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[Matt Wood]

I wanted to toss an idea out here, just to see if it makes any sense.  For a long time, I've thought to myself that I kind of hate GTD.  All the lists and reminders and fussing and fiddling.  Why can't I just get back to a point where I simply DID things.  Geez, it took me over 900 words the other day to describe my writing process.  Something's wrong with that.

Before I ever heard of David Allen, I was a pretty organized person.  In fact, I always considered it one of my strengths.  I got through college with a legal pad and the paper planner they gave out for free at the bookstore, plus I was drunk half the time anyway.  I just have a knack for it.  I've always managed to cook up something that took care of all the details.

I sometimes think I'm not really busy enough to be putting all this effort into things.  When I read something like that post about Getting Shit Done (http://www.utilware.com/gsd3.html), it has a lot of appeal to me because it's simple.  No special software, just kind of an organic thing that grew out of that guy's needs.  I suppose that's what I've done at times when I trusted my instincts and created my own little systems.

Yes, yes, I know, I can adapt GTD to my needs, and throw away the parts that don't work.  But has anyone ever done GTD for a while and just abandoned large parts of it?  There are certain parts that I couldn't go without again, like capture and weekly reviews, but the rest?  Meh.  I could figure it out.

[Michael Ramm]

Matt,

Those are all great points. I feel the exact same way right now. If you notice, there is no mention of "Getting Things Done" (the methodology). We have consciously done that. We do not want to be a 'GTD site', we want to be a Productivity site. Even though we all have practiced GTD in one form or another, I think that we all realize that is not the only means to productivity.

I have been looking over the GSD and am in the planning stages of implementing something very similar to that also. I know that Patrick uses a lot from it as well. I will still take nuggets away from GTD, and I will consider myself as a GTD follower, but I have moved away from the canonical GTD as written in the book.

I started reading Ready for Anything last night and I look forward to seeing if there are any new ideas to glean out of it. I am also looking forward to Allen's next book coming out in December. I am hopeful that he will be putting out some new ideas and not rehashing the GTD methodology.

Michael

[Matt Wood]

I started reading Ready for Anything last night and I look forward to seeing if there are any new ideas to glean out of it.

I wouldn't count on it.  I was disappointed in Ready for Anything.  It was almost like a collection of notes he'd written himself while waiting at an airport, just to capitalize on the popularity of GTD.

But I agree about picking and choosing the best parts of different methodologies.  I'm sitting down this afternoon while the boy is napping to see where I can cut that fat out of a what I do.

[Jamie Phelps]

I'm so glad someone brought this up. Here are my thoughts.

The book was published almost six years ago. The technological advances alone since then are staggering. In 2002, I was still using a 400MHz Gateway laptop that couldn't run on a battery for more than about 15-20 minutes. I had a cell phone with a black and white screen smaller than a business card. I was on a dial-up internet connection. Now, I have (to quote his Steveness) a widescreen video ipod, mobile phone, and internet communicator all in one device. I have nearly ubiquitous access to the internet and when I'm home I have a 6Mbps connection. These advances alone aren't making me more productive, but they give rise to a whole set of both problems and solutions that David Allen may not have even imagined when he first penned the book.

These advances make GTD nearly inadequate because of its emphasis on contexts. Like Merlin said once, "@computer is like @oxygen." Just about everything in our lives breaks down to a handful of contexts. I would even argue that if you have more than five contexts, you're probably overdoing it.

The other thing that David Allen probably didn't anticipate is how far the Delegate part of the workflow could take us. We can delegate tons of things to both virtual and artificial assistants now in addition to personal assistants and subordinates. When I need to be reminded about something, I can have Sandy remind me. If I need online research done, I could farm that out to a virtual assistant in Bangalore. (I have also had very good luck with crowdsourcing on Twitter.)

There are a ton of options for capture as well. Not only that, but those various streams usually drain into one mighty river, namely your email inbox. So, we have more options for capture with fewer buckets. Even better.

These advancements are good, but they are rendering canonical GTD largely irrelevant. The original goal of GTD, though, is as relevant as ever: reduce your baseline anxiety/stress level about the stuff that you're supposed to be doing. Sometimes you need to have this stress and anxiety - if you spent the whole morning that you set aside for working on that project that needs to be finished in a week and you spent that time reading Twitter and RSS feeds and dealing with a stupid email flame war about whether it's pronounced "porsh" or "porshuh" you should indeed have some stress about that. But if you're always stressed because you're not sure what is on all those plates you're spinning (to mix metaphors)  then you need to better track your stuff. But if you swing the pendulum the other way and end up stressed because you're developing an RSI from shuffling your deck of @context index cards, then you're not doing yourself any favors and David Allen would probably tell you to chill out as well.

[Patrick Rhone]

I can't say it any better than others (especially Jamie) has said. I really feel that, while the basic framework of GTD is solid (Capture, Collect, Decide, Do), the absolute interpretation of GTD does not fit into the natural order of the work and lives of most knowledge workers.

I would be a liar to not say that I am a little surprised by the number or people I know who, after having practiced the GTD method for a while, eventually "fall back" to a simpler system. But on second look, especially with my own reasons in mind, it actually makes sense. One of the beauties of geeks like us is that when we see a system we are constantly looking for ways to reduce steps and get from input to output quicker.

