I think I’ve been obsessed with “get organized” systems as early as high school. I know that I am not alone in having perused dozens of productivity and self-help books. Unfortunately, I know that I am also not alone in failing at what these systems aim (at least theoretically) to do: be productive.
This series on productivity systems serves as my notes for future reference. Hopefully, someone out there might learn from it and maybe I will learn from others as well.
So let me start with the most popular system today that has managed to capture even the attention of geeks: GTD or Getting Things Done.
A Note on Productivity Systems
A lot of people (and I do mean a lot) raise their eyebrows or roll their eyes at the mention of words like “productivity”, “GTD”, “Pomodoro”, etc. And sometimes rightly so, given the hype and cult that has grown around these. Probably to them — and they are correct on deeper analysis — this is all just common sense.
But therein lies the problem. As is also known, common sense is anything but common. Reading these books, you’re bound to get an “Aha! Yeah, that’s right” moment. Sometimes a lot. And then it becomes evident that it’s really just common sense. But it wasn’t so before that, at least not to you. So what these productivity stuff really do is just tell you or remind you of stuff you should already know or have forgotten. Unfortunately for some, it can be an expensive experience. But, then again, there’s always the Internet. ;)
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So What is GTD?
“GTD” stands for “Getting Things Done”, the title of a book published by David Allen about his own take on the productivity challenge. The book emphasizes on “stress-free productivity” and modernizing productivity systems to adapt to the information age. But instead of putting forward a complex system to build on top of calendars and priority lists, he suggests going back to the most basic system of all: lists.
To say that GTD has developed into a cult would not be an understatement. This might actually be a bane at times, making people reluctant to give a deeper look. What is surprising is how much it has been accepted and adopted by geeks, typically a group suspicious of hypes. One could just take a look at the amount of GTD software, especially free and open source software, to see what I mean.
Why is GTD so popular?
It’s simple
I think the major force that catapulted GTD into popularity is its simplicity. David Allen’s premise (and promise) is quite enticing. You don’t need any new skill that you don’t already know: making lists. Stripped of the analogies, stories, and examples, I could reduce the whole system into 3 principles, which I will write about in the next post.
DIY tools
This is what I think made GTD a hit even among programmers. At its simplest, all you need is a note-taking tool: pen/pencil and paper. Because of how simple and flexible it was, the system was open for any and all implementations of GTD tools, from “hardware” like Moleskine, to software in the hundreds. Being natural tinkerers, this was practically a “go” signal to geeks: Go ahead, make your own. Unfortunately, this boon can also become a bane.
Where does GTD fall short?
Lack of computer-related examples
One thing that puzzles me is that for a system that’s supposed to cater to this information age, the book has basically no example on organizing your digital data aside from handling e-mail. Some examples on applying the workflow and organization to personal computers would probably have been nice.
Little focus on priorities
The system takes a bottom-up approach: clear your clutter, both physical and mental, and you’ll be able to think more clearly about the “higher” things in life. While GTD does talk about priorities and values in the metaphor of “horizons” and airplanes, the coverage has been quite terse. I think David Allen has recognized this shortcoming, though, and made his later books cover horizons with almost equal emphasis as the next actions system has.
Distracted with tools
This seems to be one of the biggest complaints of/about GTD users. Because anyone can choose or make their own GTD tool, a good number of them end up spending most of their time searching for or creating the perfect tool. Quite ironic for a system created to make you productive, isn’t it?
GRTD
To me personally, GTD isn’t much of a “getting things done”, but more of a “getting ready to do”. At least with the original GTD book, a lot of the emphasis is on the system, the workflow that would hopefully lead you to get things done. While not a bad thing in itself, it is easy to get lost and distracted with an emphasis on the system and forget the actual purpose for which the system exists: to really Get Things Done.
Up Next: GTD in Three Bullet Points.