Simple Pleasures

W

w_i_t_n_a

0
Sometimes its the simple things that you experience using the GtD process that make you stop and reflect. Let me share two examples of what I am talking about that happened today.

ah-ha moment #1
The power of the empty 'ubitquitious capture tool'.

I have one of those funky note taker wallets from Davidco
http://www.davidco.com/store/catalog/GTD-Gear-p-1-c-258.php
Yes I paid to have it shipped to Australia but it was kind of a must have for me, well that what I kept telling myself.
Anyway, I was standing waiting for my coffee this afternoon and I happened to take my UCT out of my shirt pocket (no there was no plastic pocket liner a la Michael Douglas).

I opened it and there was nothing there other than a blank page staring back at me, nothing undecided or unactioned just a blank page ready for action.

ah-ha moment #2
The joy of an empty email in box.

I have just come back from carers leave looking after my father who had came out of hospital after a 2 month stay. Naturally while I was away the email in box just kept filling up so I decided to do an impromptu Weekly Review on a Wednesday. I got churning and now its empty, again nothing undecided or unactioned.

In reality there's nothing particularly special about either of these moments, everyone who works with GtD gets to this stage during the weekly review.

The difference today was that I stopped to enjoy them. So next time you are churning through your Weekly Review I'd suggest you take a a second or two out of your day just to enjoy the moment before moving on.
 
Agreed. There is something beautiful and tranquil about an empty email inbox. Especially when you were recently used to that sinking feeling of seeing hundreds of items there.
 
Simple pleasures

My credit card number (not the card) was stolen about a week ago. When I reported it, I was told to make sure that I notified any companies that automatically charge my card.

I looked through my bill and there were a few. There was the device in my car that automatically pays the toll (EZ-pass). There was my gym club membership. And my internet service. I wouldn't want any of these interrupted or the hassles of getting notices that they couldn't charge my account.

I won't go through all the details, but I made a project in my trusted system with subprojects for each service. When my new card arrived, all my NAs were nicely organized and I just went through the list.

No rocket science here. But thanks to GTD, the entire process was a lot less painful than it might have been. It's a great feeling to know that it's all there at my fingertips.
 
I like w_i_t_n_a's idea of celebrating the ways that GTD is helpful. I took a driver's safety course in October 2006 for the purpose of reducing some points I have on my driver's record. As of today, the course still has not showed up on my driving record.

The whole process is very frustrating as I struggle with bureaucracies in both the state government as well as the organization that sponsored the course. But because of GTD, I feel in control and confident that, eventually (hopefully, before I die) that I will be able to resolve this. My trusted system has a blow-by-blow account of the people to whom I have spoken and their phone numbers, and what they said. Today I looked at some of the completed NAs before making more phone calls and e-mails.

Without GTD, I think I'd be climbing the walls.
 
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