WHAT IS IT ABOUT?
ON TOP OF THINGS is an organization system aimed at reducing negative stress as well as at improving performance.
It identifies the typical problems of modern working activities, tackling them and presenting solutions, including useful tips on how to tailor them to different needs.
It is also a valid help for managing everyday life duties, in an era increasingly characterized by haste, in which an efficient use of time makes the difference.
The Method is based on a specifically designed agenda called OTOT-PLANNER PROTM.
WHY USE IT?
We live more and more in the age of "everything at once", of extreme multitasking, and information bombing. It is easy in such a context to get lost, forget things or fail to find the necessary concentration to do them quickly and effectively.
ON TOP OF THINGS is born as a tool of self-defense and reaction to mind overload.
It will provide you with a set of practical rules and algorithms for managing daily duties, in a methodical and orderly manner.
The application of the Method will help you to find the right inner harmony to face serenely your everyday challenges.
HOW DOES IT WORK?
The Method creates an ideal barrier between you and distractions, thereby enabling you to efficiently use time for task execution and your personal fulfillment.
This allows you to reach a higher degree of focus and to achieve more results for the same amount of time spent or to enjoy more leisure time while achieving the same results.
Incoming tasks are rapidly recorded in a plain notebook (named Notebook BMNT) to be, with few exceptions, evaluated and planned later, in specific moments, using a simple yet powerful methodology.
The separation between the phase of recording on the one hand, and that of planning and actual undertaking on the other, puts a buffer between you and incoming duties, reducing their capability to induce a feeling of oppression.
This gives a sense of relief, and helps you refreshing your mental energies.
The Method has been designed to allow you to automatically track and monitor the improvement of your performance, triggering a virtuous circle on the motivational level.
It incorporates a structured approach to the learning process harmonizing it with the overall workflow. This prevents your personal growth from interfering with your daily priorities but also to be completely neglected. Furthermore, it enables to maximize the benefits of the lessons learned, turning them into the pivot to further improve your performance.
In addition to the aforementioned benefits, the Method promotes self-discipline and will help you to hold on to your personal resolutions.
WHAT DO YOU NEED TO APPLY ON TOP OF THINGS?
- 2 notebooks with squared or white pages
- 1 Pen
- 1 Pencil with eraser
- Colored markers: yellow, orange, pink, blue and green
- OTOT-PLANNER PROTM (the Method's Agenda)
- The book "ON TOP OF THINGS - Winning is a matter of organization" where the Method's techniques are illustrated. The book will guide you during the initial phase of gradual assimilation of the method.
The use of markers is required because the Method works with a Color Code to increase the clarity of information and to generate a sense of visual comfort.
HOW WAS IT BORN?
ON TOP OF THINGS-OTOT is drawn from the experience of the author who has been using it for several years as a personal tool, gradually refining it.
The author had tried many pre-existing systems before creating his own.
Although these were apparently very well referenced, their application on the field did not prove up to the expectations.
In some cases, they presented too much detail on aspects that in real life are either too variable or job/company-specific, while apparently they did not grasp other aspects, more general and typical of the daily experience of employees and managers.
The Method was created to fix these aspects and was built according to a conceptual architecture whose pillars are:
• Mind Clearance
• Input Buffering
• Tailored Management
• Planning Economy, which includes Prioritization
WHY THE PAPER?
Actually, the system is also suitable for transfer to digital media. However, the author does not recommend this choice. Electronic devices are among the primary sources of distraction and information bombing, which lead to the abatement of productivity.
Furthermore, paper enables a far better perception of information. The author himself used to favor computer-based methods before observing, not without surprise, that paper offered a better and more comfortable environment for personal organization and analysis.
HOW DOES IT DIFFER FROM COMPARABLE SYSTEMS?
It is much more specific and focused regarding how to manage the various kinds of duties.
Instead, it avoids giving rules in areas where these can only be defined by the context, rather relying in this case on its strategy for the management of the learning process.
It has a very clear and orderly structure, similar to a standard of Project Management or to an operating procedure.
It offers a great deal of suggestions, examples and different options for using the techniques it presents.
It has been created by someone who knows your daily difficulties and challenges from direct experience, not by an expert in solving other people's problems.
