Why is GTD so popular?

Frank of What’s the Next Action was interviewed by CNN for an online article about The David.

The CNN article only printed a small excerpt of the entire email interview, but Frank posts the entire transcript. The part I liked best what his answer about why GTD is so attractive among bloggers:

I have been thinking about that and I feel there are some elements in GTD and David Allen that makes it attractive:

David names the tools. He talks about the labeller, folders, In-tray etc. All standard tools for any office warrior. But it’s also a starting point to tweak, hack and play with those tools. How can you most effectively use this in-tray? How do you design your desk layout so everything is in perfect place and form? They are all simple tools you can get anywhere. So it’s easy to play with them

It is a very yes/no driven principle. The core of GTD lies around the question “Is there an action involved?” and this only knows two answers. Yes or No. One or Zero. It is a very mechanical-like approach of a human problem. But that is the surface. As I said above, the core principle of GTD is more fluent and martial arts than just “follow the five steps and find Zen like peace”. But you find this hidden layer once you worked and played with the mechanical top layer

The principle leaves parts open for discussion and personal involvement. It doesn’t really say “you should first do this in this manner and do that in that manner” It gives direction. Better yet, it gives control and perspective on your work and your life. How you fill this is your own choice. I think this really resonates with a techie crowd for some reason.

Cosmic coincidence :-) But the main reason, I think all pieces just came together on the right time at the right moment. If David Allen released his book in the 70’s, the following might have been very different. If someone else came along a couple of years earlier than David Allen with a similar principle, it also might have created an online following. When the book was released, the internet was also changing. New ventures, web 2.0 if you may, came along and we all started suffering from information overload. Along comes this guy from California with a magic cure against this overload. The webcommunity embraces it and because of the mechanical toplayer, creates webservices and applications around the GTD principle. The David Allen Company is also very active online with forum, GTD Connect, blogs etc. This makes the connection even stronger.

Great thoughts, Frank. My take? I love GTD because:

It is complete. Many organization systems help you organize a single part of your life — your work tasks and projects. GTD captures everything in your life, and has a systematic way of organizing everything. I love that!
You are on top of things. Keeping your inbox clear, and your desk clear, and everything where they belong? That’s so Zen. And I feel like I’m more on top of things now than ever before, even if my lists are as long as ever.
It’s so adjustable. People love playing with the tools and tweaking their system. You do what works for you. Whether you’re into your PDA, Gmail, Backpack, Moleskines, Hipster PDA or any other of a long list of tools, GTD can adapt to whatever you love.
Ubiquitous capture. Never before have I been so good at remembering things. Stuff has a way of slipping through the cracks in our lives, but GTD teaches you how to get it all down, on paper (or digitally) so that you never forget it. And then it teaches you to review it, systematically, so that anything that might have leaked through this system is still captured. Result? Awesomeness.
Mind like water. Yes, it’s almost unattainable. I doubt that even The David achieves this state of readiness and balance more than once a week or so. But it’s so alluring! I hope to attain this state someday.

What are your reasons for loving GTD? (Or hating it?)

See also:

Why is GTD so popular?

Frank of What’s the Next Action was interviewed by CNN for an online article about The David.

The CNN article only printed a small excerpt of the entire email interview, but Frank posts the entire transcript. The part I liked best what his answer about why GTD is so attractive among bloggers:

I have been thinking about that and I feel there are some elements in GTD and David Allen that makes it attractive:

David names the tools. He talks about the labeller, folders, In-tray etc. All standard tools for any office warrior. But it’s also a starting point to tweak, hack and play with those tools. How can you most effectively use this in-tray? How do you design your desk layout so everything is in perfect place and form? They are all simple tools you can get anywhere. So it’s easy to play with them

It is a very yes/no driven principle. The core of GTD lies around the question “Is there an action involved?” and this only knows two answers. Yes or No. One or Zero. It is a very mechanical-like approach of a human problem. But that is the surface. As I said above, the core principle of GTD is more fluent and martial arts than just “follow the five steps and find Zen like peace”. But you find this hidden layer once you worked and played with the mechanical top layer

The principle leaves parts open for discussion and personal involvement. It doesn’t really say “you should first do this in this manner and do that in that manner” It gives direction. Better yet, it gives control and perspective on your work and your life. How you fill this is your own choice. I think this really resonates with a techie crowd for some reason.

Cosmic coincidence :-) But the main reason, I think all pieces just came together on the right time at the right moment. If David Allen released his book in the 70’s, the following might have been very different. If someone else came along a couple of years earlier than David Allen with a similar principle, it also might have created an online following. When the book was released, the internet was also changing. New ventures, web 2.0 if you may, came along and we all started suffering from information overload. Along comes this guy from California with a magic cure against this overload. The webcommunity embraces it and because of the mechanical toplayer, creates webservices and applications around the GTD principle. The David Allen Company is also very active online with forum, GTD Connect, blogs etc. This makes the connection even stronger.

