GTD + Journaling
- Thread starter Tom_Hagen
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Robert5911
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Not sure exactly what you want. But I journal daily. It is part of my morning ritual which I use a daily checklist for.
Tom_Hagen
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For example, do you use a bullet journal and do you enter tasks there, which seems to me to be contrary to the idea of GTD. I'm also interested in what areas you note, whether they are related to productivity or reflections, maybe some habits to implement or something else? Do you note on an ongoing basis during the day or at a fixed time?
gtdstudente
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@Tom_Hagen
Merry Christmas and thank you very much for your post
Journaling as an additional inbox can 'always' be good, while in GTD principle/practices; all entries become all the more worthy when all entries are completely GTD processed/Clarified/posted for
Trash (T)* or Contextualized (C) as:
Next Actions (NA)
Projects (P)
Someday/Maybe (SM)
Reference (R)
Support (S)
etc. ?
*An easy way for Post-Clarifying Margin Notations on Journaled items . . . while living in the midst of dynamic realities, perhaps good to retain extra-space for any possible change(s) from any additional reviews ?
As you see GTD fit. . . .
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Robert5911
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I usually journal on my desktop first thing in the morning. It involves a reflection on the day before. I journal in a Bible program called Logos, so the daily reflection is also a devotional time for me for that morning's study. (I am a UMCPastor) Sometimes it generates next actions or even projects. Almost like a mini mind sweep. I do not record them in the journal. I use an applet called InstaRemind. It allows me to use a key stroke and then enter whatever directly into Apple reminders. I then review the journal as part of my weekly review process. I also review the daily entries as part of my year end review. It is amazing what you can learn about yourself.
Tom_Hagen
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Thank you for your answer. It's a "funny" coincidence, but today I noted (I'm just starting my adventure with a journal) a certain observation after reading the Holy Scripture (I'm Catholic). Your post inspired me to create a separate section for this type of reflection. From what I've noticed so far, keeping a journal is a very individual matter and probably through trial and error you need to define a format of entries that will best suit the person keeping the journal. I agree with you about the effects, I've noticed that keeping a journal encourages "slowing down" and being more reflective. What I wonder about is the possibility of combining a journal with GTD. On the one hand, GTD focuses on the flexibility of choosing the actions taken based on context, priorities, energy and time, on the other hand, a journal allows for some direction and even planning of tasks for individual days - especially in the case of long-term goals / projects. However, I'm not sure if this doesn't violate the basic principles of GTD. Unless such a plan is treated more as "intentions" of execution rather than a strict schedule.
Robert5911
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Journaling is an area of focus for me.
schmeggahead
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I journal most every day. I most often do this activity at my desk in my home office.
When I do this, I have a mind sweep capture sheet to put items into my GTD system.
The key benefit of pairing journaling with GTD is the depth of creativity and self examination can be enhanced. My journal is an unrestricted exploration of thoughts and feelings related to my entire life. I discover things that are working that I want to do more of and things that aren't that I want to do less of going forward. GTD is a great tool for digging in and understanding better how to actually accomplish these ends.
Journaling is also a very effective way of discovering what has my attention. I typically capture items that have my attention on the mind sweep capture sheet and later potentially fully resolve that simply by journaling about it as a way to discover how it fits into what I am already doing. Many times, it goes right into something that is active, resolving why it came to my attention. I will now see it when I need to see it because it's in my system appropriately (where it may not have been before or I didn't realize it was in my system properly).
There are times when I will use my journal entry as a project support or action support entry, merely referring to the journal date on the action or project so I can reference as needed. Nothing actionable in my journal entry escapes being added to my GTD system in some way, whether as an inbox entry, next action, project or someday entry.
I treat my journal a lot like the clarify page I use when working with inbox items. It is disposable because everything relevant is in my system appropriately.
Hope this helps,
Clayton
“You can do what you have to do, and sometimes you can do it even better than you think you can.” — Jimmy Carter
When I do this, I have a mind sweep capture sheet to put items into my GTD system.
The key benefit of pairing journaling with GTD is the depth of creativity and self examination can be enhanced. My journal is an unrestricted exploration of thoughts and feelings related to my entire life. I discover things that are working that I want to do more of and things that aren't that I want to do less of going forward. GTD is a great tool for digging in and understanding better how to actually accomplish these ends.
