Desperately needing Clarity and Progress, but afraid GTD might overcomplicate Things

First of all, sorry for the long post - but I'm desperately looking for advice, and I need to vent a little and explain my situation fully. I tried to format the important bits, hopefully it helps.

I'm currently in the situation where I need to and want to use my time productively. I'm deeply unhappy with my life, especially with my career, and want to/need to make drastic changes in multiple areas. Probably not all at once, I know that - but the problem is that I'm not seeing any form of results or momentum going on, for months and years.

End of last year I quit my miserable job and took on a completely new one that is going to start in a couple of months from now. I lived off of my savings until now (and can continue to do so until the job starts), and did that so I have enough time to focus on my commitments and get my life under control. Problem is, I figured that it's not only the lack of time that keeps me from making progress, but also a lack of clarity. I kept working on ultimately meaningless things and haven't made real steps towards my goals in all those months, which is really depressing.

My question and concern:
I believe GTD and a real productivity system might be able to bring me towards actually making meaningful progress and closing a lot of my commitments and bringing back control into my hands.
My fear, though, is that it's another thing I add to the pile of things I have to do before I start making actual progress towards my goals, and that it overcomplicates things. Multiple people say it takes months and up to two years and longer to get fully functional with GTD. Can I afford to have a complicated system like GTD on my hands while trying to turn my life around, a system I am not comfortable with and probably often times don't know how to handle incoming things that adds extra time every week that I need to use to maintain the system?

My fear is that I won't be able to maintain the "Getting used to GTD"-Project with everything else I am stuck under.
That it's the shovel that's supposed to dig me free, but it just get's layed ontop of the mountain of rubble, adding to the weight.
That I am adapting the system and using in for a few weeks until I get derailed with it and chaos ensues, leaving me again without a functioning system, the guilt that it's not working, the stress that I have to get it to work again, and still the undone work and commitments that I had from before.

I have tried to implement Productivity Systems in the past, never GTD though. I ended up tossing them all aside fully (- even the parts that were still intact and "good" out of frustration or a desire to "reset" -) after a few months of use eventually after something blew up or the scale of my commitments and lists and projects just seemed to explode because of unending "capturing", where I then went on to "simplify" and ignore 90% of my Tasks.
I still have a excel sheet with a task list (sorted by category) around on my computer which I started years ago and used on-off till a few months ago.
Currently there are still over 2.400 unprocessed, uncategorized tasks on that list. I assume that at least 75% of those are either finished and shouldn't be there, super-unimportant and therefore deletable or just plainly not on my horizons/interest anymore.
You see that overcommitment, fear of missing something and perfectionism are deep problems of mine.


---
Currently, my Plan is to setup and work with Scott H. Young's System of "weekly/daily goals" while slowly adding and learning little aspects of GTD, each after another in isolation, until I eventually have something that looks like GTD, gives me most of the benefits and works for me.
"Weekly/daily goals" looks easy enough to implement without any hassle and might finally allow me to focus on things that actually move me towards actual outcomes and results, which hopefully fuel momentum and motivation, no matter if a lot of things fall through the cracks because of the simplicity of the system - it's not like that hasn't happened for the past few years anyway.

What do you think of that approach?
What would you do in my spot?
Do you believe my fears of adapting GTD and sinking down even deeper are justified?

Any advice, any help, any words of encouragement are all gladly appreciated. I'm really stuck, and I could really use all of those. I'm grateful for everybody that is willing to read through my ramblings.

Thanks in Advance, and dearest of wishes to all of you.
~Erik
 

ivanjay205

Registered
There is a lot to respond to in here! With that being said I will say first and probably most importantly, in my opinion, a task management / productivity system cannot fix what you are saying. It is the tool but it is up to you to implement it. I love David Allen's analogy that having a great hammer doesnt make you a great carpenter. Although when he says it he is referencing tools to implement GTD I think it is really relevant here too.

GTD is a fantastic framework to help you organize all that is available for you to do. it is a great system and tool to provide the clearest options to you to move forward on them in the right timeframe and moment with the right tools at hand. However, ultimately you still need to make it happen.

That being said I do think implementing GTD can help you a lot. The intend of GTD is not to assist in getting things done all the time. It is to ensure that everything in your life is parked appropriately so you can take action on it at the right time towards your larger goals and purposes and not lose what is not available to you at the moment. It is a trusted system so that if something is not important to you, your brain does not need to think about it. You can trust it is there. Ready and willing for you.

Personally, I do not believe in a slow implementation. I think the longer you are half in the longer you will struggle. I would start at the base level and work your way up in terms of the levels of horizon.

Start granular with a brain dump.... Literally let your mind go to everything you need to do. Go through your email, your physical mail, your office, your house, etc. Go through it all and just jot down anything you think of that you need to do. That list is going to be long and scary, let that go. Turn on some background music and have fun with it.

Once you think you got it, and you wont but that is okay, start clarifying and organizing. Put them into projects. but break them down. For example, I have about 6 small privacy trees that died at my house. My knee jerk reaction was to capture "Replace privacy trees". If I would have left that it would sit on my list to do and never move forward. Why? There is a sequence of events. This is a project:

1. Order new privacy trees on the website (I list the site on my next action)
2. Plant the privacy trees
3. Water the privacy trees (recurring action for a few months until they are set)


Only when all three of those are done is my project complete and that is done.

ordering new privacy trees is SOOOOO much clearer and simpler than replace privacy trees. It is a clear direction, go to the website I already listed what I want to buy, add it to my cart, and buy. Once that is done I check it off and now I am moving on to something else. I can work on other next actions while I wait for those privacy trees to arrive. When they do I can pick up where I left off with that next action.

