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Kevin Milne feared he might “never see my wife again” as she drove off in a car with Sir Sam Neill for horse-riding lessons, but the equally shy pair were instead like “two 15-year-olds on a first date”. The former Fair Go presenter this morning shared a touching story of when his wife Linda Milne helped the future movie superstar prepare for his role in the 1979 Australian period drama My Brilliant Career. Linda's experience matched the contrast between the “commanding characters that the great man played and the quiet, almost shy, person he was personally”, Milne told Newstalk ZB's Saturday Mornings with Jack Tame. Tributes for the Kiwi star of the big screen best known for his leading role in Jurassic Park have been shared around the world since he died aged 78 of pneumonia in a Sydney hospital on Monday. “I've a story that goes back to when Sam had just become a household name in New Zealand [after] he had played the lead role of Smith in Sleeping Dogs [in 1977]”, Milne told Tame. The couple had known Neill for a year or two when he called asking if Linda could coach him on how to manage a horse on hills, as he'd just landed a role in My Brilliant Career. Sam Neill needed to hone his horse-riding skills for a starring role in 1979 Australian period drama My Brilliant Career. “Sam was a lad of gentle charm and exceptionally good looks. For Linda, a very shy 22-year-old, the thought of spending an afternoon on her own with the gorgeous Sam Neill freaked her a bit. “Anyway, they head off in the car together, two gorgeous people on the journey to where Linda kept her horse. I feared I might never see my wife again.” But Linda quickly discovered the accomplished actor whose future credits would include The Piano and Hunt for the Wilderpeople was “every bit as shy as she was”. “As they drove along, not only was she struggling to get a sentence out to Sam, but the star of Sleeping Dogs was having equal difficulty thinking of what to say to her. “They were like two 15-year-olds on a first date. For a long time, she says, there was awkward silence.” A stop at the dairy helped break the ice when his wife Linda Milne, left, helped actor Sam Neill prepare a role in 1979's My Brilliant Career, says former Fair Go presenter Kevin Milne, centre. Also pictured is Tommie Milne, the youngest of Kevin and Linda Milne's four children. Photo / Hagen Hopkins Fortunately, a shop came into view, Milne said. “Sam broke the ice … ‘Shall we stop at the dairy and I'll buy some Summer Rolls?' A very sweet offer from the movie star, which Linda accepted. “Communications must have improved enough for Linda to show Sam how to handle a horse on hills, because the following year we watched him do it up on the big screen, so strikingly, so elegantly in the highly successful My Brilliant Career.” Cherie Howie is an Auckland-based reporter who joined the Herald in 2011. She has been a journalist for more than 20 years and specialises in general news and features. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
In this episode, Dr. Roger Smith explores how parents can nurture gratitude in their children. Using a quote about Piglet from A.A. Milne's Winnie the Pooh, she explains that gratitude is a learned habit. Dr. Roger Smith shares practical exercises for modeling thankfulness in everyday moments, helping children grow their capacity for gratefulness. Visit me at: https://rogersmithmd.com/ This has been a production of ThePodcastUpload.com
Rick Milne joins Tony McManus to talk Antiques and Collectables. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
What do you do to pass the time on a plane? Kevin Milne has just returned from another trip to Christchurch, flying back home yesterday after attending a family funeral. The flight path takes them right alongside the Southern Alps and Kaikoura Range, a stunning view that much to Kevin's surprise, was being mostly ignored by other passengers. He joined Jack Tame with a question: why do people read books and magazines when there are astonishing views outside the window? LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Today on The Cameron Journal Podcast, we're continuing our happiness series. While we learn about what happiness is (a state of being), we want to invite everyone to join us on July 17th and 18th for the What is Truth Summit. Visit summit.soopmedia.net to learn more about our summit and what we're discussing. And today we're going to explore happiness in literature, focusing on Winnie the Pooh by Milne, and have a real Tigger v. Eeyore face book, as I am more of an Eeyore, and Joe is definitely a Tigger who would like to be a Pooh.
