How to train myself to "engage" from my system, not my head.

Ben S

Registered
Hi all!

I've been doing my best to learn GTD over the past year or so, and I've noticed consistently that for me, the hardest thing about GTD is actually engaging using my system and not my head.

In general I think I've gotten pretty good about getting everything out of my head, and I'm decent at clarifying, but when it comes time to actually get to work I find that I almost always default to latest and loudest. I work in a fairly high pressure job, and sometimes when the ** hits the fan I wont even check my next actions list until my next weekly review, and then I suddenly realize all of the other things I've been neglecting.

Does anyone have any suggestions about behaviors to help train myself to actually work off of my next actions list?

Thanks,
Ben
 

ivanjay205

Registered
Hi all!

I've been doing my best to learn GTD over the past year or so, and I've noticed consistently that for me, the hardest thing about GTD is actually engaging using my system and not my head.

In general I think I've gotten pretty good about getting everything out of my head, and I'm decent at clarifying, but when it comes time to actually get to work I find that I almost always default to latest and loudest. I work in a fairly high pressure job, and sometimes when the ** hits the fan I wont even check my next actions list until my next weekly review, and then I suddenly realize all of the other things I've been neglecting.

Does anyone have any suggestions about behaviors to help train myself to actually work off of my next actions list?

Thanks,
Ben
What system are you using to implement GTD? I found this too in the past and realized I really needed a better implementation system to keep me focused.
 

Ben S

Registered
What system are you using to implement GTD? I found this too in the past and realized I really needed a better implementation system to keep me focused.
Do you mean what tools do I use?

I have to separate my system into two parts, since my job has strict security policies about keeping work related information on internal servers. For work I use some internally developed document sharing tools, and for my non-work tasks I use todoist. I have one list for projects and other lists for my next actions contexts. I keep my project plans and reference material in OneNote, with my non-work tasks in a onedrive notebook and my work tasks in a onenote hosted on an internal sharepoint server that I connect to via a vpn.
 

2097

Registered
I had the same problem and here is what worked for me, and this is going to sound like it's too obvi to work but I really did have the exact same problem and this really did work:

Teach your head to see "work from the lists" as an important task that needs to be done. While I haven't done it in a long time, putting in a reminder to "work from the lists today" can be great.

I agree with your analysis of the situation, that being driven by latest&loudest w/o checking in with the list first can make you miss "stitches in time that'll save nine".

I also follow a practice where I select something that I want to do that's late&loud—could be an important big rock or could be something fun I wanna do like read a book—and then I go through my lists and look for things that I want to do before. I mean, if there is none, then I can engage with the late&loud item fully focused, which is awesome.

If you have a loooot of NAs you can do this one level up instead: 1. is there a context I need to put myself in before I do the late&loud thing?
 

Oogiem

Registered
Does anyone have any suggestions about behaviors to help train myself to actually work off of my next actions list?
Every time you get a cup of coffee or take a drink of water or come back from using the toilet make a point of reading at least one action list. Every time you finish a task, take a look at the action list for the context you are in. In the morning, first thing at least read your entire set of action lists once through. If you can't read fast enough or the lists are too long to get through in less than 2-3 minutes then figure out how to reduce them.

IOW link checking your lists with some other task you do regularly. What you want is to build a habit of checking those lists regularly. It takes time but it pays off eventually.
 

PeterByrom

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What capture tools do you have setup in your work environment? Sometimes people get sucked into latest and loudest because they don’t trust that they have a way to “inbox” new input and then come back later to process it. This then means they get out of the habit of looking at their lists, because they’re trying to nail everything when it shows up instead of populating those lists when they process what was captured in the inbox.

What tools do you have for capturing? Eg physical intray? notepad with pages that can be torn out and thrown into the in tray? Digital inbox? Braintoss?

