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A Beginner´s Guide to Getting Things Done

550 points by PeOe 9y ago

miguelrochefort 9y ago
Getting Things Done is by far the most influential book I've read. It has changed the way I think about everything. However, I have never been able to find a good implementation of the system. I know that David Allen (GTD) and Charles Simonyi (Intentional Software) were working on something at some point, but I haven't heard anything since.
- f_allwein 9y ago
  I have a homemade implementation in Google Sheets that sort of works. I use it sometimes more, sometimes less. Template at https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1YUG6--8BOk_TdxDTSY9AQEFGue_0msiJ3p_JDA8UB_4/edit?usp=sharing https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1YUG6--8BOk_TdxDTSY9A... - feel free to try.
- mathgeek 9y ago
  Adding things to calendars is the biggest habit I've built from reading the book years ago. That's the one thing I recommend as the best takeaway if you only have one.
  - mindlessmarty 9y ago
    I haven't read the book, since this comes across as new to me...but doesn't this just makes you more alert/self-aware? Which is good but what is the point of adding things to do in a list or calendar if you don't actually go and make them? Is this discussed in the book?
    - rtb 9y ago
      It is discussed in the book. You should just read the book if you want to consider this seriously. If you're just looking for a summary: there is very little point writing things in a list if you don't read the list, obvs. The key to GTD is that if you actually do write everything in lists and calendars, then you are freed from having to remember things. If you can reach that inflection point, then it frees up a lot of mental capacity and is glorious. Remembering things is surprisingly mentally draining, as it basically consists of thinking about them every now and then. Read the book.
    - PeOe 9y ago
      It is in fact discussed in the book. GTD is great for procrastination if used wrongly, because only adding stuff to the lists isn´t going to complete the tasks. Also, it is important to note that GTD isn´t a fool proof system. Without constantly reviewing the tasks and checking whether tasks should be added to another list, the inbox piles up and then the system doesn´t make sense anymore.
- Azareus 9y ago
  The only implementation I have found worthwhile is paper, and to a certain extent, plain markdown/org files in Dropbox. Everything else, like OmniFocus and whatnot has had severe issues with the flexibility inherently required.
  - PeOe 9y ago
    May I recommend http://zenkit.com http://zenkit.com It´s really easy to use, offers tons of different views on your data and grows with your product. Disclaimer: I work at Zenkit.
  - Jtsummers 9y ago
    Out of curiosity, what are your issues with OmniFocus? I have some issues with it (primarily that it's hard to share information from it with other people), but otherwise I find it to be a fantastic personal tool for GTD (I'd use it for work, but my office is all Windows). That said, I do like paper and org-mode at least as much. I definitely find paper best for writing down my intentions and clarifying them before I enter them into OmniFocus.
    - Azareus 9y ago
      I currently still use Omnifocus for part of my system because it is still pretty great, and has excellent cross-device support, but my gripes are: - The context support is weak. It ideally would be replaced by a tagging system, but I doubt that's coming at this point. - No support for making sequentially dependent tasks -- I can't mark task A to be doable as soon as task B completes. (I guess I could, if I do a lot of sub-projects with sequential dependency) - In addition to this, subprojects are janky. They're just kinda awful to use, from the awkward indentation to the fact that the side-bar projects view is not actually a full tree, and just works with folders. This would need to be changed to also expand/be usable for sub-projects, not just for folders and top-level projects. - The system maintenance tools are lacking. One of the core tenets of GTD is to make sure that every project always has a next step, and OmniFocus has no support for this whatsoever, aside from manual review. I realise that paper also doesn't do this, but it seems like something a digital solution should have. - No sharing information, as you said, aside from exporting things as TaskPaper. - Support for deferments, but not for Tickler files, which are one of the handiest things about a paper-based system. - Reference and storage, per nature of OmniFocus, has to be completely separated, which adds jank. I realise this is massive scope-bloat, so it's probably not fair to complain about. Things I really like and will probably keep even after I drop OmniFocus: - The dedicated mail drop. I think even after I move away from OF, this is going to be something I keep. - The "due" list view. OmniFocus pushes you towards using this a lot, even if it's not completely in the spirit. - The good integration between my laptop and phone is going to be hard to live without again. I hope this shed some light on my gripes and issues with OmniFocus. :)
- cJ0th 9y ago
  There are two implementations I find quite good. 1. ThinkingRock It's a desktop client for all operating systems. There are two versions. A free one (v 2.x - still available on sourceforge [0]) and one you have to buy (v 3.x)[1] 2. Getting Things Gnome I find it slightly less convincing than ThinkingRock. What's more, it appears not to be maintained anymore. The offical website is down and there have been no update on github[2] for a while. However, it might be just what you're looking for so you should also give it a try. [0] https://sourceforge.net/projects/thinkingrock/ https://sourceforge.net/projects/thinkingrock/ [1] https://www.trgtd.com.au https://www.trgtd.com.au [2] https://github.com/getting-things-gnome/gtg https://github.com/getting-things-gnome/gtg
- galfarragem 9y ago
  A loose implementation: https://github.com/galfarragem/hamster-gtd https://github.com/galfarragem/hamster-gtd
- PeOe 9y ago
  Maybe this will help you. https://blog.zenkit.com/how-to-set-up-gtd-in-zenkit-902fa6960f8 https://blog.zenkit.com/how-to-set-up-gtd-in-zenkit-902fa696... Disclaimer: I work at http://zenkit.com http://zenkit.com
- dogruck 9y ago
  I use OmniFocus as my tool.
- mcshicks 9y ago
  I've tried many systems over the years for implementing GTD (Palm Pilot, MS Outlook, Evernote, One Note, paper) adding scripts and tools like autohotkey. For me by far the best system is org-mode in emacs, but getting proficient in emacs is not trivial. For me at least emacs also seems to work much better under linux, and org-mode works better if you use emacs as your email client. This is a good reference http://doc.norang.ca/org-mode.html http://doc.norang.ca/org-mode.html
- zentiggr 9y ago
  In over a decade of fiddling with manual / desktop OS / Palm / Palm / Palm / Android versions of tool after tool, I finally realized the only important part of GTD is the "write down enough thoughts to ease the stress of forgetting, in a system you trust". Everything else is jump starting detail, valuable to get going toward less stress but will be adjusted & customized by everyone eventually. Like another answerer to this comment, I finally rolled a custom Sheets layout that works the way I think about things, and over the last few months, have slowly tweaked it closer and closer to my personal thoughtflow. It's not the details of the system that matter, it's the relieving of the stress that makes it worthwhile.
PinkMilkshake 9y ago
Has anyone low in conscientiousness had any success with GTD? It seems to me like this system is amazing for people who are already very conscientious but not well organised.
ThomPete 9y ago
GTD is the utopia of productivity. Everyone attempts to reach it but almost no one (if any) ever will. Those who get the closest realize that you can't live your life like that. In my world GTD become a goal in itself rather than a way to better manage your life. With a few exception (calendar) I lived my life in a way that would make a GTD enthusiast cringe. I am always impressed by those who attempt to do it but never surprised when they finally give up.
- cJ0th 9y ago
  > Those who get the closest realize that you can't live your life like that. This has been my experience. After a while I had to realize that it is too "top-down" for real life. It also made me realize time and again that I often didn't have a clear goal. And when I had one then I was so committed that there was no need for any system except the occasional sticky note. It's a classic example of a great solution (it really is a neat system) to a problem that does not really exist. I could imagine that people with an extremely poor memory would profit from using a well done implementation of gtd. Maybe it would also work for those who have extremely little uncertainty in their (professional) life.
  - pqs 9y ago
    My personal method is partially inspired by GTD. I apply it in a way that suits my own work context and it works well. There is no universal solution. GTD works well for some people in some contexts.
  - lloeki 9y ago
    I used to use GTD, but nowadays I mostly just use the "capture" part, a.k.a LET IT GO OUT OF MY SYSTEM DAMMIT. The remaining steps just sort themselves out as things are falling into very different buckets: a. very general life goals (non actionable by themselves due to their large scale, virtual nature, and can only be achieved by habit as well as internalising what I truly want, but certainly not with reminders), b. whatever I fancy doing when I happen to have some free time (for which I may go back to a quickly jotted draft of step 1, and since I'm in the mood for it, well, I just do it), c. very concrete errands and other mundane tasks. GTD is a worthy attempt at formalising things but in doing so it's way too generic and thus doesn't pragmatically cater for the very different situations above. IOW theory and practice are the same... in theory.
novalis78 9y ago
Sounds exactly like 'How to get what you want' by Raymond Hull, 1967. Just that the system was reversed.
kapauldo 9y ago
Here's the short version: make to do lists and folders and shut off your phone and email for an hour so you don't get interrupted. It's like weight loss techniques. They all work if you follow them.
- RobertoG 9y ago
  Sure, but, in a more pessimistic view, what it's the meaning of 'they all work' if average people can't follow it?
donmatito 9y ago
While I most probably don't follow the tactics of GTD (haven't read them and don't want to) I aggressively follow a strategy that really works for me : reducing cognitive load. I make a point to commit nothing except the task on hand to my working memory. When I say "I should remember to", I immediately stop and use a Messenger bot I coded for that purpose When my wife say "Can you remember to" I immediately ask her to put it into our shared calendar, or I add it to the same bot When a coworker says "can you do X", we add it as a trello card with the appropriate priority People start to get used to it, they probably assume that I have very bad memory or that I'm weird, and we make it work :-) I feel very light since I started enforcing these procedures
