6 ms·

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 you

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.
dogruck 9y ago
You make the bizarre claim that nobody successfully follows GTD because you’ve never done so, and you know many others who have also failed to do so. That’s like a fat dude looking around at the donut shop and saying “nobody ever sticks to their diets, haha!” I’ve used GTD for years. I just shattered your claim.
- ThomPete 9y ago
  Did you read what i wrote? You proved my point :) you dont do it anymore.
  - dogruck 9y ago
    I’m not seeing your joke. Confused. Maybe you’re like an evil hypnotist. “You will stop following your diet. You will stop following your diet. You will stop following your diet.” :-) Seriously though — I think these two claims are both frequent and harmful: 1. It’s impossible to stay disciplined in the long run. 2. Discipline sucks the joy out of life. On the contrary, I think discipline gives you freedom.
    - ThomPete 9y ago
      I misread what you wrote my apologies. Anyway, I don't see how you shattered anything. First of all, I never attempted to do GTD exactly because I never saw the value. So I didn't fail at it I simply decided not to do it once I realized what it required. Second of all that you have used GTD for years doesn't mean you are going to continue using it. Lets talk in 10 years and see.
    - jo909 9y ago
      Relying on discipline alone is whats harmful. Studies repeatedly show that most people can not reach their goals by only relying on willpower. Good systems/diets etc define strategies that _reduce_ the amount of discipline required to stick to it. Saying "be disciplined" is roughly in the same category as telling someone to "be happy". It's a great goal, but no help at all for someone who is not already there.
barrkel 9y ago
I think GTD can be dangerous for people who like systems too much; a bit like people who play RPGs because of the rules around bookkeeping of stats and deciding of battles, rather than for the imagined world the bookkeeping keeps honest. I'm highly task-oriented in my work, but mostly it's just a list of lists, maintained in a text file with infinite persistent undo. Every task starts out as a line, gets a few sub-lines when it acquires some definition, and gets broken up into multiple separate tasks if it's too big, or it only gets partially done and other tasks remain. I don't live like that much outside of work (unless there's a specific longer-lived process, like moving house or something), and my process is very light weight. I think GTD starts out too heavy; it would be better done iteratively, starting with something very simple that works 80% of the time, and then adding more if you're so busy that you need the extra process. You could then start reading the book and put it down early on with enough to get by, but still be able to pick it up if you need more.
- stochastic_monk 9y ago
  I tried GTD years ago, and I went down a crazy rabbit hole and lost any productivity I had. Pomodoro isn't as much of a black hole for me, but I do better just closing browser windows/turning off wifi/putting in earplugs instead of headphones, and focusing until I get to a point where I'm ready/need to take a break. And that's usually 30-60 minutes as it is. tl;dr: GTD is bad for me, disconnecting, earplugs, and punctuated focused periods of effort are good.
- brianzelip 9y ago
  > maintained in a text file with infinite persistent undo How? Is this persistence a function of your text editor?
  - barrkel 9y ago
    I wrote a notepad app that tracks document history indefinitely to a log file - https://github.com/barrkel/scratch https://github.com/barrkel/scratch
n1000 9y ago
Maybe. But I think the method is not supposed to be applied word by word. Reading the book taught me some very important lessons nevertheless. What is an actionable item. Tasks must be clear. Small task should taken care of right away. etc.
- cJ0th 9y ago
  > Reading the book taught me some very important lessons nevertheless. What is an actionable item. Tasks must be clear. So you never wrote a function before reading GTD? ;)
criddell 9y ago
One of the smallest parts of GTD had a pretty big impact in my life. If doing something will take only two minutes, then just do it. Don't put it off, don't add it to a list, just do it.

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.

dogruck 9y ago

You make the bizarre claim that nobody successfully follows GTD because you’ve never done so, and you know many others who have also failed to do so. That’s like a fat dude looking around at the donut shop and saying “nobody ever sticks to their diets, haha!” I’ve used GTD for years. I just shattered your claim.

ThomPete 9y ago
Did you read what i wrote? You proved my point :) you dont do it anymore.
- dogruck 9y ago
  I’m not seeing your joke. Confused. Maybe you’re like an evil hypnotist. “You will stop following your diet. You will stop following your diet. You will stop following your diet.” :-) Seriously though — I think these two claims are both frequent and harmful: 1. It’s impossible to stay disciplined in the long run. 2. Discipline sucks the joy out of life. On the contrary, I think discipline gives you freedom.
  - ThomPete 9y ago
    I misread what you wrote my apologies. Anyway, I don't see how you shattered anything. First of all, I never attempted to do GTD exactly because I never saw the value. So I didn't fail at it I simply decided not to do it once I realized what it required. Second of all that you have used GTD for years doesn't mean you are going to continue using it. Lets talk in 10 years and see.
  - jo909 9y ago
    Relying on discipline alone is whats harmful. Studies repeatedly show that most people can not reach their goals by only relying on willpower. Good systems/diets etc define strategies that _reduce_ the amount of discipline required to stick to it. Saying "be disciplined" is roughly in the same category as telling someone to "be happy". It's a great goal, but no help at all for someone who is not already there.

barrkel 9y ago

I think GTD can be dangerous for people who like systems too much; a bit like people who play RPGs because of the rules around bookkeeping of stats and deciding of battles, rather than for the imagined world the bookkeeping keeps honest. I'm highly task-oriented in my work, but mostly it's just a list of lists, maintained in a text file with infinite persistent undo. Every task starts out as a line, gets a few sub-lines when it acquires some definition, and gets broken up into multiple separate tasks if it's too big, or it only gets partially done and other tasks remain. I don't live like that much outside of work (unless there's a specific longer-lived process, like moving house or something), and my process is very light weight. I think GTD starts out too heavy; it would be better done iteratively, starting with something very simple that works 80% of the time, and then adding more if you're so busy that you need the extra process. You could then start reading the book and put it down early on with enough to get by, but still be able to pick it up if you need more.

stochastic_monk 9y ago
I tried GTD years ago, and I went down a crazy rabbit hole and lost any productivity I had. Pomodoro isn't as much of a black hole for me, but I do better just closing browser windows/turning off wifi/putting in earplugs instead of headphones, and focusing until I get to a point where I'm ready/need to take a break. And that's usually 30-60 minutes as it is. tl;dr: GTD is bad for me, disconnecting, earplugs, and punctuated focused periods of effort are good.
brianzelip 9y ago
> maintained in a text file with infinite persistent undo How? Is this persistence a function of your text editor?
- barrkel 9y ago
  I wrote a notepad app that tracks document history indefinitely to a log file - https://github.com/barrkel/scratch https://github.com/barrkel/scratch

n1000 9y ago

Maybe. But I think the method is not supposed to be applied word by word. Reading the book taught me some very important lessons nevertheless. What is an actionable item. Tasks must be clear. Small task should taken care of right away. etc.

cJ0th 9y ago
> Reading the book taught me some very important lessons nevertheless. What is an actionable item. Tasks must be clear. So you never wrote a function before reading GTD? ;)

criddell 9y ago

One of the smallest parts of GTD had a pretty big impact in my life. If doing something will take only two minutes, then just do it. Don't put it off, don't add it to a list, just do it.