Kevin Milne has just returned from a week-long trip to the Garden City and found himself rather impressed with the experience. He told Jack Tame it's not the Christchurch he once knew – it's a brand-new glittering, uber cool replacement. And with how much he enjoyed himself, he had to recommend anyone listening to consider a holiday or long-weekend stay in the city. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
This week I'm chatting with my friend, Sian Milne, about strength & mobility for runners. Sian is a former stunt woman for the film industry turned strength & mobility coach, and a runner on top of that! So she knows a thing or two about bodies and how to keep them strong and resilient. The biggest takeaway that I hope you get from this episode is this: You cannot become a stronger runner by just running. There will come a point when you'll hit a barrier, and the only way to break through is with strength & mobility. Enjoy!
La primera revista del mundo escrita en idioma chino fue creada por un granjero escocés. Esta es su historia.SÍGUENOSSitio web: http://biteproject.comx: https://twitter.com/biteprojectPodcast: https://anchor.fm/biteprojectTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@biteprojectInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/biteproject/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/biteproject/Créditos:Producido por: Giovanny Gómez Pérez y Pilar PrietoMúsica: Envato Elements Generación de voces: Daniel ÁngelEdición de sonido y música: Jhon Montaña
Episode 183: The Real Story of Winni-the-Pooh (a special episode for Jacob Barrett) Episode Description: Did you know Winnie-the-Pooh was inspired by a real bear? In this episode of Real Cool History for Kids, we travel back to World War I to uncover the fascinating true story behind one of the world's most beloved storybook characters. Meet Harry Colebourn, a Canadian veterinarian who rescued a tiny black bear cub named Winnie, and discover how her incredible journey to the London Zoo forever changed children's literature. You'll also learn how a young boy named Christopher Robin and his favorite stuffed animals inspired his father, A. A. Milne, to write the timeless Winnie-the-Pooh stories that families have enjoyed for generations. Along the way, we'll explore geography, make connections to World War I (Episode 72), and discover how one small act of kindness can leave a legacy that lasts for more than a century. Other podcast episodes featuring World War 1 stories: Episode 2 – Jack's Story – C.S. Lewis (1914) Episode 139 – Sergeant Stubby (World War I) Episode 127 – Sergeant Alvin York (World War I) Episode 169 - The Amazing Story of Cher Ami (World War 1) Episode 165 - The Halifax Explosion of 1917 (World War 1) Episode 125 – The Last Tsar's Family (1918)
Last week, Kevin Milne was sent a parking infringement notice from the Rotorua District Council. He had some questions, given he lives in Wellington and he wasn't anywhere near Rotorua at the time of the incident. What's really going on here? He joined Jack to give an update. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Send us a message!In this episode of Alex & Annie: The Real Women of Vacation Rentals, we are joined by Bob Milne, President and COO of First Chair Destinations.Bob has spent decades in the vacation rental industry, with leadership experience across Steamboat Resorts, Wyndham Vacation Rentals, Vacasa, Casago, and now First Chair Destinations. His career has taken him from building a local vacation rental company in Colorado to helping lead large-scale portfolios across some of the most recognizable names in the industry.Now, with First Chair Destinations, Bob is returning to a more focused, locally grounded model of vacation rental management.Throughout the conversation, Bob shares what he has learned from building and scaling vacation rental companies, what the industry can take away from the Vacasa to Casago transition, and why the future of vacation rental management still depends on strong local teams, trusted owner relationships, and consistent guest hospitality.He also discusses the role of technology, AI, distribution, OTAs, private equity, and consolidation in shaping what comes next for the industry.Episode Chapters:03:22 - Bob's path through Steamboat, Wyndham, Vacasa, Casago, and First Chair06:26 - What the Vacasa to Casago transition revealed about the industry10:25 - How First Chair is approaching its next chapter15:29 - What rapid growth has taught the vacation rental industry16:18 - Why local teams still matter in a scaled industry17:05 - How hospitality can get lost as companies grow23:56 - What operators can learn from the Vacasa to Casago transition27:51 - What consolidation could mean for the industry30:06 - Where AI can support vacation rental operations33:16 - Building a hospitality-first culture across local teams40:47 - Why OTAs still play a major role in distribution46:56 - How owner expectations around channel visibility are changing49:34 - Why the future of vacation rentals is still local51:57 - How guest expectations are changingConnect with Bob:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robertemilne/ Website: https://www.firstchair.com/ ✨ Exclusive Offers to Alex & Annie Listeners: Thinking about the next chapter for your vacation rental business? Connect with Monarch Collective to explore what growth could look like with the right platform behind you.
