I am not a GTD fraud after all

Bill Myers

Bill Myers

...disguised as Clark Kent, mild-mannered reporter
I posted the other day about being on the GTD struggle bus, and being better at talking about GTD than doing it. I was being too hard on myself.

There have been times where I've fallen off the wagon for extended periods. But there have also been times that I've had major parts of my GTD system humming along and I've gotten value out of it.

I've posted worthwhile things in this forum. There is a lot I don't know. But there are some things I know that are worth sharing.

I'm posting this for anyone else on the GTD struggle bus who is beating themselves up over it. It's OK to be imperfect. In fact, it's what makes us human.

Peace out.
 
Bill Myers said:
It's OK to be imperfect.
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In my partnering AOF I have this:

As we coordinate, remember:
- It's OK if we're not perfect
- enjoy reviewing key points in the process
- pay attention to how each other is doing each day

This seems to apply to doing GTD:
- It's OK to not do it perfectly
- enjoy those little wins in the process
- pay attention to how you feel and take that into consideration

@Bill Myers, you have shared a bunch of useful things in these forums.
Thank you,
Clayton.

One step and then the next, get's you where you're going.
 
mcogilvie said:
An expert is somebody who has made a lot of mistakes and knows how to fix some of them. A teacher is someone who can explain both the mistakes and the fixes to other people.
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Thank you, Mike. But let's be clear: I am not an expert. I am not a teacher. I am just another person on a GTD journey.
 
@Bill Myers

Would be very GTD interesting to know what the following looked like to you:

"But have also been times that I've had major parts of my GTD system humming along and I've gotten value out of it."

Thank you very much sir

As you see GTD fit. . . .

Ps. Agree, our imperfect best is always sufficient to the next possible better . . . especially slow-&-small for solid confident compounding over time ?
While Matthew 7:24-27 seems so grueling because it is so seemingly so . . . especially if dopamine was where the action was ?
Just one of many GTD tidbits from the Creator of all reality ?
 
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Honestly i'd contend that if everything is ship-shape and friction free, you aint going hard enough. It's like with sports or fitness training, if you don't have discomfort, you're not working hard enough. Wabi-sabi is the way.
 
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dtj said:
Honestly i'd content that if everything is ship-shape and friction free, you aint going hard enough. It's like with sports or fitness training, if you don't have discomfort, you're not working hard enough. Wabi-sabi is the way.
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@dtj

Interesting

What happens to oneself and others when one is at a maximum capacity and something randomly comes out of the blue ?

Thank you very much
 
gtd solo-studente said:
@dtj

Interesting

What happens to oneself and others when one is at a maximum capacity and something randomly comes out of the blue ?

Thank you very much
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That's when wabi-sabi is important. You don't see paramedics worrying about getting their uniforms dirty coming upon a bloody accident. Having GTD in your quiver is the biggest win when the shit gets serious and any hint of normalcy is gone. When you get like the flu, or more serious thing that takes you out of your pattern, GTD might not keep the wheels on the car, but atleast it keeps them nearby and you can more easily prioritize, or do whatever you can do. I have a great list of movies in omnifocus, mostly for when I get sick and are blankly staring at the tv and not really up for figuring things out. "Break the glass" and start watchin'! :)

When you going at red line and then just one more high priority item flops unceremoniously on your plate, having a clearly defined landscape allows you to postpone some things, safely knowing that lower priority things will not dribble through the cracks.
 
dtj said:
When you get like the flu, or more serious thing that takes you out of your pattern, GTD might not keep the wheels on the car, but atleast it keeps them nearby and you can more easily prioritize, or do whatever you can do.
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I find GTD most valuable in these situations.
That hard landscape being established, albeit imperfectly, is an anchor to shift items to others or to let go of, knowing what we can do in the moment.

The more practiced we are in using that hard landscape effectively, the better we can do it when we aren't at our best.

I use imperfect perfection in the way that my various systems evolve.
When I make a change to how my system operates, I essentially update components of my system to adhere to the new way I'm handling them as I interact with them. All are still useful in the old operating mode and work better in the new.

My best examples are tagging items in Reminders and linking items in Obsidian. Obsidian linking was the first to show up. I was vastly inconsistent with linking and didn't understand Zettlekasten methods very well. Now I enjoy a random Obsidian note every four days and make sure the note has useful linking and / or tagging. (Sometimes even sending me down rabbit holes of knowledge integration)

In Reminders, I waited for most tagging to initially be setup, then did a onetime all out cleaning of untagged items and then, in my Monthly Review, I tag untagged items. I answer the question, why am I doing these things?

I find that the imperfections in my system make it more useful in that I'm constantly better understanding me and my activities, aiming my focus where I most want to aim it.
Clayton

Everything but what I am doing now is a Someday/Maybe. paraphrasing David Allen.
 
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