But.... in my opinion, GTD does not work half in. From the moment you say go you have to capture EVERY thought you have. Break them down into next actions and projects.

Only after you experience the benefit of that organization and feel in control do you start to work up to the next level of horizons. What you will find often is as that you work up you realize you are working on things you dont want to. One of my visions is to have a beautiful house I love coming home to. One of my goals associated with that is upgrading my backyard with a renovation. Replacing those dead privacy trees is one project related to that goal and ultimately the vision. So that higher horizon is being satisfied at the project level.

but you need to start with cleaning up where you are today.

And the real secret, is have a tag for the low hanging fruit when you are not motivated. I find that so satisfying and even motivating when I have no energy, no focus, and I still check off 2-3 easy things. That gets me out of the slump!

Hope that helps! Happy to share more!
 

gtdstudente

Registered
First of all, sorry for the long post - but I'm desperately looking for advice, and I need to vent a little and explain my situation fully. I tried to format the important bits, hopefully it helps.

I'm currently in the situation where I need to and want to use my time productively. I'm deeply unhappy with my life, especially with my career, and want to/need to make drastic changes in multiple areas. Probably not all at once, I know that - but the problem is that I'm not seeing any form of results or momentum going on, for months and years.

End of last year I quit my miserable job and took on a completely new one that is going to start in a couple of months from now. I lived off of my savings until now (and can continue to do so until the job starts), and did that so I have enough time to focus on my commitments and get my life under control. Problem is, I figured that it's not only the lack of time that keeps me from making progress, but also a lack of clarity. I kept working on ultimately meaningless things and haven't made real steps towards my goals in all those months, which is really depressing.

My question and concern:
I believe GTD and a real productivity system might be able to bring me towards actually making meaningful progress and closing a lot of my commitments and bringing back control into my hands.
My fear, though, is that it's another thing I add to the pile of things I have to do before I start making actual progress towards my goals, and that it overcomplicates things. Multiple people say it takes months and up to two years and longer to get fully functional with GTD. Can I afford to have a complicated system like GTD on my hands while trying to turn my life around, a system I am not comfortable with and probably often times don't know how to handle incoming things that adds extra time every week that I need to use to maintain the system?

My fear is that I won't be able to maintain the "Getting used to GTD"-Project with everything else I am stuck under.
That it's the shovel that's supposed to dig me free, but it just get's layed ontop of the mountain of rubble, adding to the weight.
That I am adapting the system and using in for a few weeks until I get derailed with it and chaos ensues, leaving me again without a functioning system, the guilt that it's not working, the stress that I have to get it to work again, and still the undone work and commitments that I had from before.

I have tried to implement Productivity Systems in the past, never GTD though. I ended up tossing them all aside fully (- even the parts that were still intact and "good" out of frustration or a desire to "reset" -) after a few months of use eventually after something blew up or the scale of my commitments and lists and projects just seemed to explode because of unending "capturing", where I then went on to "simplify" and ignore 90% of my Tasks.
I still have a excel sheet with a task list (sorted by category) around on my computer which I started years ago and used on-off till a few months ago.
Currently there are still over 2.400 unprocessed, uncategorized tasks on that list. I assume that at least 75% of those are either finished and shouldn't be there, super-unimportant and therefore deletable or just plainly not on my horizons/interest anymore.
You see that overcommitment, fear of missing something and perfectionism are deep problems of mine.


---
Currently, my Plan is to setup and work with Scott H. Young's System of "weekly/daily goals" while slowly adding and learning little aspects of GTD, each after another in isolation, until I eventually have something that looks like GTD, gives me most of the benefits and works for me.
"Weekly/daily goals" looks easy enough to implement without any hassle and might finally allow me to focus on things that actually move me towards actual outcomes and results, which hopefully fuel momentum and motivation, no matter if a lot of things fall through the cracks because of the simplicity of the system - it's not like that hasn't happened for the past few years anyway.

What do you think of that approach?
What would you do in my spot?
Do you believe my fears of adapting GTD and sinking down even deeper are justified?

Any advice, any help, any words of encouragement are all gladly appreciated. I'm really stuck, and I could really use all of those. I'm grateful for everybody that is willing to read through my ramblings.

Thanks in Advance, and dearest of wishes to all of you.
~Erik
For starters, I use my color coded four Areas of Focus binary system [Intrinsic: Divine, Agenda/Health/Relationships, Extrinsic: Tools/Utility, Fiscal] and apply it by either using the corresponding pen/pencil color on the NA / Contexts Lists or apply four corresponding color paper for the NA / Contexts Lists.

The reason for the above is to reduce 'Deliberation / Wondering' and increase 'Confidence' by keeping me 'On-Project-Purpose' since ALL Projects and Next Actions are ALL subordinate to my four Areas of Focus.

Hope you find this worthy . . . hope it makes sense/helps to some degree

Ps. Humbly, all horizons are also supported by these above Areas of Focus

Pps. Any concerns/questions . . . all ears . . . thank you!
 
