Creativity tales?

B

Busydave

0
I always see GTD as a two-part process: step one, get everything out of your head and into a trusted system; step two, use your head properly.

In “Ready for Anything” DA explores many aspects of a freed up mind, and in particular, enhanced creativity. What sort of creative breakthroughs have you experienced as a result of de-cluttering your mind? Any good stories to share?

Dave
 
I've been doing GTD for about 6 years now. The product of my "creativity" has been starting my own business. When I started GTD I was working in job I was good at, but didn't thoroughly enjoy. Reviewing all of my "stuff" every week has forced me to make decisions about my life that I would never have thought about before. My Someday/Maybes started taunting me!

GTD has allowed me to handle all the little stuff that would have normally eaten up my time and enticed me to procrastinate which would have forced those S/M items to stay on the list because I "didn't have time". Gaining back that extra time has allowed me to get more done and now I can focus on the big picture and start making progress on my S/M list. I no longer feel like life is just happening to me. I feel like I am in control of what is happening. Not only did I start my own business, but I formed an all-girl band and started booking gigs!

Now, when I sit down to design a graphic or write an article for my site, my mind is clear and I can focus. I can take my time and enjoy the process. This morning was a classic example. When I got to the "office" (back home after dropping the kids off at school :wink: ), I looked at my calendar and saw I had 2 emails to send and one update to make on my site. I finished those tasks and saw I still had about 6 hours until my next appointment. That is the point I call "GTD Freedom" - when all the 'have-to" stuff for the day is DONE and I can now do ANYTHING I want to do! I LOVE that! I started working on finishing a difficult coding job on my web site. Even though I had the next action for it, it was still bugging me so I decided to knock out as much as possible and I ended up completely finishing the project by noon!

It also helped that I did my weekly review last night so I didn't have any mental interruptions to break my concentration. :)
 
That's what attracted me to GTD was the idea that I could free my mind from the anxiety of everything I HAD to do so that I had time and creative energy to do the things I WANT to do. I am just starting out so I can't say for sure if this is the path I am on. I can say that my anxiety level is down.

I also like the idea that I can keep the sometime-maybes on track, by doing little errands that will lead up to doing the actual project; I buy all the stuff I need, do the research, prepare my work area, and then when a block of time opens up, wham! I'm ready to do this project that might never have happended. Fingers crossed.
 
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