Comments on: Choices

By: My Get Things Done List » Blog Archive » What the heck is productivity all about? [Matt's Idea Blog]

Tue, 16 Oct 2007 04:03:01 +0000

[...] – choices! I wrote this response to Chris Brogan post: Choice has (at least) two [...]

By: Michael Scott: Office Caricature or All Too Real? at Social Honeycomb

Michael Scott: Office Caricature or All Too Real? at Social Honeycomb — Sat, 06 Oct 2007 01:00:02 +0000

[...] We all know people who are resistant to change, so it’s a worrying thing to be on the cusp of graduation (December 2007, woot!) and feel like I’m about to walk into a world where most people will make faces when I talk about what I believe in. I can only imagine what Michael and Dwight would have to say about me… Michael Scott: Everyone always wants new things. Everybody likes new inventions, new technology. People will never be replaced by machines. In the end, life and business are about human connections. And computers are about trying to murder you in a lake. And to me, the choice is easy. [...]

By: My Daily Twitter - 2007-09-17

My Daily Twitter - 2007-09-17 — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 06:11:50 +0000

[...] Hey, Looks like you may have an italics tag with no in your http://grasshopperfactory.com/cbc/choices/ post. Ma … [...]

By: Susan

Susan — Mon, 17 Sep 2007 14:47:44 +0000

I have made the choice to not fight, to let what’s going to happen happen. Things will work out in the end.

By: Matthew Cornell

Matthew Cornell — Mon, 17 Sep 2007 01:55:35 +0000

Exactly. That’s why it’s not about time management, it’s about action/choices; I prefer “self-management.”

Choice has (at least) two implications:

1) Self-responsibility: Making conscious choices about our lives removes the excuse to be passive and then complain about it. Example: Not having an important but difficult conversation, then complaining about my relationship.

Another example: When I’m teaching clients best practices for personal productivity, it’s *empowering*, for some of them too much so. (Not too many, thankfully – plunking down $$$ tends to clarify commitment.) For example, if I get my act together, I can no longer claim it’s out of my hands, or it’s somebody else’s fault – I explicitly take responsibility. No necessarily comfortable initially, and may be a big change for folks…

2) Things *not* chosen, i.e., Mark Forster’s “closed lists” – deciding to do something means you’ve decided not to do something else. For example, spending time watching TV -> not spending time with my daughter and wife…

By: Whitney

Whitney — Sun, 16 Sep 2007 19:00:06 +0000

Totally agree. there’s always a choice to be made. Sometimes the phrase “I had no choice” really means that there was a balance between the easy way or passive way to go, and the difficult and potentially irreversible way to go. The Burning the Bridge choice versus some other option.

When I use the phrase “I had little choice” or “have no choice” usually means I’m backed into an uncomfortable corner and need to be a hard ass about something. I need to draw a line or a boundary. I’ve reached some limit of feasible options. And this is saying something, because I am famous for lateral solutions to problems.

If you really think you are out of options, you’re not looking hard enough.

By: Dayngr

Dayngr — Sun, 16 Sep 2007 18:59:22 +0000

So very true! Thanks for the gentle reminder.