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Murray

Registered
'But lore wanes in Gondor, Boromir, if in the city of those who once were wise they now speak evil of Lothlórien. [...]
'Then lead on!' said Boromir. "But it is perilous.'
'Perilous indeed,' said Aragorn, 'fair and perilous; but only evil need fear it, or those who bring some evil with them.'​
- Tolkien, Fellowship of the Ring
 

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Gardener

Registered
From the moment you say go you have to capture EVERY thought you have. Break them down into next actions and projects.
I'm going to disagree with this. People have countless "this might be cool" thoughts that they will never act on. I think that processing all of one's thoughts into next actions and projects adds to the clutter and confusion of the system.

An example: In the past couple of weeks, it occurred to me that I would like to add some drought tolerant plants "underfoot" along an existing row of roses, instead of keeping that ground a blank expanse of mulch. I'm not going to get that done in the next few months. There's a small chance I'll do it this fall. Odds are it will be at least two or three years. Unless I change my mind--it's a new thought, and there's every possibility that it will be overcome by other ideas. I'll probably go back and forth between wanting an expanse of a single plant, versus a patchwork of ground covers, versus making a cottage-garden type flower border, versus...

The idea isn't cooked yet. Even if it were cooked, I don't have the spare time to do anything about it.

So that thought is in my "Garden Ideas" Someday/Maybe list as a single item. ("Underfoot plants for rugosa row?"). Now and then I may see a plant that would be a good candidate for that purpose, and I'll add that to the Notes field for that list item. That's all I'm going to allow myself to do about it.

Some people may be able to cope with dozens or hundreds or thousands of fully developed projects. I can deal with, maybe, ten. So if I can't clearly see myself having time for a project in the very near future (a month or two), I leave it in one of my Someday/Maybe lists.
 

mcogilvie

Registered
Oh my. I went to Scott H. Young’s website and noted he is an associate of Cal Newport, but perhaps a little more “ultra”-oriented. I am skeptical that this will help you. In my experience, goal setting with artificial deadlines sets you up for feelings of failure.

I would recommend hiding that 2400 item spreadsheet somewhere or even throwing it away. GTD usually works well starting bottom-up. If you haven’t read the Getting Things Done book. I recommend reading it, especially the first three chapters. You might also benefit from the GTD Workbook. Start fresh and start simple. GTD is not that complicated; we’re the ones who are complicated. We delude ourselves about all kinds of things all the time. Do a brain dump, make lists of projects and next actions. Do next actions. If something is repelling you, ask yourself why. Learn as you go. Ask questions.
 

Wilson Ng

Registered
If you weren't excited to get it started, it might be time to let go of that particular dream. A Someday project can turn into a "Nevermind" project given enough time. I would take the time to explicitly write down the next action that would actually get a project off the ground. If there is no clearly defined next action, it's probably gonna stay in your projects list locked up in its cage never to see the light of day.

Currently there are still over 2.400 unprocessed, uncategorized tasks on that list. I assume that at least 75% of those are either finished and shouldn't be there, super-unimportant and therefore deletable or just plainly not on my horizons/interest anymore.
You see that overcommitment, fear of missing something and perfectionism are deep problems of mine.

It's time to clear the rubble. Take one pass and start deleting anything that are either finished or unimportant.

Then it's time to start organizing. I'd create a folder on your computer for each one of your Areas of Responsibilities:

1. House
2. Work
3. Advertising & Marketing
4. Family
5. Kids
6. Community
7. and and other areas you can think of.


I have a separate text documents called "Ideas" inside each of my folders.
1. House Ideas to R&D
2. Work Ideas to R&D
3. Advertising & Marketing Ideas to R&D
4. Family Ideas to R&D
5. Kids Ideas to R&D
6. Community Ideas to R&D

I just list out a bunch of ideas that came into my head during a mind sweep. I'll include in each idea at least one to three next actions that would get this idea off the ground. Most likely the first step for my kitchen renovation project is "Ask my wife if she wants to do the renovations this summer or wait until next year". The first next action has to be actionable and written clearly as an action. Otherwise it probably won't be easy to start.

Not all of these ideas in each document becomes a project. It just sits there. Once every 1-2 months, I'll go through these and see if there's anything I ever want to activate. It might be a Living Room renovation project. Or it could be starting up a College 529 Fund for my kids. Or I was thinking about rebuilding my back porch. If I think I have time in the next 3-6 months, I'll delete it from the Ideas to R&D document and then create a project in my task manager. I ask if there are any resources that I can look for to start up the project. Are there people I need to ask or bounce ideas off of to see if it's something worth starting? What resources (time, money, skills) do I need to get the project started? Is it worth it or does the project align with my core values (I want to make my house as beautiful and comfortable as possible to host parties and events). Is the cost worth the expense (honey, I really think that buying a Lamborghini is a worthwhile expense! I can see my wife's face now ).


I believe GTD and a real productivity system might be able to bring me towards actually making meaningful progress and closing a lot of my commitments and bringing back control into my hands.

I'd work on creating a productivity system of my own that fits my personality and needs. Take a look at GTD and the other systems you've tried out. Write down the steps that worked for you and how it helped you. Build your own GTD book. I have a checklist for my daily review, weekly review, monthly review, and quarterly review in a 3-ring binder. I update it every once in a while when I finally find something that's worth keeping. Create your own workflow checklists that fits you. No wasted steps. No extra blog articles that you need to remember. It's all in one place. Take out something when you find it doesn't fit. Here's a Bruce Lee quote I'm fond of:

> Adapt what is useful, reject what is useless, and add what is specifically your own.

