Personal development can be confusing. One moment we’re told to think big, set goals and take action towards creating the future we desire. The next, we are told to live in the now and be thankful for what we have.

I have come to the belief that a key to being both happy and successful is a balanced attitude. This is an attitude where, for example, satisfaction and dissatisfaction co-exist. To better understand what I mean, lets look at an example where a balanced attitude is essential: work.

A Fishy Philosophy?

My first “proper job” out of university was in a call center for a large corporation (sidenote: you may be interested to learn How to Deal With Call Centers ). It was here that I first heard about the “Fish Philosophy” . The following passage perhaps best encapsulates this philosophy:

“I heard shouting and turned to see a fish hurling through the air into a man’s arms. A cheer followed, and the fish was expertly wrapped and given to a laughing woman. I was laughing, too. I watched for fifteen minutes. The shouts, cheers, and laughing continued—mixed with flying fish. At the Pike Place Fish Market in Seattle, Washington, it’s another day at work. We should all learn something from them.”

Now, let me state clearly here that I agree: there is something we can learn from these people. I have encountered many permanently cranky people in the workplace who would do well to take this philosophy on board. However, call me a cynic if you like, but I was always suspicious of the way in which this philosophy was promoted top down by a large corporation. Why? Because I see great danger in people tricking themselves into thinking they are in a good situation when that is not actually the case. The call center I worked in had some fantastic people and was often a surprisingly fun place to work, but strip those things away and what I (others’ experience may be different) had was an often stressful, and largely unfulfilling, job.

Don’t Settle

“Don’t settle”. Steve Jobs gave this advice in his Stanford Commencement Speech in 2005 (see video here ), and it has stuck with me ever since. Implicit in this advice is that it is good to be dissatisfied with our work situation when that situation is not right for us. The word “dissatisfaction” has a very negative tone, but I would like to point out that dissatisfaction does not necessarily create unhappiness. In my experience, happiness is as much about stretching ourselves as it is about acceptance.

This brings me to an important point: when it comes to our career, it is critical to look ahead. It is only when we know where we want to be that we can then know what skills we should develop, knowledge we need to acquire and education/ training we should undertake.

The Need to Be Present

That being said, a common career mistake that I witness is not being present in the now. This can lead to two major problems: (1) unhappiness; and (2) poor work performance. As previously mentioned, it is important to consider the future. But we should not live in the future. If we are present in the moment, there is a far better likelihood we will experience the same happiness as those fisherman in the Pike Place Fish Market. The other danger of not being present is the potential for our work performance to be negatively affected. Ironically, in chasing our next promotion is it possible to neglect the very tasks that will guarantee success in our current job.

The Balanced Attitude

So far I have suggested that it is healthy to be both satisfied and dissatisfied. To accept the present and yet want more. If you remain unconvinced, it may be because such dualism is unfamiliar to you. I would point out, though, that in Eastern religion/ philosophy (in particular Taoism) it is understood that two opposites can exist in harmony and transmute into each other. Consider the Ying Yang symbol, which represents the two competing energies that are found in all things, but must be kept in balance. Excess of any one energy is harmful as it disrupts this balance.

Admittedly it is not always easy to balance our attitude, hence the title of this article referring to it as an “art”. But when we can keep two forces in balance, then we will have the perfect attitude with which to approach life.

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Originally posted at PickTheBrain a weblog dedicated to self improvement and motivation .

I first learned about David Allen’s famous productivity system, Getting Things Done, several years ago. It’s an excellent book, building off a simple idea: the less you need to rely on memory, the easier it is to become productive. Since being popularized over the web, GTD has been associated with the art of productivity.

But there is only one problem, GTD is too complicated. When I first tried to set up GTD, I found it clunky and hard to stick with. The systems that Allen developed over years were being put in my lap on one day. Some of the ideas were immediately useful, others were wasteful and difficult to maintain.

GTD: The Swiss Army Knife (When All You Want is a Fork…)

Only several years later did I realize the source of my problem with GTD. The organizing system was robust, but it wasn’t tailored to my life. Keeping a notepad and calendar was a great idea. Keeping a set of dozens of folders to track action items over a period of months wasn’t.

To be fair to Allen, it wasn’t really his fault. GTD is a great system, but it’s difficult to create a system that suits everyone. The CEO of a Fortune 500 company has completely different productivity needs than a grad student. One person might need to track hundreds of pieces of information, while the other might need minimal tracking but a high degree of focus on one task.

Just saying “tailor it to your life” is a bit trite too. Obviously if everyone was born with the understanding of what productivity needs they have, they wouldn’t need to read books on productivity.

Evolving Productivity: The Branch Method

My suggestion is to adopt a leaner productivity system. Dave Allen’s suggestions are great, but there is too much variety for it to work for everyone. The Branch Method isn’t a productivity system. It’s a way of thinking about how you organize things, so you can always have the most effective organizing system tailored to your needs.

The principles of the Branch Method are simple:

1. Start with the simplest organizing system possible.
2. Reorganize your tasks, files or items into this system.
3. When a folder becomes too large, branch it off into component systems.
4. Review your system every month.
5. If a folder isn’t being used, merge it back into the other folders.

By “folder” I mean any location for storing elements of your productivity system. A filing cabinet is a large “folder” as is your to-do list and calendar. They are all baskets you can put stuff in. I’m treating the physical organization of paperwork and non-physical organization of tasks and events as being the same, so I’m forced to use the word “folder”.

Now let’s look at each step:

Step One: Start Simple

This first step can be skipped if you already have GTD or some level of organization. But if you’re currently a complete slob, you need to start somewhere. Try to design the simplest organizing system that is one step above complete chaos. Don’t make speculative folders for holding things you might not use.

Making too many folders initially creates added waste. This was my problem when initially setting up GTD, and is the reason many people are scared off by the highly in-depth system.

Step Two: Organize Into Your Simple System

Now go to the work of putting everything in it’s place. This can take some time if you don’t already have a previous organizing system. However, this step only needs to be done once, so the time is worth it.

Step Three: Branch Bulky Folders

When a folder becomes too bulky, branch it into a more refined mechanism. I used to keep receipts in a simple folder. As more receipts piled up, I realized that the folder was getting bulky. I split the receipts into a binder, with separate organizational tabs for different categories.

If your to-do list or calendar becomes overloaded, split them into separate lists or calendars. Google Calendar has the added feature of storing multiple, color-coded calendars on the same screen. From one, I branched off into four.