I have flirted in the past with the idea of GTD, but stuck with Covey.

Anyone any experience of how GTD works with mind mapping. I find the latter an extremely effective way of decluttering my mind, and with the software that is available provides an excellent way of sorting out different types of data sources (thru hyper links)

Cheers, Loudon

Duff, I like your NLP approach – in fact, i think you’ve touched on one of the key problems, many people expect GTD to be a complete pre-packaged solution rather than a set of strategies.

Relenta, I’ve looked at your site, sounds like you’ve got a great software system there which might even tempt people away from Outlook. And it would be nice to have fewer folders than 43!

Ah, Adam Khan, I knew we had little chance of converting the ‘True Believers,’ but this article – like all of Whakate – was never intended as “linkbait” (ow!!); I’m a post-grad qualified professional journalist with over a decade of experience in major metropolitan newspapers – and I was paid to write this article, put in lots of hours of research and interview some heavy-hitters in the productivity arena – that’s content, not linkbait. Totally understand if you disagree with the headline though!

Brad, I think some people will find your “Lloyd” paper assistant pretty useful. I guess some GTD fans will want to do their own tweaking, while others will be really happy to use someone else’s expertise & stop reinventing the wheel.

Dominique – well, it all depends on your own personal perspective, I guess my argument is that GTD (while fabulous) is not the perfect solution for every person or every scenario. As Seinfeld would say – “Not that there’s anything wrong with that!”

Rational, I’m glad I’m not the only one who never finishes their to-do list, and let’s face it, wouldnt it be a dull old life if we did!

And finally to David Spark, wow! Thanks for posting this link, I’ve just finished watching your video, it was fantastic to hear all the faults of “the most organised people on the planet,” as you said. (And a little depressing to realise how many of their bad habits I had – and in many cases, still have!) Ah, well, perfection is a little dull, don’t you think?

cheers, Fran

http://www.sparkminute.com/?p=557

Check it out here.

Brad

Our company, for one, is developing a GTD application for a shared and geographically dispersed business environment:

http://www.relenta.com

(And of course it remains a wonderful tool for personal productivity.)

Relenta also happens to make Merlin Mann’s original 43Folders concept obsolete…sorry Merlin! With Relenta you no longer need 43 folders to organize your email and create tasks/next actions from it, which are automatically linked to calendar.

On a side note, here’s his beautiful and slightly sad essay on the quality and quantity of communications in today’s world:

http://www.43folders.com/better

http://simpletimemanagement.blogspot.com/

Personally, I’ve found GTD’s principles very helpful. I think they continue to apply regardless of what implementation you choose.

On the other hand, GTD actually doesn’t specify how many lists to keep, what to put on those lists, how often to review, how often to process your inboxes, etc. People think that the system does, but from interviewing Mr. Allen on my podcast and attending his seminar, it’s clear that he is proposing a very flexible approach that fits well with the variety of implementations.

See http://precisionchange.com/2008/06/04/episode-9-david-allen-can-make-time-disappear/

In the language of Neuro-Linguistic Programming, GTD is a set of strategies for getting things done, but not the specifics of how to do them, nor a substitute for actually doing them!

In addition to strategies for doing, we also need specific ways of implementing that work best for our unique contexts and personalities. Many people also need a way to deal with unpleasant emotions like stress, anxiety, anger towards a boss/coworker, etc. GTD helps at a cognitive-behavioral level, but not so clearly at an emotional level. Lately I’ve been coaching people to deal with such emotions (as make up procrastination) with a technique called Core Transformation.

Having effective strategies for doing is great, but it’s not everything.

@Mark, @Emile: You guys are spot on in your comments about mental clarity and the “Mind Like Water” state. It’s crucial to “getting” the GTD system.

My thoughts on GTD: Some might feel overwhelmed by neverending to-do lists, but that feeling should instead trigger another response: NO. This means that you will have to start refusing new tasks, and the best way you can start doing that is to be conscious of everything you need to do.

Have you guys checked out the reader’s article “GTD Is Not For Me”? Would love to hear your comments on that one.

http://jasonrspencer.com/2008/10/11/the-getting-things-done-phenomenon/

She is also a very talented writer which makes the above article a real pleasure to read. The point with GTD if properly implemented is that you still need a daily tool for recalibration and this is still going to be some form of list to make your descisious about your priorities. The corner stone of the GTD model to me is that it really helps you clear your head so that you can tackle life’s bigger issues.

People often miss the subtler “higher altitudes” because they are taken for granted in Getting Things Done and Ready for Anything. Often times, no matter how much you state something which David does clearly in both of these books about the multiple levels of perspective, people miss the boat because they want someone to hold their hands through it and expound upon it in excrutiating detail.

Regardless of whether you choose to go top down and bottom up you have to credit his integrity. The comendable thing about Allen is that he does not monetize his system in such a proprietary matter as other Productivity experts. He also does not borrow other people’s ideas without crediting them. He both credits his sources and he also does not slam other people’s way of thinking–unlike other people do. All I can say is that Whakate is on to something here and I want to thank Fran for making me think!!!!

The system can be applied to offline, online, high tech, low tech.
the point is having a brain outside your brain, that keeps track of data.

and having a clear way of processing that information so you can get things done.

GTD doesn’t tell you how to get things done faster, or do less work.
it’s a system for letting your brain be free of keeping all your to do lists in your head.

and it frees you from cracking giant “to do” lists that can’t be managed properly.

The part about GTD that excites me is not the tech side, but optimizing the process of GTD itself.

or taking the pricinples of GTD and applying them in weird ways not normally thought of…

for example, I got the idea to organize my desktop by creating 2 folders.

1.Inbox
2. Filing Cabinet (with 26 folders A-Z)

Based on the concept in the book for a physical filing cabinet, you
put all your files (reference material) in a folder called “filing cabinet”

where do you find that notepad file “jerrys e-mail address”
in a filing cabinet labeled A-Z?

most likely, either under J (jerry) or E (email addresses)
still can’t find it? use your google desktop search bar.

How about that picture of grandmas and the kids?
try “P for pictures” or G for “grandma and the kids”

The key is finding and naming a folder and file something you’ll actually remember, something your brain would naturally find.

you wouldn’t call a file “crazy picture of grandma” and file it under C for crazy pictures (that makes no sense to your brain)

It’s simple hacks like that, that make my life easier, that’s the exciting part of GTD… the rest is just details.