Off the Wagon, perhaps a non-issue?

theilluminated

theilluminated

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I've been thinking about the issues around GTD, and mostly about when you are off the GTD wagon, wandering aimlessly out in the fields without a map and compass. It came to me that it might be a natural defense mechanism that is kicking in, that is saying: What would you do if all your current tools and technology vanished?

We know that technology and tools can suddenly fail, and thus my theory is that there is a subconscious part of us that wants to check out how we work without those tools. That is how I see it when I am not using the GTD strategies. A part from the time it takes to really have a full system implemented and creating the habits around that, I think the subconscious is always trying to figure out if we have the skills to deal with worst case scenarios.

Thinking about it that way put my mind at ease when falling off the wagon, and thus I just see it as a phase (which I find okay, but annoying after a week or so and then jump back on).

Any thoughts?
 
a knot to the fabric handkerchief

I remember when I was a little child the people used a knot to the handkerchief. But today how many still use a fabric handkerchief?

After the joke, then I should think to use some paper to write or re-write my lists. Then I feel a little more relaxed than you because I know I have my lists in three different places. Cloud, smarthphone, monthly backup files.

Then even I understand we could have a suddenly fail of the technologies we already know the process to get what we have.

So we could rebuild easily all. Writing on the stone? On the papyrus? :)
 
I am really relaxed, that is not what I am thinking of here. I mainly think about keeping stuff in our heads and not putting it down anywhere for a while. People have a tendency to beat themselves up when they are not doing what they think they should be doing, and instead they could think of it as a natural phase, and thus it becomes a process to transcend once here and there.
 
Maybe your mind is clear of clutter, having done GTD for a while, and it thinks 'I'm doing great, I don't need this, I can remember all I need to', and just wants to enjoy the feeling of doing everything without a system. And then just as a bin doesn't cope when it's overflowing, it's not until your mind gets overloaded again that it realises it needs to go back to GTD. You don't appreciate what you had until you lose it.
 
Technology vs Stupidity

Technology: the everchanging, always backed up, "all thumbs," search ability, battery charged, and everything I need-all-in-one. Everyone thinks I'm texting when I'm actually "listing."

Paper: Leather, fountain pen. Paper. Lots of paper. No back up, bulky, appears anal, easy to read, hard to locate, left in cars and on desks. Still need a phone and internet connectivity. In a paperless-moving society, makes me feel and, perhaps, look stupid. But so simple!

If I lose my job or my electricity, I lose my Blackberry. I would still have my leather binder.......

This going back and forth is driving me nuts. It's the conundrum of my life. Yet the answer is so obvious. Technology is here and it gets better and better every day. Why is it so hard to make a decision and live with it?
 
MikeC;88786 said:
Technology: the everchanging, always backed up, "all thumbs," search ability, battery charged, and everything I need-all-in-one. Everyone thinks I'm texting when I'm actually "listing."

Paper: Leather, fountain pen. Paper. Lots of paper. No back up, bulky, appears anal, easy to read, hard to locate, left in cars and on desks. Still need a phone and internet connectivity. In a paperless-moving society, makes me feel and, perhaps, look stupid. But so simple!

If I lose my job or my electricity, I lose my Blackberry. I would still have my leather binder.......

This going back and forth is driving me nuts. It's the conundrum of my life. Yet the answer is so obvious. Technology is here and it gets better and better every day. Why is it so hard to make a decision and live with it?
Click to expand...

Yes, this addresses the issue of surviving if one's GTD system dies.

I have three things I do for this.

1 - Backup, backup, backup

2 - I use vanilla data quite a lot: Text files, RTF, Excel, rather than apps by small developers.
* My GTD app is a state machine - it tells me where I'm up to, but links to support data in common formats.

3 - I have a single spreadsheet, with months across the top and my key processes down the left. This shows me my milestones in the year for staying legal, such as tax, car insurance, etc. Printed out, it's my equivalent of a storm lantern in case the lights go out.
 
If I lose my computer and it's impossible to get to any other computer on the planet then chances are I don't need GTD :D
 
May;88788 said:
If I lose my computer and it's impossible to get to any other computer on the planet then chances are I don't need GTD :D
Click to expand...

Ha ha, yes, that reminds me of the "run over by a bus" conversation.

If one of my friends at work were run over by a bus, the last thing on my mind is that he didn't finish his documentation !
 
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