1. Mar 6th, 2009

    Cult of Done Manifesto

    Bre Pettis and Kio Stark came up with the Cult of Done Manifesto in the 20 minutes they had to get it done. Brilliant:

    1. There are three states of being. Not knowing, action and completion.
    2. Accept that everything is a draft. It helps to get it done.
    3. There is no editing stage.
    4. Pretending you know what you’re doing is almost the same as knowing what you are doing, so just accept that you know what you’re doing even if you don’t and do it.
    5. Banish procrastination. If you wait more than a week to get an idea done, abandon it.
    6. The point of being done is not to finish but to get other things done.
    7. Once you’re done you can throw it away.
    8. Laugh at perfection. It’s boring and keeps you from being done.
    9. People without dirty hands are wrong. Doing something makes you right.
    10. Failure counts as done. So do mistakes.
    11. Destruction is a variant of done.
    12. If you have an idea and publish it on the internet, that counts as a ghost of done.
    13. Done is the engine of more.

    There are also two posters to hang around the office (or at least desktop background), this one is my favorite. (Via @monkchips)

    Printable PDF | Posted by Assaf Filed in general 2 Comments »

    1. Mar 8th, 2009

      Stephen

      Unless the task is taxes. Then it works this way:

      1. There are three states of taxes. You don’t have enough information yet. You have everything in hand, and need to fill out the forms. You’re waiting for next year.

      2. Accept that you can make mistakes. The IRS will set you on fire when it happens.

      3. It’s always your fault.

      4. Pretending you know what you’re doing is almost the same as knowing what you are doing, so just accept that you know what you’re doing even if you don’t and do it.

      5. Banish procrastination. If you have everything and haven’t filled out the forms, hire someone to fill them out for you. You simply can’t not do it.

      6. The point of being done is not to finish, but to prevent the IRS from setting you on fire.

      7. Once you’re done, you can save your copy of the results for ten years. Seven years is not enough. Really, you ought to keep them forever.

      8. Laugh at perfection. It’s boring and keeps you from being set on fire.

      9. People without dirty hands are wrong. Doing something makes you right. And it’s cheaper than hiring someone to fill them out for you.

      10. Failure counts as done. So do mistakes. What’s a little fire?

      11. Catching on fire is a variant of done.

      12. If you make a spread sheet that helps you fill out your taxes, post it to the internet anonymously. Liability is an awful thing.

      13. Done is the engine leading to next year.

    2. Mar 17th, 2009

      Labnotes » Rounded Corners 230 — Caffeinated Ruby

      [...] April, just around the corner. The Cult of Taxes Manifesto. [...]

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