Obama and The Nobel Peace Prize: The answer is obvious!

Have I got a story for you!

Do you miss hearing about the sexual adventures of Paris Hilton? Are you also nostalgic for standardized tests?

I knew it!

That’s why I decided to do the world a public service and write a mock question for your amusement… no awards, please.

As a veteran of the PSAT, SAT, GRE, and LSAT, I took the best from these tests to devise a new category. Behold:

I. Theoretical Reasoning:

Background: On March 30, 1981 at the Washington Hilton Hotel, Paris Hilton’s Mom Kathy decides to use her connections to get close to President Reagan, who is scheduled to speak at there. Just as Hinkley is preparing to assassinate him, Kathy flashes the President, which, in turn, causes him to grimace. The grimace has the effect of moving his body one inch to the right, allowing Hinkley’s sixth bullet to hit his heart afterall. Reagan dies in office, changing the course of history.

Flash forward 15 years. Taylor attends 6th grade in an L.A. suburb and sit across from Paris Hilton, who, true to her roots, never misses an opportunity to flash the class during nuclear war drills. Taylor is disgusted enough to act, and decides to do whatever is necessary to end the threat of nuclear war, so that future generations may be spared from Hilton flashes.

Q: According to the Nobel Laurate, which of the following should Taylor do to further world peace?

(A) Lead one of the world’s largest and most oppressive countries to independence via nonviolent methods of her own invention, inspiring movements for civil rights and freedom across the world.

(B)  End the Cold War.

(C)  Fearlessly defy the Militia Government that shot her spouse by becoming the first woman to successfully run for president. When they proclaim a fraudulent winner, support a peaceful revolution to take office. Once in office, buck the trend of those leading the military coup attempts by giving away some of her power (via restoring democratic fixtures like the Bicameral Congress) and emphasizing civil liberties.

(D)  Inspire people by speaking eloquently through the first 30 days in office as president, and propose lots of ambitious policies.

(E)  A, B, and C only.

Answer:

(D), as in  DUH!!

Because in terms of tangible accomplishments that move us toward world peace, anyone can see that Gandhi, Reagan, and Corazine Aquino have nothing on Obama!

Beware the Ides of March

Greetings all, from my solemn corner of the universe.

You see, every year I can’t help but heed the warning that Julius Caesar famously ignored: Beware Ides of March… for it means you will have aged another year!

Yes, I was born on the fateful date of March 15, which is rapidly approaching. Meaning that soon, I will reluctantly partake in some bad-for-you birthday traditions.

No, I am not going to go out and abuse my body– unless you count mental anguish.

See, said traditions are sufficiently depressing as to warrant inclusion in a “happy birthday” email to someone you despise.

When I lived in the dorms, there was this girl Amy, also was born on the Ides of March, who tried to steal my boyfriend. To show my gratitude, I was going to dedicate the song “Unhappy Birthday” to her on our de-facto college station, 91x. Now I realize that I could have sent her this– my list of birthday traditions– instead. Am I a masochist er what?

No seriously– it’s truly horrible.

But what the hell!

If you, like me, are the sort of person who likes to make lemonade out of lemons, then by all means, go ahead: Copy the text in this guide as part of birthday e-card! But only if the person really deserves it. I’m counting on you to use good judgment, people!

Turning another year older today? Celebrate by starting these birthday traditions!

Why don’t you…

1. Think of all the things you had planned to have done by this age but haven’t!
2. Compare yourself to others of the same age, and find your own accomplishments lacking!
3. Attempt to close this gap (things you have accomplished v. things you’d planned on accomplishing) by writing a list of resolutions for the upcoming year!
4. Become so overwhelmed by the length of said list that you don’t even attempt to follow through, adding fuel to the fire for next year’s traditions!

I take solace in the fact that I’m not alone. According to Shane Watson in the Sunday Times, all women do this, regardless of their individual levels of acheivement. She blames the “grass is greener” phenom for our eternal dissatisfaction.

