OK I loved this interview and have not posted about it yet, because I was feeling pretty down and out about GTD lately - it seems as if I cannot let it go for any length of time before I am plowed under. However I forget how bad I used to be. I used to keep my paperwork in the kitchen, because my office was a black hole which sucked "stuff" in and never released it. In my kitchen, I had stacks of files and paper measured in feet. My inbox on the counter looked like a giant loaf of bread that had been left to rise for too long. I had unopened envelopes and papers stacked in it sideways, and in between the envelopes, I had wedged more envelopes and file folders full of other "stuff" that had been sorted by priority. Now I have a lovely, functional office space in a sunny room over the garage, and the kitchen has been transformed according to an article in (unnamed celebrity with same initials as Maria Sharapova) Living Magazine.
Well that is neither here nor there, the fact is I do let my system slip and then function less effectively getting through the day, and there is a negative snowball effect.
What I got out of this interview was how Julie said she had to focus on GTD every day as if she were an alcoholic. This metaphor stuck in my head. For me this is so true. I can't let things go and coast - I let things go and all hell breaks loose.
Anyway I was inspired by that nagging alcoholic metaphor to get back on track - to collect on Friday, to process yesterday (Monday) and to organize today. My inbox is empty again, mail is mailed, errands done. My desk work NA list is ludicrous, but I have a review scheduled to deal with that, plus determination to attack the problem daily. I had too much hard landscape on the weekend to get myself to a reviewable condition any sooner than next weekend (kid's math class, swim meet, violin recital, etc.).
Which brings me to my beef. I would like to hear an interview with a married woman who accomplishes something on her own terms, for her own satisfaction and not just for the kids and husband. I realize that is enough for some, but not for me. I would like to be a productive individual in my own right, with dreams and goals apart from my family's well being.
Even though my rational mind says it's not true, I still have a nagging suspicion that the true secret of Getting Things Done is to either have a wife or to not have a husband. My husband is much more successful by many objective standards than I am, and he does not do GTD at all, far from it. He is simply brilliant, and has a wife as well.
I know I need to do my processing daily, carve out time for reflection, schedule time to keep on top of the desk work, and do a proper weekly review, but I suspect it would be extremely inspirational for me to have some concrete data that shows it is possible for a married woman with children to use the system to accomplish something on the scale of starting a school or running a private charitable organization.
Cris