And how would you describe your capture habits? Eg if you bumped into someone in the hallway at the beginning of the day, and they said they’d like you to send them something, what would you typically do in response?
 

ivanjay205

Registered
I personally need a digital system as I bounce around from computer to tablet to traveling (of course not now) etc. I used to use FacileThings which I LOVED but it was really dated, poor from a navigation standpoint, etc. I switched to Nirvana which I enjoy.

I will say this, I miss some of the rigidity of FacileThings. It forced me to stay 100% on the system. But Nirvana is much faster and easier to use.

I have not found the perfect tool as Nirvana has some issues (for example why in 2020 can the notes not support bullets, check boxes, bold, etc.) but it works. I too struggle sometimes to focus on the system and not get lazy. I also get trapped in Email and Teams sometimes vs working out of my action list. But when I am on point it is great. Most importantly it is true I never feel out of control. I do know what I need to do, still just a matter of getting it done.

I can also email in to the capture inbox which I do most frequently even though the app is good. I just find that quick and easy.
 

Ariadne Marques

Registered
That's a good question and I struggle with that regularly. I have 03 strategies to remind myself:

1) I use Nirvana, and on my mobile I have it on the dock within easy reach of my right thumb. It's right beside my Calendar. I also have Braintoss handy to capture.

2) On my Calendar, I have a daily scheduled event called "Plan the day" and in the notes field I have a little checklist of what to do to start my work day:
1. Open my physical notebook and insert the day.​
2. Check my Calendar. Is there anything I need to prepare for today?​
3. Open NirvanaHQ​
4. Take a look at my to-do lists: Focus! and Next Actions​
5. Open Gmail - quick scan for urgent /unplanned tasks. Answer if less than 2 min. (Note: I normally don't receive a huge amount of e-mails, so during this check-in I process the messages: @Action, @Waiting, @Reference or delete - I use the tags within Gmail to organize and take action to reply lengthy e-mails at around 10am).
6. Start Working on my Focus list.​

3) I leave a Sticky Note on my desktop with a reminder, like this:

Sticky Note.JPG
 

ivanjay205

Registered
I love the idea of Nirvana on the dock. I actually moved my phone off of there to do that as these days I dont use the phone much anyway, it is all siri talk....

Just one more comment... I have a “Workday Startup” and “Workday Shutdown” similar to the note above. I use nirvana since in theory it works with bulleted lists in the notes (but that only works on my ipad for some reason)

In it I have inbox zero, clarify, check daily calendar, etc. anything I need to setup my day.

Since I created the workday shutdown I have had way more peaceful nights. I have a calendar entry everyday from 5-6 to go through my shutdown routine and when I am done I really feel relieved so that I can get home and shut off work as I leave it in a good state vs a slam of the laptop lid and I am outta here :)
 

TruthWK

Registered
I have found that a lack of need to check my lists is sign of the incompleteness of my lists. Incompleteness happens for two reasons.
1. I haven't captured a bunch of things
2. I've let my lists get stale because of a lack of weekly review

I find that if I start losing trust in my system, i won't check it but when i have trust, i feel like i need to check it.

Another thing I've done at times is when something comes up and i'm going to do it now anyways, I process it and get it on the correct list anyways. Sometimes, it puts that item in perspective with other things and I may change my mind and not do it right away after all.
 

ivanjay205

Registered
That makes a lot of sense.

As of lately I have gotten "lazy" with my Friday weekly reviews (I do them between 4 and 6 every Friday to setup for a nice relaxing weekend. What I have found is the Friday afternoon creeps into my weekly review or I am not mentally in a fully engaged reset mode. So when I start doing it I do capture everything and prepare for the review but it is kind of rushed without much thought. Not nearly as effective for sure. I have been thinking about moving that time.... Not sure how much a fan my wife would be of Sunday evening lol but it might be better on the tail end of a weekend prepping for the week vs shutting down after a long week when I just want ot be done.

I did find that when I completed them properly on Friday afternoon though I had a better weekend being fully relaxed and engaged at home.... Tough balance
 
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