As a teenager, I used to play competitive chess. One of the most exciting spectacles in this world is the exhibition match, where a single player would compete against numerous other players simultaneously. I got to participate in one such match against a Russian Grandmaster. We arranged four long tables to make four sides of a square, and he positioned himself in the space in the middle, with chessboards arranged all around him.
Not only was he taking on twenty of us at once, but his moves were being timed. Once one of us made a move, we would punch a button on our special two-clock chess clock, starting up the clock on his side of the board. If his clock ran out of time, he would lose just as squarely as if we had checkmated him. So, he couldn’t just move in a circular fashion around the room, addressing each board one at a time, but was constantly listening out for that little click of the clock button, and swooping in to have a think and make a move.
As I recall, he beat every single one of us.
Surprised? You shouldn’t be. For many people, a typical work day is a lot like an exhibition match. What’s shocking is that they are trying to play it blindfolded, keeping the state of the board in their head.
To alleviate the difficulty, some try to ‘carve out time’ to focus on a single game, seeing it through (in their mind) to its conclusion. The problem with this is that the other nineteen games are just as important as the one you are trying to win now; and the clocks are ticking.
A better solution is to take off the blindfold, and use the board to record the current state of play accurately, so that you don’t have to keep all twenty games in your head at once. Like our Grandmaster, you want to be able to swoop in, assess the situation, take a decision, make a move, and then move on.
If your next actions lists aren’t as easy to read, understand, and decide upon as a chess board to an experienced player, you are going to have a hard time winning at every game.
The reality of the modern workplace gets worse. In chess, the desired outcome is always the same – a checkmate. But in reality, most office workers are playing chess, draughts, Ludo, Monopoly – many different games, with different rules and different desired outcomes – all at once.
If your project list doesn’t define clear desired outcomes – as clear as the ‘win scenario’ of a board game – winning is going to be nearly impossible.
You don’t need more time, better skills, or fewer interruptions to win all of the games that you are currently playing. Those things may help. But the deciding factor will be whether you are trying to play all of those different games in your head, or whether you can represent the desired outcome and state of play externally in a system that is as easy to understand and act upon as a chess board is to a Grandmaster.
A trusted GTD system can be that board for you, keeping the right ‘games’ all moving forward in parallel toward success. So, what’s your next move?
I enjoyed the article! One concern, however, is that it almost sounds as if you are promoting that we should multi-task instead of focusing on one thing at a time. One must focus on important work. Yes, capture and clarify new inputs, but jumping around from game to game like the chess master is not a good way to approach work in my mind.
Thanks for your comment, David. You’re right that I’m not advocating multi-tasking, which is a sub-optimal behaviour. Instead, my experience of the Grandmaster was that he was giving a masterclass in “rapid refocusing” (before I knew that term). He would focus, decide, do what was needed in that moment, record it, and move on. It’s true that not all tasks happen as quickly as a single chess move, but most of them do reach a point where the move is “complete”–and whether it’s recorded or not seems to be a key to whether or not one can move on to give full attention to whatever’s next.
Thanks, Robert! I see now what you are saying. In today’s rapid-fire world, it is so important to rapidly refocus as you stated. Deciding on Sunday what you going to do next Wednesday morning may not work too well. A lot in most of our worlds changes and we need to refocus based on now what is on our plates – new projects and actions. Sometimes what we plan can still be the most important thing we still should do.
With that….how much weekly planning should we do? Or should we really just fly moment to moment in deciding what to do next?
-David
Hi David,
Good question. The amount of project planning on individual projects will of course vary with the amount and nature of projects you have taken on.
However, in addition to this, we find most people using the GTD methodology benefit greatly from taking 60-90 minutes each week to do a “Weekly Review”. It helps you bring the system up-to-date, gives you awareness of what’s there, and sends you into the coming week with a fresh perspective. I call it the “great safety net” of the GTD practice: http://www.next-action.co.uk/2015/04/09/the-great-gtd-safety-net/
It is only once you have done the appropriate level of weekly reviewing and planning that you can then go into the week flying moment-to-moment with confidence. It will look like you are making good intuitive choices. In reality, that “intuition” has been educated and informed by a systematic review of all the moving parts that you are keeping track of in your world. For many people, this is the right balance of foresight and flexibility required to stay meaningfully engaged with the dynamic, fast-paced lives they live.
Hope that helps!
Best,
Robert
It DOES help! Thanks for the comprehensive and thoughtful response, Robert. Cheers!
Glad that was useful. 🙂