When Life changes, I re-read David Allen's GTD book (as well as others) to see if there was a section that I didn't find useful a year ago but it suddenly makes sense now. Not everything from a book will make sense but it gets easier over time.

I'm personally a fan of James Clear's book "Atomic Habits." I see GTD as a series of habits that takes time to adopt. Using a checklist reminds me to go through each habit so that I won't miss a step. I've re-arranged the GTD weekly review into my own version that makes sense to me but possibly doesn't make sense to someone else reading my checklist. I see you have the capturing habit down pat with 2,400 items in your task list. The next habit to work on is organizing them.

Set aside 15-45 minutes a day and look at only one folder (Areas of Responsibility) of ideas. Go through them. Be vicious and delete what sounded like a great idea but probably would take up more time, energy, or requires more skill than you want to use. Nibble at one folder every day until you gain a bit more clarity. It doesn't have to be done in one sitting. That's just soul crushing to see a long list and think you'll get through the end. This isn't a Netflix TV series where I'm trying to binge-watch everything in one night. I'll probably do one to episodes a night before finishing a 24 episode season of my favorite TV show. I'll eventually finish the season, just not in one night.

Your 2,400 items list will eventually get broken down into several lists with a small next action count. Those are easier to review than one long exhaustive list that has no rhyme or reason.

Problem is, I figured that it's not only the lack of time that keeps me from making progress, but also a lack of clarity
I've found my quarterly review helps me clarify what goals or milestones I want in the next 3-6 months. What do I want to have in the next 3-6 months? A brand new swimming pool? A new car? A successful summer advertising campaign that reaches an audience of 10,000 customers? My monthly review calibrates me by choosing projects that will help me get to that goal. My weekly review helps me plan for the next week what tasks I need to do to inch myself closer to that goal. My daily review lets me schedule in time between all the everyday busy work that happens in life.

The point is "reviewing" at different times (quarterly, monthly, weekly, daily) will give me clarifications at different levels. Quarterly helps me with goals. Monthly helps me with clarifying that I'm on track with my goals by selecting the right projects to do this month. If the goals change, I'll have time to redefine my next actions to get to the new direction where the goals will take me. Weekly helps me clarify what I'm going do this coming week. Daily helps me with fitting in the very next action inside tomorrow's schedule.
 

TesTeq

Registered
If you haven’t read the Getting Things Done book. I recommend reading it, especially the first three chapters. You might also benefit from the GTD Workbook.
@LeadingEfficiency37 I agree. Read the book. But I would suggest you to read "GTD for Teens" (coauthored by Mike Williams) first. It describes a simplified approach to GTD – not "only for teens". Or alternatively you can read Mike Williams' "Doing to Done" (https://doingtodone.com). It's a short book that may help you create a very simple productivity system.
 

ianfh10

Registered
Agree with those advising you to work from the ground up, and disagree with those telling you to implement areas of focus and folders for ideas. Not that this isn't useful, I just don't think it's useful for someone just starting out.

Read the book, listen to a few podcasts from GTD, and set up the basics using whatever tool works best for you, digital or analogue. These are all in the book but are the basic elements I found worked best for actually implementing a system.

an inbox (a physical in-tray style object for physical items like post, receipts, documents) and any other inboxes you may need.

A waiting for list to track the things you're waiting on others to do.

A next actions list to park the actions you've clarified into the very next physical, visible step. E.g 'sort finances' becomes 'call bank to make appointment'. As someone else said, the latter is so much more achievable and winnable than 'sort finances'.

An agendas list for things you need to discuss with others, like your boss, partner, or spouse

a someday/maybe list for things that have your attention but may be crazy dreams like 'write the next great American novel' or just those things you want to do but aren't sure about or don't really feel like doing yet, like 'learn spanish'.

a projects list for the stuff that has your attention, that you actively need/want to work on now, but which will take more than one step or action to complete.

Also, feel free to move things between these lists as life dictates. I'm currently moving house and didn't even want to think about the things I had planned, so have mostly everything to someday maybe for now.

Reference material - a place to store stuff you've captured, isn't actionable but isn't trash either.

Project/action support - a place to keep plans, notes, mind maps, charts etc etc which supports you in doing the work of your next actions.

Once you start capturing, clarifying and organising the things that have your attention, other lists may emerge organically based on your needs, and you'll find that your next actions list need to be split off into various contexts lists, like 'errands', 'office', 'home', though they're just examples and may not work for everyone, especially in our digital age.

The best thing about GTD, for me at least, is that it doesn't expect a lot of high-level thinking, principles, goal-setting, "vision" style planning, at least not at first. It gives you practical every day tools to get those ducks in order first, without worrying about what your 5 year goals and ambitions are. I've been practicing GTD for just over a year now and I still haven't gone any higher than areas of focus, and that's fine by me.

Also, GTD doesn't require a lot of new skills to implement and maintain. You're already doing a lot of GTD by keeping lists and feeling the need to be productive. The fact you have a list 2400 tasks isn't necessarily a bad thing because it shows you feel the need the capture and organise the things that are on your mind.
 
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FocusGuy

Registered
GTD can be as simple nor complicated depending on the way you make your system
I could do it in a simple paper notebook like a bullet journal or make it on a software like Omnifocus, or make it with.text files in computers folders.