I comfort myself with the thought that even if I had checked off more of those “by age x” boxes, I’d still be depressed.

Some of the article’s commenters blamed murky gender role definition for the same. According to one guy, women are pulled in too many directions, and don’t know who to be, which obviously leads to not doing anything well.

I was totally with him on this until he said that women should all just concentrate on being what they are really supposed to be- baby making and raising machines.

Hey dude, have I got a woman for you!

She’s an overacheiver (by your standards) who looks like Angelina Jolie to boot!

Christina Applegate: WTF?

Poor Christina Applegate must have really been quite the monster in a past life.

First, she loses a long-time boyfriend to an apparent heroin overdose in June.

Next, just when it seem that she may have found true happiness with another man, upon closer examination it becomes obvious that inexplicably, she’s hooked up with more of the same.

That is, if missing front teeth are any indicator.

Although missing front tooth translates into meth-freak more than heroin addict in my estimation.

Still, this new relationship is hardly what one might call trading up or even learning from experience.

As if all of this weren’t bad enough, Sunday night People reported that she was diagnosed with breast cancer.

Apparently she has a family history, so she has been getting mammograms, even though she’s barely 36. Thanks to early detection, she’s expected to be well enough to keep working on her sitcom this fall.

Umm, excuse moi, God in Heaven or Mother Nature or who/whatever you are, but I’m a bit confused by your methods here.

I mean, is it just me, or is she waaay too young for this?

She’s like, only a few years older than moi!! My friend Tracy (from when I lived in LA) had a roommate, EJ who dated her! They had matching 90’s Bon Jovi hair!

Come to think of it, EJ was in a band and was also a bit of a substance enthusiast, as band-members tend to be… OH CHRISTINA… WILL YOU LEARN ALREADY?!!!

Okay, I’m just going to connect the dots here and admit that this hits a little too close to home.

It scares me.

Worse still, it makes me feel old.

Because you know who else has a family history?

Uh huh. Only I have been foolishly deluding myself into thinking I could put off the mammogram, because I’m like, waaay too young.

But if it can happen to someone who is just a few years older than I am, it can happen to me.

[Note to self: schedule Mammogram ASAP. No excuses.]

And so, because you, Christina Applegate, have enriched my life by putting this kernel of wisdom out in the universe for my consumption, I’d like to return the favor.

It has to do with your choices in men. You may want to tattoo this on your wrist:

If he’s in a band, missing teeth, and/or really sensitive/good in bed/attentive… he’s going to break your heart.

Remember dating EJ? I know he was kind of dangerous and hot, in that mother-doesn’t-approve way that my boyfriend never will be (especially if your mom is Jewish– there’s no Jewish mother that fails to get off on scrubs and a lab coat!)

See, bad relationships are like cancer– if you know what to watch out for in the early stages, you can save yourself from going through years of unnecessary hell.

Learning “The Secret”: Osmosis?

I remember being a 10th grader and suffering through Honors Biology. Me and one other girl, Sarah McCurry, were completely out of place- we were uninclined to crack a book, but delusional enough to think we would somehow pass (and get the extra point towards our respective GPAs because it was an honors class). The night before the midterm, I asked Sarah how she was going to learn 6 chapters of material in one night, and she joked that she was going to sleep with the book under her head, utilizing the biological concept of osmosis. Ahh, I thought: If only…

Flash forward to 2008: I would undergo hypnosis for smoking cessation. Successfully, I might add. Although my success may have had less to do with the hypnosis than, say, Chantix, Zyban, or a 22-hour initial period of forced abstinence (I took a flight to Australia. Where I spent the next 12 days with my smoking nazi boyfriend.) Yes, I abide by a strict philosophy that everything worth doing is worth overdoing. But that’s another story.

