Yesterday, I wrote about how I use Evernote to support my use of David Allen's Getting Things Done (GTD) methodology. I also mentioned how I plan to help others to use Evernote with whatever organizational or productivity schemes they use, especially GTD. Today, I write a bit about what GTD actually is, why I use it, my genuine struggles with GTD, and the reasons why I stick with it in spite of the challenges I've had with GTD.
What is GTD
I use GTD to manage the flow of information in my life, especially information that requires action on my part. The GTD method guides what items to put on my to-list, how to categorize those items, and how to sequence the actions. The Wikipedia article on Getting Things Done highlights a distinctive element of GTD:
The GTD method rests on the idea of moving planned tasks and projects out of the mind by recording them externally and then breaking them into actionable work items. This allows one to focus attention on taking action on tasks, instead of recalling them.
To enact GTD, you don't need to use a computer, tablet, phone or any digital technology; paper probably works fine. I've long embraced using a computer to manage my tasks. I use Evernote as the substrate for my GTD system. (Since I started using GTD in 2004, long before the launch of Evernote in 2008, I started using GTD on Ecco Pro.) One reason I use Evernote for GTD is that Evernote runs on my all of my devices: my MacBook Pro laptop, my Android phone, my iPhone, on the Web, and as a data service via its API. Evernote is also scriptable, which allows me to write programs to compute on the information I have in Evernote. Computing on my GTD system is of great interest to me, something I'll write about later this month.
Once I get my stuff into the "Inbox" of Evernote, I then apply the GTD decision tree/workflow, summarized in the following diagram:
I present this diagram to give a flavor of the workflow. Don't worry if it doesn't make sense by itself. The Wikipedia article from which I borrow the diagram actually narrates the workflow. For someone like me who read the first edition of the GTD book (published in 2001) and is now reading the second edition (2015), the diagram serves as a memory prompt for the questions used to process items in a GTD system.
Even though I first learned about GTD 13 years ago, I can still remember how eye-opening it was for me. That I should work bottom-up instead of top-down was an important change in how I managed my commitments:
Unlike some theories, which focus on top-down goal-setting, GTD works in the opposite direction. Allen argues that it is often difficult for individuals to focus on big picture goals if they cannot sufficiently control the day-to-day tasks that they frequently must face. By developing and using the trusted system that deals with day-to-day inputs, an individual can free up mental space to begin moving up to the next level.
It was also from GTD that I learned to think of a project as a sequence of two or more tasks with a defined outcome. For example, getting a new mouse for my computer is a project because I need to not only order the mouse but then pick it up from the UPS store -- making for at least two steps). A project doesn't have to be a grand production. Once I grokked that I actually had dozens of projects on the go, I no longer neglected to explicitly manage commitments that I had previously thought as too trivial to track.
GTD has not been a panacea
As much as I love the GTD system, I have not yet realized the level of organization that I believe is produced by a more disciplined application of GTD. I see this month as a prime opportunity for me to scrub down and fix up my GTD implementation, which has been running like an unturned car.
Even though I've been unsatisfied with how GTD has been working for me, I was still shocked when I reviewed for my past writings about GTD. To wit, in Feb 2005 I wrote in Getting back to GTD and the desire to be visibly productive all the time:
Last year, I found the Getting Things Done system very helpful in getting me on track. I will focus some hours on getting my GTD system back on track.
and in the same month (Don’t overdo the GTD):
It was nice to be reminded by The New York Times: To Do More. Or Less. Or Something, that in the end, I should not take any system, letting alone the very useful Getting Things Done approach too seriously!).
By the end of 2005, I wrote:
The Getting Things Done system is supposed to keep me on top of tasks large and small, but I need to intervention of a higher power and intelligence to get me back on track with GTD.
And in early 2006 -- you can hear the sighs -- I wrote:
GTD has certainly helped me get better organized, but it hasn’t been a panacea. I don’t blame GTD for my problem since it never promised to let me squeeze five elephants into a clay jar. Instead of aspiring to grow large enough to envelope elephants, I need to accept that I am just an ordinary clay jar.
Eleven years later, while still finding great value in GTD in tracking my personal information, I still struggle with taking on too much work in progress. Earlier this year, I wrote in Don’t be WIPed:
Do you struggle with having more projects than you can productively work on simulatenously? I certainly do. That’s why I have been attracted to the Personal Kanban productivity system, which puts a lot of emphasis on visualizing, pruning, and limiting one’s “Work in Progress†(WIP). I’ve not been sufficiently serious about setting realistic limits on my WIP: witness my overflowing list of projects started but essentially zombified. How many projects survive on my list when I have neither the energy to advance them nor the will to kill them?
A natural question to explore soon is: how can one make GTD and Personal Kanban work together?
Blame the implementation not the system
After trying a system for thirteen years without accomplishing the level of mastery I had hoped, perhaps I should abandon the "cult" of GTD and look for a system that works. I won't until I push myself to implement GTD with the rigor to which I aspire. To that end, I've already identified some of the areas that need work:
- I have been far from "Inbox Zero" in GTD, let alone my email system.
- The notes I have written to myself alone take up significant room in my Inbox. Surely, I should be able to control that flow of materials coming in for processing!
- I find conducting periodic weekly or monthly review difficult to pull off systematically.
- As mentioned above, I have too much work in progress. What does GTD have to say about this problem?
- I've not clearly articulated my desired outcomes for all the projects in my GTD system. I certainly have many projects without next steps identified.
- I also have many "orphans": actions without associated projects and projects without any actions identified.
I hope to explore is whether software such as OmniFocus - task management for Mac, iPad, and iPhone that has been designed specifically for GTD enforces some systemic integrity that would obviate some of the problems I've encountered. My GTD on Evernote system is a bit freeform; I am searching for a better balance between rigor and regimentation.
Spreading the OK News of Productivity
As a consultant searching for clients wanting help with Evernote and GTD, I might have an easier time if I could claim loudly that the combination of Evernote and GTD has worked miracles for me and that it will work miracles for you too. Just let me show you. But it's good to read what Warren St. John in early 2005, concluded about productivity books, including GTD:
Not that nothing is to be gained from reading, as I did, a pile of contradictory self-help literature. The exercise can lead to all sorts of conclusions about how to live and perhaps even New Year's resolutions. Here are a few I came up with. Following Mr. Tracy's advice, I am writing them down, to imprint them on my subconcious mind.
- I will not tell people I have all the answers. It's annoying, and people don't believe you anyway.
Nonetheless, I hope to teach GTD to others because GTD has a lot to offer even if you pick up only parts of the system. There is nothing like teaching to deepen one's own understanding of a topic. I'm longing to apply GTD in greater depths to benefit own life and work and to serve the ambitions of others.