Cult of done
Regular readers know I’m slightly addicted to productivity tips and tricks. (In fact, I just picked up Gina Trapani’s Upgrade Your Life for some exciting airplane reading.)
So I was especially taken by the Cult of Done manifesto, which has been flying around the productivity geek crowd on the web. Check it out below.
1. There are three states of being. Not knowing, action and completion.2. Accept that everything is a draft. It helps to get it done.
3. There is no editing stage.
4. Pretending you know what you’re doing is almost the same as knowing what you are doing, so just accept that you know what you’re doing even if you don’t and do it.
5. Banish procrastination. If you wait more than a week to get an idea done, abandon it.
6. The point of being done is not to finish but to get other things done.
7. Once you’re done you can throw it away.
8. Laugh at perfection. It’s boring and keeps you from being done.
9. People without dirty hands are wrong. Doing something makes you right.
10. Failure counts as done. So do mistakes.
11. Destruction is a variant of done.
12. If you have an idea and publish it on the internet, that counts as a ghost of done.
13. Done is the engine of more.
Candice on March 9, 2009
Manifesto of creativity:
1. Reflect
2. Integrate
3. Infuse with enthusiasm
4. Power with dancing
5. Enliven with color
6. Appreciate
7. Share creations
8. Know that creation is never “done.”
9. Laugh
10. Chart new territory!
Tim on March 10, 2009
I especially love #13 – Done is the engine of more! It’s getting to a “what’s next?” mentality that counts… “That’s done. What’s next?” Always ask what’s next.
Ed Brenegar on March 10, 2009
Love this. It is the core idea behind execution and implementation. Thanks. Done.
Janice Friesen on March 10, 2009
As a teacher I was taken back by this manifesto. It is SO opposite what we are trying to make kids do and mostly what we are comfortable with ourselves. I was just talking to someone this morning who said that she doesn’t like to write blogs because she is a perfectionist and she never gets her writing good enough. Here at school EDITING is King.
I actually like a lot of what it says. It is very provocative. I like “Failure counts as done, so do mistakes.” I am not sure I understand “Destruction is a varient of done”. Maybe it is clearer in a context besides school???
Cheryl on March 12, 2009
I like Candice’s. Maybe failure is charting new territory.
Todd Royer on March 13, 2009
I like getting at all the things I want to do. Certainly coming to grips with mistakes is key to moving on. knowing that mistakes are just part of the process, and in fact can be turned to advantage is empowering. But I also am concerned about value. I can get so busy with my goals, projects and activities that I forget how to guage what’s valuable to me. I forget to prioritize just because I’m getting such a kick out of getting things done. Maybe that’s what Candice is concerrned about as well. There is a huge difference between “productivity” and “value.” Sadly, economists fail to understand the difference.
Janeen Demi-Smith on March 13, 2009
Re: the comment that I am not sure I understand “Destruction is a varient of done”. Maybe it is clearer in a context besides school???
Consider deletion of e-mail as destruction, or cleaning out a closet such that some stuff goes in the garbage. You are destroying stuff to get that e-mail box or closet cleaned out.
Hope that helps.
Alexya on March 15, 2009
I really like this. Some of these ideas are great to apply when working on my design projects for school. Just get them done.
Geanie Choy on March 15, 2009
http://www.davidseah.com has some interesting designs & thoughts on productivity. I love his Task Tracker documents.