Before undergoing hypnosis, my hypnotist went into a bit of theory as to how and why hypnosis is effective. During normal consciousness, she said, the brain has a sort of barrier that acts as a wall between outside influences and the all-powerful subconscious. This barrier is removed when we are hypnotized. Oh, and we naturally undergo periods of pseudo-hypnosis, like right before we go to sleep. Ergo, the best way to influence the subconscious is to feed it information at these times.

I don’t know how scientifically-solid it is, but this principle appealed to me. Because I love nothing more than an effective shortcut… especially when it involves nasty tasks, like undoing a bad habit. Or learning 8 chapters of biology.

Who knew poolside in Cabo makes such a great library?

Or digesting the latest Oprah-endorsed self-help craze. See, this past week, I got a chance to utilize this principle, when I found myself pool-side at a resort in Cabo San Lucas. Because I no longer “work on my tan”/subject my swedish-french skin to the sun, I was eager figure out a new way to make use of this time. So I grabbed my iphone and downloaded every podcast known to man. Like “The Secret Success Tips”. Which I proceeded to listen to as I fell asleep (under a shady cabana– which does not provide the sun protection you would think, BTW.) I discovered the 21st century-version of Osmosis! Sarah would be proud!

I don’t know if it worked, but I did find myself having random thoughts that could only have originated from said podcast. In particular, I recalled the woman speaking of her “parking mojo”, which involved imagining and believing she would find a parking spot beforehand whenever necessary. Because Mexican government officials have better things to do with tax money than, say, ensuring that it’s cities have adequate parking, (like pocketing it), I found myself putting this technique to the test. On no fewer than three occasions… successfully, I might add.

And so I would like to offer a companion secret to the secret: Listen to learning materials as you fall asleep. Like the rest of the book, it’s scientific truth is questionable, but it doesn’t hurt to try. And I can promise you one thing: it’s more effective than sleeping with a book under your head.

There’s a Reason Most New Year’s Resolutions Fail! Here’s How to Beat the Odds.

Depending on who you believe, somewhere between 75% and 97% of New Year’s Resolutions fail.

Even less clear than the failure rate is the reason behind it.

Learning to Expect Success by Making the C-Word Your Friend

Henry Ford once said, “Whether you think you can or can’t, you’re right.”

When it comes to successful resolutions, positive expectations are key.

Related to positive expectations is the C-word: Commitment.

What did you think I was referring to?

You see, most people don’t expect to keep their resolutions, because they aren’t committed to them.

One reason people don’t truly commit to their resolutions is that they don’t think them through. In order to truly commit to something, one must know what one is committing to. Typically, people fail to anticipate the day-to-day realities of life, and how they will stick to their resolution when things get hard.

In short, they fail to plan.

But you don’t have to be like most people. You can devise a plan for success, and commit to it. You can expect to succeed, because in following this method, you’ve just tipped the odds in favor of success.

The Pledge

The most effective way I’ve learned to do this involves making a very specific pledge to yourself, in your own handwriting. Sign and date it, and keep it with you at all times.

This way, when you feel tempted to break your resolution, you will be reminded– in your own handwriting– what you committed to do, and why.

I know this works, because I got through college this way!

As the consummate procrastinator, I frequently failed to crack a book until the night before the midterm or final exam. When that night came, armed with my study guide, I’d head to a 24-hour restaurant, park at a table, and order coffee. Then I’d write my ‘Statement of Intent’, which was a pledge to myself that laid out exactly what I was going to do in the 12 hours before the test.

That little piece of paper literally focused my energies, laid out my plan of attack, and got me to commit to doing what had to be done.

It never failed!

To make your own pledge, start by answering the following questions. I’ve used my own resolution as an example.

1. Briefly, what is your resolution?

–To lose weight

2. Why do you want to do it? What benefits will you enjoy as a result?

–I have gained 10 lbs in the last year. In losing weight, I’ll gain confidence. I will also save money, as I’ll be able to wear my existing clothes.