I still capture all I can, collect these items on a regular basis, make hard decisions about each one (The 4 D's), break down the things that need it, and then list them all so I have a complete picture of my world at that time. The method I use still does exactly what GTD is meant to do, clear your head and allow you the freedom to make choices about how to spend your time and get to the places you wish to go

[Brad Blackman]

Well said, everyone. I suppose I don't practice a strict GTD anymore, either.

The GSD thing is pretty neat, and I actually sort of did this before I got turned on to Kinkless GTD (now obviated by OmniFocus, which I have yet to plunk down any cash for), but the only thing I don't like about it is copying to-do lists over and over again. It's just depressing to copy for the millionth time in a row something you need to do but haven't gotten around do. (Yeah, it goes back to Patrick's post on thoroughly examining your list and ditching the things you're never really gonna do.)

I do think that sometimes systems like GTD create more work in the end. There have been times I've actually skipped the Weekly Review since I knew it wouldn't achieve anything, since my to-dos hadn't advanced one bit and my time would be better spend actually doing some of the things on the list.

And I agree with Matt about Ready for Anything. I read a few pages of it and put it back on my shelf, sorry that I had bought it.

[Stephen Smith]

We are going to build the next generation of workflow management system right here. I believe that it will unfold before our eyes, if we have eyes to see it.

[Jeroen Sangers]

We are going to build the next generation of workflow management system right here. I believe that it will unfold before our eyes, if we have eyes to see it.

I will be looking for it as well. What interests me even more is what the underlying principles of GTD 2.0 are.

[Bookworm]

My biggest GTD heresy is deciding that (other than critical, do-it-today-or-else deadline items), I'm going to keep my next actions listed on my projects list.  I'm currently implementing Bonsai for my work lists (Someday/Maybe, Waiting For, Master Project List, Checklist for Recurring Actions).  You can choose to see all the actions for each project, or just the next one for each. 

[Jay Sennett]

All excellent points.

The main reason I don't use GTD anymore is that I'm a project kind of guy.

I'm vastly right brained and find David Seah's Task Order Up form (http://davidseah.com/blog/comments/task-order-up-2008-edition-refreshed) fits my brain/work style perfectly. (I have cobbled together a system that is entirely mine and entirely paper-based. The pencil is the fastest piece of technology available, still.)

I practiced GTD diligently about about two months and felt like a gerbil on a wheel.

[Patrick Rhone]

I'm vastly right brained and find David Seah's Task Order Up form (http://davidseah.com/blog/comments/task-order-up-2008-edition-refreshed) fits my brain/work style perfectly. (I have cobbled together a system that is entirely mine and entirely paper-based. The pencil is the fastest piece of technology available, still.)

David Seah's various forms are fantastic. I have some of the limited run of the Emergent Task Planner pads and they are truly outstanding. They are basically a lot like my Today Page idea, only printed on very nice paper and beautifully designed.

All of these are available as free PDF downloads. One should take a look when considering any post-GTD system.

[MarinaMartin]

I wouldn't say that I've abandoned parts of GTD so much as built onto them. GTD itself is really missing a lot, which makes it hard to trust, which defeats the purpose.

For example, it doesn't support constantly recurring tasks [well] (exercise daily - who really writes that over and over on their Next Action list?), nor does it provide any sort of support for ensuring you meet a deadline on a large project.

I solve these problems with Daily Action cards, which are lists on 4x6 cards that I print out each week (one for each day). They have recurring tasks already listed (go for a run, feed cats, take vitamins) so I can just check them off, plus space to list time-sensitive tasks for that day (2PM meeting) and blank spaces for Next Actions that must get done that day.

For large projects, I work backwards from the due date and put corresponding Next Actions on each daily card. For example, say I need to read a book by Sunday. I'd divide the # of book pages by the # of days between now and Sunday, and, working backwards, list "Read X pages of Book" on my cards. If I fall a day behind, not a big deal, but it's hard not to notice. (It's very easy not to notice "Read Book" on a Next Action list until it's too late.)

[Michael Ramm]

Marina,

How far out do you make your cards? 30 days? 14 days? 7 days?

Do you use a spreadsheet to make the cards? Or hand write them? That goes the same for the tasks on each one.

It sounds like you use a calendar (Outlook, GCal, iCal, etc) and have a specialized print setup to print out your cards.

I am moving back to a lofi system, but I will probably keep GCal and/or iCal as my calendar. I am looking for ways to integrate my schedule (which is not that busy) with me.

[MarinaMartin]

Marina,

How far out do you make your cards? 30 days? 14 days? 7 days?

Do you use a spreadsheet to make the cards? Or hand write them? That goes the same for the tasks on each one.

It sounds like you use a calendar (Outlook, GCal, iCal, etc) and have a specialized print setup to print out your cards.

I print 7 cards each Sunday during my weekly review - more if I won't be home the following Sunday.

I have a Pages template (two pages, so it's double-sided) where I keep the main card template. On Sunday, I handwrite any tasks that have to do with a looming deadline (rare) and any planned meetings for the week. Then each night I pick the following day's 10 Next Actions. I complete far more than 10 NAs in a day, but this is a good way to pick out any stragglers and ensure they get tackled.

[James Mallinson]

How much of GTD is really new? I think a lot of its success has come about from packaging basic principles in a great, structured way and marketing it towards the "right" audience. I was reading 80/20 Principle recently and someone asked me how the author was able to make such a big book out of such a basic idea. The same problem applies to the GTD book. The fundamental message/idea of GTD isn't immediately apparent or gets lost in the depth of contexts, weekly reviews, tickler files, etc.