Need Help Finally Implementing GTD
russell...@gmail.com
I read GTD about 2-3 years ago, and have been 'trying' to implement it
for the past 2-3 years without success. I have realized that I might
not be able to do this alone. I just signed up for the free trail of
two weeks of GTD Connect on davidco.com, but don't plan on spending
the $40 a month to stay a member. My family has just expanded by one
so I don't have extra cash to throw at a problem.
Here are the details of my situation, what I have setup and plans, and
problems.
-I have Omnifocus (I bought a license when it first came out) also I
have Omnifocus for the iPhone. Yet since I haven't even really used
the paper version of GTD, a power user version for the computer and
the iPhone aren't helping me at all.
-I have 43 folders set up in my filing cabinet (I haven't really used
them much at all).
-I carry a hipster-PDA and a Fisher Space Pen with me everywhere but
probably don't use them for there intended purpose just because it has
become more of a habit to throw them in my pocket and then forget
about them.
Here are some of my problems that I have been able to identify for
myself.
-I get bursts of energy but I am a scatter brain when I do. Blame
coffee or a personal problem I don't know.
-I have such an issue with identifying a project.
Let's say I have to replace my garage window. I kind of think that
that should be a Project with actions to follow that however if I were
to write down Replace Garage Window somewhere??? I wouldn't have the
slightest clue on how to go from there. Now I know that that consists
of a few steps/actions to complete but to me I almost feel like by
breaking it down I am complicating a simple task. I should figure a
way to get the window out of the garage and dispose of the broken
peices of glass still in the window then take the window frame to a
hardware store and get the pane replaced and then bring it home and
reinstall it. I feel like that is an easy enough task that I shouldn't
have to write that down as X amount of actions in X Project list with
X Contexts behind the individual actions. Because it almost feels like
I stated earlier that that is making it too complicated and I am just
writing a list of things that instead of writing them down I should go
outside and put my hands on the issue, beucase wasting time writing
isn't solving the problem and I should use my time getting my hands
dirty with the task right now rather than writing it down to do later.
This involves my earlier problem Bursts of energy, I will start to
write something down and then figure just do it now and then before I
know it I am lost in trying to finish something that I can't get done
right away and I am distracted into doing something else, and it isn't
writing projects/actions/contexts down or the original distraction but
something completely different.
-Contexts are also difficult for me to come up with.
I mean the basics are okay but the basics are just that basic, and
individuals have there own different contexts that they add. I have a
context like...fixer mode, anywhere, dreams, writing, small
stuff.....those I pulled right out of my Omnifocus.
-I am not a Knowledge Worker!
I am not a writer (although someday hopefully), an artist, an internet
company owner, a web designer, yada yada yada, get the drift. I am a
regular guy who has a job in law enforcement, who likes technology and
loves the concept of GTD but is not able to implement it for the life
of himself but really really wants to and feels that he needs to to
have a more peaceful, zen mind, an organized and accomplished life at
home and maybe at work, but home first then at the job.
Any help would be greatful if someone would answer all of my questions
in a way that helps me to actually implement GTD that would be
awesome, but I won't hold my breathe. I am well aware that I must do
some hard work to get GTD implemented but I am willing to do it.
I almost wish Merlin Mann would kind of go back to the basics and
explain how he implements GTD or something just so that examples would
be easy to follow.
Maybe I could do that when I get my GTD'ing under way, a blog or
something of a step-by-step process of the hard work that I had to do
to get GTD implemented, although I think I just added another Project
to my jumbled brain. HELP!
Josh DiMauro
Here's my first impression: I think you've jumped ahead to _tools_,
and you need to stop and internalize the _habits_. The tools are a
distraction when you're starting.
OmniFocus, a tickler file, and a hipster PDA will serve well -- it's
the set of tools I use, and they encompass a quite successful GTD
implementation (he said, modestly ;)). But you might want to put them
all aside for a bit.
You need to get in the habit of keeping your commitments outside your
head: externalize.
And you need to get in the habit of looking externally _for_ those
commitments, rather than in your own head.
My off the cuff suggestion is to grab something cheap and dumb. Like a
shitty, three-subject notebook from the drugstore, if you can carry
that around. Or 8.5x11" printer paper and some cheap folders. You're
going to ditch it, and you don't want to get attached to it.
