-In-Time PM #19: Explosive Inspiration - Forte Labs by: Tiago Forte https://fortelabs.com/blog/just-in-time-pm-19-explosive-inspiration > A “motivational state” is more colloquially known as a “mood.” > An intriguing answer is suggested by [this paper](http://www.cell.com/trends/cognitive-sciences/fulltext/S1364-6613%2815%2900174-6#title-footnote-tb0015): that the function of moods is to **create momentum in the mind**. > In other words, moods drive us to act _opportunistically_ – to do more of what’s already working. > This is the source of the advice to “fake it till you make it,” > We can essentially trick ourselves into a certain mood by creating a series of small wins, which put us “in the mood” to pursue even more, which generates more wins, which further puts us in the mood. > motivation is not a fixed character trait. It is a fluctuating psychological resource > [latest research](https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=https://www.google.com/&httpsredir=1&article=1010&context=leadershipfacpub) on “psychological capital.” > psychological capital “is developed through a pattern of investment of psychic resources that results in **obtaining experiential rewards from the present moment** while also **increasing the likelihood of future benefit**.” > In other words, we can generate momentum by: 1. Structuring our work to produce value _now_ 2. And also produce value _in the future_ > anticipation, desire, excitement, and motivation – the crown jewels of creative productivity. > With creative work, finding sources of motivation is always the most basic challenge. > But to fake momentum until we discover that why, we need payoffs on the scale of _minutes_ > [Progressive Summarization](https://fortelabs.com/series/ps/) > notes, is so valuable: because each “layer” of summarization is exponentially faster than the previous one > Josh Waitzkin in his book _The Art of Learning_: > “In performance training, **first we learn to flow with whatever comes**. Then we learn to **use whatever comes to our advantage**. Finally, we learn to **be completely self-sufficient and create our own earthquakes**, so our mental process feeds itself explosive inspirations without the need for outside stimulus.” > roadmap to peak performance. > You know that _you_ are the source of creativity. > If you don’t have access to your emotions, you won’t have anything to prime. If action is the engine, emotions are the fuel that keeps the chain reaction going. > The key to this third level of performance is personal growth and self-awareness. It is the control on the other side of surrender. ## 20 Just-In-Time PM #20: Speed as a Capability - Forte Labs by: Tiago Forte https://fortelabs.com/blog/just-in-time-pm-20-speed-as-a-capability > how do you keep the wins coming fast and hard? > Why is moving quickly so deeply important? Because _information decays_. The actual data can be stored on disks or on paper for many years, but the essential _value_ of that information is perishable, on multiple levels: > Accuracy > Relevance > Awareness > Memory > information is a highly perishable product > you have to placehold that project at the end of the first session, and pick up the placeholder again at the next one: > Speed to acceleration > At some point, the challenge shifts once again, from speed to acceleration (and deceleration). Instead of _maximizing_ speed in a single direction, you cultivate the ability to **_change_** _speed and direction_ > you continuously _modulate_ the scope as you go along. > It could include: > Keeping a prioritized list of features from most to least important > Slowing down and doing a thorough job on a small deliverable > Only starting new things toward the beginning of work sessions > Ending with the (next) beginning in mind ## 21 Just-in-Time PM #21: Workflow Strategies - Forte Labs by: Tiago Forte https://fortelabs.com/blog/just-in-time-pm-21-workflow-strategies > JIT Project Manager’s toolkit. > Through Workflow Strategies, a set of practical techniques for executing modern projects. > **Capture** **Organize** **Share** **Scale** **Planning** **Offloading** **Tracking** **Metadata** **Linking** **Searching** **Adapting** **Remixing** **Small** Archipelago of Ideas Color Commentary Meta-Plan Naming Conventions Interlinking Notes Advanced Search Dial Down the Scope Sentence Hacking **Large** Headings First Status Summary Temporary Tags Tag Hierarchy Table of Contents Brainsweep Context Switch Function Follows Form > They rely on having clearly summarized packets of knowledge (through Progressive Summarization) organized according to actionability (with P.A.R.A.), allowing us to combine those packets into valuable deliverables right at the moment they’re needed. > PLANNING > 1\. Archipelago of Ideas > Steven Johnson: _“Instead of confronting a terrifying blank page, I’m looking at a document filled with quotes: from letters, from primary sources, from scholarly papers, sometimes even my own notes. It’s a great technique for_ **_warding off the siren song of procrastination_**_. Before I hit on this approach, I used to lose weeks stalling before each new chapter, because it was just a big empty sea of nothingness. Now_ **_each chapter starts life as a kind of archipelago of inspiring quotes_**_, which makes it seem far less daunting. All I have to do is_ **_build bridges between the islands_**_.”_ > has you collect a batch of starting ideas from the most relevant notebooks, which you then just have to string together. > 2\. Headings First > Zoom out a bit from the details of the project, and begin by just listing the headings or stages you think you’ll have to move through to complete the project. > taking 5 minutes to make this simple list instantly gave me a big picture view of the entire effort. > Headings First is essentially a very lightweight project planning technique. > OFFLOADING > 3\. Color Commentary > helps you keep track of your own ideas, theories, and reflections, placing them in the context of the note that sparked them. > I recommend adding these personal comments directly in a note and in a different color, to be able to separate your own thoughts from those of the sources you are referencing. > 4\. Status Summary > is used to “freeze” a project you’re working on, to make it easy to resume later. > It involves briefly summarizing, in plain language, the current status of the project for the benefit of your Future Self, including details, remaining tasks, open questions, problems remaining, observations, personal commentary, or next steps. You can add it at the top of the note you’ve been working with > TRACKING > 5\. Meta-Plan > involves making a list of the tasks you’ll complete on the way to completing your deliverable > is essentially “making a plan for making a plan,” thus the name “meta-plan.” > This can include making a checklist of the places you should look or the sources you might