Journaling is also a very effective way of discovering what has my attention. I typically capture items that have my attention on the mind sweep capture sheet and later potentially fully resolve that simply by journaling about it as a way to discover how it fits into what I am already doing. Many times, it goes right into something that is active, resolving why it came to my attention. I will now see it when I need to see it because it's in my system appropriately (where it may not have been before or I didn't realize it was in my system properly).
There are times when I will use my journal entry as a project support or action support entry, merely referring to the journal date on the action or project so I can reference as needed. Nothing actionable in my journal entry escapes being added to my GTD system in some way, whether as an inbox entry, next action, project or someday entry.
I treat my journal a lot like the clarify page I use when working with inbox items. It is disposable because everything relevant is in my system appropriately.
Hope this helps,
Clayton
“You can do what you have to do, and sometimes you can do it even better than you think you can.” — Jimmy Carter
gtdstudente
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@schmeggahead
Thank you for your good post on Journaling thoughts and all of their benefits
On this end, good to know the possible 'thought sources' as best as possible
Extrinsic sources:
Divine
Good Spirits (Always has one's best interest(s))
Evil Spirits (Ultimately Deception, Fraud, Manipulation, etc. with evil intentions)
Good persons (Always has one's best interest(s))
Bad persons (Ultimately Deception, Fraud, Manipulation, etc. with confused / disordered intentions)
All else that comes through the Five Senses to the corporeal Thalamus for intrinsic Deliberative-&-Instinctive distribution; Corporeally-&-Spiritually
'Intrinsic' sources:
Corporeal Cognition faculties:
Amygdala: Appetites (Passions > Aversion from Suffering / Desire for Pleasure > sought through the Emotions)
Hippocampus: Phantasm (Imagination-&-Memory . . . can be a resource for reasoning or a 'tormentor' to the appetites)
Spiritual Cognitive faculties:
Reasoning for good ultimate judgement to appropriately inform the Will for appropriate end Project(s) and their appropriate course of Next Action when most GTD appropriate when appropriately considering all else requiring appropriate consideration
Always self-reminding that unreliable Corporeal Cognition without Spiritual Cognition can have a much higher rate of unintended consequences
Thank you very much
As you see GTD fit. . . .
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Tom_Hagen
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Thank you very much for your comprehensive statement. I see it exactly the same way. Keeping a journal as a task management tool does not appeal to me - and neither does it to you, but it helps to clarify thoughts, intentions, reflection and helps to have some direction.
I will also add that GTD is like looking into the future, while a journal is a record of the past. Regularly read, it can bring in the form of in-depth reflection based on what has already happened.
Jimmy Carter - Requiescat in pace!
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I have a bullet journal, and what you might call a "traditional" journal - my Morning Pages writing. (see The Artist's Way for more on that)
My bullet journal keeps my dailies - usually repeating tasks that aren't worth managing in a full GTD instance - like "wash the dishes" and "change the towels". I have a master list in my GTD system (Excel) to make sure I don't forget them, because yes I will forget if I get chance! I also maintain some trackers in there - what books I've read this year, a note of my overall goals for the year, that sort of thing. I like a hands-on manual system for my day to day as it's portable and flexible - I use a discbound hardback notebook - and I get to use my fountain pens. If I use a phone app or laptop I tend to get distracted and start looking at Instagram and checking my email! I do some Friday weekly planning along with my Review (from "Tranquility by Tuesday" by Laura Vanderkam - "plan on Fridays") and I rough out my tasks / projects for the week ahead. Hard dates get noted in the dailies as I don't use a calendar personally (my work system is all in O365 so I use Outlook / To Do etc.)
Excel provides my overall GTD system, and if I know I'm going to be pushed for time or other issues are likely to distract me, I tend to translate the must do's into my dailies. Otherwise I use my NA list in the "traditional" fashion. I'm probably ADHD and I like writing things down so the small amount of extra writing actually helps cement things in my mind and / or clarify further if needed, it's well worth the overhead to me.
My morning pages journal sometimes spawns tasks, projects and ideas for the someday / maybe, so I try and flag those as I go and add them into the GTD system. On that note, it's year end and time for a GTD Review and Refresh!