Lords: Kate Andrew Topics: Movies that are supposed to be good and kind of annoyingly are actually good Making friends when you're old Paris's pneumatic mail system Forgiven, by A. A. Milne https://www.poeticous.com/a-a-milne/forgiven-i-found-a-little-beetle-so-that-beetle-was-his-name Microtopics: The skill to make the noises that are in your head. Writing quests for Hello Kitty Island Adventure. Sanrio's NDA-enforcing snipers. A crocodile that was invented in 1978. Writing quests that force the artists to figure out how a crocodile would wear sunglasses. Writing the dialog tree as the player is clicking on options, like Gromit placing tracks right as the train is about to roll over them. Spending five years shipping the first part of a live service game and then shipping additional parts every few weeks. Trying to rebuild a house while someone is living in it. Lingo 2. Dungeon Gals. The kind of game you can't draw a map of. Teetering on the razor's edge of "I'm a genius" and "I don't understand anything." What does the developer tooling look like for games that have non-euclidean spaces? Duplicated spaces with secret warp volumes. The kind of movie that an Infinite Jest reader will recommend. Terry Cavanagh's game about making tea. Egg Game? Astonishing movie running times. Five minutes of two men intensely looking at each other. An adventure movie about two best friends who hate each other. James Joyce: maybe he's good? A guy who lives in the middle of nowhere who thinks about politics a lot and never talks to anyone. Gerry, starring Ben Affleck and Matt Damon. The art is coming from inside the head. Pro Shots vs. bootlegs. Jukebox musicals. Shawshank Redimension. Shawshank Redemption 2: Shawshank Herdemption. Communicating between cell blocks by flushing the toilet. Loove a.k.a. Flushed a.k.a. Lavatory Lovastory. Mixing your DNA with someone you've never seen. Florida Writing. Gravity Slingshotting around your hobbies to reach friendship. Going to GDC and making a bunch of game dev friends. Plateauing at two digits. Getting hobbies that put you in a room with people of your desired gender. Your co-worker at the call center who's married to the CEO of Twinings. Playing puzzle games on the Internet in front of a chatful of puzzle experts. The protagonist getting stuck on a puzzle and the narrator turning to the audience and saying "chat, help us out with this one." Making friends vs. keeping friends. The friendships that you both care enough about to have maintained. I Love a Thoont. Building a pneumo to relieve congestion on the telegraph system. When the telegraph was invented vs. when pneumatics were invented. Why banks had pneumatic drive thrus rather than the teller just handing you the stuff through the window like a fast food drive thrus. Whimsical coffee preparation. The cost of building a giant tube between the coasts of North America. The Alameda-Weehawken Burrito Tunnel. Inventing a frictionless tube. Preparing burritos to be magnetically fired. Rifled sewers. Plunging into the Lithosphere. A diagram that shows how the burrito gets heated. The Taste of Breaking the Sound Barrier. Getting your poem voice on. Whether A. A. Milne knew about hash tags. Non-Fungible Beetles. Oh great, the same beetle came back! The kind of look that means "it's me, the same beetle!" The XIX and XX centuries. Writing Very Blackly. Why Does Pooh Own a Shotgun? All the talking Winnie the Pooh animals turning out to be aliens, like Starfox. A pneumatic tube, except instead of burritos you're firing cork. Writing your thesis on pop guns and continuing to do post doc research on pop guns. Spud Guns vs. Potato Cannons. A Normal Spud Gun for Normal Children. Seeing that Wikipedia considers Spud Guns low importance and thinking of ways to make Spud Guns more important. Too Many Posts.
(Gaia House) Part 1 the day before was unfortunately not recorded.
