Pile of Index Cards

What is good for productivity is, according to some books,

- wake up early morning
- for a walk
- exercise
- in a train
- ascetic life
- stay hungry

It seems a productivity comes from some sort of stress.

A system of the PoIC is consisted by a brain and a dock. Information in a brain is transfered to a dock by using index cards and fieldnote. It reduces stress that comes from randomness of information in a brain.

There is one layer above this minimum system. A workspace. It could be say a system from view point of entropy. This is quite true for me.

If I scatter stuffs on my desktop, my concentration is dissipated, and fall into hyper active state. Even index cards, I’m negative to scatter them on a desktop all time. I keep my desktop clean. This is not because of my meticulous nature, but I know I have to do so to do something.

An entropy in a system increases with time. Perhaps the scattered desktop is a result of this order. But it does not generate anything. At the same time, if there is no place to transfer entropy from a brain, it will be dissipated in it. A brain have ingenious function to reduce entropy : Forgetfulness.

So a randomness of information in a system must be increased, neither on a desktop, nor in a brain, but in a dock. Conversely, to maximize productivity, entropy must be maximized in a dock.

“Entropy” is a concept that measures a randomness of information. In nature world, entropy in a system increases with time. We need a effort to resist for this natural order.

It seems the entropy is unavoidable matter on information management. Yukio Noguchi, known by the Noguchi filing system, argued about it at the end part of his book.

In the PoIC, a number of information increases rapidly with time. Because a unit of information is small 5×3 card. Also the PoIC adopt simple chronological order without revision of system. It is natural for me to be sensitive about entropy.

So now, I see entropy everywhere : Four seasons, life, genetic inheritance, stock market, and revolution. I understand every cycle is to avoid runaway inflation of entropy. When time has come, when entropy is at it’s maximum, a regulator comes. Winter, death, meiosis, invisible hand, and revolutionist. They are all to reduce entropy in a system. A nature uses really tricky way.

A philosopher said, “The owl of Minerva spreads its wings only with the falling of the dusk.” The owl is, as you know, a metaphor of a knowledge. In the PoIC the regulator is not a death of the system, but the owl, a new knowledge. The owl will comes after inflation of index cards in a dock. And it seems natural cycle in generation process.

“What is important with card is not classification, but to flip some times.”

Umesao, Tadao, Chiteki Seisan no Gijyutu, p. 59.

Long time I had misunderstood what Umesao said. I had thought he suggest ‘flip’ cards to search a certain cards frequently. But it is not for search, but for review.

Search and review are resemble in action. Both ’scan’s the cards in a box. But the meaning is completely different.

Search : scan with narrow band, narrow interest. This is something like SETI project. Scan all stars and search for extra terrestrial intelligence. We know SETI provides screen saver and uses huge number of CPU all over the world.

Review : scan with broad band, broad interest. This is something like gazing stars in the sky. We see lights of stars, and also pattern of distribution : a constellation.

So Umesao’s words mean that we should scan the dock with broad interest. Enjoy finding pattern. When we find a new discovery, write it on a new cards. And this is a ‘productivity’.

In the PoIC, a key is how to search. The search become more difficult with system grows because of it’s analog nature. Also, we adopt simple chronological order. Only search criteria here is our own time axis, that is history and memory.

However, in my experience, the search is not frequent at all because,

1) I concentrate to extract new ideas.
2) If I completely forget about a topic in past, I don’t need search at all. In other words, no way to search what I completely forget.
3) If I remember some part of a topic in past, I write it on a new card, rather than search the card in past. This is much faster.
4) Search area is quite limited, say 3 days to a week past, because of my memory. So (2) works for older than a week.

Anyway, I must say only few time I need to scan all card in a dock since I use the PoIC.

At certain point, a time when cards about a project enough accumulate, we pick up all cards to organize Task Force for the Project. This time we search all topics about the project. That is, the “search” process comes very last point of the project. Same is true for a “classification”.

At the (3), we will have some similar cards resemble each other. But they have slightly different contents. It is good to express one topic in different ways. It is a measure of how we understand well about the topic.

In addition, it is frequently happen for me, but while searching a card, I already forget what I’ve thinking. When I find the card, I already lost the idea. It seems searching card is most of time harmful, especially for capturing idea.

I write 20 - 30 cards every day now. Same time, I notice I discard many cards.

From curiosity I had accumulated dis-cards in separate trash box since last December. It is 2+ month now, and I count how many cards inside.

There are about 280 cards. It means I discarded 1.5 pack of index cards per month. About 5 cards per day, 15 % of total.

But I think this is natural result since use pigment pen. When I made mistake, I think whether use correction fluid or not. Of course, discard and pick up new card is faster. When I want to write fast, I always choose to discard.

Reference : @blog, How to take Reference Card

Since last post about Reference Card, I have concentrated to take it actually.

I took Reference Card mainly from books nearly 200 in two weeks. I found two way of taking Reference Card is quite possible. And we can choose one of them according to circumstances.

Taking Reference Card,

(a) While reading.
It interrupt reading, but give some time to think about a topic. This is good for reading like a technical book or textbook. That is, serious case.

(b) After reading.
It doesn’t interrupt reading. This is good for book like hobby and self-help. That is, relaxed case. This is also a case Watanabe pointed out.

Intermediate is also possible. Taking card while reading, but after finish a chapter, for example.

My case, I usually read general book in a subway, so it is force interrupted after 40 minutes every time. So when I found a paragraph I like, I leave brief memo on the book directly by pencil. After I arrive to office, take some minutes to make Reference Cards. I use the memo as a title of the Reference Card. For reading technical book, I use (a).

