To work on a system that makes us work

It's needed but it's kind of weird.

Let's say we need to prepare for the preparation! The same thing can easily go like we need to prepare to prepare for the preparation. It's a strange loop, no?

Yesterday I was sitting with our neighbor-entrepreneur Hirenbhai. And while showing the Cockpit Planner to him I uttered, "We can't keep working on the system that makes us work!" And he gave an instant nod of acknowledgment. He added, "That's precisely the problem. We have a CRM installed but to work on the CRM itself requires too much of work."

Having shared the above however, I must also say, that we indeed have to build a system that makes us work. It is just that we can't be spending disproportionate time on building the system of work. Otherwise who'll do the 'work'. Yes, that's the quandary we often find ourselves in.

Cockpit Planner is a system that might work for you if you are looking for a work-system. It is self-explanatory. Fast. Covers all aspects of a typical work-day.

And if you are gifting, you might want to consider this. Bulk orders will be priced accordingly.

You can buy here. Or you can get in touch +91 814 000 2228. Call or Whatsapp, either way is fine.

The Italians surely have a Cockpit-like mechanism in place

Here's a piece of a letter (which forms a part of their book HERE & NOW) J.M. Coetzee wrote to Paul Auster:

I've been to enough cultural events in Italy by now not to be unnerved by the chaos that seems to envelop them. No one is sure exactly where the session is to take place, the man who looks after the sound system cannot be located, the interpreter is up in arms because no one has informed her of the running order, etcetera, etcetera. Yet when the hour arrives, everything goes off smoothly: the audience miraculously knows where to come, the sound system works, the interpreter does a first-class job. The chaos turns out to have been spurious: we can run an event perfectly efficiently, the Italians seem to be saying, without fetishizing efficiency - in fact, we can turn the running of an event into a diverting little comic drama of its own.

Guess, this sounds familiar for a lot of events that we ourselves have arranged or have been a part of.

Strict scheduling format like that of a Franklin Planner for day to day work is over-rated. And we know efficiency resulting out of that scheduling effort surely is way way over-rated. Guess, we've observed and experienced that too.

Before any effort at scheduling for the purposes of efficiency, one ought to recall what exactly it is that needs to be undertaken. One will notice that as compared to Franklin Planner, the Cockpit AIT Planner is far far better at scooping out of our heads what needs to be done.

Origins, two and a half years back

That's how my day planner based on Franklin Planner format looked like at one point in time. Here the day is Friday, 25th Feb, 2011! Yes, about 2 years and 4 months back!

Those who are particular about getting things done might be scribbling such things down in their planners on many days. And yet, just a little laxity or lapse in attentiveness (or foraging into one's memory) would mean a lot of important little stuff/steps just wouldn't happen. That surely happened with me on many many occasions.

Though the format didn't quite facilitate it, to plan to be able to execute well day after day, I made a simple distinction between scheduled tasks and fluid tasks (the ones which could be done anytime during the day). I also noted down the habits/skills I wished to develop right on top. And below that, the projects that needed attention every day.

While setting up my own venture, as I sensed the issues of execution and the nature of activities we all do day after day, I came to identify and name the universal prompts that helped develop the Cockpit AIT Planner.

Sure, but that's not a plan

How could I not reblog this entire post from Seth Godin? Talks about what's a plan. Highlight in red, mine.

Sure, but that's not a plan

The most common thing people ask me about is how to get picked, a shortcut to success, a way to spread an idea or build a platform without doing a particularly large amount of hard work.

Getting picked is fine if it happens to you. But it's not a plan. It's a version of waiting and hoping.

We're quick to claim credit for the good fortune fairy when she randomly shows up and picks us. The thing is, the good fortune fairy has to pick someone, and this time, (if you were lucky) it was you. But that's not a plan.

We can't help but amplify the stories of Hollywood and Vine, of being plucked out of obscurity, of the seventeen-year-old with talent who yes, indeed, got picked and cashed out. We blog about and talk about the one in a million YouTube viral sensation, the breakthrough that came out of nowhere overnight. But that's not a plan.

A plan involves steps that are largely under your influence and control. A plan involves the hard and dreary and difficult work of a thousand brave steps, of doing things that might not work, of connecting and caring and bringing generosity when we don't think we have any more to bring.

When your plan works, take a bow. You earned it.

Look at the Cockpit AIT Planner screenshot of the app. Check those steps as represented by the button in the Task Control Panel.

Depending on the profession, service or product, there might be some more specific steps necessary to make a difference. Or perhaps the above universal steps might become yet more specific given the context. But the essence is captured in these prompt-buttons of Cockpit. Repeat these and you get the thousand brave steps.