(Gaia House) Interrupting the causes of Dukkha, and the significance of feeling tone. Guided meditation - recognising that which takes us away, and the feeling tone. Intimacy with the neutral object. Informal practice: flexible awareness - finding what is appropriate: opening awareness, and contact with other sense doors, simplifying with the breathing.
Dharma Seed - dharmaseed.org: dharma talks and meditation instruction
(Gaia House) Interrupting the causes of Dukkha, and the significance of feeling tone. Guided meditation - recognising that which takes us away, and the feeling tone. Intimacy with the neutral object. Informal practice: flexible awareness - finding what is appropriate: opening awareness, and contact with other sense doors, simplifying with the breathing.
Dharma Seed - dharmaseed.org: dharma talks and meditation instruction
(Gaia House) Part 1 the day before was unfortunately not recorded.
(Gaia House) Interrupting the causes of Dukkha, and the significance of feeling tone. Guided meditation - recognising that which takes us away, and the feeling tone. Intimacy with the neutral object. Informal practice: flexible awareness - finding what is appropriate: opening awareness, and contact with other sense doors, simplifying with the breathing.
(Gaia House) Part 1 the day before was unfortunately not recorded.
(Gaia House) Coming to the senses - directing our attention to the experience of bare ‘contact'. Guided meditation - contacting a neutral object in formal meditation, with bare awareness. Informal practice - simplifying, coming back to the body, and contacting the other senses.
(Gaia House) Radiating loving kindness - the ocean behind the heart
(Gaia House) How meditation works. Understanding how key links in ‘dependent arising' are interrupted, as we practice
Dharma Seed - dharmaseed.org: dharma talks and meditation instruction
(Gaia House) Coming to the senses - directing our attention to the experience of bare ‘contact'. Guided meditation - contacting a neutral object in formal meditation, with bare awareness. Informal practice - simplifying, coming back to the body, and contacting the other senses.
Dharma Seed - dharmaseed.org: dharma talks and meditation instruction
(Gaia House) Radiating loving kindness - the ocean behind the heart
Dharma Seed - dharmaseed.org: dharma talks and meditation instruction
(Gaia House) How meditation works. Understanding how key links in ‘dependent arising' are interrupted, as we practice
(Gaia House) Coming to the senses - directing our attention to the experience of bare ‘contact'. Guided meditation - contacting a neutral object in formal meditation, with bare awareness. Informal practice - simplifying, coming back to the body, and contacting the other senses.
(Gaia House) How meditation works. Understanding how key links in ‘dependent arising' are interrupted, as we practice
(Gaia House) Radiating loving kindness - the ocean behind the heart
Kevin Milne was recently sent a parking infringement notice from Rotorua. Only thing is, Kevin lives in Wellington, and hadn't been anywhere near Rotorua at the time of the supposed crime. So is it a scam? A mistake? Either way, he's decided not to pay for it. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
We all have a few innocuous habits that, on occasion, can come across a little strangely. Kevin Milne sings in the shower, and while that in of itself is pretty normal, some of the songs that come to mind are a little bit odd. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Your home may be your biggest investment, but is it also your biggest risk? This week, James Milne and Brent Anderson, Business Development Directors at FirstService Residential, sit down with Adam & Matt to pull back the curtain on strata life in BC. From dysfunctional councils and deferred maintenance to the document red flags most buyers walk right past, this conversation is essential listening for anyone who owns or is shopping in the Lower Mainland. Why does Vancouver pay some of the lowest maintenance fees in North America, and is that actually bad news? What free online search should you run before lifting subjects? And what does a well run building look like from the inside? Don't miss this one!
Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for June 11, 2026 is: saturnine SAT-er-nyne adjective Saturnine is a literary word that typically describes people who are glum and grumpy, or things that suggest or express gloom. It can also mean “slow to act or change.” // A walk in the sunshine can improve your mood significantly, raising the spirits of even the most saturnine among us. See the entry > Examples: “If he was once more cautious in interviews, coming across as a little saturnine, he's looser now, illuminated by flashes of wry humour.” — Patrick Smith, The Independent (United Kingdom), 1 Feb. 2026 Did you know? Saturnine is far—even astronomically far—from the cheeriest of words. It has a long history of describing the glum and grouchy among us, and comes ultimately from Sāturnus, name of the Roman god of agriculture, who was often depicted as a bent old man with a stern, sluggish, and sullen nature. Saturn, the ringed gas giant that is one of five planets visible to the naked eye, is of course the namesake of Sāturnus, and Saturn does indeed seem to dawdle; it requires over 29 of our Earth years to orbit the sun. The ancient Romans (like some astrologers today) believed those who are born when Saturn is rising in the sky tend toward being a Gloomy Gus or Debbie Downer. We don't know A. A. Milne's take on the influence of Saturn, but his gloomy, cynical gray donkey Eeyore is famously saturnine, a fact Eeyore himself would surely stoically accept as true if it were pointed out to him.
Ab Kya Batayun (Quote)Aye Mohabbat UnseMilte Hi AankhenChhoti Si Yeh DuniyaPhir Miloge KabhiSaathi Milte HainTere Mere Milan Lo Aai Milan Ki RaatZindagi Mein Jab TumhareWoh Jo Milte The KabhiJaanewale Se Mulaqaat Ab Kya Bataun MainSupport the show
(Gaia House) Helen: Yoga harmonizes the inward and outward looking mind through developing awareness. Gavin: the significance of the breath / breathing in the Dharma.
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Canterbury residents are battling to save their golf course. Wolfbrook Properties has bought the 80-hectare site of Pegasus Golf Course and unveiled plans for redevelopment. Locals —including cricket legend Sir Richard Hadlee— are raising concerns about the scale and speed, particularly if plans go through the fast-track process. But Kevin Milne thinks more than just the locals should be fighting for the golf course – he reckons the rest of the country should get behind it as well. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
The passing of one of New Zealand's most well-loved entertainers has hit the country hard. Dame Jools Topp died the Saturday just past at age 68 as a result of breast cancer, something she was first diagnosed with in 2006 before it returned in 2021. Like many other Kiwis, Kevin Milne was devastated to hear of her passing, and he has a theory as to why so many are hit hard by the news. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
A chubby teddy bear bemoans his appearance until he comes across a picture in a book of a plump king and so accepts his plumpness. A story poem from A.A. Milne that first introduces us to the bear who becomes Winnie the Pooh. An episode from Journey with Story, a storytelling podcast for kids ages 4-10. (duratioin - 8 minutes) We have suspended our Patreon platform for now. But, you can receive all of this month's coloring sheets by signing up for my newsletter and you will also receive some terrific resources for raising kids who LOVE to read. Sing up for free now at www.journeywithstory.com If your little listener wants to ask us a question or send us a drawing inspired by one of our episodes, send it to us at instagram@journeywithstory. Or you can contact us at www.journeywithstory.com. We love to hear from our listeners. If you enjoy our podcast, you can rate, review, and subscribe at here Did you know Kathleen is also a children's picture book author, you can find out more about her books at www.kathleenpelley.com
Wellington is targeted to become New Zealand's first predator-free city. Announced back in March, Predator Free Wellington is receiving $5.5 million over five years, working alongside Capital Kiwi and Zealandia Te Māra a Tāne to eliminate predators from the area. And while Kevin Milne is pleased overall by the news, there is one sticking point for him: hedgehogs. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Chapters 6 & 7 from A. A. Milne's beloved collection of short stories following the adventures of Winnie-the-Pooh, and his friends Christopher Robin, Piglet, Eeyore, Owl, Rabbit, Kanga, and Roo. Charmingly rendered by acclaimed vocal artist Christopher Lane, this episode features signature music by Grammy-recognized trumpeter Markus Rutz and his collaborator on the keys, Adrian Ruiz plus “The Hundred Acre Woods” theme song composed by Richard C. Washer.