Keychain Access is a native Mac OS X apprication. We can manage multiple passwords, e.g. email, ftp, or any kind of passwords, with a single login password.

For me, a field note is like this Keychain Access. I usually write down multiple GTD stuffs of the day on the field note. When I go out, I always wear the field note. I put it in a pocket of a shirt.

I don’t need to remember exact individual tasks that I have to do. All I need is to remember a single password “I wrote GTD stuffs on the field note.” I just open the fieldnote. Then I can access to the multiple tasks.

In fact, I don’t try to remember individual tasks, or I say I can completely forget them. It enable me to release some memory or efforts. After gen.erik’s expression, it is “making a room”. And I can use the remaining energy to some productive purpose ; concentrate to thinking or finding discovery.

# Perhaps, the individual GTD stuffs make us blind from discovery around us.

I have been using index cards and fieldnotes to sweep out stuffs from my mind ; that is, to forget. Then I can use my brain as CPU/RAM. In the PoIC, the cards and fieldnotes function as external and virtual storage, respectively.

Recently, however, I feel my memory is improved than before I started using them. It’s grateful, but quite paradoxical for me.

Perhaps following two things works well.

- hand writing stimulates a brain
- daily review just before and while sleep, in both conscious and subconscious layer

Desmond Morris, an author of “Naked Ape”, point out in his book “The Nature of Happiness (2004)” that even human life is modernized, our primitive instinct as a hunter won’t disappear.

In this age, however, it is difficult to satisfy this instinct in a way actually hunt or kill animals. As a substitute, our brain feel similar satisfaction by hunt money, hunt book, do sports, or collect toys.

I have been thinking why analog media is so comfort for me, and not digital media. For me it is difficult to feel this kind of satisfaction on digital media. If I turn a computer off, shuuun, files on a monitor is disappear. All files are virtual. So I print almost all files I wrote on the computer, and then filed.

Why I return to analog media. Perhaps, it can be explained by the primitive instinct as a hunter. I like to collect my thought with cards. As I write cards, I see how many I wrote. It has certain thickness. I like to count them I write at the end of work. I like to see a dock full of cards I wrote.

I think paper won’t disappear even our life is more digitalized or virtualized. Or we already see it after heavy digital/virtual experience in this age.

Ref. : @ blog v. 1.5, Statistics and Analysis

Look close at my Dock@home and tag of the cards in detail. You find Record and Discovery cards are dominant. It means I had used the PoIC system mainly as record and idea capture. The GTD card is not so many because most of time a GTD stuff is processed on the Fieldnote.

So a statistics that I made at the end of last year reflects mainly a number of Record and Discovery Card. It shows huge oscillation, from 100 at minimum to 400 at maximum.

Weissmanrichard, a flickr user, give me an interesting comment about the statistics. He points out Record, GTD, and Discovery are an output (blue line in the picture), and Reference is an input (red line in the picture). I had never imagine such view points before.

What I can deduce from them is, if I concentrate only to output, it oscillates like a wave. Increase, soon it stops, then starts decrease. In other words, a slump happen anyhow. Output without input is limited, or more strongly impossible. In my case a input mainly come from reading. The Reference Card is much more important in the system than I thought before. I had a trick not to take note of the book. I need to rethink how to take the Reference cards better.

If I settle the icPod just in front of the Dock, the meaning of “Pod” is obvious.

The dock is used as card storage, and basically stable. On the other hand, the icPod (known as KM2P) holds cards up to a week’s, and mobile. The relationship looks like space ship and space plane in Sci-Fi. After check (review) process, the Pod leaves the Dock, and fly into a space again. :)

In the previous KM2P, it is difficult to imagine it’s time sequence since cards and week dividers are difficult to see. Now, with the new icPod, a temporal sequence of now-to-past correspods to a spacial sequence of here-to-there. It’s intuitive. Whole system is united.

This customize bring me two mental effects. One is that it is fun to see cards accumulate in the icPod as I write cards through week. This might be somewhat childish, but important for me. Second is the connecting dock makes clear a meaning of week review process : Connect, and send the cards to the Dock, empty icPod, and leave again. This is anothor fun stuff. :)

I have used Kaizo (= customized) Moleskine Memo Pockets (KM2P) as index cards folder. A problem is the cards inside pocket is hidden by a wall of pockets. For a while I have used it just as a shuttle between office and home.

I found a good solution for the KM2P. I have been using a card tray as card stand because I can see what I wrote. Then what about I cut the pockets of the KM2P? I have used KM2P more than half year. Nothing to hesitate for futher customization.

So I start Kaizo. The procedure is,

1. Fold all accordions in reverse, then
2. Cut away half length of the pockets.

That’s all. The first procedure is already done in ver. 1. So this time, only second is needed.

It’s so simple. But it makes huge effect because a frequency of access depend on a visibility. I have used through this week, and it is quite useful. The “Next Action” is front end of the Pockets. So I clearly see what I have to do. In addition, I found if I settle it just in front of the Dock, a sequence of the cards are more easily understood : From day to week, week to month.

Since I have called a card storage as “Dock”, it is natural to call the KM2P as “Pod”. It resemble to a concept of the iPod, too : A thousand songs in your pocket. It resemble to space vehicle in Sci-Fi and Japanese animation like “Gundam” as well. The Dock-Pod relationship in PoIC system is clearer. Now the Pod is much more than just a shuttle.

Hereafter, I call it as a Pod rather than KM2P. Futher more, the Pod for index cards, so… Index Cards Pod -> icPod? Then the catch copy must be, “A hundred of index cards in your pocket” :)