My GTD Odyssey - Part 1

As I mentioned in my last post, I've had somewhat of a breakthrough with Getting Things Done recently, and I want to share what I've learned in hopes that it will benefit at least one other person. To you GTD veterans, some aspects of my account may seem like a rehash of things you already know, but I want to provide as complete a picture as I can so please, indulge me.

I'll also split this over a few posts to make the length more manageable (and to allow me to "chunk" the work of writing it up).

The allure

I first fell for the siren's call when I read David Allen's Getting Things Done (GTD) a little over 3 years ago. A former user of the Franklin Covey planning system, I'd drifted away from using that system because it didn't blend well with my highly online existence (and the binders were bulky). I was seduced by GTD because it offered a systematic approach for dealing with all the items on my radar - work, home, electronic, and physical. And, GTD just seemed to make so much sense!

The most anchor concepts that stuck me from this method were:

• Capture everything that comes into your mind as quickly as you can - tasks, inputs, thoughts, commitments, ideas, interesting things you want to research, etc.
• Funnel what you capture into the smallest number of "inboxes" as possible - create fewer landing zones for inputs into your life
• Use context lists (@calls, Errands, @computer, etc.) to organize your actions into lists based on where you'll need to be to complete the action
• When you clear your inbox, take out any "embedded actions" and convert them to "next action" statements in one of your context lists
• Use the "two minute rule" to knock of simple items without devoting energy to tracking them
• Use subject-centric filing techniques to help organize piles of "stuff" into usable buckets
• Use a philosophy of "make it up, make it happen" to help envision and focus on outcomes
• Develop a trusted system so you can put your mind at ease by dropping commitments, projects, tasks, etc. into the trusted system and count on the fact that all items in the system will be managed
• Conduct weekly reviews and perform regular "Mindsweeps" to get all the hanging chads& open loops out of your head, keep projects moving, and identify your next actions for any commitments you've made
• Use your trusted system to track all your commitments - those you've made, as well as those which others have made to you

I began in earnest and followed the process in David's book to start organizing my life.

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My challenges

I began to see some benefits of GTD immediately - I felt more organized, had fewer "stacks" of things lying around my office, and began to get a handle on my overflowing inboxes. I tried to mimic the techniques in the book as closely as I could - including weekly reviews.

However, over time, I found that some aspects of GTD simply didn't work well for me.

• The 43 folder "tickler file" method described in the book never caught on for me - I am not at my desk very often and don't have a lot of paper to deal with, so this technique was the first to go.
  • Note, however, that I do use the general topic-centric filing technique David writes about. As he recommends, I'll create a file for a single piece of paper (or a folder for a single item of email). This really does make a difference.
• When I first got my inbox to empty, it felt great, but I found myself speding so much time trying to keep it empty that I didn't really get a lot of things done - I just pumped them into @context lists to make them disappear. This became like a game of "whack-a-mole."
• I have never been able to successfully integrate the @context concept of list management into my workflow. I tried, but the "context-centric" view never really got to be a real habit with me. As a result, my lists didn't get processed very often.
• As a result of my inability to use context lists properly, weekly reviews felt overwhelming and began to be fewer and farther between until they pretty much went away Essentially, I was getting very proficient at populating lists I seldom looked at again.I was getting very proficient at populating lists I seldom looked at again.

The net result: My system had an "out of sight, out of mind" feel, so it was no longer trusted. I began to leave items in my inbox for processing instead of putting them on a list. Basically, I think I missed the "go here and get your tasks" feel of the Franklin Covey system.

I tried a bunch of techniques to try to "fix" my GTD implementation, including:

• scouring blogs for tips 'n' tricks,
• re-reading GTD and Ready for Anything (several times each),
• incessantly listening to "Getting Things Done Fast,"
• starting over again fresh periodically, and
• even attending a live David Allen seminar

Stop the insanity?

Through these many restarts, I began to feel like a yo-yo dieter - I'd make a little progress, but I kept ending up in the same, frustrated place with my implementation of GTD. So, I decided to look for a new way to work in hopes of getting better results.

I read a bunch of other personal management books and began looking at lots of tools (web sites, Outlook add-ins, etc). Each of them had one or more interesting nuggets of learning, but none of them seemed like they'd be any more effective for me than GTD.

What's a wandering soul to do? I kept living in limbo, limping along with 500-1000 messages perpetually in my inbox, occasionally wrote things on my hand, and continued to search for a better way.

Any of this sound familiar to you? In my next post, I'll share what fate has brought to my doorstep and how I'm successfully using GTD today.

>>Continue to Part 2

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Related items:

• Getting Things...Stuck? (3/2/2005)
• It ain't like brushing your teeth (11/23/2005)
• What's the Next Inaction (4/16/2005)

Comments

[Jeff H]

AMAZING reproduction of MY GTD journey -- though I'm not disciplined enough to write it down as eloquently as you. Thank you for sharing YOUR journey -- it is helpful to comiserate and know that others have shared similar experiences. I am looking forward to your next post!

Cheers.

Jeff H

[George G.]

I too am surprised to be reading my own story here, in particular my tendency to let my context lists become so long that they turn into black holes, which I then can't review completely every week. As well as constant fiddling with various software systems and listening to the Fast CDs. Thanks for sharing this.

George

[Dwayne Melancon]

Thanks, guys - I think there is a certain "type" that loves GTD, then gets frustrated that they can't quite reach the goal (sort of like a mirage in the desert). I'm definitely in that "type" and I'm glad to hear I'm connecting with some others in the same camp.

[moonlander]

Dwayne,

thanks for your Odyssey posts,
always nice to find these condensed nuggets of wisdom and experience

Moonlander

[Jonathan]

Thanks for this.
I am just starting the exploration of GTD. It's what brought me to your site via google. Nice that you shared your experience... I shall read the next few posts in this series.

Cheers,
Jonathan