I think that what ever you do the core point is to do it as possible on a single system you will use every day and review regularly your system to update your datas. If you dont it will increase little bu little and will be a disaster very soon.

Try things. See where you need your datas. A software is only an option. Sometime it make things more complicated. I red once an article about a girl named gina Trapiani. She was a computer engineer. She made a gTD sustem base on .txt file. From what I saw for years it was one of the best way to do it.

GTD is just a for me a way of maker a collection of habits. It has no sens if you dont apply its rules. Try to make it as simple as you can and then go step by step

This are the advice I would liked people tell me years ago when I began GTD.
 

schmeggahead

Registered
@LeadingEfficiency37 - I think you have gotten good advice on how to start out from @mcogilvie , @Gardener , and @ivanjay205 after reading your full post and theirs.

I'm going to add some promise of easing some of the problems you expressed as if you are already working the GTD system:

My fear, though, is that it's another thing I add to the pile of things I have to do before I start making actual progress towards my goals,
GTD is about you are deciding what things mean to you and what the first step is to get you there and where you need to do it. GTD points out that this is actually making progress. These activities are part of meaningful progress on outcomes you want to complete. It is called "the 3 fold nature of work". It ain't wasted time in the way of meaningful progress, it is meaningful progress.

that adds extra time every week that I need to use to maintain the system?
This is a fallacy that GTD is very good at pointing out. What happens when you "maintain the system" is you process what is on your mind, find out what it means to you and put it where it belongs. You reload your mind with what you are going to focus on and you know where & what you need to do the simple steps to move things forward. The thinking is done once.

So again, maintaining your system is meaningful progress because you know where to focus for value and skip meaningless work.

That I am adapting the system and using in for a few weeks until I get derailed with it and chaos ensues,
Chaos = capture. Deal with the chaos as you see fit but keep capturing what has your attention in your trusted system. It might pile up, but you can get back to processing - or scan it, tossing out what is now meaningless.

GTD is about dealing with it when it shows up, not when it blows up. So if chaos ensues, it is usually something that wasn't dealt with when it showed up. If it showed up before you started your system give yourself a break. Now that I think of it - just give yourself a break.

The thing about GTD is that the value of the system gives benefits all of the time -

Which brings me to my next item:
fear of missing something and perfectionism are deep problems of mine.
Give your perfectionism something to focus on: every time you process something, make sure the outcome you define is perfect, make sure the next action you can perfectly see your self doing and where you are doing it.

You will never have to do that again.

As to the FOMO, GTD lets you incubate things so you have time to realize whether you really want to do it.

Scott H. Young's System of "weekly/daily goals"
With GTD, as @mcogilvie pointed out, does not set artificial deadlines. Either it has to be done by that day or not.

It is ok to visualize what it will be like at the end of the day or week. That puts success in your mind and you have something to reassess with at the end of that time period. We are motivating future action with vision.

Multiple people say it takes months and up to two years and longer to get fully functional with GTD.
This is another misleading statistic. The benefits of a GTD system start immediately. Focus on what you have completed. When I tracked completions, I started to realize what progress I was making.

When I do a review, I complete multiple "less than 2 minute" actions and move lots of things forward. I know what is on my plate and where I need to focus. Whether the system is "fully functional" is arbitrary and individual.

My GTD system started helping immediately in many ways and looking back, I'm not sure I realized how much until I looked back.

So @LeadingEfficiency37 , the promise is there.

Wishing you peace,
Clayton

Don't let the perfect get in the way of the good - Unknown <I'm too lazy to look up.
 

Joanne Burek

Registered
I'm currently in the situation where I need to and want to use my time productively. I'm deeply unhappy with my life, especially with my career, and want to/need to make drastic changes in multiple areas. Probably not all at once, I know that - but the problem is that I'm not seeing any form of results or momentum going on, for months and years.

End of last year I quit my miserable job and took on a completely new one that is going to start in a couple of months from now. I lived off of my savings until now (and can continue to do so until the job starts), and did that so I have enough time to focus on my commitments and get my life under control. Problem is, I figured that it's not only the lack of time that keeps me from making progress, but also a lack of clarity. I kept working on ultimately meaningless things and haven't made real steps towards my goals in all those months, which is really depressing.
This raises alarm bells for me, which suggests implementing GTD might not be the lifesaver you are hoping for at this moment. I'm not saying it wouldn't help, it's just that it won't do it alone. You need to apply it to something. So let's take a step back. Why do you think you are not getting results? Would you say that you are spending your time on things that don't matter? And if so, is that to escape the unhappiness, or is it because what you thought was important is not really important (working on the wrong things), or is there something else?

I guess if I were you, I would create a vision of what you want to be--in all areas of your life--and then chart out the steps to get there. It would be perfectly normal for that vision to adjust as you go along, so don't be afraid if it's not perfect--the point is to aim for something and stick with it. A book you might find useful is 12 Rules for Life (Jordan Peterson) because it will help you deal with the unhappiness and to give you motivation to make changes (I'm assuming you haven't read it. Maybe others can chime in). Then once you start loading up your plate with to-do's and look-into's and commitments, you'll be really glad to have GTD.
 

Gardener

Registered
You see that overcommitment, fear of missing something and perfectionism are deep problems of mine.

I increasingly find myself taking bits of philosophy from Dana K. White, of A Slob Comes Clean, who advises on housekeeping and decluttering.

