Open Loops - Mow the Lawn

An open loop is anything we think about that is unfinished or not the way it should be. The report that’s due, maintenance on the car, the broken toaster, a past due bill, a birthday phonecall to a friend, an email that hasn’t been read - these are all open loops. All of these things take up space on our brain until we resolve them. That’s where the power of completion comes in.

Completion - The Magic Pill

When open loops become so overwhelming that our brains start to hurt, we’ve got problems. The only solution we have is to start closing those open loops. We do that by first finding out exactly what those open loops are. This usually involves a massive brainstorm session to get things off our minds and on to paper. Once you’ve captured everything thats nagging you, you’ll notice an immediate sense of relief. Often this is enough to rid us of our headache. The next step, is to start making decisions about each of the open loops. Should this even be on my mind? What should I do about it? What is the next action I can take to start the process of completion? Can I delegate this to someone else? These are all questions we’ll be asking ourselves.

Visual Clutter

Visual clutter refers to physical objects in our environment that command our attention because they create visual reminders of that particular open loop. For example, any clothes that we see just lying around create visual open loops because our brain knows they should be in the closet, a drawer, or in the laundry basket. Take all the things that need to be thrown away or given away and get rid of them. It doesn’t seem like a big deal to many people, however, these things are visual clutter and take up so much of our attention. Once you start throwing away broken VCRs, old cassette tapes, and donating old clothes, you’ll feel the magic pill of completion start to make its way through your bloodstream and eventually to your brain.

Pick up David Allen’s, Getting Things Done for more info on open loops and getting rid of the mental strain of keeping those open loops stored in our brain. Oooh… that rhymes.

My Macbook is the 13″, white, 2.0GHz Super-Drive model. I also upgraded the standard 512MB of RAM to 2GB (I bought Mushkin RAM and installed it myself; really easy to do).

Many people have already written about their experiences switching over, so I’m going to give you 10 reasons (in no particular order) why I love my new Macbook.

• Spotlight - A powerful, lightning fast, search feature that immediately increases productivity. I’m gonna go out on a limb and say that this one feature is enough for me to make the switch to Mac.

• Intel Duo-Core - “Macs are slow”. That’s the misconception I had before I switched. Make no mistake…This thing is FAST. It’ll blow a PC with the same specs out of the water. However, I would definitely recommend the 2GB upgrade. I think the 512MB that comes with the Macbook is just barely enough. It’s a must if you plan on using programs like Photoshop.

• Glossy Screen - Some people are making a fuss about the new glossy screens. I can understand that some people think the glossy screens are more reflective and create some glare, but please, gimme a break. The screens on these Macbooks are absolutely amazing, and shouldn’t stop you from buying a Mac. If anything, the displays are what help Apple sell these like hotcakes. The resolution is 1280 by 800 and colours just pop out at you. If you’ve seen any HD quality video clips, you’ll know exactly what I mean.

• SuperDrive - If you’ve read Guy Kawasaki’s post about backing up your stuff, you can relate to my inability to ever back anything up. I now have no excuses. The SuperDrive is extremely easy to use and is well integrated within OS X.

• iTunes - OK… I know I’m kind of a late adopter to this whole iPod thing. I now have a 4GB iPod Nano, and I’m having a tough time remembering what life was like before I had it. iTunes (like most Apple software) is well integrated into OS X and as a result, I was able to import almost my entire CD library over a weekend.

• iCal - For David Allen and GTD fans out there, you’ll love iCal. I tried using Outlook again after switching to Mac, and I really didn’t realize how unnecessarily complicated it is. iCal is so easy to use with GTD and other time management systems. Everything is colour co-ordinated, and because of Spotlight, all of your action items and appointments are easily searchable.

• Front Row - Now this is very difficult to explain without a demo, so please go into an Apple store and check it out. Check out the Movie Trailers, you can really get a glimpse of what direction Steve Jobs is going. It’s bananas.

• Killer Design - This is very obvious, but I hope you understand that Apple does one thing very well: they prove that form is every bit as important as function. I can’t explain why, but there is a significant improvement in productivity when your tools are well designed (especially for those of us who make a living with our creativity).

• OS X Tiger - I challenge any Windows user to spend one day using OS X and not want to make the switch. So many people think the new Macs have gained popularity because people can run Windows on them. Honestly, I used to be one of those people. I was so wrong. OS X is more intuitive, easier to use, and more nimble.

• It just works. - Anything you can do on a PC, you can do better on a Mac. You don’t have to worry about compatibility issues. Digital cameras, Bluetooth devices, flash drives, Firewire devices, all work seamlessly with the Mac.

So there you have it. If you haven’t had any experiences with the new Macs, do yourself a favour and check them out.

I learned today that there are really two ways of doing things. The Top-Down approach and the Bottom-Up approach. Although both are widely used, I usually subscribe to the Top-Down theory. This is when you aim for the moon in the hopes of reaching the top of the building. The Bottom-Up approach is quite the opposite. It’s more like laying bricks until you reach the top of the building. This means focusing on completing each step in its natural order. My method is usually the faster and sexier of the two. It’s the creative, inspirational, cover-of-time-magazine kinda stuff.

My wife, however, opts for the Bottom-Up approach in almost everything she does. And, Guess what? My wife succeeds in almost everything she does. My wife is ruthlessly efficient, deadly effective, and relaxed while doing it. While I’m frantically inventing new ways to slingshot myself to the moon, she’s calmly laying the foundation for guaranteed success. Now, I know that most of us dreamers think laying bricks is about as exciting as well….laying bricks, but I’ve watched so many people (including myself) fall short of reaching the top of the building just because they were too busy dreaming about the moon.

My suggestion (to myself as well as you) is that we spend more time on building our dreams, and less time dreaming. I really do mean building. I think many of us lose sight of the simple fact that it takes bricks to build a building and that every outcome we desire requires a specific set of competencies and action steps (or bricks) that require our time and energy. There are no shortcuts. If we focus on the individual actions we need to take, the rest of it takes care of itself.

In David Allen’s book Getting Things Done, he challenges us to think of the very next action step that needs to be taken in order to move forward on a project. I believe this approach can be applied to just about every facet of our lives. I know that many of you are thinking, “Well, I’m just a big-picture kind of person”, and many more follow the mantra, “Don’t sweat the small stuff”. I make that same mistake. I was taught at a very young age that I should “Think Big” and not let little details scare me away from my dreams. You can call it goal-setting, dream-building, or writing a mission-statement, but for many people, focusing on these (non)activities achieves the same outcome: wasted time and energy.

Don’t get me wrong, I think goal-setting is important. There are many people who’s expectations for themselves are too low, and need to recognize their great potential. But as I get older, I’m starting to understand that I’m the last person who needs to be spending more time dreaming big dreams. You see, I do it automatically. It comes so naturally to me that I can never turn it off. I dream by default. If you let me dream up what I want in my life, I’ll go to town. My dreams are as big as they get, but the real challenge is in making those dreams a reality.

I know many of you are just like me and you think that those “other people” just have small dreams. You see, it’s not that they aren’t big-picture kind of people, it’s that they’re smart enough to know that it takes inspiration, an idea, a plan of action, brushes, paint, a canvas, talent, energy, and time in order to paint that big-picture. They know what’s needed and they systematically take the necessary steps toward their goals. They don’t allow the allure of the dream to cloud their daily actions. They’re realistic in their expectations, but they never place a ceiling on how high they can achieve.

Trust in the process, lay those bricks, and build great buildings. Thanks hon.