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> Why would we use a dogmatic "shortest task first" approach for everything else? Because that's what the GTD mantra says? "If it takes less than 5 minutes, ju
by Swizec 10y ago
> Why would we use a dogmatic "shortest task first" approach for everything else?
Because that's what the GTD mantra says? "If it takes less than 5 minutes, just do it immediately"
I'm pointing out why in my experience that mantra doesn't work. And I've never read the actual book, so it's very likely I'm taking the mantra too literally and that's why it doesn't work.
- Jtsummers 10y agoHaving read the book recently (within the past couple years) it also has a portion near the beginning describing GTD as a toolkit more than a system proper (probably me paraphrasing, but not treating it as dogma is part of it). Take what works and mold it for your own practice. It's not dogma, mistaking the text for dogma is how we ended up with Agile consultants. Even if you do treat that as a mantra, another part of GTD is prioritization. If you aren't getting your real obligations done because of all these 5-minute tasks, then you're not prioritizing properly. http://gettingthingsdone.com/fivesteps/ http://gettingthingsdone.com/fivesteps/ That's a good distillation of the concept. The idea of doing the quick stuff immediately is to prevent a massive backlog later that drains you even more. Even things like checking your email can be done less frequently to prevent unnecessary context switches. Check your email 2-5 times a day instead of leaving it open all the time. When you open it and see a bunch of short tasks, do them or schedule them (with a preference to doing to prevent that accidental backlog), then resume your work. If it's taken you 30 minutes (or some arbitrary, personal limit), switch back to your main tasks and get back to the email again later.