I've been meaning to return to this thread and share some more serious thoughts. I do have them from time to time.
I see a lot of analysis paralysis in these forums. Since some of that has come from me, that's an observation and not a value judgement.
I remember
@DavidAllen saying that some of the people most attracted to GTD are those who are already successful and high-performing because they're looking for something that can help them stay that way without blowing a gasket (admittedly, the phrasing is mine and not Allen's but I think got the gist of it). Then you've got people like me who have always had trouble doing things, hoping GTD could help us become one of those high performers.
Here's the problem for people like me: GTD can't make you want to do things. No one and nothing can do that for you. So it's out of scope for GTD.
My own journey to clearing away internal roadblocks involved abandoning any semblance of "doing GTD" for a couple years. Yeah, I was keeping stuff in my head, letting things fall through the cracks, all that stuff. It was still the right thing for me during that time.
While I've derived a lot of value from GTD I'm actually going to take issue with Allen in one respect. I've heard Allen say at least once that if you're severely depressed, maybe you need to clarify all of your commitments. In other words, maybe the path out of depression is GTD. I can tell you that my own mental health journey has included bouts of depression and other issues I would not want to reveal here. And GTD was of no help. None. I needed medical help. Talk therapy. Other things that, again, I'm not inclined to reveal here.
It turns out I couldn't get full value from the material comprising GTD until I dealt with the things that were keeping me stuck. Irrational fears. Distorted thinking. An inability to be honest with myself.
The funny thing is that it's easy to do things. Decide on an outcome, decide on an action, and then do that action. If it turns out it wasn't the right action, you've learned something you can apply the next time you have a similar outcome you need or want to achieve. Over time, your mistakes will guide you to future successes.
If you're wondering how to organize something in your GTD system, try it one way. If it doesn't work for you, try it another. Over time, trial and error will guide you toward your goal of a mind like water.
(As an aside, I find my thinking regarding GTD changes as I do. So I let my system change in response. Sometimes it takes time to get the system to align with those changes. Discomfort is part of a life well-lived, or at least I believe it is.)
Unfortunately, for some of us it's really difficult to learn that doing things doesn't have to be that difficult. It was the case for me.
I hope someone, somewhere got some value out of this. If not, I can at least take solace in the fact that I smarted off at David Allen in two previous comments and also provoked
@mcogilvie into writing about flatulence in a GTD forum. Both of those align with my life's purpose.