- nikivi 9y ago
  "commit nothing except the task on hand to my working memory" is essentially the summary of GTD done approach.
  - komali2 9y ago
    What character did you insert after "G" in "GxTD?" It's not rendering on my browser, weirdly.
    - ajnin 9y ago
      I wondered the same thing. It shows up in Chromium but not Firefox. It is apprently character 0x14, or ASCII for "Device control 4". First time I come across this character !
- brianzelip 9y ago
  I'm a novice programmer and have been building my own small personal web app for remembering references[0]. I'd love to take a look and learn from your bot if you're able to share the code! [0]https://github.com/brianzelip/refrem https://github.com/brianzelip/refrem
  - donmatito 9y ago
polote 9y ago
One thing that does increase my productivity is keeping track of what I do during the day. I didn't have productivity in mind when I started doing that, but the fact is, as I want the data to be accurate, as soon as I hit the "Work" button I focus on work and only on work. Not sure I recommend it thought...
- Nowyouknow 9y ago
  What do you use to keep track of your data?
  - polote 9y ago
    Atimelogger
kamaal 9y ago
The guide being an ace with the GTD technique is some thing the book answers quite well at the end of it. Its a thing called 'Constancy of purpose', its simply a way of saying you can be productive, only if you do work that is satisfying to you. Once you find such work, and you get drowned by it, GTD helps you be organized and work through it in sanity. The problem for most people is working through boring drudgery day in and out, until boredom becomes routine. Brain begins to largely see what it has memorized as pointless to be played out on paper, and sooner than you realize you drop out of GTD. So to an extent you need to be doing new, exciting and at least satisfying stuff to get your GTD regimen going. Once you are involved with such work. GTD is plainly simple. Just list out all tasks in the order of urgency and goals. That is life, decade, yearly, monthly and weekly goals. Then at weekly level, write down stuff and prioritize them. Anything that can be addressed in 5 minutes, just do that right then. Other stuff goes in the order of priority. You review your list every week, and lastly the important concept of deadlines. Once you commit to a job, finish it within a timeline or it becomes irrelevant after a while. The other stuff to GTD is your regular discipline of being motivated, focused etc.
- PeOe 9y ago
  Great explanation! The part with the satisfying stuff is really important. No system works properly if you don´t want to get stuff done. Purpose combined with "actually doing stuff" is the point I guess. One without the other equally results in nothing meaningful.
thibran 9y ago
Write down ideas... I'm very skeptical that this would work, because I have ideas about all kinds of topics all the time. My list would be so crowded and mixed that it would be hard to prioritize anything. At the end I would see on paper that there is too much stuff going on in my head, something that I already know...
- miguelrochefort 9y ago
  Capturing ideas is only the first step. You then organize them, based on time, context, or horizons of focus (Runway, 10,000', 20,000', 30,000', 40,000', 50,000'). Review regularly.
- aequitas 9y ago
  I get bugged with ideas during work constantly, mostly feature creep, sometimes good bugs. But almost always they don't require direct action at that point. When I write these down and they go out of my head so I can focus on my tasks again. I was able to adopt this behaviour after going Full Getting Things Done for a few months. My mind learned to trust that if I write something down, I will stumble upon it later and it no longer has to worry about it at that point. Although I'm cheating it a little bit I have a lot less going on at the same time (until my mind doesn't trust me anymore).
- lloeki 9y ago
  > At the end I would see on paper that there is too much stuff going on in my head, something that I already know... The point is that you get it out of your head, and let it go, to focus on the task at hand. The fact that this physically accumulates outside of your head, is just a side effect, and just points out that you can't do everything, and so you have to let go of some task or idea, maybe for today, maybe forever. I used to use GTD, but nowadays I mostly just use the "capture" part, a.k.a LET IT GO OUT OF MY SYSTEM DAMMIT. The remaining steps just sort themselves out as things are falling into very different buckets: a. very general life goals (non actionable by themselves due to their large scale, virtual nature, and can only be achieved by habit as well as internalising what I truly want, but certainly not with reminders), b. whatever I fancy doing when I happen to have some free time (for which I may go back to a quickly jotted draft of step 1, and since I'm in the mood for it, well, I just do it), c. very concrete errands and other mundane tasks.
zimbatm 9y ago
Every time I tried to do GTD it just makes me unhappy. It is something related with encoding all the little things, put them into boxes, organize. And ultimately becoming the robot executing the tasks that I have set for myself. The list becomes the things I have to do, it grows larger and larger, there is never enough time. Instead, let the brain do what it does best; forget. Put the really important things in the calendar, like Tax and VAT returns. All the rest in not important. Then pick two tasks for the day. It's all a bit fuzzy and that's what I like the best; it leaves room for my creativity.
- ttflee 9y ago
  GTD is more or less a real world event loop of tasks implemented on individual human beings.
- voiper1 9y ago
  Sounds like you'd like Zen to Done, a modified version of GTD. The basics is here: https://zenhabits.net/zen-to-done-ztd-the-ultimate-simple-productivity-system/ https://zenhabits.net/zen-to-done-ztd-the-ultimate-simple-pr... (and there's a longer ebook version for sale, too).
- bachmeier 9y ago
  > The list becomes the things I have to do, it grows larger and larger, there is never enough time. I'd argue that you're not doing GTD the right way if that's the case. If you're doing GTD, you should be making decisions about what you should and shouldn't be doing. > Instead, let the brain do what it does best; forget. Put the really important things in the calendar, like Tax and VAT returns. All the rest in not important. Then pick two tasks for the day. It's all a bit fuzzy and that's what I like the best; it leaves room for my creativity. That's what should happen if you're doing GTD. There's no way you can "forget" if you know there are dozens of open loops floating around. If you're not explicit about the things you have to do and the things you're not going to do, there's no way you are going to be able to focus on your work.
renegadesensei 9y ago
I recently started making small handwritten TODO lists that I keep in my pocket. It has significantly improved my productivity. Every morning while I'm getting ready, I usually think of about seven or eight things I really want to get done that day, and if I'm lucky, I'll actually do one or two. With this method I find I'm getting about four or five things done. I find that the act of actually handwriting the TODO lists helps solidify exactly what needs to be done and in what order. Keeping it in my pocket is also a nice mnemonic. I'm always feeling the paper when I reach for my wallet or something so I don't forget. I keep a pen in my pocket too so I can add stuff to the list and cross things off as I finish, which is really satisfying. It's also useful for capturing various little thoughts, observations, project ideas, and other things that float into my mind at random points. It works better than task management apps or calendar reminders on my phone. It's a pain to configure those sorts of things and I actively try to avoid staring at my phone too much. Sometimes the old-fashioned approaches are the best.
- lloeki 9y ago
  > pneumonic mnemonic?
  - deleted 9y ago
    [deleted]
  - renegadesensei 9y ago
    Thanks!
- ctw 9y ago
  This is what I do too. I have a pad of sticky notes on my desk and each morning I write what I want to work on today in order of priority. Then I schedule some time in my calendar to work on each thing. I cross off the things I finish, so on the following morning I can see what I didn't finish the day before and add it to the current day if need be before throwing the note out and starting the next one.
- bernardino 9y ago
  I do this too! I have never been fond of task management applications. I have an urgent list I carry in my pocket, and a future and someday list stapled to my wall where my desk is at home. As mentioned above, it’s best to write and start with small tasks like “make my bed” since confidence is built on accomplishment and you’ll feel good about it. I though would like o state that sleep and being well-rested is the backbone of getting things done. Some may even add exercise to the mix.
ttflee 9y ago
I just wish that I had finished reading the implementation of CFRunloop so I could compare it with GTD.
GrumpyNl 9y ago
To all the people with the little and big todo lists, live a little. Let life surprise you.
- zentiggr 9y ago
  I have a very flexible list, I use it to remind me of the things I have some commitment to , and the rest of my time I do what comes up... not either/or.
- PeOe 9y ago
  I guess that´s why many people don´t even start with trying to implement GTD into their lives. They fear being "too organized". What many people don´t get is that after "clearing your head" and really using GTD you have more space in your mind to actually live and be creative.
  - bachmeier 9y ago
    Wish I could upvote this twice. The problem people have is all the stuff that needs to be done - a mountain of email, Christmas shopping, personal projects, and such. Ignoring it won't make it go away. If you can't work because a dog is biting you in the leg, one response is "I'm too busy to fight with a dog right now, and fighting with a dog isn't much fun, so I'll just ignore it and focus on my work instead." Not sure that's the best path to productivity.
schuellerpa 9y ago
What a great article! I wanted to read the book for a long time but never had enough time. The article really seems to summarize it and makes it understandable. Well done! I´ve also stumbled upon this one on the same blog. It explains the implementation with Zenkit. I guess it would be worth a try. https://blog.zenkit.com/how-to-set-up-gtd-in-zenkit-902fa6960f8 https://blog.zenkit.com/how-to-set-up-gtd-in-zenkit-902fa696...
jstewartmobile 9y ago