I'm not saying that you're a slob, and I'm not assuming that any of your issues have to do with housekeeping.

But she does very often address perfectionism, and overcommitments, and overwhelm, and using the "project" mindset when you might be better off just getting some simple imperfect things done, and it sounds like those are all relevant things.

And GTD is nicely compatible with her philosophy.

One part of her philosophy is to pursue "better". Not perfect. Not "done" in the sense of a whole big project being done. But better--one little thing being done, and that thing making things better.

For example, imagine that Wilbur (I'm not making this "you" because I don't know if your issues and Wilbur's issues have any details in common) has a snowdrift of papers that he knows contains some bills that are due or overdue.

A project brain might have him planning to go out and getting a paper sorter and file folders and labels, so that when he has a big block of time he can get that snowdrift perfectly sorted and filed and, by the way, at some point in that project, pay the bills lurking in the snowdrift. Pay them by entering all their addresses into the computer so that he can print them onto labels, but, oh, he doesn't have labels, so that will have to wait until he can go go the office store, but, oh, he should make a list of everything he might need at the office store....

But instead, he could rummage through that snowdrift, find a bill, write a check, put bill and check in an envelope, hand-write an address on the envelope, put a stamp on it, and put it in his mailbox for the mail carrier to pick up.

That one thing is DONE. Wilbur has achieved "Better."

Maybe he'll do it all again for the next bill, immediately. Or maybe he'll get interrupted. But he Got A Thing Done.

Wilbur could even, in his GTD lists, have a list for "Get Little Things Done" and a daily repeater, "Find and pay a bill." In a few days, most of the bills will be paid.

Yes, this isn't perfect. If Wilbur achieved perfection, he'd have that lovely filing system and one day a month he'd go to it and find all his bills all nice and ready and he'd pay them all at once. Or, even more perfect, he'd go online and get all of those bills on autopay.

But if Wilbur demands perfection before he gets anything done, he will never get anything done.
 

gtdstudente

Registered
I increasingly find myself taking bits of philosophy from Dana K. White, of A Slob Comes Clean, who advises on housekeeping and decluttering.

I'm not saying that you're a slob, and I'm not assuming that any of your issues have to do with housekeeping.

But she does very often address perfectionism, and overcommitments, and overwhelm, and using the "project" mindset when you might be better off just getting some simple imperfect things done, and it sounds like those are all relevant things.

And GTD is nicely compatible with her philosophy.

One part of her philosophy is to pursue "better". Not perfect. Not "done" in the sense of a whole big project being done. But better--one little thing being done, and that thing making things better.

For example, imagine that Wilbur (I'm not making this "you" because I don't know if your issues and Wilbur's issues have any details in common) has a snowdrift of papers that he knows contains some bills that are due or overdue.

A project brain might have him planning to go out and getting a paper sorter and file folders and labels, so that when he has a big block of time he can get that snowdrift perfectly sorted and filed and, by the way, at some point in that project, pay the bills lurking in the snowdrift. Pay them by entering all their addresses into the computer so that he can print them onto labels, but, oh, he doesn't have labels, so that will have to wait until he can go go the office store, but, oh, he should make a list of everything he might need at the office store....

But instead, he could rummage through that snowdrift, find a bill, write a check, put bill and check in an envelope, hand-write an address on the envelope, put a stamp on it, and put it in his mailbox for the mail carrier to pick up.

That one thing is DONE. Wilbur has achieved "Better."

Maybe he'll do it all again for the next bill, immediately. Or maybe he'll get interrupted. But he Got A Thing Done.

Wilbur could even, in his GTD lists, have a list for "Get Little Things Done" and a daily repeater, "Find and pay a bill." In a few days, most of the bills will be paid.

Yes, this isn't perfect. If Wilbur achieved perfection, he'd have that lovely filing system and one day a month he'd go to it and find all his bills all nice and ready and he'd pay them all at once. Or, even more perfect, he'd go online and get all of those bills on autopay.

But if Wilbur demands perfection before he gets anything done, he will never get anything done.
Agree in that "Perfectionism" comes with a lot of 'baggage' and can be, at least for me, self-sabotaging. As such, I have replaced "Perfectionism" with "Accuracy" for activity engagement, which beautifully turns my motivation into action while slowing me down for a more mindful and enjoyable experience with fewer and smaller distractions/errors/mistakes, etc.
 
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Wilson Ng

Registered
Agree with those advising you to work from the ground up, and disagree with those telling you to implement areas of focus and folders for ideas. Not that this isn't useful, I just don't think it's useful for someone just starting out.
OP doesn't sound like he's starting out. He's tried various productivity systems and is having a go at GTD. GTD itself borrows from the other methodologies. The OP's username indicated "Leading Efficiency" so that might be an indication of something to he/she has been striving for a long time now?

Depending on how complicated the OP's life is, going from next actions (at the runway level) up to projects and then up to Areas of Focus to group those projects might be a good way to group all those 2,400 next actions.

If the OP wishes, he/she can just nuke it all and do a mind sweep/brain dump. Toss everything away and capture whatever's on their mind that's worrying them. The other forgotten tasks will eventually come back at another mind sweep session.

Addressing the chaos is but one part. Another facet to cover is "why is my workflow not working for me?"

I ended up tossing them all aside fully (- even the parts that were still intact and "good" out of frustration or a desire to "reset" -) after a few months of use eventually after something blew up or the scale of my commitments and lists and projects just seemed to explode because of unending "capturing", where I then went on to "simplify" and ignore 90% of my Tasks.

