Help!! Again!

[gator]

Hello
I have written before about my procrastinating ways. Which system to use, what size Ciirca notebook letter or jr., which app etc.etc.etc. my company just gave me an iPad so of course I'm looking at what apps to use, wasting more and more time. I'm a sales professional, and I'm hurting myself with this crazy roller coaster of what tools to use and I'm not getting Anything done.my iPad is great, but mainly for presentations. I have a laptop and I MUST use the CRM which makes sense. So why will an app like toodledo, to do, Evernote etc. etc. be beneficial? I met with a client recently who had a spiral notebook and an iPad. He has his stuff together, why not me? This obsession is hurting me. The Circa notebooks drive me nuts with paper coming out all the time, these apps take more time to use and there's always something new. I'm thinking of going with a basic nice spiral notebook, iPad for my presentations and the crm for my notes, follow ups etc. somebody hit me over the head and wake me up please.......

 

[TesTeq]

Do you really like your job?

I'm a sales professional

Do you really like your job? Are you passionate about selling? About persuading people to buy stuff or services?

 

[Popeye]

Do you really like your job? Are you passionate about selling? About persuading people to buy stuff or services?

I don´t see the connection here... Do you mean that if I love my job, I don´t procastenate... in other words.. If all of us loved our jobs, non of us needed to hang around at the Connect forums?? and David Allen and his team would work with some other stuff.

With a job that I like, yes things go easier to do there...

@Gator...

I can only say to you.. scale it down to the simplest system you can have at all horizons..

Read the book, Getting things done (again)

what tools do you need? https://secure.davidco.com/connect/white-papers/white-papers-download.php?id=70

I´m using a Filofax, I also used this setupguide: https://secure.davidco.com/connect/white-papers/white-papers-download.php?id=70

Try not to compare you self with others power-users here at the forums, ´cause you could feel low... "They are getting this, I don´t... what´s wrong with me....."

Good luck

 

[Suelin23]

I've been doing GTD for about 1 year and 4 months, and spent the first year chopping and changing systems! I've finally settled down on the perfect system, but honestly you have to try a system before you know if it suits you. Pick a system, any system, use it for a month and then decide whether to keep going or try something else.

 

[Oogiem]

Pick a Tool - Learn the Process

This obsession is hurting me. The Circa notebooks drive me nuts with paper coming out all the time, these apps take more time to use and there's always something new. I'm thinking of going with a basic nice spiral notebook, iPad for my presentations and the crm for my notes, follow ups etc.

Pick a system, any system and use it for a while, a month is ideal if you can manage it or even a bit longer. One of your projects should be "Determine what form my successful GTD system will take." Or something like that and make a project of deciding what is important to you, how you work, what appeals to you etc and then go from there.

GTD is not about the mechanics of whether you use circa or moleskin or omnifocus or outlook or whatever, GTD is about the method and the process. You need to learn that then decide on the tools that help you best implement the process.

 

[mcogilvie]

I think gtd works best when you know yourself as fully as possible. To paraphrase an old saying: "An honest man doesn't lie to others. A really honest man doesn't lie to himself." When things aren't working, you have to ask 'why?' repeatedly until you get to the bottom of things. Sometimes you find the answer in shallow water, and sometimes you have to go deep.

 

[TesTeq]

If you love your job you do not procrastinate.

I don´t see the connection here... Do you mean that if I love my job, I don´t procastenate... in other words.. If all of us loved our jobs, non of us needed to hang around at the Connect forums?? and David Allen and his team would work with some other stuff.

Yes, I believe that if you love your job you do not procrastinate. It is even worse - you procrastinate by doing your job. You forget to take a shower, to tidy up your flat and sometimes even to eat!

David Allen would not work with some other stuff because he loves GTD and procrastinates by spreading the word!

 

[kelstarrising]

If you love your job you do not procrastinate.

Wow, that's a pretty strong statement. I love my job and I procrastinate all the time!

 

[Popeye]

<<procrastinate or not...

Wow, that's a pretty strong statement. I love my job and I procrastinate all the time!

I second that

 

[TesTeq]

I hope the new David Allen Company CEO will not read this!

I love my job and I procrastinate all the time!

OMG! I hope the new David Allen Company CEO will not read this!

 

[gator]

Help Again

It sounds like we got off track regarding my original post!! Do I love my job? Am I passionate about selling? Yes, I've been doing this for years! What's that got to do with my post?? An d by the way, I think EVERYONE procrastinates from time to time, which is why I was looking for help!

 

[isadorebraun]

Wow, that's a pretty strong statement. I love my job and I procrastinate all the time!

There's a sweet spot... somewhere between loving something so much, caring about the outcome to such an extent, that you avoid doing that thing (read Steven Pressfield's War of Art for more on this) and not loving what you do, to the extend that reading and doing GTD becomes your vocation.

While Tes Teq is being a tad harsh, I'd say most of my friends and family fall into this category. Procrastination, if only to numb oneself from the drudgery that is your life, is the result.

The illusion (delusion) that GTD (or any system) will cure this, is will keep Allen a wealthy man.

 

[TesTeq]

I'm sorry for asking harsh, provocative questions.

It sounds like we got off track regarding my original post!! Do I love my job? Am I passionate about selling? Yes, I've been doing this for years! What's that got to do with my post?? An d by the way, I think EVERYONE procrastinates from time to time, which is why I was looking for help!

I'm sorry for asking harsh provocative questions. Sometimes it helps to hear them - sometimes not. If you like your job - that's great.

And one more thing - GTD is a great methodology for achieving stress-free productivity but I know people (for example my wife) who have never heard about GTD but who are able to successfully manage their Areas of Focus and Projects.

 

[Suelin23]

I love my job and I hate my job. I love my job when I'm thinking at the higher levels, what we are doing, why we are doing and what an improvement its going to make. I hate my job when I realise that to do what we want to do we have to deal with the detail. We have to write business cases, fill out paperwork, review, fix up and review, revise, review, its a tedious job with lots of paperwork.

Thank God for GTD! I've realised the reason I procrastinate is because while I like to have everything organised, I don't like to setup the organisational system. But GTD has helped me realise how important it is, and since going through the painstaking business of setting up all my work systems, and then systems for home I've become so much faster and I realise I don't mind the tedious paperwork if it's fast and efficient, and my job is becoming so much more enjoyable.

I know it is a long drawn out process to organise your life, but believe me it is worth it, hang in it and you won't procrastinate as much when it's done.

 

[BjornLjunggren]

Doing double work is better than not doing any work (procrastinating)

I also work with different tools at work. Which one to choose? In my experience it doesn't really matter which one you use, just pick one to have your actions list and project list on.

If you feel like you are doing double work, moving projects from one system to another or moving actions from one list to a different, that doesn't matter. Even though doing double work isn't optimal, it actually pays off in the end anyway. Why? Because everytime you move something from one system to the other you renegotiate your commitment to the task/project and you can't help but to ask all these questions again and again "What is it?" "What does it mean?" "Is it actionable?". Continously processing and organizing will help you to get to done faster. GTD evolution in the making.

So start to do double work, then you are actually DOING something instead of just procrastinating. And you free up a lot of time since you don't have to think about the best tool.