This was mercifully shorter than the Cal Newport book. That's about all I can say for it. Ivan Sutherland had the secret, and it only took one paragraph to share it: 'I used to hate washing dishes. I would delay as long as possible. Eyeing the daunting pile of dishes, I would say to myself, “I'll be here forever at this dumb task.” The enormity of the task deterred me from starting. I still dislike washing dishes, but I now get the dishes done promptly because I learned a simple procedure for doing the job from my wife's uncle. The procedure starts out “Wash first dish...” I have a similar procedure for starting travel vouchers, it goes “Record first expense...”' edit: his rationale was equally short and sweet: 'Each of my little procedures embodies two different aids to getting started. By invoking a familiar procedure I reduce my need for courage. By breaking the task into smaller tasks through emphasizing that only the first dish need be washed or the first expense need be recorded, I reduce my estimate of risk. Both mechanisms work. These sources of courage are sometimes called “discipline,” especially when being taught to the young. Discipline relies on a practiced use of routine subgoals to avoid defeat by fear. Its highest form comes when the Lieutenant, charging up a heavily defended hill, says, “Follow me men!”—and they do.'
- Dolores12 9y ago
  a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step (c) Laozi
  - jstewartmobile 9y ago
    Ha! Love it!
- lxglv 9y ago
  Personally I used the same approach to start running: “just lace the shoes”. After you finish this, you are almost running.
  - PeOe 9y ago
    Haha! that´s genius. Could technically be applied to lots of unpleasant tasks. I sometimes have difficulties with getting out of bed in the morning. Might a "just stand up" help with that problem? I will test that tomorrow.
skate22 9y ago
Seems like agile development for the individual. My only concern is that it will only work as well as it does for our company. To be fair, i do not think my company uses agile correctly (more rules than guidelines)
submeta 9y ago
I read David Allen's book in 2002 and immediately started implementing it. At first it felt like godsend. Capturing every "open loop" (everything that is not the way it should be = everything with a delta between current and desired state) and deciding for each of them if there is any action that I need to take and if so, what the very next step was - that practice alone released a ton of energy and gave me a sense of control. Prior to that I felt overwhelmed, had a sense of anxiety that there are things in my life that should be different. Over time I realized that what GTD was missing (or not stressing enough) was the insight that in addition to knowing your commitments and deciding what we need to do to make them move forward we need to constantly remind us that resources are limited and priorities are not distributed equally but rather very asymmetrically. Only a few activities will have a major impact on our lives. The key is to focus on a few activities and deliberately ignore the other "80%". And while we ignore the other activities we have to learn to deal with the stress of not doing the other activities. David Allen's method encourages people to keep lists of open issues. That's a very good practice. But it lacks the advice to implement a filter: To ignore 80% of the potential issues before we let them onto our lists. And to endure the stress that is caused by ignoring most of the things that want our attention. Tl;dr: GTD does not stress making decisions and setting priorities enough (even though it mentions it in many chapters).
- AhtiK 9y ago
  That's why I've combined GTD lists with Eisenhower Matrix (prioritizing over Urgent-Important quadrants). Random but good video explaining it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tT89OZ7TNwc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tT89OZ7TNwc I did run a software product once that was combining GTD and Eisenhower Matrix, which worked quite well. It's now discontinued but a short video in case interested is still online, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=22S_1Qjq2J0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=22S_1Qjq2J0
  - 1123581321 9y ago
    During one of the most productive times of my life, I organized my tasks this way in Outlook 2007, of all places, using custom fields and its form designer.
Numberwang 9y ago
The problem for me is habits, not projects. I've yet to find an acceptable solution to keeping habits going.
- spodek 9y ago
  Does http://sidcha.com http://sidcha.com help?
agumonkey 9y ago
tiny reminder that emacs org mode is somehow pretty suited to implement GTD https://duckduckgo.com/?q=emacs+gtd&t=ffsb&atb=v84-7&ia=web https://duckduckgo.com/?q=emacs+gtd&t=ffsb&atb=v84-7&ia=web
- cheshire_cat 9y ago
  Nicolas Petton (maintainer of Indium) wrote a great blog post about his org-mode GTD workflow: https://emacs.cafe/emacs/orgmode/gtd/2017/06/30/orgmode-gtd.html https://emacs.cafe/emacs/orgmode/gtd/2017/06/30/orgmode-gtd....
voiper1 9y ago
NOTE: If you find GTD "too technical" or "too overwhelming" give a try to ZTD, zen to done. It's a modified version that keeps goals and main tasks for the day front and center. https://zenhabits.net/zen-to-done-ztd-the-ultimate-simple-productivity-system/ https://zenhabits.net/zen-to-done-ztd-the-ultimate-simple-pr...
erikb 9y ago
Instead of having twelve tasks now you have 15, because you also need to keep track of the twelve tasks you are not doing. the problem is often more about getting started than getting done.
- PeOe 9y ago
  That is absolutely true. Wihtout actually getting started, nothing happens. No system can "make you" more productive. You make yourself more productive by implementing the system.
wyclif 9y ago
As far as processing the inbox goes, I feel like GTD has too much overhead. "Inbox Zero for Life" works better than anything I've ever tried: https://xph.us/2013/01/22/inbox-zero-for-life.html https://xph.us/2013/01/22/inbox-zero-for-life.html
halayli 9y ago
Here's how I get things done for tech related projects but it can be used for any other project. It's just what works for me but I am sharing it in case it can help someone else. Take what you want from it. I maintain everything in notes, I use apple notes but you can use whatever as long as it's very quick to access and modify. I tried many tools / sites but I noticed that the moment the list is maintained on some service/site I start maintaining it less. With notes, it's one click away and accessible from my phone. I also avoided tools that require me to click to create a note, click to delete, or anything slightly complicated. I just need to move lines of text around with my keyboard. Start by creating a new note for the project. I define the begin/end boundaries of the project by creating a list of high level tasks. If you can go directly to low level tasks why not. Tasks can include define & create API endpoints, research tasks, modules to implement, devops stuff, docs, marketing, etc... I spend a good time creating the list. Sometimes days. I start working on the tasks and while doing so I add/remove more detailed tasks as things become clearer and group related tasks. For example, I might have a group of tasks related to an HTTP API, and another group that lists the modules I need to implement. If a module is big enough it might become a new group and tasks related to it will be added. while more_tasks: new_tasks = execute_next_task() if new_tasks: add_tasks(new_tasks) As I stumble on ideas while working on the project, I add them to a Backlog group sorted by priority. These tasks might need more thinking and can either get dropped or moved later to get implemented. What's important to me is to get these ideas/thoughts out so that they don't distract me. Let's say you're creating a new saas product. When the project is complete, start creating new tasks related to running the business like 'research keywords', 'create adwords campaign', etc. I also have a list of various personal todos, and a list called 'Context Switching' which I use to list the projects I am currently working on which includes work and non-work related projects. It clears my mind and feels less overwhelming when I can look at a note and know exactly what I am working on. It also help me not feel 'lost' and maintain priority. The main goal of this is not to keep tasks in my head. What's important is to always know what you need to work on. If you don't know, then spend time (hours/days) figuring this out. I live by these notes. The notes are of course useless if not constantly maintained.
joaorico 9y ago
In theory, GTD is great. In practice, it comes up short in several ways. TLDR - For some years now, I use a system called Agile Results [1]. It's a method (with less marketing behind it than GTD) which has been gaining traction for a lot of good reasons. I couldn't be happier with it. I won't get into the details, but its biggest edge against GTD is the flexibility. With Agile Results, you can let go for a couple of hours or days, and the system doesn't fall apart, it's more organic. It's oriented towards Results in several domains of life, in a balanced way. The manner in which it breaks down the hierarchy of projects, temporal horizons and relative importance of tasks is the real key. It solves the same problems as GTD (eg, your mind is for thinking not remembering [of course, you can still incorporate spaced repetition for what you want to remember long term]). But it solves them in a way which is more organic, focused and iterative. If you only implement a portion of it, it has the proportional benefits - it's not all or nothing. It also lets you integrate parts of other productivity systems. There's a book about it [1], and a 30 day program to getting started incrementally [2]. I realize it sounds like hyperbole, but, after some years using it, I consider the problem of productivity essentially solved. [1] https://www.amazon.com/Getting-Results-Agile-Way-Personal/dp/0984548203 https://www.amazon.com/Getting-Results-Agile-Way-Personal/dp... [2] http://www.30daysofgettingresults.com/ http://www.30daysofgettingresults.com/ [3]http://www.asianefficiency.com/agile-results/ http://www.asianefficiency.com/agile-results/
- schtitt 9y ago
  So I just read through your [2]. The first part seemed good and reasonable, though towards the end (from day 10 onwards) I felt like the guy was kind of just trying to come up with stuff to excite the reader, and which in my mind cluttered the simplicity of the rest, i.e. the 3 things a week, 3 things a day, hotspots, monday vision and friday reflection (+ dump your brain, but everyone says that). Would you mind giving a more concrete telling of how you have implemented this system in your life and which parts of this 30 days-thing you find to be indispensable and which are just fluff?
BeetleB 9y ago
