Zen and Action: Take Two

I am a weakling for all of those little tricks of self-management that are supposed to help me live more intelligently. Some are supposed to make me more intuitive. Others are supposed to do just the oppostie -- make me more explicit and rational about what I'm doing. Some of these work, some don't. Some work too well in that they increase efficiency while distracting me from the larger picture. Although this area is full of snares and delusions it is probably unavoidable. We live, we fail, we take thought and seek guidance, we self-correct.

A new book, Zen To Done, by Leo Babauta (founder of the Zen Habits blog) offers to help us become more productive by simplfying our lives. Productivity and Zen hardly sound like happy bedfellows to me, but Zen is certainly about simplicity. Maybe the light at the end of the tunnel is the product appearing in itself without productivity. But until we are all there . . .

Todd at WE THE CHANGE prepared a review of Zen to Done and marveled at the simplicity of Leo's suggestions.

One so-called Zen habit is mastering “ubiquitous capture,” that is collecting what is valuable in the constant flow of information. Leo Babauta suggests using a small note pad and pen, not your laptop of PDA. Another is immersing yourself completely in the task at hand, rather than e.g. attending away to background music or checking email every ten minutes. A third is having frequent meetings with yourself to go over taks and rehearse solutions. I like this one because it enables me to do some thinking and anticipating prior to action, which facilitates being centered, relaxed and flexible in action. I always try to claim at least an hour of solitude every day, more if I can get it, to 'do nothing' except imagine. The rest of the day tends to disappear but on most days little remains undone.