Don’t Get Things Done!
January 28th 2008 08:19 pm
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Go. Do. Act. Do More. Everywhere you turn there are more and more demands on you. The smart people turn to a productivity system like Getting Things Done and gain control of their lives- or do they?
These systems solve can certainly help gain control over tasks but they leave open many problems:
- Too Complex- You need to read through a 200+ page book to get started. Who has the time and effort to go through it? When you get through the last page do you remember the points from page 10? Then the setup can take days, who has the patients?
- Don’t focus on Planning- The systems focus almost exclusively on the doing: Get it done faster, better. But they are too quick to act. Many times a little thinking in advance can save much time on the execution or eliminate it completely.
- Don’t Focus on Enjoyment- You can be perfectly efficient doing tasks you hate but if you don’t enjoy it what’s the point? Then before you know it you’re procrastinating and what good is the system doing for you?
- Don’t Focus on Your Life- The systems may focus on work. Some even focus on the tasks you perform at home but what about integrating your health, spouse, kids and the rest of your goals into this.
Don’t get me wrong I love Getting Things Done and use many of its principles (You’ll see them in these pages) but it doesn’t address the above problems.
In this site I’m developing (yes developing lots more content to come) a system to take the best of all systems and address the above problems and more. Here are the advantages you’ll experience:
- Simple It uses simplicity and simple technology to do a lot of the tasks for you. No need to recopy notes and keep 43 million folders for filing.
- Life Management There’s more to life than work. There’s family, play, community- it’s about balance and doing what you need, when you need to.
- Get started quickly- I’ve added a Get Started section where you can get started in just a few minutes. Actually if you take away that you should enjoy whatever you do, you’re already ahead of the game.
What are your frustrations with your current system?
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Francis responded on 07 Feb 2008 at 3:18 pm #
SuMMY,
Thanks for the link to your site.
I agree with much of what you say here, and it lead me to start my own effort a few years ago.
See my website for details.
I will go through your other posts to see if you have written more on the topic!
Francis
Heshy responded on 07 Feb 2008 at 4:47 pm #
Francis,
Thanks for visiting. Your blog is interesting and we’re on the same pursuit- simplifying productivity. I’ve taken a more global approach- don’t just simplify productivity- simplify life.
I’m preparing more posts that will help clarify the greater vision.
Francis responded on 07 Feb 2008 at 5:00 pm #
A comment on your comment — I agree that GTD is David’s personal system, and that’s not a criticism.
In fact, every person’s system in the same thing!
Unfortunately, no-one can implement his system as well as he can, and no-one should try. Instead, they should develop their own system and bring it to perfection.
What people need from the GTD’ers of the world, and from us, is help to design their own system.
tank responded on 07 Feb 2008 at 5:16 pm #
i had a boss tell me once that a “system” is only effective for the person that develops it, and you can’t teach others to properly use your system. is has to do with the intricacies that develop and can’t be documented. GTD may be a good jumping off point, but it’s not the end-all/be-all of time management.
Francis responded on 07 Feb 2008 at 5:27 pm #
tank,
That strikes a chord with me… I live in Jamaica, and life here is very different from that of the US. Many of the time management systems designed abroad can’t work here for many reasons.
One course I took tries to redefine the word “Now” for example… I don’t think it has caught on anywhere, but it certainly didn’t work here.
Heshy responded on 07 Feb 2008 at 8:56 pm #
@tank
You’re exactly right. The system is just a tool. Each person must use it to help themselves.
@francis
I think looking at something with different cultural view can be eye opening it may point to some value judgments that aren’t so important- e.g. materialism…
Matthew Cornell responded on 11 Feb 2008 at 9:25 am #
Looking forward to more!
Heshy responded on 11 Feb 2008 at 1:03 pm #
Thanks Matthew.
Al at 7P responded on 19 Feb 2008 at 11:31 pm #
Nice post. “Go. Do. Act. Do More.” That made me laugh!
I agree that GTD is not a magic potion to handle all problems, especially the high-level strategy and planning kinds. I think as a system to help manage an overflowing inbox, it’s an effective system, but it would be a mistake to apply it beyond that.
Ask The Readers: What Don’t You Like About GTD? - Practical advice on personal development, productivity and GTD responded on 20 Feb 2008 at 10:35 am #
[...] to get a grip of their workflow and productivity levels. However, like most things it has its negative qualities; features and aspects that don’t work as intended or simply aren’t practical for the [...]
Heshy responded on 20 Feb 2008 at 1:26 pm #
Thanks Al.
You’re exactly right.
Organize IT Recap 22nd Feb 2008 - Practical advice on personal development, productivity and GTD responded on 22 Feb 2008 at 6:16 am #
[...] on the topic of what people don’t like about GTD, the Success Making Machine blog has a post looking at some of those very issues, including its complexity and weak focus on life [...]
David Allen on GTD's low adoptation rate and GTD 2.0 | Success Making Machine responded on 27 Mar 2008 at 8:34 am #
[...] notice these are exactly the issues that I discussed earlier with Don’t Get Things Done. I’ll keep bring more solutions to these and other problems with [...]
The Two Minute Guide to Getting Things Done (GTD) | Success Making Machine responded on 15 Jul 2008 at 6:01 am #
[...] may want to subscribe to my RSS feed and check out Getting Started. Thanks for visiting!One of the biggest obstacles to getting more productive is getting started. Here’s a two minute guide to Getting Things Done [...]