Pile of Index Cards

“A farmer went out to plant some seed. As he scattered it across his field, some seed fell on a footpath, where it was stepped on, and the birds came and ate it.

Other seed fell on shallow soil with underlying rock. This seed began to grow, but soon it withered and died for lack of moisture. Other seed fell among thorns that shot up and choked out the tender blades.

Still other seed fell on fertile soil. This seed grew and produced a crop one hundred times as much as had been planted.”

“ドイツのゲッティンゲン大学の研究者が3日、性生活の不足が仕事の勤勉さにつながる可能性があるとの調査結果を明らかにした。3万2000人の男女を対象に実施した同調査によると、性生活に不満を持っているとした人の35％強が、きつい仕事をそのはけ口にする傾向があると答えた。

男性で約36％、女性で約35％が、職場で残業したり自主的に余分な仕事をしがちになるとしている。

性生活がまったくない人の場合はその傾向がさらに顕著となり、男性で45％、女性で46％が、自主的により多くの責任を引き受けると答えた。”

ブログのこの記事やマニュアルのまとめで書いているように、私は「禁欲（ascetic）は生産性を向上させる」と考えています。これは、仕事や PoIC でブレイクスルーとなるような考えが生まれたのが、経験的に、禁欲している時が多かったため。

しかし、これは個人的な経験に基づいているし、話題も話題なので、これまであまり声を大にして言えなかった。このニュースを読んで、他の人も同じらしいということが分かって、嬉しかった。

子孫を増やすという「生産性」を、仕事の「生産性」に向けるというのは、個人のエネルギーの使い方として正しいはず。性欲を抑えることから来るストレスは、生産性をもたらす「良質のストレス」の一つ。人間の行動は、たった数mlの液体に支配されている - これは紛れもない事実。

禁欲に関しては、カレルの「人間 - この未知なるもの」が参考になる（P. 175）。

“判断を下すことは、独創性を妨げるものである。したがって、創造的行為と批判的行為は分離すべきである。･･･

ブレインストーミングの目的は、当面する問題を解決するために、できるだけ多くのアイディアを出し合うことにある。最も基本的なルールは、アイディアの批判や評価を全て後に延ばすことである。そこでは、単にアイディアを出し合うだけで、いいとか悪いとか、また現実的であるとかないとか、途中で評価をはさむことはしない。制約するものがないとアイディアがアイディアを呼び、花火が次々と上がるように、アイディアがどんどん打ち出されるものだ。“

PoIC との対応を考えると、

• 創造的行為 = 時系列スタック法による、アイディア蓄積。
• 批判的行為 = タスクフォースの編成（検索・分類）。

やはり、この二つは明確に分離すべきであると。批判的行為（検索・分類）を後回しにすることで、かえって自由な発想が生まれる。「分類しない」ということは、思考にワクを作らないということに他ならない。制約するものがないと、アイディアの雪崩現象・連鎖反応が起きる。

ブレインストーミングも、PoIC も、基本思想は同じ。PoIC は、タイムスパンを長くした、一人ブレインストーミングとも言える。数ヶ月・数年のタイムスパンにも耐え得るように、カードの書式を規格化し、ドックに時系列で保存しておく。

A day in a library saves a half year in a laboratory.

I got an email by John, one of reader, last week. I think this information is useful for all people in U.S. Thanks, John! :)

I am in the US and want to try and make the Oxford Cards work. I think by using a simple trick we can get the index cards to work reasonably well. Here is the trick:

a) Eventhrough the Oxford Cards are randomly cut, they are ideally a regular grid. This means that if we always write our cards with the smallest gap between the edge and the first line to the left then the grids will at most be 1/2 a grid spacing off. Statistically, they will be much less.

b) Instead of tagging every column like you can do with the your cards, I will use 2 columns for the tag. If I “eyeball” a correction (or even if I don’t), then the card to card jitter in the column marking should be small to distinguish the columns.

Don’t be afraid to be weak.
Don’t be too proud to be strong.

Just look into your heart, my friend.
That will be the return to yourself.

The return to innocence.

It’s time to reduce entropy.

Contd.

Jon’s hPDA

“5. I soon discovered too that I could look at the next index card without turning a page. Instead, I rotate the top card by 90 degrees or more. This way, I was able to read quickly from one set of cards, and transcribe onto another set of cards quite easily.

6. Also, if I do turn a card like a page in a book, I can still rotate it away underneath the card stack quite well.

7. I have made a front and back cover out of spare white card. But this is very stiff and already I don’t like it. But I want to keep my card pack neat and clean. Also, I want to add a rubber band, to keep the card deck closed but that defeats the purpose of swapping to a ring. I want the cards to be free and open to use, but also closed and tidy when not in use! Maybe I need to make a pocket, and slip the cards in and pull them out by grasping the ring. I could have a place to store the pen in the pocket too.

