Any thoughts on the interview with John Frager? I was certainly inspired by John's level of commitment to GTD!
John Frager Interview
- Thread starter Lisa Peake
- Start date
hwend
0
Very Inspiring Conversation
I really enjoyed listening to David's conversation with John Frager. It was very inspiring and interesting for me. Especially how John started implementing GTD was very similar to my experience with it. Originally I made some modifications and tried to tweak it to, what I thought back then, better fit my needs. As John I realized after a while that the more pure I got with GTD the better it worked for me. Especially when I had a change in my responsibilities in my previous company GTD saved me. I took on the responsibility building out and managing a support department and without GTD I would have been lost. I had used Franklin Covey's system for quite a few years but it just didn't work for me any more in a fast pace startup environment and when I found GTD in a book store and read it the first time, I realized how much more practical this system was. Luckily I had used GTD for quite a while before I took on this new job so when I got this new responsibility I was able to manage it very well. I really don't think there is a good way in a work environment like a technical support department to prioritize with A, B, C code. The priorities change so fast that I think it doesn't make much sense to even try. With GTD I always had the feeling to be up to date with my projects and next action items, which made it less stressful.
Keep up the great work with GTD Connect. It is a great addition to learn and grow and the interviews provide very interesting and new perspectives on GTD. I especially enjoyed listening to how John started using GTD and how much value it provides to him and his colleagues.
I really enjoyed listening to David's conversation with John Frager. It was very inspiring and interesting for me. Especially how John started implementing GTD was very similar to my experience with it. Originally I made some modifications and tried to tweak it to, what I thought back then, better fit my needs. As John I realized after a while that the more pure I got with GTD the better it worked for me. Especially when I had a change in my responsibilities in my previous company GTD saved me. I took on the responsibility building out and managing a support department and without GTD I would have been lost. I had used Franklin Covey's system for quite a few years but it just didn't work for me any more in a fast pace startup environment and when I found GTD in a book store and read it the first time, I realized how much more practical this system was. Luckily I had used GTD for quite a while before I took on this new job so when I got this new responsibility I was able to manage it very well. I really don't think there is a good way in a work environment like a technical support department to prioritize with A, B, C code. The priorities change so fast that I think it doesn't make much sense to even try. With GTD I always had the feeling to be up to date with my projects and next action items, which made it less stressful.
Keep up the great work with GTD Connect. It is a great addition to learn and grow and the interviews provide very interesting and new perspectives on GTD. I especially enjoyed listening to how John started using GTD and how much value it provides to him and his colleagues.
kelstarrising
Kelly | GTD expert
Great example of a successful executive/admin relationship
I really enjoyed hearing how John works with his admin. It seems like there is an incredible amount of trust and simpatico between them. I love how he described that she knows to give him about 90 minutes a day of personal work time that are not scheduled with meetings. I see so many executives that book their meetings back-to-back all day long and are left to do their own work in the wee hours of the night or early morning. The way John seems to do his job, in sync with GTD, is a great success story.
I really enjoyed hearing how John works with his admin. It seems like there is an incredible amount of trust and simpatico between them. I love how he described that she knows to give him about 90 minutes a day of personal work time that are not scheduled with meetings. I see so many executives that book their meetings back-to-back all day long and are left to do their own work in the wee hours of the night or early morning. The way John seems to do his job, in sync with GTD, is a great success story.
Since I've only recently joined Connect - I'm still on catch-up with the interviews/podcasts.
A few things really resonated with me:
J.
A few things really resonated with me:
- Setting aside time in the day to do activities. If only I could be as ruthless as his PA.
- Having retreats that offer value with external speakers and "good input" rather than just a talking shop ...
- The need to return to the vanilla GTD system rather than thinking that a modified system would be better.
J.
After J. posted yesterday, I thought "It's been a long time since I listened to this one", so I booted it up in iTunes. At the 18:03 point in the podcast, John Frager turns into James Fallows! I'm assuming this happened when you reposted the single files to replace the multi-part ones. Is this correct, or is it just a glitch in my system?
Art
Art