Summary This episode is dedicated to Tolkien superfan Stephen Colbert. May he return to The Colbert Report! No matter what, we know that he will go on to far, far better things than the crumbling edifice that was once known as CBS. Notes 1/ George R. R. Martin’s A Song of Fire and Ice series 2/ Tolkien was born on January 3, 1892 (and died September 2, 1973). Tolkien’s imagined etymologies are phenomenal. 3/ Jane Yolen’s Sister Light, Sister Dark and White Jenna 4/ David Salo–a UW-Madison Alum and Tolkien linguist 5/ Winnie-the-Pooh lives outside the Hundred Acre Wood (thank you A.A. Milne). The Forest of Arden is the main location for Shakespeare’s As You Like It. Birnum Wood “marches” against Macbeth in Shakespeare’s Scottish play. 6/ Wagner’s Ring Cycle: Der Ring des Nibelungen. He wrote it between 1848-1874. The first opera (Das Rheingold) premiered in 1869, and all four premiered as a cycle in 1876. 7/ We miss you Tom Stoppard (Travesties, 1974). 8/ Übermensch (defined by Nietzsche, ruined by certain WWII Germans) 9/ Nope, we’re still watching Putin teeter! 10/ Wagner is basing his cycle on the Old Norse Edda, the Völsunga Saga, the Thidrekssaga, and the Nibelungenlied. 11/ Giorgia Meloni was elected Prime Minister of Italy in 2022. 12/ Renee Vink, “‘Jewish’ Dwarves: Tolkien and Anti-Semitic Stereotyping,” in Tolkien Studies Vol. 10 (2013): 123-145. 13/ Terry Pratchett is the best! Check out Discworld. Also, here’s a nice thread on the fact he isn’t a TERF. 14/ Just for fun, here’s Jon Stewart’s rant on the goblins in Harry Potter. Enjoy! 15/ Christopher Tolkien’s NYT obituary: “Christopher Tolkien, Keeper of His Father’s Legacy, Dies at 95.”
On our April 1st 2021 episode we celebrated Disney's 55th anniversary with the Winnie the Pooh characters. Five years later, it is time to celebrate Winnie the pooh once again, for his 60th Disney anniversary!April 2021 - DisneyChris, Ruthie and Brain bring you the in depth story behind the story of the many adventures of Winnie the Pooh and all his lovable friends from the Hundred Acre Wood, in celebration of Walt Disney's 55th anniversary of providing beloved content based on the whimsical books by author A.A. Milne. They first bring you the origin story and a background of how Disney first got evolved in the Pooh franchise, then discuss all the wonderful voice actors involved in the Winnie the Pooh animated shorts. They then discuss the first three original Winnie the Pooh cartoons and how the Disney Parks and the word outside the Hundred Acre Wood was enchanted by these simple tails of childhood wonder and imagination. So grab yourself a big pot of hunny, sit back and relax for this deep dive into the marvelous stories of Pooh and all his friends. Download (right click / save as)Visit our on-line store for exclusive Jiminy Crickets and DisneyChris Website Merch!!!! https://jcpodcast.threadless.com/ If you would like to help support the Jiminy Crickets podcasts and DisneyChris.com - Please consider becoming a Patreon Subscriber and receive exclusive rewards every month. https://www.patreon.com/DisneyChris
Winnie-the-Pooh first appeared in book form in 1926, and the fictional teddy bear has only grown more beloved in the century since. Author Gyles Brandreth joins Piya Chattopadhyay to explore how the "pure happiness" and childhood innocence that Pooh and his friends represent help explain the enduring appeal, and why creator A.A. Milne and his son – the real-life Christopher Robin – had a love-hate relationship with Winnie-the-Pooh.
