23 May 2010

Letter from Lhasa, number 171. (Babauta 2007): Zen to Done

Letter from Lhasa, number 171. (Babauta 2007): Zen to Done

by Roberto Abraham Scaruffi

Babauta, L., Zen to Done. The Ultimate Simple Productivity System, eBook, 2007.

(Babauta 2007).

Leo Babauta

http://zenhabits.net

The first advantages of this book about accomplishments and simplification are its simplicity, and its synthetic and clear exposition of about only 80 pages.

Finish what you start. You have to change your habits, evidently. One by one.

Simplify and focus.

Focus on doing what is important and do it well.

First, focus on changing your habits one by one.

10 habits or the ones, of these ten, working for you.

Each of these habits should be learned and practiced one at a time if possible, or 2-3 at a time at the most. Focus on your habit change for 30 days, then move on to the next.

“That can be difficult, I know, but in the long run the habits will stick better if you focus on them one or two at a time. And over the course of a year, you’ll have mastered them all -- and I don’t think becoming completely organized and productive in one year is such a bad accomplishment.

“The order listed below is just a suggestion — you can adopt them in whatever order works best for you. Habits 1-8 are the most essential, but I suggest you give Habits 9-10 serious consideration too. I will expand on each of these 10 habits in the chapters to follow.

(Babauta 2007, p. 11)

1. Collect

“Habit: ubiquitous capture. Carry a small notebook (or whatever capture tool works for you) and write down any tasks, ideas, projects, or other information that pop into your head. (...)

“2. Process

“Habit: make quick decisions on things in your inbox, do not put them off. Letting stuff pile up is procrastinating on making decisions. (...)

“3. Plan

“Habit: set MITs for week, day. Each week, list the Big Rocks (most important tasks) that you want to accomplish for that week, and schedule them first. Each day, create a list of 1- 3 MITs (basically your Big Rocks for the day) and be sure to accomplish them. Do your MITs early in the day to get them out of the way and to ensure that they get done.

“4. Do

“Habit: do one task at a time, without distractions. (...)

“5. Simple Trusted System

“Habit: keep simple lists, check daily. (...)

“6. Organize

“Habit: a place for everything. (...)

“7. Review

“Habit: review your system & goals weekly. (...) Once a month, set aside a little more time to do a monthly review of your goals, and every year, you should do a yearly review of your year’s goals and your life’s goals.

“8. Simplify

“Habit: reduce your goals & tasks to essentials. (...)

“9. Routine

“Habit: set and keep routines. (...)

“10. Find your passion

“Habit: seek work for which you’re passionate. This could be your last habit, but at the same time your most important. (...)”

(Babauta 2007, p. 12-16)

In practice: program and do!

And, best, ...do what you are passionate about!

If you have too much work, suppress/eliminate and delegate!

This is, finally, a booklet of less than 100 pages...

Babauta, L., Zen to Done. The Ultimate Simple Productivity System, eBook, 2007.

Letter from Lhasa, number 170. (Lewis 2009): Network Science

Letter from Lhasa, number 170. (Lewis 2009): Network Science

by Roberto Abraham Scaruffi

Lewis, T. G., Network Science. Theory and Practice, Whiley, 2009.

(Lewis 2009).

Ted G. Lewis

This work is a successful attempt to define or contributing to define a new discipline. Different theories and cross-disciplines are used for analysing and using networks of whatever kind and in whatever context.

Lewis, T. G., Network Science. Theory and Practice, Whiley, 2009.

Letter from Lhasa, number 169. (Raider 2009): Nahum Goldmann

Letter from Lhasa, number 169. (Raider 2009): Nahum Goldmann

by Roberto Abraham Scaruffi

[Edited by] Raider, M. A., Nahum Goldmann. Statesman Without a State, State University of New York Press and Chaim Weizmann Institute for the Study of Zionism and Israel at Tel Aviv University, Albany, N.Y., U.S.A., 2009.

(Raider 2009).

Mark A. Raider

Goldmann was a prominent Zionist leader and, at the same time, a harsh critic of the Israeli State:

The Israelis, he said, suffer from the Jewish weakness of being unable to distinguish between matters important from matters less so. [...] He was dubious about the democratic structures of Israel: in Ben-Gurion’s time, he wrote, Israel was formally a democracy, but in fact it was a regime more dictatorial than many totalitarian countries. Israeli politicians and the Israeli party system was a favorite aim of his barbs, for evident reasons. Except in times of war, Goldmann wrote, the loyalty of Israeli politicians is more to their parties than to the state.

(Raider 2009, p. 43)

Not casually, his Zionism was cosmopolitan and anarchist.

There can be no doubt that Goldmann’s identification with the diaspora was profoundly rooted in his sense of Jewish history; it was part of his basic Weltanschauung. On the basis of a 1980 interview, Raphael Patai reports on Goldmann’s musings to the effect that love of Zion throughout the long exile could be likened to that love relationship in which the essential is not the fulfilment but the yearning, because the lovers are in dread of facing disappointment. 28 One cannot but agree with Patai’s impression that, in the final analysis, underlying Goldmann’s global concept of the Jewish people, there resided an emotional identification with the diaspora “somewhat stronger than his solidarity with Israel.” One measure of this is evident from his having chosen never to become a permanent resident of Israel (although he acquired an apartment in Jerusalem) and from his declining a position, even a very high one, in the Israeli government.

(Raider 2009, p. 71)

The book collects 13 essays, in addition to the introduction. They examine different aspects of the personality and actions of Goldmann and of his role in Jewish and world history.

[Edited by] Raider, M. A., Nahum Goldmann. Statesman Without a State, State University of New York Press and Chaim Weizmann Institute for the Study of Zionism and Israel at Tel Aviv University, Albany, N.Y., U.S.A., 2009.