The GTD Wagon

[bcmyers2112]

Oh, man. I've read so many posts over a ten year period about people struggling with GTD. People questioning whether they could do it. I can relate. I've been off the wagon far more than on, especially over the last few years.

As I've tried to rehabilitate my GTD practice over the last couple months, I've realized something: unlike a lot of approaches, GTD is very forgiving of mistakes. In software terms, it's very fault-tolerant. Even when my practice has been at its worst, there has been value.

Someone very close to me has told me repeatedly, "When you fall down seven times, you get up eight."

Don't give up. That's what I'm saying. I've been at this awhile and I'm very close to something big. I can feel it. I wouldn't be if I hadn't stuck it out, though.

 

[dtj]

I think its so tolerant because very little is actually wrong/mistakes. Sub-optimal perhaps, but presumably you were making the best decisions you could, with the info you had at the time. Sometimes its a matter of being overtaken by events (OBE) or just run into scaling problems. Just back up a bit and take a different path and do your best. Another aspect of this is that it usually amounts to an individual journey and usually your wrong paths are only revealed when you reveal them. You don't see the bazillion practice screwups of Fred Astaire as he perfected the dancing in "Singing in the Rain".

 

[schmeggahead]

Sub-optimal perhaps, but presumably you were making the best decisions you could, with the info you had at the time.

This is a great observation and parallels the opposite of analysis paralysis.

When I discover something sub-optimal, I read that as this: I moved forward, making progress and increasing my understanding to the situation.

Just back up a bit and take a different path and do your best.

I'm doing this right now. My focus capabilities have been toast for the last five years and I'm finally recovering them to something close to functional for me. This changes my capacity and ability to see opportunities and move forward where it was impossible before.

You don't see the bazillion practice screwups of Fred Astaire

Boy do I think it would be fun to be able to dance up a fallen chair. Just put that on my Someday Maybe list of fun.

Clayton

"To be is to do"--Socrates.
"To do is to be"--Jean-Paul Sartre.
"Do be do be do"--Frank Sinatra.
- Kurt Vonnegut

 

[bcmyers2112]

I think its so tolerant because very little is actually wrong/mistakes. Sub-optimal perhaps, but presumably you were making the best decisions you could, with the info you had at the time. Sometimes its a matter of being overtaken by events (OBE) or just run into scaling problems. Just back up a bit and take a different path and do your best. Another aspect of this is that it usually amounts to an individual journey and usually your wrong paths are only revealed when you reveal them. You don't see the bazillion practice screwups of Fred Astaire as he perfected the dancing in "Singing in the Rain".

I think this is a super-cogent post and I appreciate you sharing it. I wish I had been as cogent in my original post.

When I say I'm "very close to something big" I'm referring to this: I've realized I can make GTD my own. It's not something I get "right" or "wrong." It's about what things mean to me in the moment. As my understanding of myself and my world grows, so will my GTD system.

Prior to the last several months, I lacked clarity about myself, my needs, my wants, and the world around me. As a result, my GTD system was as muddy as my thinking.

My biggest stumbling block was all-or-nothing thinking. I applied this to my GTD system. If I wasn't experiencing a mind like water, I considered myself a failure and gave up.

I wouldn't have shared this if I thought it was just me in that boat. Over 10 years I've read so many posts that suggest to me this is a very crowded boat.

One thing that helped me is the realization that no one's GTD practice is perfect. That's unattainable as all humans are imperfect by nature. This dawned on me recently when I had an interaction with @John Forrister (and I hope he doesn't mind me sharing this) where he lamented that he and @kelstarrising had gotten a bit overwhelmed with commitments and wished they had negotiated them differently. If a couple of the world's foremost GTD experts can experience challenges, who am I to think I wouldn't as well?

This also brings to mind something I heard David Allen say in a video years ago when he was showing how he processed his inbox. He wrote something down on a slip of paper and needed a moment to remember what he was referring to. He said he needed to get into the habit of giving himself a bit more detail when capturing. Again, if he can struggle with this stuff at times who am I to think I also wouldn't?

I guess what I'm saying is: don't let giving up be your obstacle to succeeding. As I rehabilitate my GTD system I'm realizing the learning curve was always worthwhile. I could've shortened it by not giving up so easily so many times, though.

 

[dtj]

I guess what I'm saying is: don't let giving up be your obstacle to succeeding. As I rehabilitate my GTD system I'm realizing the learning curve was always worthwhile. I could've shortened it by not giving up so easily so many times, though.

As the old adage goes "The Journey is the Reward". When I look at the most enriching parts of my life, it's the struggles overcome that matter the most.

The secret is that you need to give yourself the slack to go down some suboptimal paths, and have the sense to recognize that there are better ways. If, for instance, you can't accept failures, thats a whole different problem that likely aint gonna be fixed by GTD or any other productiviity system.

As an aside, younger generations are horribly burdened by anxiety because failure is considered an end state, rather than a step on the way to greatness. They see, on social media, predominately others successes and not the bazillion negative results (aka "failures") that led up to that success. Since everybody is doing everything right, they cannot accept failure in themselves. They aren't taught to cut themself the slack to get things wrong when they move their way up the path to mastery.