Posted by J.J. on December 8, 2008 under Books, GTD, Personal development, Presentations, Productivity, Self development, Shortcuts, Time Management, Visual Thinking, comic strip | 
Sometimes I just couldn’t tolerate with too much opinions – especially those which are baseless opinions. Therefore you should follow your conscience before you make any crucial decisions. In order words, your common sense is important in making fast decisions. Maybe you should try bittergourd and cabbage juice.
Posted by J.J. on November 15, 2008 under Books, GTD, Personal development, Presentations, Productivity, Self development, Shortcuts, Time Management, Visual Thinking |
When people see others doing things not orderly or not in proper sequences, they would label them as “inefficient” or “adept” in performing given tasks. There would probably possess these few characteristics:
- They couldn’t read the instructions properly – they might miss a few steps or overlook a few steps
- They couldn’t read maps – tend to lose their way in a city cause they have no-sense of direction
- They were basically indecisive in making quick decisions – they would frequently ask for confirmation from others before making a right decision. As a result, they tend to make bad decision that made people turned away from them.
Frankly speaking, I’m one of them – yeah, it’s true! You would label them as losers or a born loser. Specifically, there are few problems being one of them. Here are these problems:
- I’m unable to write essays in normal people write it from A-to-Z, i.e. first, you would write the heading, content body, and the ending. I had these problems since I was a primary student (aged less than 11), and my mom complained that I wrote stories with inappropriate sequences. It sounded like a train that is moving a derailed railway road.
- I’m bad at directions but I can read the maps. At some circumstances, I would take more than three trips (to and fro) to remember the route to a destination. Unlike my dad my (ahem) big brother, they are natural-born-travelers. That’s why I need to have a road map in my car, in case I got lost in the middle of nowhere.
I can say I’m doer-person, a self-confessed procrastinator, an ‘idealist’, a worker, a blogger and etc – I’m just a normal being like you.
How do I deal with these problems? First, I have to be very honest to myself and accept who I am and the weakness that I possess. There’s nothing to ashamed of by being ‘real’ you.
Since I had realized my problems that I described earlier, I’ve to come of a right solution for myself. So, the next question is – How should I do when I couldn’t do things in order? You might say this – create a task list, get an electronic organizer, set an alarm and etc. Well, I can say it works for me but I don’t depend on it all the time.
It is because I’ve found a better solution – I’ve few stacks of post-it pads and I use it by drawing simple diagrams on it. It sounds simple – yeah, it surely did! I had the habit of scribbling notes and drawing small diagrams on the margins on the handouts, notebooks but not on reference books and novels (no drawings are allowed in these areas!).
When I have something on my mind, I’ll jot it down on a piece of paper or text it with my cellphone (which i can save it in my cellphone so that I can view it later). Why jotting it down on a post-it pad?
Most of the time, post-it pads were not reachable at that moment and I would not use that as an excuse to lose an idea or an event. Who knows it would come in handy someday? If you think you can afford to lose ideas all the time, then you should stop reading this post immediately.
I don’t usually bother with the sequences and the description of an idea. Thus, browse through what I’ve written earlier and try to interpret it before I draw and write on my paper notebook or post-it pads. Previously, I had tried both notebook and post-it pads but in the end I would prefer to use post-it pads due to its convenience – it’s arrangeable and it’s easy to be discarded (and one more, it’s sticky!).
It’s a complete disaster if you force yourself to become creative. Creativity is like a spark of fire - if there’s a friction between two ends, sparks will be emerged. But if you’re creating too much sparks at that moment, you’ll probably will be ended up like a roasted chicken. 
If you have a topic to discuss, start to sort out your information that you gathered earlier.
This involves Getting Things Done (GTD) technique to organize your information. Therefore, it requires elimination process to get rid of redundant or irrelevant information. It is crucial for selecting information before you start drawing.
It is difficult in the beginning, but you’ll get along with the process if you practice it at a regular basis. If you want to use your simple drawings in your presentation, it’s preferable to redraw or make necessary changes on it before your view your final drawings in front of your audience.
If you feel that your drawings are too abstract or difficult to understand, it’s better to tone down your drawings and make it simpler. Like a memorable quote from Einstein:
“The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources.”
J.J. Yong is a web publisher, blogger, entrepreneur, and science teacher.