Podcast 414 "Organisation is what you do before you do something, so that when you do it, it is not all mixed up. But if you spend all your time organising, you never do the 'something'." That's a paraphrase of a quote from A. A. Milne and his book The House at Pooh Corner. And touches on the question I'm asking this week. Let's go, Links: Email Me | Twitter | Facebook | Website | Linkedin Learn more about the Time Sector System Take the Time Sector System Course Get Your Copy Of Your Time, Your Way: Time Well Managed, Life Well Lived The Working With… Weekly Newsletter Carl Pullein Learning Centre Carl's YouTube Channel Carl Pullein Coaching Programmes Subscribe to my Substack The Working With… Podcast Previous episodes page Script | 414 Hello, and welcome to episode 414 of the Your Time, Your Way Podcast. A podcast to answer all your questions about productivity, time management, self-development, and goal planning. My name is Carl Pullein, and I am your host of this show. How do you organise your work? There was a trend a few years ago to organise our tasks in multiple different ways. There were the original Getting Things Done contexts: @office, @home, @phone, @computer, etc. Some preferred to manage their tasks by project, creating long lists of projects and assigning tasks to them. Most of these trends died out because, ultimately, they were just new ways of avoiding the work while still feeling that the work was getting done. A kind of modern-day equivalent of shuffling papers on your desk. All these trends did was create a longer list of lists, full of spurious tasks that likely didn't need to be done or had already been done but not checked off. Then there is the idea that we can organise tasks by how much energy we estimate a task will consume. This one still persists, and I will explain shortly why this one doesn't work. Yet there is one way to manage your tasks that has been around for well over a hundred years and still works, one that almost all top-level executives use, but given that it is simple and we humans love to overcomplicate things, it never seems to get much coverage. Anyway, this is what this week's topic is all about, so to get us started, let me hand you over to the Mystery Podcast Voice for this week's question. This week's question comes from Ken. Ken asks, Hi Carl, what do you think is the best way to organise tasks? I'm thinking about using energy levels to keep my lists low. Have you had any experience with this method? Hi Ken, Thank you for your question. I have to confess that over the years, I have jumped on every trend for organising my lists of tasks. And, except for two methods, pretty much all fail. They fail for the reasons I alluded to a moment ago. They are too complicated and require far too much maintenance to keep organised. You see, the methods that work are simple, and therefore, in today's world, they are not sexy. The simplest of them all is one I personally have gravitated back to in recent years. That is a simple daily list of tasks to be done today. These are taken from a master list, which is organised during the weekly planning session into the days you plan to do them on. This method has a built-in safety valve. You can see how many tasks you have allocated to a specific day, and if it looks unrealistic, you can move them to other days to balance out your week. Given that you are looking at this daily list every day during the Daily Planning Sequence, it can be adjusted for any unknowns that suddenly arise as the week progresses. (Which of course always happens) To maintain this method, all you need is two to three minutes a day and around thirty minutes for your weekly planning. Not exciting, sexy or newsworthy. It doesn't require expensive apps or AI. You can operate this method using a simple $1.00 notebook or a text file on your computer. But it works. It's flexible, and as long as you are being sensible, you're never going to feel overwhelmed. This is where other methods go wrong. They often involve a lot of organising, and given that you are not always looking at the lists you are creating, you have no idea what kind of monster is growing. Take organising by projects as an example. I don't know where this comes from. It certainly doesn't come from David Allen's Getting Things Done. GTD, as it is called, organises lists by what David Allen calls “Contexts”. Contexts are created around tools, places or people. For instance, if a task requires a computer to complete it, you would assign it to the @Computer list. If you need to talk to your partner about something, you would add it to your @Partner list, and if you can only complete the task at home, you would add it to your @Home list. The danger with this kind of organising is twofold. First, some of your lists will become enormous. So big that you don't want to look at them, as they become scary and leave you feeling anxious. And second, some tasks could theoretically fall into two or more lists. For example, if you need to book flights for a trip with your partner, you could allocate it to your @computer list or your @Partner list, and, as you will likely do this at home with your partner, it could conceivably be placed in your @Home list. So where do you put it? So you create a Project called “Family trip to Jamaica” and place the book flights task in there. Excellent. Next, you may add “Book hotel” and then maybe add a packing list and places to visit. Soon, a simple “project” has an array of tasks, some of which need to be done before you go and others when you get there. That isn't really the problem. The problem is you don't have a single project like that. You may end up with projects like buying a new car, redecorating your living room, and, not to mention, all the various projects you will have at work. Soon, that project list is out of control. Just