I first encountered GTD in 2007. After about 8 years of trying, I finally accepted that GTD didn't work for me. I think any workflow management has to be tailored to your personality. I digged that from the start and did not fall into the trap of being 100% David Allen compliant. Some of my issues: - My lists grow long. Way too long. I recall he suggests looking at the Someday/Maybe during the weekly review. That just overwhelmed me. - Not enough attention is paid upon "upkeep". I know you're supposed to clean things out every week, but it was a lot of work, and mentally draining. David Allen did not seriously address cognitive load. - I could never work out a system to handle "Waiting For" tasks. Managing it all on paper was impossible. And software never seemed to get it right. - Although he talks about the 10000 ft view, etc - I felt he didn't give any real advice on looking at the bigger picture. GTD is an excellent way of focusing on minor projects while neglecting major ones. One needs to prioritize, and he just expects you to prioritize somehow. Those are the ones I remember off the top of my head. It definitely was not a waste of time, though. Some positives that came out of it: - Not treating your Inbox as a TODO list - Getting a filing cabinet (this paid dividends immediately) - Making me learn more about org-mode customization in my attempts to implement GTD in it. - Self knowledge about what works for me and what doesn't. GTD is the flow that everyone goes through before encountering what works for them. I later discovered the One Minute Todo List (http://www.michaellinenberger.com/TheOneMinuteTo-DoList-Ebook.pdf http://www.michaellinenberger.com/TheOneMinuteTo-DoList-Eboo...). This filled in a lot of the gaps in GTD. His explanation of work stress in his book was very relevant to me. However, even that didn't fully work for me, and I continue on my quest. Lately, the thing I'm realizing one thing: As long as I don't control my inputs, nothing will work for me. Inputs are things like: - Work my boss gives me - RSS/Facebook/Twitter/News feeds - Email - Pretty much anything else that feeds into your TODO lists Allowing a lot of stuff to get in to your inbox (GTD inbox, not email inbox) will make managing it much harder. Take a deep look at what category of items get in there, and start applying limits. I'm experimenting doing that with email by making incoming email based on whitelist only: If the sender's address is not in my whitelist, it will not show up in my inbox, and the the sender will get an email with instructions on how to get their quarantined email into my inbox (i.e. prove there is a human behind the email) as well as their email address in my whitelist.
- Tempest1981 9y ago
kinkrtyavimoodh 9y ago
A trick I used to use while in college was that if I ever dreaded the magnitude of the task that was in front of me (preparing for an exam, or working on my thesis or whatever), I'd spend half an hour making a very systematic time-table for it. So if it was preparing for an exam, I'd nicely spread all the chapters of the book I had to read into whatever time I had left. Even if the plan was a little unrealistic, the fact that I had made it made me feel in control of the situation and worked wonders for my mental state.
gcb0 9y ago
tl;dr go read your old TODO notes. dont't know what I was expecting...
stewartjarod 9y ago
Does anyone else find the trademark hilarious?
komali2 9y ago
>Lastly, if something might require action someday, but not now, it is added to the someday list. These are things that you want to remember, but shouldn’t be cluttering up your ‘next actions’ list. Things like ‘Learn Japanese’ or ‘write a book’ go here. So let's take "learn Japanese" as the example, because that is a goal of mine and I already am engaged in achieving this goal. Before having any awareness of this GTD concept, I simply have been studying flashcards daily (anki, 5 new words a day), and when I get a chance read and do exercises from a Japanese grammar book I bought. Down the road, I know I need to at some point engage in watching Japanese TV, listening to radio, and finding Japanese speakers to engage with in conversations to improve my reading ability. I know these things because I already learned Chinese and I figured out the smaller steps to break down, but how on earth would I break these into "actions" (from the article - "Every project should have an "next action") if I had no concept of how to learn a language? For example, another goal I have is "become a dank ass motorcyclist - drag knee!" Right now I just putt around in the Santa Cruz mountains and do what I can, but what would I put for "next action" for this project? I guess schedule a track day? Basically, how do I learn to break large tasks I know nothing about into "actionable items?"
- uberstuber 9y ago
  Your next action might be, "research steps to becoming a dank ass motorcyclist". And if that's too broad, could break it down to "look for beginner motorcyclist YouTube channels / subreddits", or "look for motorcycle coach"
- majewsky 9y ago
  > how on earth would I break these into "actions" [...] if I had no concept of how to learn a language? If you don't know how to break a larger task into actions, you are simply unable to perform the task, regardless of whether you use GTD or not. What GTD does is make you consciously aware of the process of breaking down larger tasks into smaller actions. > Right now I just putt around in the Santa Cruz mountains and do what I can, but what would I put for "next action" for this project? I guess schedule a track day? It sounds like you think that the "next action" needs to be different from the previous one. It is not. If you want to learn the piano, you can just perform the action "practice the piano for 30 minutes" every day, unless you decide that you want to take a different "next action" at some point.
JepZ 9y ago
While that advice is fine, I do not feel like I am getting things done. It feels more like I am getting things out of my way. And while I have to admit that getting things out of your way, is the first step towards getting things done, I still feel like my mind ist creating ideas/projects at a much higher rate than I can finish them. This is probably because my mind loves great ideas and doesn't feel satisfied by small ones. Yet small ones are the only ones I am able to finish within an acceptable margin of time. So the result is, I have a few large ideas I am working on from time to time and a list of smaller ones I barely even touch, because the price of time to finish one of them doesn't weight their value. And in the end I am getting nothing "done" ;-) At least I have fun working on my own ideas :-)
Sir_Cmpwn 9y ago
There's no magic bullets for this sort of thing. Try something and see if it works. If it doesn't work, try something else. Incrementally improve your processes.
rconti 9y ago
The hardest part for me is consulting my lists. Does anyone ever get so bored (or motivated?) that they say "hey, I wonder where I could find a huge list of tasks to choose from!"? I email myself reminders. I put items in my google calendar. I've occasionally used google todo lists. I use Remember The Milk. I have iCloud notes and text files. I have Jira tickets. I never look at these things. Or at least, I never consult them with proper regularity. Working with todo lists has reduced my mental burden, but I STILL have those things hanging out in my head that I know I need to do, yet aren't written down. Or maybe they are, but they also occupy space in my mind. Again, far less than before I had a "system", but even with the "system", I don't find much relief. I have maybe 30-40 items in my RememberTheMilk list. Some have dates, many don't. Many of the ones with dates I've been postponing for 6+ months. Which means to consult the list (which I do only every 3-5 days) is a burden in and of itself, because now I have to re-schedule a lot of things. I could leave these items without a date, but then they'll be even LESS likely to get done, because they're down somewhere at the bottom. And the list is too long for me to regularly look over and feel I have a handle on. So I create calendar items with reminders for things I really need to do, say, sometime this afternoon. But maybe 2pm was a bad choice because I got involved in something, so I'll ignore the alert. now I have to look back at the calendar and see there was a think I was supposed to do in the past. I don't know -- I'm getting better, I guess, but the difficulty still seems to be the actual DOING.
- dford 9y ago
  I'm the same exact way... Tasks and reminders are spread across multiple services, but I never check them. Have you tried offline notes? It's not sexy and it doesn't sync with all of your devices, but for computer-related tasks the only to-do list I've had consistent success with is large post-it notes. It's always next to my keyboard so the effort required to consult the list is next to none.
  - rconti 9y ago
    Yeah, I've bought and used notebooks, but my best results are with post-it notes.
anotheryou 9y ago
Most important for me: - remember nothing (clear head), write down everything (and with enough detail to really remember e.g. some decision instead of just jotting down a keyword) I have yet to figure out how to handle too much to do though... Sure, just drop the less important stuff, but at some point something will break or someone else will depend on work I didn't do.
wtallis 9y ago
Off topic, but I'm often puzzled and peeved by the characters that get used as apostrophes. The HN submission uses a standalone acute accent character (U+00B4), which renders with way too much spacing around it. The article itself uses a right single quotation mark (U+2019) in the page title and in the article body, but uses a genuine apostrophe (U+0027) in the author's name. The quotation mark at least renders more or less the same as an apostrophe would. The accent character must have been introduced by the HN poster using a misconfigured keyboard when they manually re-typed the title.
stonelazy 9y ago
I beg to differ from what author says. Am kind of reluctant to materialize all my thoughts, it can be good to note down the ideas but with what author suggests to take dump of my entire brain and its thought is bit over rated. My point being, when we note down too many things our capacity to remember things gets really bad. It's like am totally dependent on the notes for any action i want to do next. Over the period i feel we will have very poor memory.
tomerbd 9y ago
todo task: do GTD
tomerbd 9y ago
I just use google inbox. It's brilliant UX is guiding me through GTD without even knowing it.
irundebian 9y ago
I'm using zim [0] for implementing my task management. But I'm honestly not very convinced of GTD. I know GTD for years and was pretty motivated in implementing it, but later in combination with software tools like Redmine it felt like a burden to me. Maintaining the system itself was kinda time wasting. Now I at least have my zim desktop wiki, which centralizes all my TODOs (adding dates to TODOs is possible). [0] http://zim-wiki.org/manual/Usage/Getting_Things_Done.html http://zim-wiki.org/manual/Usage/Getting_Things_Done.html