Great thoughts, Frank. My take? I love GTD because:

It is complete. Many organization systems help you organize a single part of your life — your work tasks and projects. GTD captures everything in your life, and has a systematic way of organizing everything. I love that!
You are on top of things. Keeping your inbox clear, and your desk clear, and everything where they belong? That’s so Zen. And I feel like I’m more on top of things now than ever before, even if my lists are as long as ever.
It’s so adjustable. People love playing with the tools and tweaking their system. You do what works for you. Whether you’re into your PDA, Gmail, Backpack, Moleskines, Hipster PDA or any other of a long list of tools, GTD can adapt to whatever you love.
Ubiquitous capture. Never before have I been so good at remembering things. Stuff has a way of slipping through the cracks in our lives, but GTD teaches you how to get it all down, on paper (or digitally) so that you never forget it. And then it teaches you to review it, systematically, so that anything that might have leaked through this system is still captured. Result? Awesomeness.
Mind like water. Yes, it’s almost unattainable. I doubt that even The David achieves this state of readiness and balance more than once a week or so. But it’s so alluring! I hope to attain this state someday.

What are your reasons for loving GTD? (Or hating it?)

See also:

Posted on 11 February 2007 in GTD |
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5 Ways GTD Helps You Achieve Your Goals

I’ve mentioned that I’m a GTD addict on this site before (My GTD Implementation, Beginner’s GTD Guide, Mind Like Water), but I’d like to talk about why it’s a good tool for achieving your goals.

Now, if you’re trying to achieve goals, you don’t need to implement GTD … many have done just fine without it, of course. But every advantage that you can get will help, and GTD is just one tool that can help give you an advantage.

Here’s how:

GTD breaks your goals down to the next-action level. Many people have big goals, but they don’t take it to the action level. GTD mandates that you select a next action for each project (and I consider each goal a project; although sub-goals could also be projects). This makes it much more likely that you’ll actually do something to further your goals.
GTD helps you track your goals effectively. While you are not required to list your goals to start out GTD, it is encouraged once you get past the “runway” level and start looking at more elevated levels of life. But, in my case, I’d already started setting my goals, so they fit nicely in the GTD system as projects. And, if you’re doing GTD right, with a weekly review, then you review your projects — and thus your goals — on a weekly basis, and ensure that there’s a next action for each goal in one of your context action lists.
GTD helps you put your goal next actions in the proper context. There are some goal actions that you can only take in a certain place — say, at home, or at work, or on the road. If your goal actions are all on one list, or all together with all the other stuff you have to do on a Master List, then you’ll have to constantly evaluate whether you can actually do each action, all the time. GTD sorts this out — only the actions you can do at work are on your @work context list, etc. It simplifies things and makes it more likely that you’ll actually get the stuff done.
GTD clears up time for you to do your goal actions. OK, this is not a guarantee. Doing GTD doesn’t ensure that you’ll actually get stuff done … but it does make it more likely, once you begin to master the system (and not continually tweak it). And it can help you clear away the smaller things so that when you want to work on your goal actions, you have the time.
GTD lets you focus on your goals. One of the problems in our daily lives is that we’re distracted by all the things we have to do — not just the stuff we’re actually doing, but even the stuff we’re not doing. GTD helps you clear away the distractions, putting them in a trusted system, so that you can clear your head to focus on what it is you really want or need to do (admittedly, even with GTD, this is not easily accomplished). If that happens to be your goal actions, then you can really focus on them. And focus is what really makes goals happen (and anything else for that matter).

Let me just conclude by saying that GTD is no magic wand that will make your goals come true. No such thing exists, of course. GTD is just a tool, but it is a very useful tool, and I highly recommend it for anyone trying to make dreams a reality.

See also:

5 Ways GTD Helps You Achieve Your Goals

I’ve mentioned that I’m a GTD addict on this site before (My GTD Implementation, Beginner’s GTD Guide, Mind Like Water), but I’d like to talk about why it’s a good tool for achieving your goals.

Now, if you’re trying to achieve goals, you don’t need to implement GTD … many have done just fine without it, of course. But every advantage that you can get will help, and GTD is just one tool that can help give you an advantage.