My bullet journal keeps my dailies - usually repeating tasks that aren't worth managing in a full GTD instance - like "wash the dishes" and "change the towels". I have a master list in my GTD system (Excel) to make sure I don't forget them, because yes I will forget if I get chance! I also maintain some trackers in there - what books I've read this year, a note of my overall goals for the year, that sort of thing. I like a hands-on manual system for my day to day as it's portable and flexible - I use a discbound hardback notebook - and I get to use my fountain pens. If I use a phone app or laptop I tend to get distracted and start looking at Instagram and checking my email! I do some Friday weekly planning along with my Review (from "Tranquility by Tuesday" by Laura Vanderkam - "plan on Fridays") and I rough out my tasks / projects for the week ahead. Hard dates get noted in the dailies as I don't use a calendar personally (my work system is all in O365 so I use Outlook / To Do etc.)
Excel provides my overall GTD system, and if I know I'm going to be pushed for time or other issues are likely to distract me, I tend to translate the must do's into my dailies. Otherwise I use my NA list in the "traditional" fashion. I'm probably ADHD and I like writing things down so the small amount of extra writing actually helps cement things in my mind and / or clarify further if needed, it's well worth the overhead to me.
My morning pages journal sometimes spawns tasks, projects and ideas for the someday / maybe, so I try and flag those as I go and add them into the GTD system. On that note, it's year end and time for a GTD Review and Refresh!
Tom_Hagen
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We all have a bit of ADHD these days
Thank you so much for such a detailed answer. I'll take advantage of that.The concepts, GTD and journaling, are orthogonal. At best, there's likely some overlap between the GTD Horizons of Focus and some of the things people may journal about.
I would start from the standpoint of asking yourself: What do you want to achieve by journaling? What problem are you trying to solve by journaling? What do you hope to get out of journaling?
It could be a place to do an emotional/trauma dump, document daily/recent events, ponder larger questions or things in one's life, etc. There's not necessarily a wrong answer but there's not a correct one either. Ultimately, it needs to accomplish something at the end of the day. What that something is, is up to you to determine and define. Having a clear goal and purpose for doing journaling is critical, otherwise it's antithetical to GTD (i.e. its an unclarified thing on the psyche). In other words, when journaling becomes a chore, it's a really good idea to re-evaluate why one is doing it in the first place.
Personally, I am lukewarm on the idea even after doing it for a couple of years. I found it to be a solution in search of a problem but I digress, it turned into a chore; ergo, I stopped doing it. At best, I journal maybe once or twice a year: of which the contents are usually not much. YMMV.
Edit: Two books that I have saw recommended many times in regards to journaling are: "The Artist's Way" and "The New Diary". Maybe it's worth picking up a copy of either and seeing if there any insights to glean. I have not read either of them (therefore I can't/don't necessarily recommend them either (i.e. since I haven't read them)), but they seem to be influential in journaling circles. Personally, I skimmed their table of contents and neither were for me (i.e. very touchy-feely oriented rather than based on empirical science/deductive evidence).
I would start from the standpoint of asking yourself: What do you want to achieve by journaling? What problem are you trying to solve by journaling? What do you hope to get out of journaling?
It could be a place to do an emotional/trauma dump, document daily/recent events, ponder larger questions or things in one's life, etc. There's not necessarily a wrong answer but there's not a correct one either. Ultimately, it needs to accomplish something at the end of the day. What that something is, is up to you to determine and define. Having a clear goal and purpose for doing journaling is critical, otherwise it's antithetical to GTD (i.e. its an unclarified thing on the psyche). In other words, when journaling becomes a chore, it's a really good idea to re-evaluate why one is doing it in the first place.
Personally, I am lukewarm on the idea even after doing it for a couple of years. I found it to be a solution in search of a problem but I digress, it turned into a chore; ergo, I stopped doing it. At best, I journal maybe once or twice a year: of which the contents are usually not much. YMMV.
Edit: Two books that I have saw recommended many times in regards to journaling are: "The Artist's Way" and "The New Diary". Maybe it's worth picking up a copy of either and seeing if there any insights to glean. I have not read either of them (therefore I can't/don't necessarily recommend them either (i.e. since I haven't read them)), but they seem to be influential in journaling circles. Personally, I skimmed their table of contents and neither were for me (i.e. very touchy-feely oriented rather than based on empirical science/deductive evidence).
