David's NYT-related tweet

[ekmorris]

Hello all,

I saw David's tweet about the article describing mothers who take prescription sleep aids to cope with, among other things, thinking about permission slips et al. at 3 AM. David commented that most of the problems described in the piece could be solved with GTD.

As the working mother of a 3 year old and the wife of someone on the road 3 days/week, I have to say - he's right!!! I don't even want to think about how I'd be coping (or not coping) without my lists, tickler, etc. I certainly don't work it perfectly, but even given my system's limitations, it's incredibly helpful.

Evelyn

 

[Barb]

More..

Sometimes I marvel at the posts in the public forums...people are ready to "give up" GTD (usually because they can't find the "perfect" tool). That has let me to ask myself--and now you fellow forum members: If you didn't practice GTD, what would you do?

For myself--probably close to 10 years into GTD now--I don't think I COULD give up GTD! Life is so much more complicated than when David wrote the book, don't you think?

And Evelyn? Just to give you the kudos you working mothers really deserve---even WITH GTD I don't know how you do it!!

 

[BjornLjunggren]

Luck

Since I'm such a lucky guy, something spectacular and fantastic would probably happen if I didn't have GTD.

But last time I stopped doing GTD, nothing really remarkable happened!

So now I'm holding on to dear life!

Life is good

 

[pinkmouse]

.people are ready to "give up" GTD

You mean like for Lent?

Seriously though, GTD is a set of habits and thought processes. I don't think I could give it up without a lot of concentrated effort. I would need to retrain myself NOT to do GTD, and that sounds like way too much effort.

And I second Barb's comment about working mothers. Hats off to all of you.

Cheers,
Laura

 

[AmandaBarnier]

Completely agree!

I completely agree Evelyn! Thanks for drawing attention to David's tweet. I was surprised that his comment didn't get more response (where I saw it on Facebook).

I also work, in a full-time academic job, and am the mother of a 2 year old and a 7 year old. Sometimes I feel like screaming because of the constant demands. GTD means I don't feel that way every minute of every day. I can't say that I'm a perfect adherent to it; I often fall off the band wagon. But when it's running relatively smoothly -- as it is right now -- I feel much more in control.

And it's not just the working mums; it's everyone with complex, busy lives and responsibilities. Why not try something that can really help?

 

[Mtk8]

One thing to add as a working father (two 18-month old foster daughters) -- for me GTD is critical for managing the utter unpredictability of life as a parent. For example, if daycare calls to say that one of our children is sick, I've got no more than 30 minutes to: a) drop whatever I'm doing; b) figure out logistics with my also working wife about who is going to get the sick child and spend the rest of the day at home; c) if the answer is me, cancel everything for the rest of the day and possibly the day after; d) figure out how anything critical to get done in the next 24-48 hours is going to happen; and e) actually leave the office and go get the child. Having everything organized in a known and well-oiled system is the ONLY way for b, c, and d to happen, and having an organized system so that I can walk back into my professional life a day or more later and pick up more or less where I left off is key for getting back on track afterwards. I can't imagine doing either and maintaining my sanity (such as it is) without a well-functioning GTD system.

--Marc

 

[mcogilvie]

Sometimes I marvel at the posts in the public forums...people are ready to "give up" GTD (usually because they can't find the "perfect" tool). That has let me to ask myself--and now you fellow forum members: If you didn't practice GTD, what would you do?

If I had the habits of processing and collection I now have but not the context-based GTD lists, I'd probably end up close to the daily list and master list of Winston's book The Organized Executive. By the way, I tried for years to make Franklin and then Franklin-Covey ideas work; it was not a good fit.

 

[marciturk]

Hats off to all of you moms/mums and dads!

Makes you wonder how those not using GTD do it!

 

[Mark Jantzen]

Life Before / Without GTD ... Harder!

Before learning GTD I constantly had this feeling that there had to be an easier way to deal with all this "stuff".

GTD was my answer. Yes, there is, and here's how!

When I heard David describe his outcome and next action framework a light bulb went off for me that's only gotten brighter.