3. Specifically, what do you want to do?By when? Be sure to quantify, and phrase it using the words “I will“.

–I will lose 10 lbs. in 2 months, by March 1, 2008.

4. What will you have to do in order to make this happen?

–Consume 300 calories fewer per day.

5. What changes will this require in your daily life?

–Stop snacking on simple carbs.

6. What challenges do you anticipate?

–I will get hungry and crave chips.

7. How will you overcome these challenges?

–I will snack on 3 whole wheat crackers instead of a small bag of chips; eat regular meals with protein, breakfast included, instead of waiting to get hungry.

Now, taking the above answers, construct your pledge as follows:

• WHEREAS (Answer to #2);
• WHEREAS (Answer to #2);
• I, (NAME), hereby resolve to (answer to #1).
• Specifically, I will (answer to #3),
• by (date in #3).
• In furtherance of this goal, I will (answer to number 4.)
• FURTHERMORE, When faced with (challenges in #6),
• I will (strategies from#7).
• When faced with (other challenges in #6, if present),
• I will (strategies from#7).
• [AND/OR, if no more answers from 6, but more answers from 7]
• I will also (strategies from 7).

Using answers from the example above, my statement reads like this:

• WHEREAS I have gained 10 lbs in the last year.
• WHEREAS In losing weight, I’ll gain confidence and save money, as I’ll be able to wear my existing clothes.
• I, J.L.W., JD, hereby resolve to lose weight.
• Specifically, I will lose 10 lbs. in 2 months, by March 1, 2008.
• In furtherance of this goal, I will consume 300 calories fewer per day.
• FURTHERMORE, When faced with getting hungry and craving chips,
• I will snack on 3 whole wheat crackers instead of a small bag of chips.
• I will also eat regular meals with protein, breakfast included, instead of waiting to get hungry.
• SIGNED: JLW, JD
• DATED: 1.1.2008
  

Making Sure It Sticks

A successful resolution requires you to change your habits. Abiding by your new resolution will be difficult at first, and the way to avoid falling into old behavior patterns is to strengthen your resolve. You must make a conscious decision, every day, to abide by said resolution, until it becomes second nature.

You can gain confidence in your ability to succeed by visualizing trying situations before they happen.

Referring to your answers from questions 5,6,7 and 2, make three columns. On the left, describe all situations you foresee where your resolve will be tested.

In the center column, tell of your strategies for handling said situation.

On the right, note your overall reasons for wanting to change/the rewards you expect to garner. If possible, put down one reward next to each strategy.

Now close your eyes and play them out in your head.

Using my weight loss resolution as an example, this is how things would look:

I would visualize myself eating breakfast daily in order to ward off cravings later in the day.

I would then visualize myself stepping on the scale and seeing that I’d lost weight.

[I'd continue going down the list until I'd exhausted it.]

Got it? Good, because you and this little exercise will become very tight!

Specifically, every day for the first 28 days (the time it takes to form a new habit) you should start your day by reviewing your pledge, and by doing the visualization exercise explained above.

Remember, all of your materials should be in your own handwriting.

Handling Temptations

You should carry your pledge with you at all times, so you can review it when the inevitable temptations arise.

After reviewing your pledge, imagine how it would feel to reach your goal. Then distract yourself for ten minutes. Research shows that most impulses subside in that amount of time.

Happy new year to the new you!

Gifts Wrapped in Hidden Meanings

Finally, Christmas is over.

I just returned from my annual holiday pilgrimage to my parents’ house near Santa Barbara. On the three-hour drive back to Orange County, I found myself reflecting on the whole ordeal.

What, exactly, makes the holidays stressful?

For one thing, many of us only see all of our family members, together, once or twice a year. This kind of likens the holidays to a mini-high school reunion: you see a group of people for the first time in a while; people with whom you once spent a great deal of time.

You know they are going to judge you; and you, them. You can’t help it– it’s human nature.

