Slowing Down: Actions

In my last post, I summarized a talk, Slowing Down, that I had facilitated recently at Agile Open Northwest.  There was a fair amount of interest in the topic and some folks mentioned that I should do a follow on session focused on specific things we could do to start slowing down. It was a call to action. Once again, I walked into the session with very little idea of what would happen and how it would all work out.

The Session

The session got off to a bit of a funny start. I started by giving an introduction to the session, and creating some posters, and taping them up, and balancing my first cup of coffee for the morning – all at the same time. Yes, you got it – I was a multi-tasking madman! Of course I promptly tipped my precious coffee into the box of supplies, thereby destroying the supplies for the session and depriving myself of the coffee I so desperately needed. I couldn’t have put together a better demonstration of attempting too much if I had tried. After that little disaster, I slowed down a bit. We decided to put together two lists: Things to start, and things to stop. Here is what we came up with (in no particular order):

Things to Start

• Ignoring email
• Make a list and then throw it away
• Doodle
• Completing actions
• Schedule empty space
• Intentionally doing nothing
• Reducing my WIP
• Turn off email for 1-2 hours per day
• Using Pomodoro more regularly
• Get a dog
• Draw a picture
• Gratitude
• Listening to music each day
• Exercise – setup yoga with group or something else with coworkers
• Start reading more about Agile
• Observe my thoughts without judgement
• Start acting like a toddler
• Reading for fun
• Walking slow
• Notice my breath and how it feels
• Eating lunch NOT at your desk
• Watching grass grow
• Amble
• Phone stacking at lunches and dinners and meetings
• Being present
• Watch waves roll in
• Saying single sentences only
• Finishing things
• Reward slow actions

Things to stop

• Stop carrying laptop
• Stop reading more than 2 paragraphs
• Stop burying the lead in emails
• Multi-tasking
• Don’t go to Agile 2013
• Stop reading everything related to the next meeting’s topic. Be prepared to be unprepared.
• Stop working through the 12:00 hour and go for a walk
• Stop waiting for permission to initiate change
• TV
• Stop reading everything all the time
• Stop solving problems without asking 3 questions first
• Stop trying to fill the void of silence first
• Stop avoiding nagging release issues
• Stop checking email on my phone every time I have a spare moment
• Stop checking email before I go to sleep
• Remember there is always tomorrow…
• Stop checking IM’s the instant that they arrive
• When I’m at a conference, stop going to every session. Take time out each day to just go outside
• Stop having talks longer than 25 minutes
• Stop bringing anything on a trip that I didn’t use last time
• Ditch watch
• Drive less
• Turn off email
• Work less by taking a 3 week vacation
• Imitrex

Recommended books

• Personal Kanban
• The Tao of Pooh
• The Shibumi Strategy
• The Tao Te Ching
• Pomodoro Illustrated

Obviously we captured a lot of “stuff” here. Some of it I really like, and other things I will probably never try. I’m committed to trying many of them. I’m still absorbing, so for now I’ll take it one day at a time. Once again, I’m grateful to those who participated in the session. I hope some of these ideas serve as a starting point for others in the same fashion they have for me.