maintaining it and reviewing what needs to be done next takes hours. And let's be honest here, how many of you are willing to consistently spend two or three hours of your weekend reviewing all your projects? For something like your trip, it would be far easier to create a note in your notes app. Here you can keep your flight tickets, hotel reservation confirmation, packing list and places to visit in one place and have a master checklist for everything you need to do. In your task manager, all you need now is a single task reminding you to book your flights, or simply to look at what needs doing next on your checklist. Now you mentioned managing your list by energy levels, Ken. On the surface, this sounds like a great idea. After all, why would you tackle a task that will require a lot of energy when you are not feeling energetic? And when you are feeling low on energy, you can clear off some of those low-energy tasks. Hmmm, but does it work? Well, no. For one thing, your energy levels are not consistent. Some days you feel on fire, and others you feel like you've been hit by a bus and dragged through a hedge backwards. The trouble is, when you go to bed, you have no idea how you will feel the next day. Then there is the issue of deadlines. Whether you feel like doing a task or not, if the deadline is 12 pm today, you've got to finish it, no matter how energetic you feel. Then there's the human factor. We are wired to be lazy. This comes from the days when we lived on the Savannah. Food was scarce, and we needed to conserve our energy for hunting food. Then there were the winters when finding food was even harder. Only fatter people would survive winters because we needed to live largely on our fat deposits when we were unable to find food. This is why it's easy to gain weight and much harder to lose it. Our body wants to store fat. It does not want to let it go. While we consciously know food is not scarce for most of us today, our lizard brain doesn't know that. And our lizard brain controls our survival instincts, so it will override our conscious intelligence. This means when we are feeling low on energy, the last thing we will do is open up our task managers and pick something to do. Instead, we'll crash on the sofa or take a nap. And so your low-energy list will keep growing. Then there comes the question of how to define a medium-energy task. What does that mean? It's likely you will define those tasks differently depending on how you feel on the day you process them. The second way to organise your tasks that actually works is to go by when a task needs to be done. Let's go back to the flight example. If you are planning your trip for September and want to get everything booked by the end of June, the window to complete that task is from now through to the end of June. Given that you want to do this with your partner, it's likely you will do this task when you are with your partner. If you are away on a ten-day business trip this week and next, you cannot do the task then, so don't put it on your list for this week or next. As we are about to start May, I would add this task to my Next Month list. I don't need to do it now, but it will need to be on my list in June. Hopefully, you are familiar with the Time Sector System. This organises your lists by when you will do them. The only list in play each week is your This Week list. This contains all the tasks you have decided need to be done this week. Everything else is in either your Next Week, This Month, Next Month or long-term and on-hold lists. Each week, you look at these lists and decide what to bring forward to your This Week list. The simplicity of this method is that when you process your inbox, you are asking three simple questions: What is it? - Is it a task, an event, or a note? What do I need to do to complete it? And, when will I do it? In a very short time, you get super fast at processing your tasks, and with the exception of your long-term and on-hold list, none of your lists will grow out of control. Well, not if you give yourself about 30 minutes each week to maintain and update your lists. Given that you are working from a single list, your This Week list, once again, you have the built-in safety valve because you can see how many tasks are on your list before the week begins and can adjust it to be more realistic if it becomes too large. The purpose of your long-term and on-hold list is to eliminate, not accumulate. In other words, every month or so, you go in there and delete tasks you no longer want or need to do. To learn more about the Time Sector System, I have a course that will teach you how to use it as well as a comprehensive blog post explaining why this method works so well in today's world. I will put links to both in the show notes for you. So there you go, Ken. There are always new, exciting ways to organise your tasks, but ultimately it comes down to what needs to be done today. That's all that matters at the work level of managing our tasks. Things that don't need to be done today should never be on your daily list. Your energy levels will fluctuate throughout the day; it's not something you can control. Energy levels can be affected by the quality and quantity of your sleep, what you ate for lunch and whether you are coming down with a cold or the flu. What you can control is what you do right now. You could take a nap, go for a walk or sit down and attack that list of prospects that you've been meaning to contact for the last three weeks. My advice would be to work with what you have direct control over, and that ultimately comes down to when you will do something. I hope that has helped Ken. Thank you for your question. And thank you to you, too, for listening. It just remains for me now to wish you all a very, very productive week.
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