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Tom_Hagen
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You asked very good questions. In my opinion, the weakness of GTD (in the sense of poor clarification) is the engagement phase. Let's note that classic GTD defines the following limiting conditions: context, time, energy, priority. In exactly that order. Although it is not explicitly written, one can get the impression that a person somehow accidentally finds themselves in a given context, which of course limits them. And in this specific context, there are not necessarily tasks that are most important to someone from the point of view of the defined goals. In my opinion, the clarification should consist in the fact that we should strive to find ourselves in those contexts in which the most important tasks for us are located. Of course, this happens, for example, when we go to the office (work). And in order to know what is most important to me - I have to have the appropriate thoughts behind me. Here too, GTD focuses (implicitly) on spontaneity: write down all the thoughts that appear in your head. It seems to me that journaling can "force" such thinking. Through the procedures of constant recording, you can achieve greater clarity of thought, initiate certain inspirations, verify your current goals and confirm your choices.
All this results from the fact that GTD bypasses the issue of directing our actions. Allan dismisses it all with the concept of intuition. It is not enough. Hence, books such as "Deep work" can be a supplement.
To sum up: if my hobby is, let's say, chess and I have a detailed context: a chess program and it so happens that this context is always within my reach - exaggerating - I can end up dealing only with chess until I starve to death. Hence, before I find myself in a given context, I have to consciously choose it. And in order to choose it, I have to know what is important to me. And in order to know what is important to me, I have to think it over. And maybe journaling will help me with this.
gtdstudente
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GTD seems to be the best objective personal system available in encouraging appropriate engagement, and in fact, does a very good job in the midst of all contexts to allow one to be appropriately available to any potential ad hoc extrinsic-&-external interruptions as well as intrinsic distractions?
As such, either demonstrate a better objective system or demonstrate how GTD can be improved upon ?
With all due respect, if neither is being explicitly expressed, then perhaps, expressing ""what the point is" is always appreciatively welcomed
Thank you very much
As you see GTD fit. . . .
As such, either demonstrate a better objective system or demonstrate how GTD can be improved upon ?
With all due respect, if neither is being explicitly expressed, then perhaps, expressing ""what the point is" is always appreciatively welcomed
Thank you very much
As you see GTD fit. . . .
Tom_Hagen
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I don't deny GTD, but it has some weaknesses. Let's admit honestly that GTD has aged badly when it comes to contexts. It's not the fault of the system or Allen - it's just that the world has technically evolved and a large part of the limitations resulting from contexts have simply disappeared. Current solutions in the field of contexts tend to go towards "greater focus" rather than eliminating limitations, hence ideas such as: context - tool, etc.
However, what was from the beginning - in my opinion - the weakness of GTD is the decision "what to do?". The sequence: context, time, energy, priority - especially today when contexts have evolved and relying on intuition seems counterproductive if an individual intends to achieve long-term goals that require proper planning in terms of implementation long before the deadline. Hence the need to supplement with strategies such as timeblocking or strategies described in "Deep work" or "Atomic habits".
gtdstudente
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@Tom_Hagen
Thank you for your good GTD reply
With all due respect in regards to GTD's parameters/realities:
1. "Timeblocking" as well as 'Spaceblocking' has always been encouraged as viable since the first publication in the early 2000s at least in regard to the Weekly Review while the Calendar since then has always been understood as a prescribed 'List'/'Tool' to be appropriately reserved for 'absolutes' in order for the Calendar to be as trustworthy as possible vs. what makes the most senses to do from an ad mixture of what can or cannot be done ?
2. Context seems to be mostly tool and place centered
Agreed, some differences have taken place on the digital front since the first edition of Getting Things Done, which seems to have be at least one of the reasons for the Second Edition of Getting Things Done in the midst of paper's continued use and papers lack of innovated development, albeit, perhaps 'new' creative uses?
3. How does the Natural Planning Model*, Areas-of-Focus, and Horizons fall short for Long-Term goals ?
*On this end, since "Planning" is deemed the domain of the Almighty unless humbly hoping to entertain Him
As such, "Preparing" is normally substituted for "Planning", i.e., 'Natural Preparing Model'
In regards to "Hence the need to supplement with strategies such as timeblocking or strategies described in "Deep work" or "Atomic habits"."
Along with relying on [outdated] intuition, please feel free to express as many supplemental solutions your good GTD interest can muster and drawn from Deep Work, Atomic Habits, etc., even while respectfully suggesting on this end Tiny Habits as a more complete understanding of habit development than that of Atomic Habits, that the GTD system is seemingly capable of adopting without slippage like many positive inputs ?