If you work in a single location and don't want to carry things
around, [index cards in piles][1] will work. That's how I internalized
the habits and patterns. But it's easy to get fetishistic with stuff,
and that's what you want to _avoid_. Pick something _not sexy_.
[1]: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jazzmasterson/sets/48077/
Do the simplest possible thing that can hold the shape your life will
take when it's outside your head. A lab notebook and a file folder
will do. Just make sure your tools are not interesting in and of
themselves, so you focus on your "stuff."
I hope this will help you figure out things like what a project means
in your personal life. The only way to determine that is to try, fail,
reflect on your system _weekly_ (and no matter what DA says, when
you're starting your reviews will take _as long as they take_), and
then scratch out the stuff that's not working and make it new.
This is a lot of work. A LOT.
The metawork involved in really internalizing GTD is a huge hidden
cost. But if it's worth it to you, it'll be worth it. (Yes, that was a
tautology. I'm on coffee prime, shut up.)
At its worst, reflecting and refactoring your externalized life is
make-work in the service of a fetishized "system" that serves
primarily to perpetuate itself.
At its best, reflecting and refactoring your externalized life is
reflection on your actual life, your priorities, and the ways in which
you're committed to implementing them in the real world. That's the
key word: implement. As in, action.
The last, best advice I can give is, when you find yourself noodling
with the system, STOP. Reboot. Take a breath, move to your action
list, pick something, and just _do_ some of the stuff on the list.
Keep doing, and keep implementing, and fix the friction as you go.
That's where the fancy tools come in.
Cheers.
--
"The universe tends toward maximum irony. Don't push it." -- [jwz][]
[jwz]: http://jwz.livejournal.com/801607.html
Evan Edwards
> -I have 43 folders set up in my filing cabinet (I haven't really used
> them much at all).
Don't worry about it. You need *a* method of tickling, and the tickler
file can be many different methods. If you use your iPhone all the time, it
might be a use for that software you own. I don't know if it would work, but
my point is that 43 Folders are just one way to accomplish the goal.
> -I carry a hipster-PDA and a Fisher Space Pen with me everywhere but
> probably don't use them for there intended purpose just because it has
> become more of a habit to throw them in my pocket and then forget
> about them.
That's a problem. You need baskets to collect items. It doesn't matter
what they are, but you need to collect in places to dump into your inbox to
process.
> -I get bursts of energy but I am a scatter brain when I do. Blame
> coffee or a personal problem I don't know.
GTD works with a scattered mind. In fact, it's a nice cure. When you
have a stack of next actions, you don't have to think... just do.
> -I have such an issue with identifying a project.
> Let's say I have to replace my garage window. I kind of think that
> that should be a Project with actions to follow that however if I were
> to write down Replace Garage Window somewhere??? I wouldn't have the
> slightest clue on how to go from there. Now I know that that consists
> of a few steps/actions to complete but to me I almost feel like by
> breaking it down I am complicating a simple task. I should figure a
Me? If I had all the items I needed, I'd just have it be Replace Garage
Window. It's a simple task and it falls under the "I have everything here to
do it and it can be done in one push of action". If you need to pick up
something from Home Depot, that's one more task... which leads to...
> -Contexts are also difficult for me to come up with.
> I mean the basics are okay but the basics are just that basic, and
> individuals have there own different contexts that they add. I have a
> context like...fixer mode, anywhere, dreams, writing, small
> stuff.....those I pulled right out of my Omnifocus.
Keep contexts location oriented. Not necessarily your location, but what
is in front of you (thus the @phone context). I use @home, @desk, @out, etc.
Your window would have an @out item to pick things up, then @home to fix it.
Thus:
Garage Window Repaired
@out Home Depot - Pick up glass (16"x16") and caulking
@home Fix garage window
At review, toss the project into your @out stack -- into your iPhone, bag,
pocket or HPA (in my case, I use 3x5 cards and have a carrying case from
Target). When it is done, it goes back into the inbox and shuffles back out
into your @home stack. When my work day is done, I hit my @home stack and
fix the window.