I ignore 90% of my tasks. Those are in my ideas folder (aka my maybe list). Those ideas may incubate further into a Someday project. It can sit there until I just delete it and let it be. The remaining 10% are projects that I am actively working on this week/month/quarter/year. If those ideas/maybe items don't get done, it sits there until I feel like deleting it. It didn't affect my life today. it won't change unless I really wanted to change that idea/maybe into a someday project (scheduled to start at a time of my choosing).

Something blowing up events happens all the time. We get swamped by a tidal wave of work that suddenly takes over. I've had to put aside family plans during the Christmas campaign season to focus on lots of client work that coincides with the Holiday Shopping Season. That's life. Doing the reviews at the daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, and annually levels gives me the confidence that I can park some things for now and it'll come back to me when the tidal waves have finished. The review has been the glue that keeps everything together. It's given me the reassurance that I've put many things on hold while I deal with today's/this week's emergency. Perhaps picking up on the review habit will be the soothing balm that will give OP the feeling that "everything's OK. I have everything placed where I need it when I come back."


Productivity systems isn't about doing more (2,400+ tasks), it's about doing the right things.
 

gtdstudente

Registered
OP doesn't sound like he's starting out. He's tried various productivity systems and is having a go at GTD. GTD itself borrows from the other methodologies. The OP's username indicated "Leading Efficiency" so that might be an indication of something to he/she has been striving for a long time now?

Depending on how complicated the OP's life is, going from next actions (at the runway level) up to projects and then up to Areas of Focus to group those projects might be a good way to group all those 2,400 next actions.

If the OP wishes, he/she can just nuke it all and do a mind sweep/brain dump. Toss everything away and capture whatever's on their mind that's worrying them. The other forgotten tasks will eventually come back at another mind sweep session.

Addressing the chaos is but one part. Another facet to cover is "why is my workflow not working for me?"



I ignore 90% of my tasks. Those are in my ideas folder (aka my maybe list). Those ideas may incubate further into a Someday project. It can sit there until I just delete it and let it be. The remaining 10% are projects that I am actively working on this week/month/quarter/year. If those ideas/maybe items don't get done, it sits there until I feel like deleting it. It didn't affect my life today. it won't change unless I really wanted to change that idea/maybe into a someday project (scheduled to start at a time of my choosing).

Something blowing up events happens all the time. We get swamped by a tidal wave of work that suddenly takes over. I've had to put aside family plans during the Christmas campaign season to focus on lots of client work that coincides with the Holiday Shopping Season. That's life. Doing the reviews at the daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, and annually levels gives me the confidence that I can park some things for now and it'll come back to me when the tidal waves have finished. The review has been the glue that keeps everything together. It's given me the reassurance that I've put many things on hold while I deal with today's/this week's emergency. Perhaps picking up on the review habit will be the soothing balm that will give OP the feeling that "everything's OK. I have everything placed where I need it when I come back."


Productivity systems isn't about doing more (2,400+ tasks), it's about doing the right things.
Why we keep our heads clear and stay out of the weeds?
 
Wow. Thank you for the numerous helpful replies!
I can't personally reply to very comment, there is just too much to react to. But thank you all for your suggestions.

I actually, indeed, have read GTD already. Twice in fact, once about a month ago (which led me to the idea to implement the system in the first place), and once about three years ago where I started to implement it a little but ultimately not got very far because of other commitments getting in the way (This is where I really refined the capture-habit which led to a flood of unprocessed items, I believe). Not this time though, this time I will "Get it done".

And the real secret, is have a tag for the low hanging fruit when you are not motivated. I find that so satisfying and even motivating when I have no energy, no focus, and I still check off 2-3 easy things. That gets me out of the slump!
This is really good advice and will most likely feed the motivation and the momentum. Often I have overlooked the little tasks because I thought they are not meaningful enough to get attention - but ultimately, everything is "a little task", otherwise it doesn't really qualify as a clear "Next Action", right?
(This is quite hypocritical of me, too, because while I avoided the tasks that took little time and seemed too small to matter, I often found myself working on meaningless things because they were plainly easier than actually working on a project. I wouldn't "declutter one shelf-floor", but I would read thirty blogposts about the same topic to "prepare myself for the project" and to be able to do it perfectly, while gaining no real value from it. The truth is, though, I did it because reading a blogpost is far easier than actually implementing a change or fulfilling a task.)

Some people may be able to cope with dozens or hundreds or thousands of fully developed projects. I can deal with, maybe, ten. So if I can't clearly see myself having time for a project in the very near future (a month or two), I leave it in one of my Someday/Maybe lists.
I believe this is something I have to adapt for myself, too.
More "Someday/Maybe" to clear my focus on the things that give me the impact and the progress NOW. Less meaningless work and Work that might benefit me in the future.

Oh my. I went to Scott H. Young’s website and noted he is an associate of Cal Newport, but perhaps a little more “ultra”-oriented. I am skeptical that this will help you. In my experience, goal setting with artificial deadlines sets you up for feelings of failure.
You might be right.
My thought process was that a very simple system like his would keep my mind more focused and less on fixing the system, capturing and clarifying for hours every week etc. and also, setting it up might take a couple of hours, while setting up GTD will take days or even weeks.
I realize more and more that this might not be true.

