4 ms·

> You stop feeling depressed, or you stop feeling overwhelmed (at least a little bit). That's why you stop. Could be. Another problem would be doubt: Is there

by cJ0th 10y ago

> You stop feeling depressed, or you stop feeling overwhelmed (at least a little bit). That's why you stop. Could be. Another problem would be doubt: Is there any value in what I do? With some goals like loosing weight it is obvious. But how about: should I write that book? The method is very efficient no matter what you do. That is, you approach your goal with 100 miles/hour and not walking speed. If at some point it becomes clear that you followed the wrong goal you wasted a good amount of energy. I think knowing this can paralyze you.

mikekchar 10y ago
I think that "Is there any value in what I do" a good question, but perhaps you can think about it differently. For example, "Should I write a book?" If you start to write a book and don't finish, have you wasted your time? If your answer to this question is "yes", then maybe writing a book is not a good idea for you. Again, it's getting into that category of wanting to have written a book, not wanting to write a book. Instead you can decide to write. It might be a book. It might not be a book. In fact, if you have never written a book before, probably it's much better not to aim at writing a book. For example, even if you want to run a marathon some day, you don't get up out of bed, never having run before and say, "Today I am going to run a marathon". Instead you get up and run. You do that every day for a year or so and then you start thinking, "Maybe I'll run a marathon". I think people get confused because they see people just write a book, or run a marathon or whatever. If you are Stephen King, you can wake up one day and think "I'm going to write a book" because you already have all the skills you need to organise and maintain yourself over the period of time you need. You also know that writing is something you feel comfortable doing day in and day out. And although I can do many things that Stephen King can't do, I can not just decide to write a book. It takes experience to get to that point. Another trick that I use for this kind of thing is to think about what I currently do that feels like a waste of time. For example, sitting around and watching mindless TV. It's easier to think, "I'm not going to watch TV today". But the question is, what are you going to do? Suddenly the world opens up. You can do anything. Maybe it is running. Maybe it is writing a book. Maybe it is programming. You aren't wasting your time, but you also don't need some paralysing overarching goal either.
- cJ0th 10y ago
  All very true but what I meant to say (but didn't actually articulate) is that when you apply GTD it becomes clear that you need priorities. Let's say you are well versed in a new technology that is quickly gaining popularity. Now you are unsure whether you want to write a book about this technology. Maybe it becomes THE standard book on this topic! Otoh, you could apply at a company where you can work on a project that uses said technology. There are obviously pros and cons to both ideas. One Scenario: You start writing the book because it seems to be the more fulfilling job. Some months in a stronger, competing technology arrives. Now you think: Was starting the book a good idea? If I had taken the job at least I'd have earned a paycheck and had something to put on my CV. In hindsight you may realize that you crave a more secure lifestyle etc. The time has passed so there already would be a gap on your CV if you don't finish the book. So maybe finishing the book is not a bad idea. At least you can demonstrate that you've done something successfully during the last couple of months. Let's assume finishing the book would take two more months. Could you easily complete it when everything is already outlined with GTD? Further more, could you easily abandon it when everything is already outlined with GTD?
  - mikekchar 10y ago
    I see. I have to admit that I'm especially bad at these kinds of decisions :-) I don't use GTD, so abandoning my plan is easy for me. I also don't try to optimise, generally speaking. The one thing I can say from my experience with software projects is that plans must change in order to have success. It is rare that you will nail the correct course of action up front. In fact it is rare that the thing the customer needs looks anything like what they think they want at the start. This seems to be true for me in my life as well. A friend once told me that you should tell the universe what you want and then wait for it to be delivered. The trick is that the universe never gives you what you asked for, but rather what you need. Your job is to recognise it when it comes. Easier said than done! But anyway, thank your for the ideas. I will have to think about this!

by cJ0th 10y ago

mikekchar 10y ago

I think that "Is there any value in what I do" a good question, but perhaps you can think about it differently. For example, "Should I write a book?" If you start to write a book and don't finish, have you wasted your time? If your answer to this question is "yes", then maybe writing a book is not a good idea for you. Again, it's getting into that category of wanting to have written a book, not wanting to write a book. Instead you can decide to write. It might be a book. It might not be a book. In fact, if you have never written a book before, probably it's much better not to aim at writing a book. For example, even if you want to run a marathon some day, you don't get up out of bed, never having run before and say, "Today I am going to run a marathon". Instead you get up and run. You do that every day for a year or so and then you start thinking, "Maybe I'll run a marathon". I think people get confused because they see people just write a book, or run a marathon or whatever. If you are Stephen King, you can wake up one day and think "I'm going to write a book" because you already have all the skills you need to organise and maintain yourself over the period of time you need. You also know that writing is something you feel comfortable doing day in and day out. And although I can do many things that Stephen King can't do, I can not just decide to write a book. It takes experience to get to that point. Another trick that I use for this kind of thing is to think about what I currently do that feels like a waste of time. For example, sitting around and watching mindless TV. It's easier to think, "I'm not going to watch TV today". But the question is, what are you going to do? Suddenly the world opens up. You can do anything. Maybe it is running. Maybe it is writing a book. Maybe it is programming. You aren't wasting your time, but you also don't need some paralysing overarching goal either.

cJ0th 10y ago
All very true but what I meant to say (but didn't actually articulate) is that when you apply GTD it becomes clear that you need priorities. Let's say you are well versed in a new technology that is quickly gaining popularity. Now you are unsure whether you want to write a book about this technology. Maybe it becomes THE standard book on this topic! Otoh, you could apply at a company where you can work on a project that uses said technology. There are obviously pros and cons to both ideas. One Scenario: You start writing the book because it seems to be the more fulfilling job. Some months in a stronger, competing technology arrives. Now you think: Was starting the book a good idea? If I had taken the job at least I'd have earned a paycheck and had something to put on my CV. In hindsight you may realize that you crave a more secure lifestyle etc. The time has passed so there already would be a gap on your CV if you don't finish the book. So maybe finishing the book is not a bad idea. At least you can demonstrate that you've done something successfully during the last couple of months. Let's assume finishing the book would take two more months. Could you easily complete it when everything is already outlined with GTD? Further more, could you easily abandon it when everything is already outlined with GTD?
- mikekchar 10y ago
  I see. I have to admit that I'm especially bad at these kinds of decisions :-) I don't use GTD, so abandoning my plan is easy for me. I also don't try to optimise, generally speaking. The one thing I can say from my experience with software projects is that plans must change in order to have success. It is rare that you will nail the correct course of action up front. In fact it is rare that the thing the customer needs looks anything like what they think they want at the start. This seems to be true for me in my life as well. A friend once told me that you should tell the universe what you want and then wait for it to be delivered. The trick is that the universe never gives you what you asked for, but rather what you need. Your job is to recognise it when it comes. Easier said than done! But anyway, thank your for the ideas. I will have to think about this!