To add to the stress, you are presented with the task of selecting a gift for someone you don’t necessarily know so well anymore. Even worse, you will receive gifts from people who don’t necessarily know you so well anymore, either.

And these gifts act as a barometer for how well you’ve been keeping up your relationships.

During Christmas this year I watched my two brothers, who are incredibly close, give one another things that were absolutely perfect. In more than one case, I had gift-envy (I wanted a Garman GPS and a wide-angle camera lens too, dammit!)

Such is my punishment for not making more of an effort to keep up family relationships: no one knew that I wanted (or needed) these things.

I got the most generic of gifts from both of my brothers: gift-cards. An Amex one, even (that can be used anywhere- as in “I don’t even know where you like to shop!”)

Not that I’m complaining. He could have gotten me a Kay Jewelers gift card, right?

My Dad, in what I’m convinced was a clandestine attempt to placate my uber-religious Mom, purchased a non-fiction Christian text for all three of us kids.

Which is almost as bad as when he got my Mom the iMac that lives in his home office.

And I think he knew it, too, because he immediately said, “You know I’m not in the habit of buying you guys religious books, but this one is really good.”

Hmmm, we’ll see.

Or not.

All of which begs the question:

When it comes to gift-selection, is it worse to:

1. Not even attempt to buy something personal for the recipient;
2. Buy something you hope to get use out of yourself; or
3. Buy something that encourages the recipient to change in a way that you want them to?

Methinks A is the least objectionable, because it comes with a built-in New Year’s Resolution for the giftee: Don’t allow your family get-togethers to be like high-school reunions.

Make an effort to spend time with family members throughout the year. Who knows, you may even decide you like them!

If nothing else, next Christmas, you just might get a Garman GPS!

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to call my brother and ask how he’s enjoying his religious text… something tells me us kids have more in common than previously thought!

Time Management Just Might Be the Secret to a Merry Christmas

Alas, we’ve come to the end of another year. And no, I haven’t really done my Christmas shopping yet.

I keep thinking there’s plenty of time before the big day, but I just know I’m going to end up at the mall on December 23, rifling through the picked-over merchandise in hopes of finding suitable gifts.

Sadly, I haven’t even told the Santa-types in my life what I want for Christmas. I know that my ADD-afflicted family members shop like I do. But even for the normies who don’t live in my ADD-universe, there’s still plenty of time left to shop.

No one in their right mind would have already bought a gift that they could just as easily have bought on December 23, right?

Well, maybe not.

I just finished a conversation with my boyfriend in which I casually mentioned that I was considering asking my parents for an iphone. I also hinted that I needed a new laptop. Which I figured he was going to get me anyway, because my ibook can’t hold more RAM, since he trashed the pins on it while trying to add the wrong kind of RAM. Right after he gave it to me… two Christmases ago. Clearly, I. NEED. NEW. LAPTOP.

Unfortunately, it may already be too late.

Upon listening to my hints, my boyfriend got physically agitated and proceeded to pull a small, white box out of the closet. NOT small enough to contain an ibook. But an Apple box, nonetheless.

On the plus-side, now I’ll know better than to ask the parents for an iphone.

On the other hand, it does not appear as if a new ibook is in my immediate future.

Okay, now I’m really kicking myself for not finishing Getting Things Done.

And I feel like an unwise, ungrateful spoiled brat. All because I didn’t think to have this conversation earlier.

Yet another example of how the ADD-addled mind construes time in a way that is different from everyone else. And not in a good way.

On the plus-side, my new iphone is the closest thing known to man to Time-Management Skills-In-A-Box!

Maybe that’s why the BF got me one, despite my obvious need for a new ibook?

Gee, now I feel like he’s such a thoughtful gift-giver.

And I’m the one who always says it’s not the gift that counts, it’s the thoughtfulness that goes into selecting it.

Of course, when you have something as annoying as a slow computer, it’s easy to overlook that particular maxim of gift-giving.

