What about hard work and discipline?

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Anonymous

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I use GTD. I read this forum. I see many benefits of GTD. However when you read all post you can get an idea that all things shall be as easy as possible.

Now don t get me wrong, of course it is good to do everything effective.

But.

I think there is a danger in that we can forget, that to get things done, you need many times to train your ability to work hard (wich can be painful sometimes) and to train your discipline.

I think of this as an martial artist, because that is one of the most important lessons from martial arts. Hard work over long time produce results.

One master once said: If you ALWAYS take the easiest way, you will not train your discipline and willpower, and you will lose more and more of your willpower. (Maybe true for triathlon also Jason ?)

Of course a solution with GTD and for example a Palmone handheld (treo 600 maybe?), will make you more effective, but I think you must remember to train your discipline and ability to work real hard.

Just a little reminder when we have so many ideas about planning and make things easier.
 
My personal observation is that it requires a lot of discipline and hard work to maintain the GTD system. But the reward is great in terms of return on effort. The reason why I say it requires discipline (and hard work) is that you can't ease off once you get it up and running. It requires closing those open loops and making sure nothing slips through the system - otherwise everything falls apart. I don't think this is a bad thing. In fact it's one of the things that attracts me to the system - it keeps me on track.

Just my observations.

Paul
 
Yes Paul

Yes exactly Paul. There are many posts here about problem to implement the GTD (and stick to it), and that was the meaning with my reminder. I think many forget, to be good at GTD requires discipline (and hard work).

And maybe that also would be a good point for our friends David and Jason and company to sometimes point out, so people don t think the system (GTD) runs by itself.
 
There's no free lunch.

There's no free lunch. First you must invest some effort in GTD and then you will receive your return on investment - which in this case is guaranteed. But as I said in other thread GTD is not for everybody - some people are not ready for such investment.
TesTeq
 
Implementing GTD is not about making things easier, but about getting things done.
Since I started following the GTD-principles (and restarted) I feel that -with the same amount of work- I can get more done with less stress. Or, I can get the same amount of work done with less effort and less stress.

At work, I get more done. At home, I am more relaxed what enables me to enjoy more thoroughly the time I actually get to spend there (in between trips). So a definite win-win situation for me.

my 2 eurocents.
tb
 
ease of mind

Before I started reading GTD, I worked hard. I had to - everything was a crisis situation. Each time I was hours from deadline (freelance writing biz) I would scramble to find notes, tapes, and guideslines, gnashing teeth and pulling hair to get my work done.

This morning, as I sat at the lake writing down all the projects I have going on, and then following up with a list of the action to be taken next, my stress eased up considerably. I'm looking to relieve my anxiety and guilt over rushing through jobs because I don't start on them until it's an urgent project.

Hard work? Bring it on. At least I won't be losing sleep and missing deadlines anymore. :wink:

Pam
 
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