Here’s how:

GTD breaks your goals down to the next-action level. Many people have big goals, but they don’t take it to the action level. GTD mandates that you select a next action for each project (and I consider each goal a project; although sub-goals could also be projects). This makes it much more likely that you’ll actually do something to further your goals.
GTD helps you track your goals effectively. While you are not required to list your goals to start out GTD, it is encouraged once you get past the “runway” level and start looking at more elevated levels of life. But, in my case, I’d already started setting my goals, so they fit nicely in the GTD system as projects. And, if you’re doing GTD right, with a weekly review, then you review your projects — and thus your goals — on a weekly basis, and ensure that there’s a next action for each goal in one of your context action lists.
GTD helps you put your goal next actions in the proper context. There are some goal actions that you can only take in a certain place — say, at home, or at work, or on the road. If your goal actions are all on one list, or all together with all the other stuff you have to do on a Master List, then you’ll have to constantly evaluate whether you can actually do each action, all the time. GTD sorts this out — only the actions you can do at work are on your @work context list, etc. It simplifies things and makes it more likely that you’ll actually get the stuff done.
GTD clears up time for you to do your goal actions. OK, this is not a guarantee. Doing GTD doesn’t ensure that you’ll actually get stuff done … but it does make it more likely, once you begin to master the system (and not continually tweak it). And it can help you clear away the smaller things so that when you want to work on your goal actions, you have the time.
GTD lets you focus on your goals. One of the problems in our daily lives is that we’re distracted by all the things we have to do — not just the stuff we’re actually doing, but even the stuff we’re not doing. GTD helps you clear away the distractions, putting them in a trusted system, so that you can clear your head to focus on what it is you really want or need to do (admittedly, even with GTD, this is not easily accomplished). If that happens to be your goal actions, then you can really focus on them. And focus is what really makes goals happen (and anything else for that matter).

Let me just conclude by saying that GTD is no magic wand that will make your goals come true. No such thing exists, of course. GTD is just a tool, but it is a very useful tool, and I highly recommend it for anyone trying to make dreams a reality.

See also:

Posted on 5 February 2007 in GTD |
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Beginner’s Guide to GTD

I get a lot of questions about GTD - what are the basic principles, how should one start. Well, the obvious answer is to start by getting the book. But I started without it, about a year ago, and I was able to get off the ground just with information on the web.

Well, I’m not going to explain the whole system in this post. Instead, I’ll provide some links to help you get started, if you’re a beginner GTD disciple.

See also:

Posted on 1 February 2007 in GTD |
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3 Steps to a Permanently Clear Desk

Once upon a time, my desk was cluttered with all the things I was currently working on — not to mention dozens of things I wasn’t working on: notes, post-its, phone numbers, papers to be filed, stacks of stuff to work on later. I was too busy to organize it, and if I ever did get it cleared, it would pile up soon after.

It’s a different story today. These days, my desk is always clear, except for the one thing I’m working on, and perhaps a notebook and pen for jotting down notes, ideas or to-dos as they come up. It’s a liberating feeling … it calms me … it reduces stress and chaos … it definitely makes things easier to find … and it makes me more efficient and productive.

How did I make the transformation? Well, it wasn’t an easy journey, and I’ve improved over the years, but the basic steps are outlined below. The important thing to remember is that you must have a system in place, and you must teach yourself to follow the system. Otherwise, you just clean your desk, and it gets messy again.

Much of my current system (as opposed to stuff I’ve been trying along the way) is taken almost completely from “Getting Things Done,” by David Allen (via Lifehacker & 43 Folders). A must read if you haven’t yet.

Here’s the system:

1. First, take everything on your desk and in your drawers, and put them in one big pile. Put it in your “in basket” (if it doesn’t fit, pile it next to your desk or something). From now on, everything that comes in must go in your in basket, and you process everything as below.

2. Process this pile from the top down. Never re-sort, never skip a single piece of paper, never put a piece of paper back on the pile. Do what needs to be done with that paper, and then move on to the next in the pile. The options: trash it, delegate it, file it, do it, or put it on a list to do later. In that order of preference. Do it if it takes 2 minutes or less to complete. If it takes more, and you can’t trash, delegate or file it, then put it on a list of to-dos (more on your to-do list in another post).

3. Repeat at least once daily to keep desk clear. The end of the day is best, but I tend to process and tidy up as I go through the day. Once you’ve processed your pile, your desk is clear. You’ve trashed or filed or somehow put everything where it belongs (not on top of your desk or stashed in a drawer). Keep it that way. You must follow the system above: put everything in your inbox, then take action on each piece of paper in the inbox with one of the steps listed. If an item is on your to-do list, you can keep the paper associated with it in an “Action” folder. But you must regularly (daily or weekly) go through this folder to ensure that everything is purged.

It’s that simple. Have a phone number on a post-it? Don’t leave it on top of your desk. File it in your rolodex or contacts program. Have something you need to work on later? Don’t keep the papers on top of your desk. Put it on your to-do list, and file the papers in your Action folder. File or trash or delegate everything else.