I'd work on creating a productivity system of my own that fits my personality and needs. Take a look at GTD and the other systems you've tried out. Write down the steps that worked for you and how it helped you. Build your own GTD book. I have a checklist for my daily review, weekly review, monthly review, and quarterly review in a 3-ring binder. I update it every once in a while when I finally find something that's worth keeping. Create your own workflow checklists that fits you. No wasted steps. No extra blog articles that you need to remember. It's all in one place. Take out something when you find it doesn't fit. Here's a Bruce Lee quote I'm fond of:

> Adapt what is useful, reject what is useless, and add what is specifically your own.
I strongly believe this is the best approach for me.
I need to try GTD and adapt it, learn from the pitfalls. There it not a whole lot to loose.
The Inbox might overfill and processing it might take a day. This is probably the worst that could happen.

I would suggest you to read "GTD for Teens" (coauthored by Mike Williams) first. It describes a simplified approach to GTD – not "only for teens". Or alternatively you can read Mike Williams' "Doing to Done" (https://doingtodone.com). It's a short book that may help you create a very simple productivity system.
I will look into both of those. Thanks for the suggestion.

These activities are part of meaningful progress on outcomes you want to complete. It is called "the 3 fold nature of work". It ain't wasted time in the way of meaningful progress, it is meaningful progress.
This is actually the first time I realized the meaning of the "3 fold nature of work" section in the book.
I always overlooked it and thought "Yes, okay, obviously things can show up and sometimes I need to plan actions and projects. Nothing new here."
But the actual meaning is that you are working and you are productive even if you get "interrupted" or you simply define and manage your thoughts and your checklists and your inbox and so on.
"Doing" is not the only thing that counts.
Am I right in my understanding?

This is another misleading statistic. The benefits of a GTD system start immediately. Focus on what you have completed. When I tracked completions, I started to realize what progress I was making.

When I do a review, I complete multiple "less than 2 minute" actions and move lots of things forward. I know what is on my plate and where I need to focus. Whether the system is "fully functional" is arbitrary and individual.

My GTD system started helping immediately in many ways and looking back, I'm not sure I realized how much until I looked back.
This is another realization that has been hard for me for years, although I know just how true it is.
Even if I don't immediately see results, or little improvements instead of the full change - there is improvement, slow and steady.
It's good to know that GTD is not this steep learning curve where you are in chaos and confused where to put what and how to process what for months until you get a grasp at it - but that it immediately "works", at least fundamentally.

I guess if I were you, I would create a vision of what you want to be--in all areas of your life--and then chart out the steps to get there. It would be perfectly normal for that vision to adjust as you go along, so don't be afraid if it's not perfect--the point is to aim for something and stick with it. A book you might find useful is 12 Rules for Life (Jordan Peterson) because it will help you deal with the unhappiness and to give you motivation to make changes (I'm assuming you haven't read it. Maybe others can chime in).
I will do that in conjunction with my brain-dump and the processing of it described in the GTD book. I have to, in fact, to know what of my hundreds and thousands of captured Items I can trash or put into "Someday/Maybe", or "Someday/Maybe... probably not for years."

I haven't read of the book, but heard good things of Jordan Peterson. I will look into it, thanks for your recommendation.

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So my plan of action is to implement and follow the main book and get used to working with the system and to adjust where adjustment is needed.
I will also look into "GTD for teens" aswell as "Doing to Done" to maybe supplement the system or rather simplify it for now where I seem to need a simpler approach.
Would I be correct in that appraoch?

Again, thanks for your kind answers!
~Erik
 

schmeggahead

Registered
Am I right in my understanding?
Spot on!
The 3 fold nature of work is :
  1. Doing unplanned work (which means Processing it into next actions with planning on the fly).
  2. Doing planned work (faster because you have the thought completed)
  3. Defining work (this is where you are reviewing your system, processing your in basket, reading your vision, etc.)
Hope this helps.
It's good to know that GTD is not this steep learning curve
It is a journey where you will discover better and better ways to make your system work for you.
When I teach Tai Chi, beginners are learning foot and body placement, then flow and connection of moves, then internal movement and then on and on. Beginners get the benefit of better balance and flexibility that grows with practice and regardless of how far they progress, that benefit keeps giving. Repetition is your friend.

Same with GTD habits.

@LeadingEfficiency37 reading all these posts was daunting for me and I am glad you persevered. I hope all this helps.
Clayton.

Eyes see, hands do - M. Moi Lin Shin
 

dtj

Registered
It truly sounds like you definitely need to clear the decks a whole bunch. 2k+ uncategorized tasks means no tasks. It's a finer grained version of "If you have 29 top priorities, you have no priorities". I'd be inclined to just delete all 2400 and trust that important ones come up again, or do a fast pass through them and delete everything that won't cause death or grievous harm. Deleting things like "By Mom important gift for her 80th bday" because in the faceless mass of 2400, you weren't doing it anyways and she hasn't killed you yet.
I've explained this before, but it applies in this case. When my desk gets very cluttered and overwhelming, I sweep all the contents that aren't nailed down, into a big tote and set it in the laundry room. I then reintroduce items as I need them. It's surprising how many totally imperative things are sitting in the tote two weeks later, or located more strategically nearby. And for a short period of time, my desk was empty and sparkling, and that gave me momentum in life. Sounds like you need some sort of GTD bankruptcy to fit our newly aspirational life, rather than your bummer past one.
 
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