We are knowledge workers...
When I was a kid I would sometimes wake up in the morning early enough to watch my dad put on his work boots and then load up his truck. He would bring his lunch, sometimes a thermos and a couple of shirts. He worked in construction as a plumber. Growing up that way I was accustomed to loading your tools every morning. On the weekend my dad would would repair, clean, sharpen, and in rare instances replace his tools.
Todays employees expect everything given to them. This is not an article about shaming a different generation, it is about the lost art of being a craftsperson with the work you do.
With being a knowledge worker, you have to take responsibility on how to get thoughts out of your head reliably and completely. Our tools are different. It really does not matter what type of technology you use, it matters to what is effective and more to the point productive with your workflows.
What I can point to are tools and habits that I see better and more productive performers use. These are the things you should be bringing to work every morning.
Mind Mapping
So what do you do every morning? It used to be that work meant you made a raw material into something. You put in time and at the end of the day you could point to what you did. We are not so lucky. When we are done, what do we get to do? We write an email or report to describe what we did for that day. Spreadsheets are updated. Task management systems are clicked. But to what end?
When are you going to be done? Do you know for sure that when they say you are finished you are actually finished? If you can't articulate your endpoint, or how what you do contributes to some goal, I feel sorry for what they are doing to you.
Mind mapping is the tool.
How I use mind mapping is in two modes 1) to provide scope on a project which I have no idea how to complete 2) to collaborate with people to come up with a well defined solution and scope that solution accordingly.
If you don't know what mind mapping here is a brief synopsis: Brain storming.
Outlining
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