Grant’s Space

My latest project (May, 2009) - remixes of popular songs. They’re done as “covers”, which means I’m re-recording the vocals as well as doing a new arrangement. Vocals sung by Ann Miller. For legal reasons these are available only on iTunes US, and I can’t stream any full-length previews. As such, the links just go to iTunes.

To be notified when I release new music, you can subscribe to posts (choose the “My Music” category after confirming your email address).

• My Life Would Suck Without You
• My Life Would Suck Without You (Epic Remix)
• Poker Face (Remix)

If you’re a GTDer, you’ve probably had some communication problems when talking to non-GTDers. (this usually manifests itself in the form of a comment about being a nerd, or about being overly organized). So, here’s a handy guide to translating GTD to “normal” (unproductive?) English:

• That project is on my someday/maybe list: I’ve been meaning to get to that, but have been too busy
• There are too many projects/actions on my list, if I add the one you’re asking, I don’t know when it’ll get done: I’m really busy, but I’ll get to that when I can. (follow with reading project list if they ask what you’re so busy doing. That’ll usually make them go away)
• I’m adding that to my inbox: Got it.
• I cancelled that project because _____: I decided not to (or “couldn’t”) do that because _____.
• I’ve assigned a due date of _____ to that project: I’ll have it done by _____
• I’ve added an “all day” action to my calendar to call you on Thursday: I’ll call you Thursday

I got this in email and thought it was worth posting:

So what have we learnt in two millennia?

“The budget should be balanced, the Treasury should be refilled, public debt should be reduced, the arrogance of officialdom should be tempered and controlled, and the assistance to foreign lands should be curtailed lest Rome become bankrupt. People must again learn to work instead of living on public assistance.”
–Cicero, 55 BC

Evidently, not a damn thing…

You can never be on time. You can only be early or late. Think about it: can you calculate traffic, parking, stoplights, busses, elevators, or anything else so precisely that you can arrive exactly on time every time you go somewhere? Of course not. You will either be early, or you’ll be late. you’re late because you don’t want to be early and wait.

So I’ll share with you something I learned from my grandfather: Arrive early, and sit in your car (or on a bench, cafe, or whatever if you’re not driving) until it’s time to arrive, then go in. I keep a book in my car that I read during these waits. I also plat the time it’ll take me to get from the car to where I’m going (up the elevator, to the front door, etc). That much travel time I can calculate.

You’ll be surprised what a difference it makes. People eill notice your reliability, you’ll be more relaxed and less rushed, and you’ll experience the freedom and confidence of not having to make excuses for being late.

How to move a 2-bedroom apartment in 4-6 hours and be unpacked and settled in at the end of the move (really):
http://www.mang.canterbury.ac.nz/people/jfraffen/misc/moving1.htm
(see below for extending this to include packing)

If you’d rather pay someone to do it:
Pack/Move/Unpack companies:

• http://www.la-movers.com/Los_Angeles_Movers.html
  • Corporate movers. No mention of residential, but my house is more like an office anyway…
• http://www.ozmoving.com/california/
  • May be new. Web site not finished yet.
    1611 Perrino Place
    Los Angeles, CA 90023-2624
    888-665-MOVE
• http://www.navlagent.com/executive/house.htm
  • Corporate&Residential. Storage too. In Anaheim.

These are from my notes from the research I did for my impending potential move. The companies above (I believe) do full relocation - that is, they pack your old place, move your stuff, and unpack into your new place. Corporations use services like this to move their employees - you’re unpacked and settled in the day you move in. I got tired of taking days hauling things around in my previous moves and knew there was a more effective way to do things - hopefully they’ll help you too.

I have a huge house to pack, so I added the following steps to enable people to pack too:
- List areas to be packed
  - Break them down by units that can be packed in small boxes in about 15 minutes by one person
- Write up list of friends to invite to moving party
- Write up instruction list for packers:
  (Note: I wanted to enable people to sort out items that really shouldn’t be moved/stored - you may want to drop that part and just have them pack everything)
  - Get 3 boxes and a plastic bag.
    - Label 1 box “give away/sell”
    - Label 2 boxes with the name of the area you’re packing and types of items in it (you may need more boxes depending on their size and number of items in your area)
  - Go through each item in your area sorting items into each box.
    (note: you may want to drop this sorting, or update the criteria to match your needs)
    - If it’s “worth keeping”, put it in the box for the area you’re packing
    - “Worth keeping” is defined as being more valuable than the amount of storage space cost and effort to pack, move, and unpack.
    - If it’s not worth keeping, but someone might want it, put it in the “give away/sell” box
    - If it’s trash, put it in the plastic bag.
- Write text for invitation for packing party
- Get enough boxes to accommodate the areas on the list
- Get a bunch of plastic garbage bags for trash

Hope this helps.