Hello everyone,
My name is Jacq and I just registered today. I've been doing GTD for about two weeks now. Initially implementing the system seems like it was relatively easy for me, but that's probably because, of the two halves, household and office, the household part was harder! My work environment is one where I am very closely managed, and GTD *almost* doesn't have an application there. Home, on the other hand, is where I am the boss (I do have a roomie, but she tends to sit back and let me "manage the household"). I am still testing out different things, trying to figure out my best practices for keeping track of everything. I have tried out GTDTiddlyWiki (on a stick), Instiki, looseleaf paper, and 3x5s (including D*I*Y's version of the HPDA). So far, no combination of these things has been perfect. I still have some things falling through the cracks, but it is getting better. I am spending a lot of time surfing known (to me) GTD-friendly sites for link spam in search of a better way of doing this.
The most significant progress I have made is in housecleaning. A few years ago I religiously followed the FlyLady program, and completely cleaned my apartment from top to bottom. I then promptly fell off the wagon. After reading GTD, I realized why FlyLady didn't work - she doesn't include the "clutter" in one's brain in the equation. I have a very short attention span, which manifests itself in strange ways. Often, I will go to another room in my apartment to do or get something, only to not be able to remember what I wanted to do or get once I arrived there. I would have to physically retrace my steps to what I was doing before in order to remember what it was that I wanted. My co-workers will ask me about something that happened two or three days prior, and I have to remind them that I can barely remember what I ate for lunch yesterday. To say the least, it is frustrating. Now that I have 3x5s and pens all over the place, and consciously write stuff down when I think about it, my recall rate is improving.
Now, I indicated that I had an idea. I was reading a thread where someone was looking for an accountability buddy, and someone mentioned that they didn't want to clog up the GTD forums with personal implementation dreck. Perhaps the management could set up an additional sub-forum specifically for members to create their own "GTD Journals" in the form of a thread (one per member) where they document their progress, ask for input, and note problems they are having. Any member of the forums can then read about a particular person's progress and comment with suggestions or support. This way, the people who need moral support or accountablility can get it, and it won't clog up the main forum. The sub-forum could perhaps be called "GTD Success Stories" or somesuch.
Aloha,
Jacq
My name is Jacq and I just registered today. I've been doing GTD for about two weeks now. Initially implementing the system seems like it was relatively easy for me, but that's probably because, of the two halves, household and office, the household part was harder! My work environment is one where I am very closely managed, and GTD *almost* doesn't have an application there. Home, on the other hand, is where I am the boss (I do have a roomie, but she tends to sit back and let me "manage the household"). I am still testing out different things, trying to figure out my best practices for keeping track of everything. I have tried out GTDTiddlyWiki (on a stick), Instiki, looseleaf paper, and 3x5s (including D*I*Y's version of the HPDA). So far, no combination of these things has been perfect. I still have some things falling through the cracks, but it is getting better. I am spending a lot of time surfing known (to me) GTD-friendly sites for link spam in search of a better way of doing this.
The most significant progress I have made is in housecleaning. A few years ago I religiously followed the FlyLady program, and completely cleaned my apartment from top to bottom. I then promptly fell off the wagon. After reading GTD, I realized why FlyLady didn't work - she doesn't include the "clutter" in one's brain in the equation. I have a very short attention span, which manifests itself in strange ways. Often, I will go to another room in my apartment to do or get something, only to not be able to remember what I wanted to do or get once I arrived there. I would have to physically retrace my steps to what I was doing before in order to remember what it was that I wanted. My co-workers will ask me about something that happened two or three days prior, and I have to remind them that I can barely remember what I ate for lunch yesterday. To say the least, it is frustrating. Now that I have 3x5s and pens all over the place, and consciously write stuff down when I think about it, my recall rate is improving.
Now, I indicated that I had an idea. I was reading a thread where someone was looking for an accountability buddy, and someone mentioned that they didn't want to clog up the GTD forums with personal implementation dreck. Perhaps the management could set up an additional sub-forum specifically for members to create their own "GTD Journals" in the form of a thread (one per member) where they document their progress, ask for input, and note problems they are having. Any member of the forums can then read about a particular person's progress and comment with suggestions or support. This way, the people who need moral support or accountablility can get it, and it won't clog up the main forum. The sub-forum could perhaps be called "GTD Success Stories" or somesuch.
Aloha,
Jacq