550 points by PeOe 9y ago

Getting Things Done is by far the most influential book I've read. It has changed the way I think about everything. However, I have never been able to find a good implementation of the system. I know that David Allen (GTD) and Charles Simonyi (Intentional Software) were working on something at some point, but I haven't heard anything since.

f_allwein 9y ago
I have a homemade implementation in Google Sheets that sort of works. I use it sometimes more, sometimes less. Template at https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1YUG6--8BOk_TdxDTSY9AQEFGue_0msiJ3p_JDA8UB_4/edit?usp=sharing https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1YUG6--8BOk_TdxDTSY9A... - feel free to try.
mathgeek 9y ago
Adding things to calendars is the biggest habit I've built from reading the book years ago. That's the one thing I recommend as the best takeaway if you only have one.
- mindlessmarty 9y ago
  I haven't read the book, since this comes across as new to me...but doesn't this just makes you more alert/self-aware? Which is good but what is the point of adding things to do in a list or calendar if you don't actually go and make them? Is this discussed in the book?
  - rtb 9y ago
    It is discussed in the book. You should just read the book if you want to consider this seriously. If you're just looking for a summary: there is very little point writing things in a list if you don't read the list, obvs. The key to GTD is that if you actually do write everything in lists and calendars, then you are freed from having to remember things. If you can reach that inflection point, then it frees up a lot of mental capacity and is glorious. Remembering things is surprisingly mentally draining, as it basically consists of thinking about them every now and then. Read the book.
  - PeOe 9y ago
    It is in fact discussed in the book. GTD is great for procrastination if used wrongly, because only adding stuff to the lists isn´t going to complete the tasks. Also, it is important to note that GTD isn´t a fool proof system. Without constantly reviewing the tasks and checking whether tasks should be added to another list, the inbox piles up and then the system doesn´t make sense anymore.
Azareus 9y ago
The only implementation I have found worthwhile is paper, and to a certain extent, plain markdown/org files in Dropbox. Everything else, like OmniFocus and whatnot has had severe issues with the flexibility inherently required.
- PeOe 9y ago
  May I recommend http://zenkit.com http://zenkit.com It´s really easy to use, offers tons of different views on your data and grows with your product. Disclaimer: I work at Zenkit.
- Jtsummers 9y ago
  Out of curiosity, what are your issues with OmniFocus? I have some issues with it (primarily that it's hard to share information from it with other people), but otherwise I find it to be a fantastic personal tool for GTD (I'd use it for work, but my office is all Windows). That said, I do like paper and org-mode at least as much. I definitely find paper best for writing down my intentions and clarifying them before I enter them into OmniFocus.
  - Azareus 9y ago
    I currently still use Omnifocus for part of my system because it is still pretty great, and has excellent cross-device support, but my gripes are: - The context support is weak. It ideally would be replaced by a tagging system, but I doubt that's coming at this point. - No support for making sequentially dependent tasks -- I can't mark task A to be doable as soon as task B completes. (I guess I could, if I do a lot of sub-projects with sequential dependency) - In addition to this, subprojects are janky. They're just kinda awful to use, from the awkward indentation to the fact that the side-bar projects view is not actually a full tree, and just works with folders. This would need to be changed to also expand/be usable for sub-projects, not just for folders and top-level projects. - The system maintenance tools are lacking. One of the core tenets of GTD is to make sure that every project always has a next step, and OmniFocus has no support for this whatsoever, aside from manual review. I realise that paper also doesn't do this, but it seems like something a digital solution should have. - No sharing information, as you said, aside from exporting things as TaskPaper. - Support for deferments, but not for Tickler files, which are one of the handiest things about a paper-based system. - Reference and storage, per nature of OmniFocus, has to be completely separated, which adds jank. I realise this is massive scope-bloat, so it's probably not fair to complain about. Things I really like and will probably keep even after I drop OmniFocus: - The dedicated mail drop. I think even after I move away from OF, this is going to be something I keep. - The "due" list view. OmniFocus pushes you towards using this a lot, even if it's not completely in the spirit. - The good integration between my laptop and phone is going to be hard to live without again. I hope this shed some light on my gripes and issues with OmniFocus. :)
cJ0th 9y ago
There are two implementations I find quite good. 1. ThinkingRock It's a desktop client for all operating systems. There are two versions. A free one (v 2.x - still available on sourceforge [0]) and one you have to buy (v 3.x)[1] 2. Getting Things Gnome I find it slightly less convincing than ThinkingRock. What's more, it appears not to be maintained anymore. The offical website is down and there have been no update on github[2] for a while. However, it might be just what you're looking for so you should also give it a try. [0] https://sourceforge.net/projects/thinkingrock/ https://sourceforge.net/projects/thinkingrock/ [1] https://www.trgtd.com.au https://www.trgtd.com.au [2] https://github.com/getting-things-gnome/gtg https://github.com/getting-things-gnome/gtg
galfarragem 9y ago
A loose implementation: https://github.com/galfarragem/hamster-gtd https://github.com/galfarragem/hamster-gtd
PeOe 9y ago
Maybe this will help you. https://blog.zenkit.com/how-to-set-up-gtd-in-zenkit-902fa6960f8 https://blog.zenkit.com/how-to-set-up-gtd-in-zenkit-902fa696... Disclaimer: I work at http://zenkit.com http://zenkit.com
dogruck 9y ago
I use OmniFocus as my tool.
mcshicks 9y ago
I've tried many systems over the years for implementing GTD (Palm Pilot, MS Outlook, Evernote, One Note, paper) adding scripts and tools like autohotkey. For me by far the best system is org-mode in emacs, but getting proficient in emacs is not trivial. For me at least emacs also seems to work much better under linux, and org-mode works better if you use emacs as your email client. This is a good reference http://doc.norang.ca/org-mode.html http://doc.norang.ca/org-mode.html
zentiggr 9y ago
In over a decade of fiddling with manual / desktop OS / Palm / Palm / Palm / Android versions of tool after tool, I finally realized the only important part of GTD is the "write down enough thoughts to ease the stress of forgetting, in a system you trust". Everything else is jump starting detail, valuable to get going toward less stress but will be adjusted & customized by everyone eventually. Like another answerer to this comment, I finally rolled a custom Sheets layout that works the way I think about things, and over the last few months, have slowly tweaked it closer and closer to my personal thoughtflow. It's not the details of the system that matter, it's the relieving of the stress that makes it worthwhile.

PinkMilkshake 9y ago

Has anyone low in conscientiousness had any success with GTD? It seems to me like this system is amazing for people who are already very conscientious but not well organised.

ThomPete 9y ago

GTD is the utopia of productivity. Everyone attempts to reach it but almost no one (if any) ever will. Those who get the closest realize that you can't live your life like that. In my world GTD become a goal in itself rather than a way to better manage your life. With a few exception (calendar) I lived my life in a way that would make a GTD enthusiast cringe. I am always impressed by those who attempt to do it but never surprised when they finally give up.

cJ0th 9y ago
> Those who get the closest realize that you can't live your life like that. This has been my experience. After a while I had to realize that it is too "top-down" for real life. It also made me realize time and again that I often didn't have a clear goal. And when I had one then I was so committed that there was no need for any system except the occasional sticky note. It's a classic example of a great solution (it really is a neat system) to a problem that does not really exist. I could imagine that people with an extremely poor memory would profit from using a well done implementation of gtd. Maybe it would also work for those who have extremely little uncertainty in their (professional) life.
- pqs 9y ago
  My personal method is partially inspired by GTD. I apply it in a way that suits my own work context and it works well. There is no universal solution. GTD works well for some people in some contexts.
- lloeki 9y ago
  I used to use GTD, but nowadays I mostly just use the "capture" part, a.k.a LET IT GO OUT OF MY SYSTEM DAMMIT. The remaining steps just sort themselves out as things are falling into very different buckets: a. very general life goals (non actionable by themselves due to their large scale, virtual nature, and can only be achieved by habit as well as internalising what I truly want, but certainly not with reminders), b. whatever I fancy doing when I happen to have some free time (for which I may go back to a quickly jotted draft of step 1, and since I'm in the mood for it, well, I just do it), c. very concrete errands and other mundane tasks. GTD is a worthy attempt at formalising things but in doing so it's way too generic and thus doesn't pragmatically cater for the very different situations above. IOW theory and practice are the same... in theory.

novalis78 9y ago

Sounds exactly like 'How to get what you want' by Raymond Hull, 1967. Just that the system was reversed.

kapauldo 9y ago

Here's the short version: make to do lists and folders and shut off your phone and email for an hour so you don't get interrupted. It's like weight loss techniques. They all work if you follow them.

