Well, I have actually been using little parts of GTD all my life. I pulled a Master To Do list that was 17 pages long. I was really into "getting it all out of my head" way before I read GTD.
I love the way GTD helps you get organized. And that is big for me because I had been seriously disorganized all my life. I guess GTD was the first guide that I read that ACTUALLY TAUGHT YOU HOW TO BE ORGANIZED WITH PAPER. Remember the phrase "A place for everything, and everything in its place."? Well, my problem was that I didn't have a place for everything. Where did all these papers end up? On my desk, on the floor. In stacks and falling over. My big epiphany: BEING ORGANIZED IS NOT A GENETIC DEFECT, BUT A SKILL THAT CAN BE LEARNED!!! I actually thought that some people were born unorganized and some were born organized!!! I finally learned via GTD that organization is a SKILL!!!
So, 4 months ago, I read GTD, got my filing cabinet, my file folders, my newly bought Brother label maker, and I made my first ever A-Z general filing system. I think I brainstormed and filed for about 20 hours straight!!! This was freedom for me! At first, I got about 95% of it, but it was thrilling. I had to work to file that last 5%. I guess I sort of had a phobia about filing a single sheet of paper in a folder, it seemed wasteful. AND THEN....FOR THE FIRST TIME IN MY ENTIRE LIFE....I HAD EVERYTHING FILED AND THERE WAS NOTHING IN MY INBOX. THAT MOMENT WAS TRULY, TRULY MAGICAL FOR ME BECAUSE UP TO THAT POINT I HAD BEEN CHRONICALLY DISORGANIZED AND I KNEW THAT I BROKE THROUGH A BARRIER THAT HAD BEEN PLAGUING ME FOR OVER 20 YEARS!!!! I KNEW THAT MY LIFE WOULD NEVER BE THE SAME, AND THAT IS A GOOD THING. Finally, I had a detailed guidebook to organizing paper and appointments. To say that I liked GTD would be an understatement!!! This is a life changing technology!!! I was very close to not ordering GTD off of Amazon, and I shudder to think what would have happened if I had not found GTD.
My system:
1-Index card with vertical lines help together with binder clip all Hipster PDA style.
2-Calendar (index card size) from hipster PDA
3-Olympus Voice Recorder for Ubiquitious Capture. I get a lot of ideas while driving.
True, GTD has its faults. But one systems can't possibly cover it all. GTD cons:
1-GTD is hard to read. Therefore, not as many people would want to pick it up. I almost didn't buy it.
2-GTD does not seem that focused on goals, but you have to work at it.
3-Email management is not that clear to me.
4-Project management is still a little unclear to me.
That is my story. What is yours?
John
I love the way GTD helps you get organized. And that is big for me because I had been seriously disorganized all my life. I guess GTD was the first guide that I read that ACTUALLY TAUGHT YOU HOW TO BE ORGANIZED WITH PAPER. Remember the phrase "A place for everything, and everything in its place."? Well, my problem was that I didn't have a place for everything. Where did all these papers end up? On my desk, on the floor. In stacks and falling over. My big epiphany: BEING ORGANIZED IS NOT A GENETIC DEFECT, BUT A SKILL THAT CAN BE LEARNED!!! I actually thought that some people were born unorganized and some were born organized!!! I finally learned via GTD that organization is a SKILL!!!
So, 4 months ago, I read GTD, got my filing cabinet, my file folders, my newly bought Brother label maker, and I made my first ever A-Z general filing system. I think I brainstormed and filed for about 20 hours straight!!! This was freedom for me! At first, I got about 95% of it, but it was thrilling. I had to work to file that last 5%. I guess I sort of had a phobia about filing a single sheet of paper in a folder, it seemed wasteful. AND THEN....FOR THE FIRST TIME IN MY ENTIRE LIFE....I HAD EVERYTHING FILED AND THERE WAS NOTHING IN MY INBOX. THAT MOMENT WAS TRULY, TRULY MAGICAL FOR ME BECAUSE UP TO THAT POINT I HAD BEEN CHRONICALLY DISORGANIZED AND I KNEW THAT I BROKE THROUGH A BARRIER THAT HAD BEEN PLAGUING ME FOR OVER 20 YEARS!!!! I KNEW THAT MY LIFE WOULD NEVER BE THE SAME, AND THAT IS A GOOD THING. Finally, I had a detailed guidebook to organizing paper and appointments. To say that I liked GTD would be an understatement!!! This is a life changing technology!!! I was very close to not ordering GTD off of Amazon, and I shudder to think what would have happened if I had not found GTD.
My system:
1-Index card with vertical lines help together with binder clip all Hipster PDA style.
2-Calendar (index card size) from hipster PDA
3-Olympus Voice Recorder for Ubiquitious Capture. I get a lot of ideas while driving.
True, GTD has its faults. But one systems can't possibly cover it all. GTD cons:
1-GTD is hard to read. Therefore, not as many people would want to pick it up. I almost didn't buy it.
2-GTD does not seem that focused on goals, but you have to work at it.
3-Email management is not that clear to me.
4-Project management is still a little unclear to me.
That is my story. What is yours?
John
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