But I’m not too upset. Because I just realized something…

With the help of my new iphone, I’ll be able to remember and drop ibook hints in time for my birthday!

So smart yet so… not

My boyfriend, who is an M.D., cannot talk on the phone and drive at the same time. (Please do not tell him I said so, because another thing he’s incapable of doing is laughing at himself.)

I, myself, have a Doctoral Degree (Juris Doctorate, or law degree) and yet I suck at secretarial work and waitressing. When I waitressed during undergrad at The Spot in La Jolla, I’d forget to put people’s orders in and then try to lie my way out of it (as in “Sorry your food’s still not up– those medium rare steaks take so long to cook!”) It got so bad that I felt sorry for my customers.

All of this got me thinking about the nature of intelligence. When I was a kid, I used to imagine that our physical attributes had been selected after waiting in a series of lines, much like the mythical bread lines in Russia (I thought that, quite possibly the reason my nails sucked was because I spent all of my time in the hair and eye-color lines. Apparently they ran out of recessive attributes early, and I did get the blond hair and blue eyes.)

While I no longer subscribe to this ideology/creationism theory, I must say that it makes a certain kind of sense, if not literally than at least in principle (although Scientology’s creationist theory makes far less sense in literal terms– google “volcanoes” and “Body Thetans” if you’re not up to speed on what Tom Cruise & Co. believe.)

While it’s not true that people who have, say, killer bodies usually have butter faces (as in “nice body but her face…”), it is true that mathematical geniuses are generally lacking in interpersonal relations and fashion sense. Apparently, a great spot in the mathematics line means one gets last dibs in the fashion sense line. Put another way, it’s as if God said “Okay, humanoids, you can have wicked math skills or good social skills and fashion sense, but not all three.”

Unfortunately, I got stuck in the creative skills/A.D.D. line, which tied up my precious attribute-selecting time, preventing me from getting a decent place in the time-management skills line, among others (apparently the people administering the A.D.D. line themselves had A.D.D.)

But seriously, people, how many detail-oriented types are good at creative stuff? Aside from the whole right brain/lrft brain dominance thing, are there those who are so smart that they can do it all?

The other day, my friend Karen was telling me how she wishes her husband were more spiritual. I told her that in life, men generally fall into two categories: the solid, detail-oriented, responsible, good-provider types or the passionate, thoughtful and spiritual…. rarely both.

This, of course, begs the question: would you rather have a thoughtful mate who worshiped your ground and spent all day doing things to make you happy, or one who made gobs of money and remembered to pay the mortgage, on time? Put another way: is it better to have a mate who annoys you by making no money or one who annoys you (and maybe then some) by being insensitive to your feelings?

Personally, I think it’s all about the fit. Couples are, ideally, unions that function as one team-unit. If you are lacking in one area, ideally, your mate will compensate. The more you lack a particular characteristic, the better your mate needs to be at it.

If you spent all of your time in the math-genius line, chances are, you got scraps from more than one other line (like social graces and fashion sense.) Hence, you’d better find a partner who got a spot in those other lines early-on, or you and your spouse will wind up wearing matching fanny-packs one day!

And you really wouldn’t want to inflict that element of pollution (ugliness!) on your earthly brethren. For one thing, you could end up here.

Lets face it: people need each other. To pick up the slack, if nothing else.

Next time, in Part duex:: the repercussions of waiting to get hitched (or getting too used to living life as a solitary unit…)

If only I’d finished “Getting Things Done” a year ago…

Admittedly, I have major problems with time (and life) management. I also love to read and like to think that there’s a book out there to solve every problem. Thus far, my quest for the magic book- cure for my Time-Life Management issues has only served to worsen the problem… first, I waste days on end at Borders; then, I end up purchasing books I will never have time to finish. One such book that’s taken up (a two year) residence on my bookshelf is Getting Things Done, a book by David Allen whose apt subtitle is “The Art of Stress-Free Productivity.” I bought it because, aside from the promises on the flap (Increased productivity! An End to Procrastination!), I thought the author was my old boss from my days as a Management Consultant (I still don’t know if it is or not– it does look like him, sans 75 lbs., but the name David Allen is still pretty generic.) As is generally the case with nonfiction I buy, I read the first 2 chapters and lost interest. I must have moved on to more interesting fare, like Secrets of a Manhattan Call girl (which is actually very educational– I even blogged about it!).