RobertoG 9y ago
Sure, but, in a more pessimistic view, what it's the meaning of 'they all work' if average people can't follow it?

donmatito 9y ago

While I most probably don't follow the tactics of GTD (haven't read them and don't want to) I aggressively follow a strategy that really works for me : reducing cognitive load. I make a point to commit nothing except the task on hand to my working memory. When I say "I should remember to", I immediately stop and use a Messenger bot I coded for that purpose When my wife say "Can you remember to" I immediately ask her to put it into our shared calendar, or I add it to the same bot When a coworker says "can you do X", we add it as a trello card with the appropriate priority People start to get used to it, they probably assume that I have very bad memory or that I'm weird, and we make it work :-) I feel very light since I started enforcing these procedures

nikivi 9y ago
"commit nothing except the task on hand to my working memory" is essentially the summary of GTD done approach.
- komali2 9y ago
  What character did you insert after "G" in "GxTD?" It's not rendering on my browser, weirdly.
  - ajnin 9y ago
    I wondered the same thing. It shows up in Chromium but not Firefox. It is apprently character 0x14, or ASCII for "Device control 4". First time I come across this character !
brianzelip 9y ago
I'm a novice programmer and have been building my own small personal web app for remembering references[0]. I'd love to take a look and learn from your bot if you're able to share the code! [0]https://github.com/brianzelip/refrem https://github.com/brianzelip/refrem
- donmatito 9y ago

polote 9y ago

One thing that does increase my productivity is keeping track of what I do during the day. I didn't have productivity in mind when I started doing that, but the fact is, as I want the data to be accurate, as soon as I hit the "Work" button I focus on work and only on work. Not sure I recommend it thought...

Nowyouknow 9y ago
What do you use to keep track of your data?
- polote 9y ago
  Atimelogger

kamaal 9y ago

The guide being an ace with the GTD technique is some thing the book answers quite well at the end of it. Its a thing called 'Constancy of purpose', its simply a way of saying you can be productive, only if you do work that is satisfying to you. Once you find such work, and you get drowned by it, GTD helps you be organized and work through it in sanity. The problem for most people is working through boring drudgery day in and out, until boredom becomes routine. Brain begins to largely see what it has memorized as pointless to be played out on paper, and sooner than you realize you drop out of GTD. So to an extent you need to be doing new, exciting and at least satisfying stuff to get your GTD regimen going. Once you are involved with such work. GTD is plainly simple. Just list out all tasks in the order of urgency and goals. That is life, decade, yearly, monthly and weekly goals. Then at weekly level, write down stuff and prioritize them. Anything that can be addressed in 5 minutes, just do that right then. Other stuff goes in the order of priority. You review your list every week, and lastly the important concept of deadlines. Once you commit to a job, finish it within a timeline or it becomes irrelevant after a while. The other stuff to GTD is your regular discipline of being motivated, focused etc.

PeOe 9y ago
Great explanation! The part with the satisfying stuff is really important. No system works properly if you don´t want to get stuff done. Purpose combined with "actually doing stuff" is the point I guess. One without the other equally results in nothing meaningful.

thibran 9y ago

Write down ideas... I'm very skeptical that this would work, because I have ideas about all kinds of topics all the time. My list would be so crowded and mixed that it would be hard to prioritize anything. At the end I would see on paper that there is too much stuff going on in my head, something that I already know...

miguelrochefort 9y ago
Capturing ideas is only the first step. You then organize them, based on time, context, or horizons of focus (Runway, 10,000', 20,000', 30,000', 40,000', 50,000'). Review regularly.
aequitas 9y ago
I get bugged with ideas during work constantly, mostly feature creep, sometimes good bugs. But almost always they don't require direct action at that point. When I write these down and they go out of my head so I can focus on my tasks again. I was able to adopt this behaviour after going Full Getting Things Done for a few months. My mind learned to trust that if I write something down, I will stumble upon it later and it no longer has to worry about it at that point. Although I'm cheating it a little bit I have a lot less going on at the same time (until my mind doesn't trust me anymore).
lloeki 9y ago
> At the end I would see on paper that there is too much stuff going on in my head, something that I already know... The point is that you get it out of your head, and let it go, to focus on the task at hand. The fact that this physically accumulates outside of your head, is just a side effect, and just points out that you can't do everything, and so you have to let go of some task or idea, maybe for today, maybe forever. I used to use GTD, but nowadays I mostly just use the "capture" part, a.k.a LET IT GO OUT OF MY SYSTEM DAMMIT. The remaining steps just sort themselves out as things are falling into very different buckets: a. very general life goals (non actionable by themselves due to their large scale, virtual nature, and can only be achieved by habit as well as internalising what I truly want, but certainly not with reminders), b. whatever I fancy doing when I happen to have some free time (for which I may go back to a quickly jotted draft of step 1, and since I'm in the mood for it, well, I just do it), c. very concrete errands and other mundane tasks.

zimbatm 9y ago

Every time I tried to do GTD it just makes me unhappy. It is something related with encoding all the little things, put them into boxes, organize. And ultimately becoming the robot executing the tasks that I have set for myself. The list becomes the things I have to do, it grows larger and larger, there is never enough time. Instead, let the brain do what it does best; forget. Put the really important things in the calendar, like Tax and VAT returns. All the rest in not important. Then pick two tasks for the day. It's all a bit fuzzy and that's what I like the best; it leaves room for my creativity.

ttflee 9y ago
GTD is more or less a real world event loop of tasks implemented on individual human beings.
voiper1 9y ago
Sounds like you'd like Zen to Done, a modified version of GTD. The basics is here: https://zenhabits.net/zen-to-done-ztd-the-ultimate-simple-productivity-system/ https://zenhabits.net/zen-to-done-ztd-the-ultimate-simple-pr... (and there's a longer ebook version for sale, too).
bachmeier 9y ago
> The list becomes the things I have to do, it grows larger and larger, there is never enough time. I'd argue that you're not doing GTD the right way if that's the case. If you're doing GTD, you should be making decisions about what you should and shouldn't be doing. > Instead, let the brain do what it does best; forget. Put the really important things in the calendar, like Tax and VAT returns. All the rest in not important. Then pick two tasks for the day. It's all a bit fuzzy and that's what I like the best; it leaves room for my creativity. That's what should happen if you're doing GTD. There's no way you can "forget" if you know there are dozens of open loops floating around. If you're not explicit about the things you have to do and the things you're not going to do, there's no way you are going to be able to focus on your work.

renegadesensei 9y ago

I recently started making small handwritten TODO lists that I keep in my pocket. It has significantly improved my productivity. Every morning while I'm getting ready, I usually think of about seven or eight things I really want to get done that day, and if I'm lucky, I'll actually do one or two. With this method I find I'm getting about four or five things done. I find that the act of actually handwriting the TODO lists helps solidify exactly what needs to be done and in what order. Keeping it in my pocket is also a nice mnemonic. I'm always feeling the paper when I reach for my wallet or something so I don't forget. I keep a pen in my pocket too so I can add stuff to the list and cross things off as I finish, which is really satisfying. It's also useful for capturing various little thoughts, observations, project ideas, and other things that float into my mind at random points. It works better than task management apps or calendar reminders on my phone. It's a pain to configure those sorts of things and I actively try to avoid staring at my phone too much. Sometimes the old-fashioned approaches are the best.

lloeki 9y ago
> pneumonic mnemonic?
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
- renegadesensei 9y ago
  Thanks!
ctw 9y ago
This is what I do too. I have a pad of sticky notes on my desk and each morning I write what I want to work on today in order of priority. Then I schedule some time in my calendar to work on each thing. I cross off the things I finish, so on the following morning I can see what I didn't finish the day before and add it to the current day if need be before throwing the note out and starting the next one.
bernardino 9y ago
I do this too! I have never been fond of task management applications. I have an urgent list I carry in my pocket, and a future and someday list stapled to my wall where my desk is at home. As mentioned above, it’s best to write and start with small tasks like “make my bed” since confidence is built on accomplishment and you’ll feel good about it. I though would like o state that sleep and being well-rested is the backbone of getting things done. Some may even add exercise to the mix.

ttflee 9y ago

I just wish that I had finished reading the implementation of CFRunloop so I could compare it with GTD.

GrumpyNl 9y ago

To all the people with the little and big todo lists, live a little. Let life surprise you.

zentiggr 9y ago
I have a very flexible list, I use it to remind me of the things I have some commitment to , and the rest of my time I do what comes up... not either/or.
PeOe 9y ago
I guess that´s why many people don´t even start with trying to implement GTD into their lives. They fear being "too organized". What many people don´t get is that after "clearing your head" and really using GTD you have more space in your mind to actually live and be creative.
- bachmeier 9y ago
  Wish I could upvote this twice. The problem people have is all the stuff that needs to be done - a mountain of email, Christmas shopping, personal projects, and such. Ignoring it won't make it go away. If you can't work because a dog is biting you in the leg, one response is "I'm too busy to fight with a dog right now, and fighting with a dog isn't much fun, so I'll just ignore it and focus on my work instead." Not sure that's the best path to productivity.

schuellerpa 9y ago

What a great article! I wanted to read the book for a long time but never had enough time. The article really seems to summarize it and makes it understandable. Well done! I´ve also stumbled upon this one on the same blog. It explains the implementation with Zenkit. I guess it would be worth a try. https://blog.zenkit.com/how-to-set-up-gtd-in-zenkit-902fa6960f8 https://blog.zenkit.com/how-to-set-up-gtd-in-zenkit-902fa696...

jstewartmobile 9y ago

This was mercifully shorter than the Cal Newport book. That's about all I can say for it. Ivan Sutherland had the secret, and it only took one paragraph to share it: 'I used to hate washing dishes. I would delay as long as possible. Eyeing the daunting pile of dishes, I would say to myself, “I'll be here forever at this dumb task.” The enormity of the task deterred me from starting. I still dislike washing dishes, but I now get the dishes done promptly because I learned a simple procedure for doing the job from my wife's uncle. The procedure starts out “Wash first dish...” I have a similar procedure for starting travel vouchers, it goes “Record first expense...”' edit: his rationale was equally short and sweet: 'Each of my little procedures embodies two different aids to getting started. By invoking a familiar procedure I reduce my need for courage. By breaking the task into smaller tasks through emphasizing that only the first dish need be washed or the first expense need be recorded, I reduce my estimate of risk. Both mechanisms work. These sources of courage are sometimes called “discipline,” especially when being taught to the young. Discipline relies on a practiced use of routine subgoals to avoid defeat by fear. Its highest form comes when the Lieutenant, charging up a heavily defended hill, says, “Follow me men!”—and they do.'