Leaving stuff on top of your desk is procrastination (and as a procrastinator, I should know). If you put it off until later, things will be sure to pile up on your desk. Deal with them immediately, make a decision, take action.

What I’ve described is a good habit to learn, but it takes time to learn it. You’ll slip. Just remind yourself, and then do it. Soon it’ll be a habit you have a hard time breaking. And trust me, once you’re used to your desk being clear, you won’t want to break this habit.

Some links:

See also:

3 Steps to a Permanently Clear Desk

Once upon a time, my desk was cluttered with all the things I was currently working on — not to mention dozens of things I wasn’t working on: notes, post-its, phone numbers, papers to be filed, stacks of stuff to work on later. I was too busy to organize it, and if I ever did get it cleared, it would pile up soon after.

It’s a different story today. These days, my desk is always clear, except for the one thing I’m working on, and perhaps a notebook and pen for jotting down notes, ideas or to-dos as they come up. It’s a liberating feeling … it calms me … it reduces stress and chaos … it definitely makes things easier to find … and it makes me more efficient and productive.

How did I make the transformation? Well, it wasn’t an easy journey, and I’ve improved over the years, but the basic steps are outlined below. The important thing to remember is that you must have a system in place, and you must teach yourself to follow the system. Otherwise, you just clean your desk, and it gets messy again.

Much of my current system (as opposed to stuff I’ve been trying along the way) is taken almost completely from “Getting Things Done,” by David Allen (via Lifehacker & 43 Folders). A must read if you haven’t yet.

Here’s the system:

1. First, take everything on your desk and in your drawers, and put them in one big pile. Put it in your “in basket” (if it doesn’t fit, pile it next to your desk or something). From now on, everything that comes in must go in your in basket, and you process everything as below.

2. Process this pile from the top down. Never re-sort, never skip a single piece of paper, never put a piece of paper back on the pile. Do what needs to be done with that paper, and then move on to the next in the pile. The options: trash it, delegate it, file it, do it, or put it on a list to do later. In that order of preference. Do it if it takes 2 minutes or less to complete. If it takes more, and you can’t trash, delegate or file it, then put it on a list of to-dos (more on your to-do list in another post).

3. Repeat at least once daily to keep desk clear. The end of the day is best, but I tend to process and tidy up as I go through the day. Once you’ve processed your pile, your desk is clear. You’ve trashed or filed or somehow put everything where it belongs (not on top of your desk or stashed in a drawer). Keep it that way. You must follow the system above: put everything in your inbox, then take action on each piece of paper in the inbox with one of the steps listed. If an item is on your to-do list, you can keep the paper associated with it in an “Action” folder. But you must regularly (daily or weekly) go through this folder to ensure that everything is purged.

It’s that simple. Have a phone number on a post-it? Don’t leave it on top of your desk. File it in your rolodex or contacts program. Have something you need to work on later? Don’t keep the papers on top of your desk. Put it on your to-do list, and file the papers in your Action folder. File or trash or delegate everything else.

Leaving stuff on top of your desk is procrastination (and as a procrastinator, I should know). If you put it off until later, things will be sure to pile up on your desk. Deal with them immediately, make a decision, take action.

What I’ve described is a good habit to learn, but it takes time to learn it. You’ll slip. Just remind yourself, and then do it. Soon it’ll be a habit you have a hard time breaking. And trust me, once you’re used to your desk being clear, you won’t want to break this habit.

Some links:

See also:

Posted on 29 January 2007 in GTD, Productivity & Organization, Simplicity |
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Mind Like Water

As I just posted about my GTD implementation, I started thinking about what appeals to me most about GTD. Of course, there is its total organization and complete capture of everything in your life. There is the clean desk and inbox acheived by this system. I love all that.

But what really appeals to me is the idea of attaining a “Mind Like Water” state. I have to admit, I haven’t completely achieved this yet, as many GTDers have not. But GTD does bring me much closer to this ideal, and as I get better at the GTD habits, and trust my system more, I get closer each day.

It reminds me of a quote from Bruce Lee:

Empty your mind, be formless. Shapeless, like water. If you put water into a cup, it becomes the cup. You put water into a bottle and it becomes the bottle. You put it in a teapot it becomes the teapot. Now, water can flow or it can crash. Be water my friend.

I think the appeal is the calmness and peace that you are trying to achieve. Have everything in its place, and empty your mind of busy-ness and junk. Then your are ready for anything that comes your way. Sometimes when I don’t feel this way, I look at others around me, and realize that I have come a long way towards Mind Like Water.

It will be an ongoing quest. Wish me luck.