Keep in mind that the basic principles are sound and there are many many
mechanical ways to implement them... and then you can even dink with some of
the principles. You just need something that you'll use.
--
Evan "JabberWokky" Edwards
http://www.cheshirehall.org/
615.686.9538
Evan Edwards
> Here's my first impression: I think you've jumped ahead to _tools_,
> and you need to stop and internalize the _habits_. The tools are a
> distraction when you're starting.
Yup -- that's what I meant at the end of my reply, only Josh is more
succinct.
One thing that seems like a good idea is to try using GTD to manage one
corner of your life, not the whole thing. Collect, review and do for that
one aspect and nothing else. With fewer items you can get the hang of it
easier and you're not sitting with a huge stack that sucks the life out of
you (and you're not wasting your time making a stack rather than doing
things).
DocPhibes
frustration. Josh, you really helped point out the critical flaw in my
own implementation of GTD and I thank you for it.
Jim Barrows
Basically, just do it. Everyday. Follow the same workflow everytime.
At the appointed time: You get up. You walk to your desk. You process your inbox, todays's folder, this months folder, dump your mind, and then finish your morning/evening/etc routine. Or whatever works for you.
Then maybe, after a week or two of making that change, add everytime you take a break at work, you dump your mind, review your tasks for the day, and continue on.
One you do this for a month or so, it'll get easier.
Home repair tasks, and similar might look like:
1) Fix garage window
1.1) Verify I have all tools
1.2) Verify I have all materials
1.3) If necessary schedule home depot run, and reschedule actual fix.
1.4)Schedule time to fix the window.
To schedule, I work backwards. I want to fix the window on the 23rd, sat. So 1.3 needs to happen on the 21st, and 1.1 and 1.2 need to happen on the 20th... except I can't on the 20th.. 19th nope.... Okay, so next week...
Which happens a bit when I have a busy week.
James A Barrows
Evan Edwards
> Basically, just do it. Everyday. Follow the same workflow everytime.
> At the appointed time: You get up. You walk to your desk. You process
> your inbox, todays's folder, this months folder, dump your mind, and then
> finish your morning/evening/etc routine. Or whatever works for you.
Although it doesn't apply to everybody, having a significant other who you
live with (or at least have a daily routine with) is a great benefit to
something like this. It doesn't even have to be a romantic relationship -- a
child who is old enough to have regular homework. My wife and I review
together -- and that's both the GTD kind and also the "so, what happened
today for you?" kind of review. I have a friend who has two children and
they have a Sunday date to review their school and social lives. They don't
do GTD, but they do review their notebooks and tests. At the core level GTD
is two things: a way to keep on top of everything and a way to have what to
do next ready when you're at that point. Doing a regular review is
absolutely essential to the first part.
Routine is good, and once the mindset is established it can occur
anywhere. We review at home, out, while travelling... it just kind of has a
mental "click" and we're both taking out our systems and chatting as we go
through everything we share. Meanwhile, she color codes her lab books and I
figure out how far behind I am in publishing. :)
Poojan Wagh
*did* buy a two-subject notebook. It's working fairly well. My only
suggestion is that if breaking down the Garage Window project seems to
make more complexity, consider only recording the *first* task. From
my recollection, Dave Allen recommends this (at minimum) in the book.
He doesn't say you *can't* write other tasks down, but he certainly
doesn't emphasize it.
On Aug 18, 1:10 am, "russellschl...@gmail.com"
<russellschl...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Hey everyone
Daly de Gagne
I love the technology, but when I am doing GTD I used a Moleskine pocket notebook.
You have a Hipster PDA, but they get a little messy sometimes.
So have two notebooks -- your work notebook that needs to be keep separate for evidentiary purposes, and your GTD notebook.
The trick is how to organize it so it meets the criteria of GTD.
There have been on various sites, including this one I think, examples of notebook hacks that allow them to function quite efficiently for GTD. The first part of the hack is to number the pages. By the way, Triform police notebooks have versions where pages are pre-numbered.
I'd explore those hacks, see what feels most natural to you.
I can tell you that a law enforcement officer's notebook is almost always more useful to him than any PDA or software unless it is databases for searching finger prints, facial similarities, priors, etc.
Perhaps someone here can provide some urls for the various notebook hacks that have appeared over the last few years.