Dolores12 9y ago
a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step (c) Laozi
- jstewartmobile 9y ago
  Ha! Love it!
lxglv 9y ago
Personally I used the same approach to start running: “just lace the shoes”. After you finish this, you are almost running.
- PeOe 9y ago
  Haha! that´s genius. Could technically be applied to lots of unpleasant tasks. I sometimes have difficulties with getting out of bed in the morning. Might a "just stand up" help with that problem? I will test that tomorrow.

skate22 9y ago

Seems like agile development for the individual. My only concern is that it will only work as well as it does for our company. To be fair, i do not think my company uses agile correctly (more rules than guidelines)

submeta 9y ago

I read David Allen's book in 2002 and immediately started implementing it. At first it felt like godsend. Capturing every "open loop" (everything that is not the way it should be = everything with a delta between current and desired state) and deciding for each of them if there is any action that I need to take and if so, what the very next step was - that practice alone released a ton of energy and gave me a sense of control. Prior to that I felt overwhelmed, had a sense of anxiety that there are things in my life that should be different. Over time I realized that what GTD was missing (or not stressing enough) was the insight that in addition to knowing your commitments and deciding what we need to do to make them move forward we need to constantly remind us that resources are limited and priorities are not distributed equally but rather very asymmetrically. Only a few activities will have a major impact on our lives. The key is to focus on a few activities and deliberately ignore the other "80%". And while we ignore the other activities we have to learn to deal with the stress of not doing the other activities. David Allen's method encourages people to keep lists of open issues. That's a very good practice. But it lacks the advice to implement a filter: To ignore 80% of the potential issues before we let them onto our lists. And to endure the stress that is caused by ignoring most of the things that want our attention. Tl;dr: GTD does not stress making decisions and setting priorities enough (even though it mentions it in many chapters).

AhtiK 9y ago
That's why I've combined GTD lists with Eisenhower Matrix (prioritizing over Urgent-Important quadrants). Random but good video explaining it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tT89OZ7TNwc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tT89OZ7TNwc I did run a software product once that was combining GTD and Eisenhower Matrix, which worked quite well. It's now discontinued but a short video in case interested is still online, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=22S_1Qjq2J0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=22S_1Qjq2J0
- 1123581321 9y ago
  During one of the most productive times of my life, I organized my tasks this way in Outlook 2007, of all places, using custom fields and its form designer.

Numberwang 9y ago

The problem for me is habits, not projects. I've yet to find an acceptable solution to keeping habits going.

spodek 9y ago
Does http://sidcha.com http://sidcha.com help?

agumonkey 9y ago

tiny reminder that emacs org mode is somehow pretty suited to implement GTD https://duckduckgo.com/?q=emacs+gtd&t=ffsb&atb=v84-7&ia=web https://duckduckgo.com/?q=emacs+gtd&t=ffsb&atb=v84-7&ia=web

cheshire_cat 9y ago
Nicolas Petton (maintainer of Indium) wrote a great blog post about his org-mode GTD workflow: https://emacs.cafe/emacs/orgmode/gtd/2017/06/30/orgmode-gtd.html https://emacs.cafe/emacs/orgmode/gtd/2017/06/30/orgmode-gtd....

voiper1 9y ago

NOTE: If you find GTD "too technical" or "too overwhelming" give a try to ZTD, zen to done. It's a modified version that keeps goals and main tasks for the day front and center. https://zenhabits.net/zen-to-done-ztd-the-ultimate-simple-productivity-system/ https://zenhabits.net/zen-to-done-ztd-the-ultimate-simple-pr...

erikb 9y ago

Instead of having twelve tasks now you have 15, because you also need to keep track of the twelve tasks you are not doing. the problem is often more about getting started than getting done.

PeOe 9y ago
That is absolutely true. Wihtout actually getting started, nothing happens. No system can "make you" more productive. You make yourself more productive by implementing the system.

wyclif 9y ago

As far as processing the inbox goes, I feel like GTD has too much overhead. "Inbox Zero for Life" works better than anything I've ever tried: https://xph.us/2013/01/22/inbox-zero-for-life.html https://xph.us/2013/01/22/inbox-zero-for-life.html

halayli 9y ago

Here's how I get things done for tech related projects but it can be used for any other project. It's just what works for me but I am sharing it in case it can help someone else. Take what you want from it. I maintain everything in notes, I use apple notes but you can use whatever as long as it's very quick to access and modify. I tried many tools / sites but I noticed that the moment the list is maintained on some service/site I start maintaining it less. With notes, it's one click away and accessible from my phone. I also avoided tools that require me to click to create a note, click to delete, or anything slightly complicated. I just need to move lines of text around with my keyboard. Start by creating a new note for the project. I define the begin/end boundaries of the project by creating a list of high level tasks. If you can go directly to low level tasks why not. Tasks can include define & create API endpoints, research tasks, modules to implement, devops stuff, docs, marketing, etc... I spend a good time creating the list. Sometimes days. I start working on the tasks and while doing so I add/remove more detailed tasks as things become clearer and group related tasks. For example, I might have a group of tasks related to an HTTP API, and another group that lists the modules I need to implement. If a module is big enough it might become a new group and tasks related to it will be added. while more_tasks: new_tasks = execute_next_task() if new_tasks: add_tasks(new_tasks) As I stumble on ideas while working on the project, I add them to a Backlog group sorted by priority. These tasks might need more thinking and can either get dropped or moved later to get implemented. What's important to me is to get these ideas/thoughts out so that they don't distract me. Let's say you're creating a new saas product. When the project is complete, start creating new tasks related to running the business like 'research keywords', 'create adwords campaign', etc. I also have a list of various personal todos, and a list called 'Context Switching' which I use to list the projects I am currently working on which includes work and non-work related projects. It clears my mind and feels less overwhelming when I can look at a note and know exactly what I am working on. It also help me not feel 'lost' and maintain priority. The main goal of this is not to keep tasks in my head. What's important is to always know what you need to work on. If you don't know, then spend time (hours/days) figuring this out. I live by these notes. The notes are of course useless if not constantly maintained.

joaorico 9y ago

In theory, GTD is great. In practice, it comes up short in several ways. TLDR - For some years now, I use a system called Agile Results [1]. It's a method (with less marketing behind it than GTD) which has been gaining traction for a lot of good reasons. I couldn't be happier with it. I won't get into the details, but its biggest edge against GTD is the flexibility. With Agile Results, you can let go for a couple of hours or days, and the system doesn't fall apart, it's more organic. It's oriented towards Results in several domains of life, in a balanced way. The manner in which it breaks down the hierarchy of projects, temporal horizons and relative importance of tasks is the real key. It solves the same problems as GTD (eg, your mind is for thinking not remembering [of course, you can still incorporate spaced repetition for what you want to remember long term]). But it solves them in a way which is more organic, focused and iterative. If you only implement a portion of it, it has the proportional benefits - it's not all or nothing. It also lets you integrate parts of other productivity systems. There's a book about it [1], and a 30 day program to getting started incrementally [2]. I realize it sounds like hyperbole, but, after some years using it, I consider the problem of productivity essentially solved. [1] https://www.amazon.com/Getting-Results-Agile-Way-Personal/dp/0984548203 https://www.amazon.com/Getting-Results-Agile-Way-Personal/dp... [2] http://www.30daysofgettingresults.com/ http://www.30daysofgettingresults.com/ [3]http://www.asianefficiency.com/agile-results/ http://www.asianefficiency.com/agile-results/

schtitt 9y ago
So I just read through your [2]. The first part seemed good and reasonable, though towards the end (from day 10 onwards) I felt like the guy was kind of just trying to come up with stuff to excite the reader, and which in my mind cluttered the simplicity of the rest, i.e. the 3 things a week, 3 things a day, hotspots, monday vision and friday reflection (+ dump your brain, but everyone says that). Would you mind giving a more concrete telling of how you have implemented this system in your life and which parts of this 30 days-thing you find to be indispensable and which are just fluff?