8. I’m really excited by this change to binder rings. I had stopped writing in my hPDA because of the clip and started writing in a big journal book, but I don’t like the book. I have to read so many pages, or keep re-writing things. Now I want to re-start my hPDA and carry it all the time. I’m really interested in not just capturing ideas, but sorting them. My GTD weekly review is the next step.

That’s all for now.”

Report from Jon in personal communication. I send him a rings for hipster PDA. Now he use it to bind 4×6 index cards. Tips and tricks about his hPDA. :)

Jon’s hPDA

“Hello Hawk,
I just wanted to share my immediate discoveries after using the binder rings.

1. I decided to use a single ring only on a card stack. I’m still using my original cards (4×6) as I’m experimenting. I realised that by using 2 rings, I’d have to open and close them both to add or remove a card, and this would be a step back. One binder clip becomes one binder ring.

2. I used a standard 2 hole punch on the short side of my cards, which was easy to line up. This put a hole close to the bottom right corner, but not too close to make the corner week. However, i quickly disliked this, as when I turned the cards, they pivoted around the corner ring and it became awkward to use.

3. So I punched a hole in the centre of the short side. This was tricky to measure up well and to keep batches of cards punched exactly. I realise I need to prepare a lot of cards at one sitting (1 pack) and my office punch was better than my punch at home. The grid cards might be easier to punch, because they have 15 squares on the short side, so the hole is #8 square.
(I noticed the cards you sent have a number printed on one side. I mistakenly punched some on the plain side and some on the number side. When I put them together with the same sides together, the holes are very slightly out. This is because square #1 and square #15 are not the same size.)

4. But as soon as I started using the cards with a centred hole, they were much easier to use. They turned like pages in a book very neatly. I can write up to the edge of the card with little interference from the ring.”

cont.

Originally uploaded by Akiyo Kano.

Akiyo Kano shows how she modified a Moleskine Memo Pocket into icPod.

She use Japanese colored paper (千代紙) for decoration. She also use ribbon for side edge of the accordion. This is good not only for decoration, but also for protection.

とてもきれい！ :)

# 2007.02.16 : Fixed link for photo set

Replacement of cards

Of course, the cards inside the box is different from 20 years ago. They are about rhetorician in 18th century. Because this is my current research interest. I have been immersed myself in writing 650 pages book “History of English Studies”. While this task, the card box always on the desktop. And I frequently shift the contents of the box.

For example, when I finish writing a chapter about paleography in 17th century, and move to philosophy of language in 18th century next chapter, I completely replace a contents of the box. In this way, the card box recommended by Professor Schneider still plays an important role on my research, like a Task Force.

Watanabe, Shoichi, Chiteki Seikatsu no Houhou (A way to intellectual life),

1976, p.p. 131-132. (Translation by Hawk)

He uses two kind of index card box according to a picture in the book. One is medium size wooden card box he bought in Germany 20 years ago. Another is larger size steel card box like this.

He selects cards he need for a moment from the steel box to the wooden box. He call the selected cards as “Task Force”.

# 2007.02.13 Fixed a link for the steel box

(Indiana’s father explains how his diary is important…)

Father : Well, he who find the Grail, must face the final challenge.
Indiana : What final challenge?
Father : Three devices of lethal cunning.
Indiana : Booby traps?
Father : Oh yes! But I founds the clues to safely take us through in the chronicles of st. Anselm!
Indiana : Well, what are they? … Can’t you remember?
Father : I wrote them in my diary so I wouldn’t have to remember!

It implies that if we have trustful note taking system, we can forget even great finding for ourself.

(Indiana Jones opens a mail from his father…)

“It’s dad’s Grail diary. Every due he followed, every discovery he made. A complete record of his research for the Holy Grail. This is his whole life.”

I can say a Dock is my whole life :)

Robert Ford reported in personal communication that how he use index cards and tag. He use additional 26 tags (13 blocks x 2 separation) from right side to indicate a contents. It will be an good example of the Extension for the PoIC.

The way I organise my cards is by date like you, plus I use the 13 blocks on the top right hand side in half-block increments to denote the 26 letters of the alphabet.

I use the same mark as i use for record, discovery, next action, and reference to show whether the name (keyword/title) for the card is A, B, C, etc. That way I can search the cards looking for someone’s phone number (eg Mark is under M) or a note about snow would be under S, etc. I don’t know what phonetics are used in japanese and whether they could be sorted along similar lines.

When the cards are viewed in a pack from above you can’t instinctively jump to a single letter, but in a second you can work out what what mark equates to the letter you are looking for, and soon after you can find those cards with that letter, even easier if you have a rough idea of the period in which it was written.

All the best

Robert