Is there any issue If Mind sweep is done before Physical Gathering in the Collection stage?

G

Goutam Hegde

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Sorry for editing the actual post.

Is there any issue If I decide to do the Mind Sweep before doing the physical gathering in case
If I think making Mind Seep will relieve the stress.
 
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Oh, God! If you do that there will be a matter-antimatter reaction resulting in an explosion that destroys all of creation!

Sorry, just having a little fun.

Something I've learned in the many years I've practiced GTD: very little you do will truly break your practice other than keeping stuff in your head. If something helps you get things off your mind so you can work with a clear head, it's a good thing. If doing a mindsweep before collecting and processing physical stuff will help with that, I can't imagine there's anything wrong with it. I'll go out on a limb and say *any* time doing a mindsweep will help you, then have at it.
 
You know, my post seemed funnier to me last night than it does now. I'm concerned it came of as mocking you, @Goutam Hegde. That truly wasn't my intention. I hope that isn't what led to you deleting almost all of your post.

Your question about whether it's OK to do the mindsweep before you collect and clarify your physical stuff is understandable. For a while, I had similar concerns about whether tweaking certain things could break my GTD system. I worried too much. To an extent, I still do.

And for me to say "very little you do will truly break your practice other than keeping stuff in your head" is probably too sweeping a statement. I can think of plenty of stumbling blocks I've put in my own way that have caused me to fall off the GTD wagon over the years.

Nevertheless, I think if your mind is telling you it's too full and you want to dump everything onto pieces of paper before tackling other phases of the review process then have at it. Think of it this way: your intuition is telling you that you need to do something for your own peace of mind. It's OK to trust that intuition. Actually it's more than "OK"; I think it's a healthy thing to do.

I hope that helps more than my earlier snark.
 
bcmyers2112 said:
I hope that helps more than my earlier snark.
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I thought it was snarky, but funny. Geeky snark. But then again I like the phrase “core dump” more than “mind sweep.” I like it for its evocative nature as well as the historical connection to early computers.
 
mcogilvie said:
I thought it was snarky, but funny. Geeky snark. But then again I like the phrase “core dump” more than “mind sweep.” I like it for its evocative nature as well as the historical connection to early computers.
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"Core dump"? I like it! It is the term generally used "when the program has crashed or otherwise terminated abnormally." So GTDer needs it when her/his GTD system has crashed.
 
mcogilvie said:
I thought it was snarky, but funny. Geeky snark. But then again I like the phrase “core dump” more than “mind sweep.” I like it for its evocative nature as well as the historical connection to early computers.
Click to expand...

I'm a lifelong Star Trek fan. To me, a "core dump" sounds like ejecting the warp core from a starship. If you're not familiar with the show, suffice to say having to take such an extreme measure means things have truly gone to hell.
 
I tend to think of a core dump as a listing of what's in the computer so that you can debug the program because it's not working the way you expect. Then again, I can force a core dump at a certain stage just to see what's in memory as my program executes so it's not always that it crashed, just that it did something unexpected. So a mish mash of the Star Trek and computer ones.

In any case, back to the OP's concern, IMO no there is no issue with doing collection, whether it's the physical part first or the mental part in any order or even some of each. as long as you do it and then process it.

For example, I may be walking around the farm and noting projects and issues to deal with, the physical collection part, and my mind goes off on a tangent about something I need to do on LambTracker, the mental part. I just write it down too and continue on.
 
bcmyers2112 said:
I'm a lifelong Star Trek fan. To me, a "core dump" sounds like ejecting the warp core from a starship. If you're not familiar with the show, suffice to say having to take such an extreme measure means things have truly gone to hell.
Click to expand...

The origin of the term lies in the use of a matrix of ferrite cores for what we now call RAM or random access memory. Each bit was represented by the magnetic state of one core, and the cores were woven with wires in a mesh that allowed reading and writing data. Mr. Spock would consider it to be as primitive a computer technology as Dr. McCoy thought chemotherapy was as medicine. A core dump captured the state of the computer when the problem occurred. My spousal unit and I also use the term "core dump" to describe the process where the day's events gets dumped out for joint inspection and commiseration upon arrival at home. I think this illustrates the point that getting things out of your head is more than a rational practice, but also a requirement for mental health. If you feel like you need to do it, you need to do it.
 
As far as I remember the idea to collect first and do the mind sweep (or core dump, brain dump, brain download or whatever you prefer :p;)) afterwards comes from the idea that this might prevent you from capturing stuff twice ore more often. In the classical 11-step weekly review you first collect every loose paper, then process it and then do a mind sweep. That way it should be easier for you to find the stuff that really has your attention.

Maybe you will find the following free podcast useful:
https://gettingthingsdone.com/2015/05/podcast-03-david-allen-guides-you-through-a-mind-sweep/

Cheers,
Tristan
 
To give you an idea of how I used to get hung up on the "letter of GTD" at the expense of its spirit, when I first started doing mindsweeps I'd get upset with myself if I had a thought to capture that was unrelated to the section of the mindsweep trigger list I was on at that moment. It took me awhile to realize that my mind was telling me what I needed to do capture in order to clear my head, and that my intuition was more important than the trigger list.

I bring that up as an example of how getting hung up on process used to hold me back, and why I'd recommend being a bit more flexible than that. That's why I think if you feel like you need to do a mindsweep before you process your physical items in your inbox you should feel comfortable doing so.
 
@mcogilvie, the only reason I brought up the Star Trek reference is that it's what inspired the "matter-antimatter" reference on my part. Antimatter powers their fictitious faster-than-light propulsion system, and it's why I made the connection between "core dump" and the warp cores on Star Trek. I only offer that by way of explanation.

But if someone wants to refer to the mindsweep as a "core dump," so be it. A rose by any other name, right? And it makes sense given what a "core dump" is in the real world.

But thanks for the explanation of where the term "core dump" comes from. In the immortal words of Johnny Carson, "I did not know that."
 
Maybe I should add to my former post that it is absolutely ok to break the rules if it fits you and your GTD workflow. There is no sense in doing something just because the book or some people from the forum say so.
I only think it is important to understand why some sequences are recommended so you finally know what you don’t do and why you don’t do it (sounds somehow familiar :D).

Cheers,
Tristan
 
Geeko said:
I only think it is important to understand why some sequences are recommended so you finally know what you don’t do and why you don’t do it (sounds somehow familiar :D).
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I think it was a good contribution to the conversation. It's always worth understanding the why behind the what.
 
mcogilvie said:
The origin of the term lies in the use of a matrix of ferrite cores for what we now call RAM or random access memory. Each bit was represented by the magnetic state of one core, and the cores were woven with wires in a mesh that allowed reading and writing data.
Click to expand...
And then there was bubble memory and the woven memory on Apollo... But I used core dump with all of them even when it was no longer cores to dump. ;-)
 
Goutam Hegde said:
Sorry for editing the actual post.

Is there any issue If I decide to do the Mind Sweep before doing the physical gathering in case
If I think making Mind Seep will relieve the stress.
Click to expand...

I think that gathering before mind sweep is probably more efficient.

However, I think that the efficiency gained from reduced stress will probably outweigh that benefit.

You could do the mind sweep, then gather, then do a miniature secondary mind sweep?
 
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