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Thread: Getting Things Done

  1. #1
    Senior Member fidgiegirl's Avatar
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    Getting Things Done

    We had a thread about GTD waaaaaay back on the old forums and, I dunno, I feel like talking about it again.

    Momentarily I am going to take my laptop around and do a mind dump. There are lots of little things we need to wrap up around here, and I feel like writing them all down.

    I am using OmniFocus on Mac and iPhone now. I have an iPad issued for work, but am not so into it that I needed to spend $40 on the iPad app. The iPhone app is sufficient for me.

    Not sure how to make GTD more of a daily thing. I revisit it periodically, keep it relatively updated, but it isn't the daily powerhouse productivity too that it could be. Plus, now my inboxes aren't even at zero

    So I have some catching up to do with GTD, but I think it's going to feel good when it is done. My DH has this tendency to speak his to-do lists out loud, and that stresses me out. I've told him he can't do that anymore If I have it all organized by project and context, though, it feels doable. We are going toward the same end - finishing stuff up - but are going to get there in different ways.

    Do you use GTD or elements of it? How have you confronted these challenges or others? What do you like/not like about the system?
    Kelli

    My gluten free blog: Twin Cities Gluten Free
    Our house remodel blog: Our Fair Abode

  2. #2
    Senior Member herbgeek's Avatar
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    The part I use most is listing to-do's by context. So if I'm in the mood to make phone calls, I can pick up the "to call" list and get to it. Likewise, I like having all my errands grouped. The part I'm not especially fond of (but see its usefulness) is the 50,000 foot review part. I don't currently have any big major projects to do and doing this makes me feel like my life is empty or without purpose. But I'm at a stage in my head where I'm more than just what I accomplish, it doesn't have to be go go go all the time in order for me to be a worthwhile human being.

  3. #3
    Senior Member fidgiegirl's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by herbgeek View Post
    But I'm at a stage in my head where I'm more than just what I accomplish, it doesn't have to be go go go all the time in order for me to be a worthwhile human being.
    I'm struggling with this about life right now, particularly in my job. Among teachers, there is an unwritten rule that you are to be busy ALL THE TIME. Like, if you have five minutes of downtime, then you are less than. As a district-wide person this year, there are some times where I have opportunities to read a professional journal or blog, for example, and I rarely take those opportunities because this feeling of not creating or producing something in that time feels like "wasting" it. So I'm working on it, but it's a journey.

    Jealous that you are there, and happy for you.

    Love contexts, too, especially online tasks. Sometimes I just want to sit on my butt online and fall into just checking the same sites over and over again. But with my GTD stuff up to date, then I can at least see what were some of the tasks I wanted to do online, and do them.
    Kelli

    My gluten free blog: Twin Cities Gluten Free
    Our house remodel blog: Our Fair Abode

  4. #4
    Senior Member herbgeek's Avatar
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    Jealous that you are there, and happy for you.
    I didn't happen to mention that this part of my brain constantly does battle with my German mother upbringing.

  5. #5
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    Well, I keep a written list of things that must get done this week on the calendar. I rarely need to do a mind dump because I am not allowing myself to take on new projects until I finish up the old one (i.e. launch at least 2 teenagers.)

    I like grouping tasks/errand as I think I am more efficient that way. (Gotta laugh, herbgeek at your comment "when I feel like making phone calls.....if I waited til I felt like it, I would even need the phone .)

    I have reached a stage in my life where I am looking to declutter things that need to get done, not actually do them.
    author of A Holy Errand

  6. #6
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    Omnifocus has been a critical tool for me to work with GTD. I also follow some of the implementation suggestions found online like this one: http://www.lifehack.org/articles/pro...-activity.html
    Meanwhile, I also sometimes listen to an audio tape of Julie Morgenstern's "Time Management from the Inside Out" which reminds me to evaluate whether or not a particular activity does or does not align with my "big picture goals". I see this as a kind of shortcut to the regular 50,000-foot review. I think David Allen is more realistic about how quickly we encounter changing priorities, and our struggle to act according to a plan.

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