Thank you very much
As you see GTD fit. . . .
Hmm. I’m realizing that I address priority twice—first, and last.
First, the projects that are in my active lists get there through planning and prioritization. If a project isn’t a priority, and isn’t also the logical next project-size effort for a goal , it won’t be in active lists—it’ll be in Someday/Maybe. The active lists will be trimmed and trimmed and trimmed, mostly based on priority, until they’re “small enough.”
So that’s prioritization that happens first, usually in a weekly review, and as a result of the kind of higher-level planning that I think you’re referring to.
Then comes that context/time/energy thing—if, for a given task, I can’t achieve the context, I don’t have a sufficient block of time right now, or I don’t have the energy, the task won’t get done now. Contexts are handy here, because my software can shorten my lists by filtering out the contexts that can’t be achieved.
Then, when the lists are as small as they can get for this moment, priority comes forward again. But if I did all the other steps right, every available task is worth doing.
That’s not always true—not infrequently there’s a “what is THAT doing here?” moment. But if most of the tasks are clearly priorities, and one or two are low priorities, that tends to highlight the low priority tasks and perhaps trigger me to demote their project to Someday/Maybe.
Alternatively, they may be there because I choose to include a representative of a low priority category because (1) it makes me happy and I need enough things that make me happy--which is arguably a form of "priority"--or (2) there are zero tasks for a context that may sometimes be unvoidable. For example, during periods of frequent interruptions at work I can write documentation but I can't code efficiently, so I always have a documentation project, even if there is no truly high priority documentation project.
Tom_Hagen
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Ad. 1 I can't agree with that. The first edition only mentions tasks that must be completed on a given day, e.g. a phone call. It's only in the second edition that Allen mentions a list of tasks for a given day, but he emphasizes that it should be treated more as something I'd like to do and not necessarily something I absolutely have to do.
Ad.2 The power of GTD is definitely the concept of the next action. On the other hand, contexts have become something Allen fights with, i.e. amorphous concepts. A simple example: I am reading a historical book on Kindle as a hobby and at the same time taking notes in Evernote. How do I define the context correctly? Kindle? What if I don't have a computer with me? Computer? What if I don't have a Kindle with me? Should I create a combination of different tools? Kindle + Computer? After all, it will be unmanageable. And what about things that I can do on a computer or smartphone, such as online shopping? I can create a context: Online. But there can be things that can be done on a computer or smartphone even when I am Offline. Similarly with time. A good example is, of course, a book. This question has come up here many times, so I conclude that it was unclear not only to me. What should the granulation be? What should the time be? I can read a book for 1 minute or an hour. Or maybe I should have a position regarding time: Any. The standard answer is: do whatever suits you. However, not everyone is satisfied with this answer.
Ad. 3 This is precisely described and I have no objections here. Journaling can help with this as an aid to the thinking process.
In my opinion, combining GTD with Deep Work is very simple. As I wrote, GTD's strong point is defining the next actions. The difference will be that not in all areas my choice: what to do will be spontaneous. In the weekly review I can review my lists of next actions and some of them, the ones I consider important or urgent, I can plan, for example, in blocks in the calendar.
Tom_Hagen
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You've raised another issue. Also of the type: do as you please. Notice that you're moving towards narrowing down the list of projects to the most important ones + those that give you pleasure. When reading Allen, when he gives an example list of 60 or more active projects, we get the impression that these lists consist of everything we want to change in the coming year, not a week. So you're already using your own (not necessarily wrong) version of GTD, which includes projects that may have a long horizon, but not necessarily those that you won't be able to deal with in the coming week. This raises another problem: we don't know what will happen next week. It's possible that you'll find yourself in a context that you didn't anticipate and that you could "implement" if you had it on your list of active actions.
Besides, I still insist that some of our actions must be proactive, not reactive. That's why we shouldn't always find ourselves spontaneously in a given context, but we should deliberately strive to find ourselves in a given context.
A simple example: if (oh my!) I wanted to train for a marathon, I wouldn't wait until I was in the context: outside or rather I would plan a regular workout at a given time of day and in this way deliberately change the context (leaving the house). So my first choice is not the context, it's priority or rather the plan in the calendar.