Photo by: Prabhu B
It’s true. Admit it, being over GTD is the new GTD. I’ll be the first one to admit I’ve been on this train for a while now. Here are some of my “GTD is so not cool” posts:
-It started off with me talking about how I think priorites are important: Priorities and Getting Things Done.
-Then really emphasizing the idea that some stuff just doesn’t need to be tracked: Are all open loops really created equal?
-Then I decided I could ditch contexts totally, I mean seriously, what am I a businessman?: Simply GTD: Do You Really Need Contexts?
-Then I went even further and said a next actions list is also getting chucked: The danger of next actions lists and what to do instead
So I love priorities, don’t like contexts, and I don’t even have a next actions list. So after all that, I’m clearly on the “GTD is so 2008″ bandwagon right? Kind of. But kind of not. GTD is still badass in my book. Here’s why I still think so and what ideas I still implement.
It’s main idea, and I’ll stick by this, is simply that you gotta do what you gotta do to get crap off your mind. That’s it. That’s the main premise. All the other stuff is what David Allen has learned is useful to that end. But in the end he has said in multiple interviews that the extent to which you use any of the tips in the book is simply determined by what you gotta do to get stuff off your mind. If writing down a task and a half every other day does that, so be it. This idea of just getting things off your mind makes sense to me. I like it. I like being able to get lost in whatever I’m doing. I think that’s badass.
Getting in the habit of capturing ideas so they don’t bother you and let you get lost jives with me. It makes sense. I think that’s badass. Of course having 18 different capture tools that waste time but cost money is ridiculous, but simply texting something to yourself makes sense to me.
The idea of writing things down makes sense to me. I’ve talked about a bunch of notecards of the day. I use a txt file for the day if I’m at my computer a lot. I have a work.txt file where I list projects, ideas, thoughts, and even, hypocrytically, some next actions if the mood shall strike me. Whatever. But the point is, I write stuff down so it doesn’t get lost in space, and I check that writing often enough so that, again, it doesn’t get lost in space. Writing stuff down (one could say, making lists, if ‘stuff’ is in that form) to keep crap off my mind makes sense to me. I think it’s badass. How much do I write down? However much I need to not keep thinking about it. That’s it.
The idea of reviewing where I am and what I’m doing makes sense to me. It’s easy to get lost in tunnel vision mode as a grad student and stepping back every once in a while and seeing what you’ve done, patting yourself on the back, looking to where you want to go, and making a plan of attack is useful. Doing this regularly makes me feel good, so I think it’s badass as well.
So this constant association of GTD with 43 folders, a palm pilot, a moleskine, a label maker, a million lists, and all the rest is, in my opinion, ridiculous. If you think GTD is “too complicated” and “wastes more time than it saves,” your revelation is not original, sorry. All that crap I listed is overkill indeed, but it’s crap hyped up on the internet, that’s all. The “system” is pretty flexible and it’s premise remains the same, just do what you gotta do to get crap off your mind so you can enjoy the feeling of getting lost in work and getting lost in play. That’s badass.
I’d echo your last line.
I think the all the hype about GTD in the end is just a way to focus ourselves to actually start getting things done.
Or, you could just… I’d phrase it as “ferment” your frustration, stop expressing yourself so much, and just do it.
Never stop thinking, and never stop doing. Props on blogging for so long now.