want to consider. > The goal is not to precisely follow the plan, but to provide a pathway that ensures you’ll look at a broad range of ideas. > 6\. Temporary Tags > designed to help you keep track of which sources or notebooks you’ve already reviewed, except as you come across them, instead of upfront. > I don’t recommend tags as a primary organizational method, but when focused on an active project, they can be very effective as an ad hoc, temporary progress tracking system. > By adding tags such as “reviewed” when you’ve already reviewed a note, or “added” if you decided to include it in your project, you can see at a glance where you’ve already been. > Notice in the right-hand column that I’ve tagged these notes according to how I’ve used them in a current project. There’s no pressure because as soon as the project is done, I can delete the tags, without having to worry about maintaining a tagging system for the long term. > METADATA > 7\. Naming Conventions > use a common naming convention for how you title your notes. > in a few cases it can be very useful: > * Especially **large or complex** **projects** involving a large number of notes * **Commonly used resources** that you’ll reference again and again, such as policies, procedures, or records * **Collaborative or team projects**, where multiple people will be creating notes in a shared notebook > 8\. Tag Hierarchy > is also about standardizing how you organize your notes, except for tags instead of titles. > LINKING > 9\. Interlinking Notes > is a method for enriching and networking your second brain, by creating explicit connections between notes as you encounter them. > You are essentially networking your second brain with itself and with the external world, creating pathways for yourself and others to follow. This follows a principle of neurobiology called associative access, which means there are multiple ways to access any given idea. > 10\. Table of Contents > is another way of enriching your second brain, by creating a table of contents > From here, you can add your own commentary under each link, describing how you want to use each note in a current project. > SEARCHING > 11\. Advanced Search > includes “advanced” search tips that can be used to find the note you’re looking for more quickly, using different criteria. > It takes some investment of time to learn your program’s shortcuts and search terms, but if you’ll be developing your second brain for the long term, it can be well worth it. > 12\. Brainsweep > instead of finding a specific item, you’re searching for a broad range of ideas related to a particular topic. > Brainsweep has you do a global search across your second brain so you can see all those bits in one place. > you have many options, depending on your note app’s features: > Create a **saved search** for the term > **Move all the notes** to a new Marketing notebook > **Tag** the notes with the name of the current project you’re working on, and then remove the tag from each note as you review it > **Merge or combine** notes that are similar or duplicated > Go through the list of notes and **extract the best parts**, writing them up in a blog post called “Everything I Know About Marketing” > Specific to Evernote: look in the **Context panel** at the bottom of notes to see any related notes > ADAPTING > 13\. Dial Down the Scope > It involves reducing the scope or size of the deliverable you’re working on to be able to make consistent progress. > It is better to complete something small than not complete something ambitious > just to pick a very small version of the thing you want to create. > If you want to run a paid workshop, start with a free one, or a group exercise with some friends. > 14\. Context Switch > is for when you are stuck, for one reason or another. You’ve made progress and all the necessary pieces are in front of you, but you can’t quite see how they fit together or what to do next. > Try reading or viewing the information on a different device, switch locations from inside to outside or vice versa, or put the project aside to return to later with fresh eyes. > Share it with a colleague and look over their shoulder as they read it. > REMIXING > 15\. Sentence Hacking > is about remixing the words and phrases you come across in your research, so that they suit your needs. > Even though I’m moving phrases around, because these are direct quotes I can always go back to the original book and find where they are supposed to go if I need to. This allows me to start adding my own curation and interpretation, while minimizing the intellectual effort I’m investing. > 16\. Function Follows Form > It recognizes that often, the key to a breakthrough is simply reframing what you’re looking at. > * **Chronologically**: put a series of ideas or steps in chronological order * **Prioritized**: sort a list by priority, or importance, or urgency * **Sequentially**: put items in order by function, or by stages in a workflow * **By objective**: put each item in a list under its objective or desired outcome * **By size**: order items from largest to smallest, or the reverse * **By theme**: re-order a list by theme or topic, looking for patterns or groupings you didn’t see before * **Question-answer**: rewrite your ideas in the form of questions and answers * **By shape**: try mapping your ideas to different shapes like a circle, square, triangle, or hexagon, looking for any interesting patterns > Workflow Strategies as Compressed Creativity > Alfred North Whitehead, who famously said that “Civilization advances by extending the number of important operations which we can perform without thinking about them. Operations of thought are like cavalry charges in a battle — they are strictly limited in number, they require fresh horses, and must only be made at decisive moments.” > Workflow Strategies help you conserve your “operations of thought,” by partially automating the more routine and predictable aspects of your creative process. > As Sebastian Marshall writes in [Creative Processes](https://medium.com/the-strategic-review/background-ops-10-creative-processes-844c0ddd4628), every discipline has “universal movements.” > it is only when you have a grasp of the universal movements of your discipline that you can personalize them, improve them, and make them unconscious. It is only when you can perform the basic automatically, that the furthest reaches of your field come within reach. > Or as David Allen puts it: _“Being willing to have ideas, good or bad, and to express and capture all of them without judgment is critical for fully accessing creative intelligence. Honing multiple ideas and types of information into_ **_components, sequences, and priorities aimed toward a specific outcome is a necessary mental discipline_**_. And deciding on and taking real next actions—actually moving on something in the physical world—is the essence of productivity.”_