BeetleB 9y ago

I first encountered GTD in 2007. After about 8 years of trying, I finally accepted that GTD didn't work for me. I think any workflow management has to be tailored to your personality. I digged that from the start and did not fall into the trap of being 100% David Allen compliant. Some of my issues: - My lists grow long. Way too long. I recall he suggests looking at the Someday/Maybe during the weekly review. That just overwhelmed me. - Not enough attention is paid upon "upkeep". I know you're supposed to clean things out every week, but it was a lot of work, and mentally draining. David Allen did not seriously address cognitive load. - I could never work out a system to handle "Waiting For" tasks. Managing it all on paper was impossible. And software never seemed to get it right. - Although he talks about the 10000 ft view, etc - I felt he didn't give any real advice on looking at the bigger picture. GTD is an excellent way of focusing on minor projects while neglecting major ones. One needs to prioritize, and he just expects you to prioritize somehow. Those are the ones I remember off the top of my head. It definitely was not a waste of time, though. Some positives that came out of it: - Not treating your Inbox as a TODO list - Getting a filing cabinet (this paid dividends immediately) - Making me learn more about org-mode customization in my attempts to implement GTD in it. - Self knowledge about what works for me and what doesn't. GTD is the flow that everyone goes through before encountering what works for them. I later discovered the One Minute Todo List (http://www.michaellinenberger.com/TheOneMinuteTo-DoList-Ebook.pdf http://www.michaellinenberger.com/TheOneMinuteTo-DoList-Eboo...). This filled in a lot of the gaps in GTD. His explanation of work stress in his book was very relevant to me. However, even that didn't fully work for me, and I continue on my quest. Lately, the thing I'm realizing one thing: As long as I don't control my inputs, nothing will work for me. Inputs are things like: - Work my boss gives me - RSS/Facebook/Twitter/News feeds - Email - Pretty much anything else that feeds into your TODO lists Allowing a lot of stuff to get in to your inbox (GTD inbox, not email inbox) will make managing it much harder. Take a deep look at what category of items get in there, and start applying limits. I'm experimenting doing that with email by making incoming email based on whitelist only: If the sender's address is not in my whitelist, it will not show up in my inbox, and the the sender will get an email with instructions on how to get their quarantined email into my inbox (i.e. prove there is a human behind the email) as well as their email address in my whitelist.

Tempest1981 9y ago

kinkrtyavimoodh 9y ago

A trick I used to use while in college was that if I ever dreaded the magnitude of the task that was in front of me (preparing for an exam, or working on my thesis or whatever), I'd spend half an hour making a very systematic time-table for it. So if it was preparing for an exam, I'd nicely spread all the chapters of the book I had to read into whatever time I had left. Even if the plan was a little unrealistic, the fact that I had made it made me feel in control of the situation and worked wonders for my mental state.

gcb0 9y ago

tl;dr go read your old TODO notes. dont't know what I was expecting...

stewartjarod 9y ago

Does anyone else find the trademark hilarious?

komali2 9y ago

>Lastly, if something might require action someday, but not now, it is added to the someday list. These are things that you want to remember, but shouldn’t be cluttering up your ‘next actions’ list. Things like ‘Learn Japanese’ or ‘write a book’ go here. So let's take "learn Japanese" as the example, because that is a goal of mine and I already am engaged in achieving this goal. Before having any awareness of this GTD concept, I simply have been studying flashcards daily (anki, 5 new words a day), and when I get a chance read and do exercises from a Japanese grammar book I bought. Down the road, I know I need to at some point engage in watching Japanese TV, listening to radio, and finding Japanese speakers to engage with in conversations to improve my reading ability. I know these things because I already learned Chinese and I figured out the smaller steps to break down, but how on earth would I break these into "actions" (from the article - "Every project should have an "next action") if I had no concept of how to learn a language? For example, another goal I have is "become a dank ass motorcyclist - drag knee!" Right now I just putt around in the Santa Cruz mountains and do what I can, but what would I put for "next action" for this project? I guess schedule a track day? Basically, how do I learn to break large tasks I know nothing about into "actionable items?"

uberstuber 9y ago
Your next action might be, "research steps to becoming a dank ass motorcyclist". And if that's too broad, could break it down to "look for beginner motorcyclist YouTube channels / subreddits", or "look for motorcycle coach"
majewsky 9y ago
> how on earth would I break these into "actions" [...] if I had no concept of how to learn a language? If you don't know how to break a larger task into actions, you are simply unable to perform the task, regardless of whether you use GTD or not. What GTD does is make you consciously aware of the process of breaking down larger tasks into smaller actions. > Right now I just putt around in the Santa Cruz mountains and do what I can, but what would I put for "next action" for this project? I guess schedule a track day? It sounds like you think that the "next action" needs to be different from the previous one. It is not. If you want to learn the piano, you can just perform the action "practice the piano for 30 minutes" every day, unless you decide that you want to take a different "next action" at some point.

JepZ 9y ago

While that advice is fine, I do not feel like I am getting things done. It feels more like I am getting things out of my way. And while I have to admit that getting things out of your way, is the first step towards getting things done, I still feel like my mind ist creating ideas/projects at a much higher rate than I can finish them. This is probably because my mind loves great ideas and doesn't feel satisfied by small ones. Yet small ones are the only ones I am able to finish within an acceptable margin of time. So the result is, I have a few large ideas I am working on from time to time and a list of smaller ones I barely even touch, because the price of time to finish one of them doesn't weight their value. And in the end I am getting nothing "done" ;-) At least I have fun working on my own ideas :-)

Sir_Cmpwn 9y ago

There's no magic bullets for this sort of thing. Try something and see if it works. If it doesn't work, try something else. Incrementally improve your processes.

rconti 9y ago

The hardest part for me is consulting my lists. Does anyone ever get so bored (or motivated?) that they say "hey, I wonder where I could find a huge list of tasks to choose from!"? I email myself reminders. I put items in my google calendar. I've occasionally used google todo lists. I use Remember The Milk. I have iCloud notes and text files. I have Jira tickets. I never look at these things. Or at least, I never consult them with proper regularity. Working with todo lists has reduced my mental burden, but I STILL have those things hanging out in my head that I know I need to do, yet aren't written down. Or maybe they are, but they also occupy space in my mind. Again, far less than before I had a "system", but even with the "system", I don't find much relief. I have maybe 30-40 items in my RememberTheMilk list. Some have dates, many don't. Many of the ones with dates I've been postponing for 6+ months. Which means to consult the list (which I do only every 3-5 days) is a burden in and of itself, because now I have to re-schedule a lot of things. I could leave these items without a date, but then they'll be even LESS likely to get done, because they're down somewhere at the bottom. And the list is too long for me to regularly look over and feel I have a handle on. So I create calendar items with reminders for things I really need to do, say, sometime this afternoon. But maybe 2pm was a bad choice because I got involved in something, so I'll ignore the alert. now I have to look back at the calendar and see there was a think I was supposed to do in the past. I don't know -- I'm getting better, I guess, but the difficulty still seems to be the actual DOING.

dford 9y ago
I'm the same exact way... Tasks and reminders are spread across multiple services, but I never check them. Have you tried offline notes? It's not sexy and it doesn't sync with all of your devices, but for computer-related tasks the only to-do list I've had consistent success with is large post-it notes. It's always next to my keyboard so the effort required to consult the list is next to none.
- rconti 9y ago
  Yeah, I've bought and used notebooks, but my best results are with post-it notes.

anotheryou 9y ago

Most important for me: - remember nothing (clear head), write down everything (and with enough detail to really remember e.g. some decision instead of just jotting down a keyword) I have yet to figure out how to handle too much to do though... Sure, just drop the less important stuff, but at some point something will break or someone else will depend on work I didn't do.

wtallis 9y ago

Off topic, but I'm often puzzled and peeved by the characters that get used as apostrophes. The HN submission uses a standalone acute accent character (U+00B4), which renders with way too much spacing around it. The article itself uses a right single quotation mark (U+2019) in the page title and in the article body, but uses a genuine apostrophe (U+0027) in the author's name. The quotation mark at least renders more or less the same as an apostrophe would. The accent character must have been introduced by the HN poster using a misconfigured keyboard when they manually re-typed the title.

stonelazy 9y ago

I beg to differ from what author says. Am kind of reluctant to materialize all my thoughts, it can be good to note down the ideas but with what author suggests to take dump of my entire brain and its thought is bit over rated. My point being, when we note down too many things our capacity to remember things gets really bad. It's like am totally dependent on the notes for any action i want to do next. Over the period i feel we will have very poor memory.

tomerbd 9y ago

todo task: do GTD

tomerbd 9y ago

I just use google inbox. It's brilliant UX is guiding me through GTD without even knowing it.

irundebian 9y ago

I'm using zim [0] for implementing my task management. But I'm honestly not very convinced of GTD. I know GTD for years and was pretty motivated in implementing it, but later in combination with software tools like Redmine it felt like a burden to me. Maintaining the system itself was kinda time wasting. Now I at least have my zim desktop wiki, which centralizes all my TODOs (adding dates to TODOs is possible). [0] http://zim-wiki.org/manual/Usage/Getting_Things_Done.html http://zim-wiki.org/manual/Usage/Getting_Things_Done.html