Imagine my shock upon recently discovering the online cult status of GTD. In the words of many a blogger, it has “geek cred”. Because bloggers tend to be ADD-types and/or Myers-Briggs Type INFP (a personality type whose description reads like an ADD symptom list), I suddenly realized that I’d found my magic book-cure all… two years ago!! If the fans of the GTD system are to be believed, I could have fit the sum of my achievements over the last 2 years into two months!! Gaaaaah!!!!

As I said, I’ve not yet completed the book, but have been able to grasp it’s main tenets, thanks to other GTD geeks. And many of them, at that. Jennalysis is nothing if not overly-informed. So here they are:

The Problem: Stuff

Getting Things Done works because it first addresses a critical barrier to completing the atomic tasks that we want to accomplish in a given day. That’d be “stuff.” Amorphous, un-actionable, flop-sweat-inducing stuff. David says:

Here’s how I define “stuff:” anything you have allowed into your psychological or physical world that doesn’t belong where it is, but for which you haven’t yet determined the desired outcome and the next action step. [pg. 17]

Stuff litters our minds, killing every potential moment of serenity. Staff meetings, housewarming parties, old magazines, broken vacuum cleaners, college applications, extra poundage and parking tickets all compete for prime attention in our poor, addled brains. Stuff, as defined in GTD, has no “home” and, consequently, no place to go, so it just keeps swirling around.

It’s overwhelming, and we’re too neurotic to stop thinking about it. We certainly don’t have time to actually deal with it in real time. Jeez Louise, what the hell am I, Superman?

So you sprint from fire to fire, praying you haven’t forgotten anything, sapped of anything like creativity or even the basic human flexibility to adapt your own schedule to the needs of your friends, your family or yourself. Stuff has taken over your brain like a virus now, mutating and replicating until it slows down everything you do, leaving you virtually useless. Sound familiar?

So how does this GTD system help?

This is a really over-simplified version, but here are the main points:

1. identify all the stuff in your life that isn’t in the right place (“close all open loops”)
2. get rid of the stuff that isn’t yours or you don’t need right now
3. categorize your remaining stuff (don’t forget to add a tickler or To Be Filed category)
4. create homes for your various categories of stuff, in a place that you trust that works for you
4. put your stuff in the right place, consistently
5. do your stuff in a way that honors your time, your energy, and the context of any given moment
6. edit mercilessly and reevaluate periodically

Also built-in to the system are an ongoing series of reviews, in which you periodically re-examine your now-organized stuff from various vantage points to make sure your vertical focus (individual projects and their tasks) is working in concert with your horizontal focus (side to side scanning of all incoming channels for new stuff).

I’ll interrupt this summary here to admit that employing the above system sounds overwhelming. When I get overwhelmed, I shut down. Ironically, the thought of taking care of my stuff is having the effect on me that the mere presence of said stuff supposedly does (see above). But the GTD disciples tell me to fear not, as the book lays out this system in a way that makes it seem manageable. And maybe even sort of fun and oddly satisfying.

In a nutshell: make your stuff into real, actionable items or things you can just throw away. Rid your life of clutter and filler, and your mind will follow.

Everything you keep has a clear reason for being in your life at any given moment—both now and well into the future.

Of course, I’ve yet to personally succumb to GTD, but they tell me that employing this system is life-changing. Apparently, I can look forward to an amazing kind of confidence that stems from knowing what’s on my proverbial plate, and knowing nothing will get lost.