Hope this helps.
Daly
"Where there is great love, there are always miracles." Willa Cather
Discuss and learn about David Allen's Getting Things Done:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Getting_Things_Done/
Hayashi Hideaki
Considering your situation, as some other people have already recommended, I also recomend trying very simplistic low-tech tools like a pocket note book.
Then I found that one of my friend had dumn simple paper-based GTD system and it was
working pretty well for him.
I basically copied what he was doing, and that was my first successful implementation of
GTD system.
It looks like this!
http://s3.amazonaws.com/tagaabo/attachments/2dd617143d089755ea5c4397f0079fa0/CIMG0251.JPG
It's just a pocket notebook with calendar and tabs that says "Projects", "Next Actions",
"Waiting for", "Someday/Maybe" and "Inbox".
I also had a neat mechanical pencil that went well with this note book.
Eventually, I graduated this note book (I use my own GTD software now), but that note book
was a major success to me, and it became the basement of my productivity skill.
The reason I think such a simplistic approach with pen and paper work better than more powerful and complex tools when it comes to starting GTD with is this.
Those powerful tools/softwares have some blackbox-ness.
With expected input, they give expected output. But we don't fully understand what is
going on inside those tools.
When you start GTD and when you need to first experience and learn how the process of GTD
works, with this blackbox-ness you only see a blurred picture of how it works and what it
really is.
It's similar to trying to use calculator before learning what calculations are, with pen,
paper and one's own brain.
Or trying to drive car before learning to walk with one's own feet.
Calculator or car are powerful tools, but they both are blackboxes.
Paper-based solutions may not be as powerful as solutions like software, but it does not
have this blackbox-ness at all.
It's all within our understanding and under our control, and when we just start GTD, that
gives us crystal clear picture of how GTD works.
I hope my advice helps.
-Hideaki
http://tagaabo.com
Josh DiMauro
> Hi Russel,
> Considering your situation, as some other people have already
> recommended, I also recomend trying very simplistic low-tech tools
> like a pocket note book.
[...]
I have a further thought, after all the replies to Russel.
I used to use an entirely paper-based system for GTD, which I no
longer do: I use OmniFocus on the mac and iPhone, and it works better
for me than paper _ever_ did.
That is because, once I understood the habits, and had a kind of
information architecture of my own life developed on paper, I simply
translated that onto the computer, and moved on.
Paper is a phenomenal input mechanism, and it is a quiet medium: it
gives you space to find the shape of your thoughts. But you have to do
all the mental work of tracking what relates to what. In my GTD
implementation, at least, that is quite a lot of work.
The computer is sometimes a good input mechanism (OF is quite good at
this), and takes on the extra work of tracking and locating what you
need. And having my GTD system on my iPhone, in the shape of OF for
iPhone, is invaluable.
(To get an idea of how valuable it is: before third party applications
worked on the iPhone, I was using a local Rails app on my OF mac,
which would parse my OF database with RubyApplescript, then display
the contact list through a browser, which I managed to get working
outside the house with a dynamic DNS and port forwarding. So, I had
slow, read-only access to OF as long as I had wifi or cellular signal.
That sucked, but it was better than nothing.)
So, by all means. Develop the habits without fancy tools. I think
that's the best way to learn it. But don't feel like you have to stay
there: the fancy tools exist for a reason.
One final thought:
OmniFocus can be stunningly complex. That is because its purpose is to
be shaped in the mold of your external brain, and configuration ==
complexity. When you have your GTD system implemented, and you want to
import into OF, I would suggest you create a single project in OF,
like: "Bend OmniFocus to my will."
Then make it work for you, by working within its system.
That's how I did it, and look at all I've accomplis--
Um.
*crickets*
Excuse me, I think I have some stuff to do.
Cheers,
Josh
russell...@gmail.com
have been reading over your replies the past week. I believe I will be
moving to a paper based system until I have the concepts a little bit
more under my grasp and ingrained in myself.
Here are the tools I am going to try to use to get this under
control.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/germanchocolateladies/2788832544/
Thanks and I will try to keep everyone informed on my progress, also
to help others that have been having the same issues as myself with
this concept and implementation to follow how one person did it.