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I found GTD and I did not get along. For me, the result was the opposite of its name, or exactly the name if you define "things" to be all the pointless things

I found GTD and I did not get along. For me, the result was the opposite of its name, or exactly the name if you define "things" to be all the pointless things in life that you shouldn't waste your time with. I found the important/due date quadrant system espoused by Randy Pausch in his Time Managenent video to be the best way to get important things done. GTD didn't make that distinction and in my experience, it made it worse. Disclaimer: I know how overzealous I was about GTD when I was using it, and I want to say that I'm not interested in talking about why you think I should try GTD again. I don't want to debate with anyone about GTD. This is only my experience with trying to use it in my life 5 years ago for about a year. It didn't mesh with my goals. I am excited for you if it's served you well, though!

brazzledazzle 11y ago
Not debating you, asking so I can be aware of the pitfall when I try out GTD: Did you try not tracking the pointless things? Is tracking everything a philosophical aspect of the system?
- will_pseudonym 11y ago
  It seemed like tracking the pointless things was the process, and the benefit was that they'd be out of your head. Made total sense in the moment, but looking back I just see it as a very effective psychological defense against real change.
  - jeremysmyth 11y ago
    Unless you're defining "pointless" incorrectly, you're wrong. The start of the "inbox processing" step is to decide if something is worth doing. That filters the pointless things right at the start. Only then do you do it (if it's less than 2 minutes work), or add it into the rest of the GTD process: Delegate it, or defer it.
luketych 11y ago
A year is not long enough.
- will_pseudonym 11y ago
  Curious, why do you feel that way? What changed after a year? I feel like I know after a year if something is right for me or not, like my fiancé, lol... A fancy checklist system needs more than a year? Seems spurious to me.
  - luketych 11y ago
    I have spent over 23 minutes writing this, wtf is wrong with me? : In my own (slightly bizarre) experience, it's more about the habits than the "fancy checklist" system. It's more than a checklist system, more than a calendar, etc. It's how these pieces work in concert with one another. Whether through GTD or some other system of operating/thinking, we are all craving a way to have things taken care of for us and not having to worry about them. Imagine if you had a little robot friend that reminded you about your appointments. It would wake you up when you wanted to be woken up (and never failed you like an alarm clock). You could tell the robot to remind you of an idea you just had and want to think about at a different time & the robot would remind you at a good time. This robot could be seen as an extension of the mind. Like the invention of ink & paper. But this little robot doesn't exist yet. We have to use our own hands and minds, or we can delegate to other people. GTD is an attempt to do this. Now I should admit that I do not follow GTD fully. I am using GTD plus some other pieces, but I do see GTD as one of the hearts. And this took me 2-3 years before I started to reap the benefits. For the first 2 years it was an off-and-on thing. Things would run smoothly, and then a clog would get caught in the piping, leading to productivity relapse. The problem with GTD is that there are too many integral pieces, and if any one of those pieces breaks down the whole system breaks down. I was fortunate enough to have health issues and not have a job at the time so I could pour countless hours into this on the faith that I would reach consistency. In hindsight, the only reason why I bought into GTD religiously in the first place, inspiring me to put in retarded amounts of time was that I was reading heavily into willpower, and the importance of conserving mental energy, especially for decision making and other high-level brain functions. The book Willpower by Roy F. Baumeister had endorsed David Allen and GTD. I respect Baumeister immensely as he is an opponent of the self-esteem movement, a movement that has really fucked up many peoples' ability to self-regulate their emotions and focus. As everyone was focusing on the promises of higher self-esteem (Baumeister also started in this area), he was researching things like self-control, emotional intelligence, focus and willpower.

brazzledazzle 11y ago

Not debating you, asking so I can be aware of the pitfall when I try out GTD: Did you try not tracking the pointless things? Is tracking everything a philosophical aspect of the system?

will_pseudonym 11y ago
It seemed like tracking the pointless things was the process, and the benefit was that they'd be out of your head. Made total sense in the moment, but looking back I just see it as a very effective psychological defense against real change.
- jeremysmyth 11y ago
  Unless you're defining "pointless" incorrectly, you're wrong. The start of the "inbox processing" step is to decide if something is worth doing. That filters the pointless things right at the start. Only then do you do it (if it's less than 2 minutes work), or add it into the rest of the GTD process: Delegate it, or defer it.

luketych 11y ago

A year is not long enough.

will_pseudonym 11y ago
Curious, why do you feel that way? What changed after a year? I feel like I know after a year if something is right for me or not, like my fiancé, lol... A fancy checklist system needs more than a year? Seems spurious to me.
- luketych 11y ago
  I have spent over 23 minutes writing this, wtf is wrong with me? : In my own (slightly bizarre) experience, it's more about the habits than the "fancy checklist" system. It's more than a checklist system, more than a calendar, etc. It's how these pieces work in concert with one another. Whether through GTD or some other system of operating/thinking, we are all craving a way to have things taken care of for us and not having to worry about them. Imagine if you had a little robot friend that reminded you about your appointments. It would wake you up when you wanted to be woken up (and never failed you like an alarm clock). You could tell the robot to remind you of an idea you just had and want to think about at a different time & the robot would remind you at a good time. This robot could be seen as an extension of the mind. Like the invention of ink & paper. But this little robot doesn't exist yet. We have to use our own hands and minds, or we can delegate to other people. GTD is an attempt to do this. Now I should admit that I do not follow GTD fully. I am using GTD plus some other pieces, but I do see GTD as one of the hearts. And this took me 2-3 years before I started to reap the benefits. For the first 2 years it was an off-and-on thing. Things would run smoothly, and then a clog would get caught in the piping, leading to productivity relapse. The problem with GTD is that there are too many integral pieces, and if any one of those pieces breaks down the whole system breaks down. I was fortunate enough to have health issues and not have a job at the time so I could pour countless hours into this on the faith that I would reach consistency. In hindsight, the only reason why I bought into GTD religiously in the first place, inspiring me to put in retarded amounts of time was that I was reading heavily into willpower, and the importance of conserving mental energy, especially for decision making and other high-level brain functions. The book Willpower by Roy F. Baumeister had endorsed David Allen and GTD. I respect Baumeister immensely as he is an opponent of the self-esteem movement, a movement that has really fucked up many peoples' ability to self-regulate their emotions and focus. As everyone was focusing on the promises of higher self-esteem (Baumeister also started in this area), he was researching things like self-control, emotional intelligence, focus and willpower.