Who read the article on David/GTD in the Atlantic Monthly?

Re: Thanks for the article, the Mighty NET!

TesTeq said:
Finally the Mighty NET gave us the Atlantic Monthly article :D . Apparently it wasn't the author's or Davidco decision :? - it was the hidden power of the Mighty NET :!: .
TesTeq
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apinaud said:
Somebody in other forum find the article online, I am not at home to confort with the article, but looks like is complete.

Any ways this is the link.

http://www6.lexisnexis.com/publishe...d=661&topicId=19297&docId=l:215269898&start=8

Enjoy!
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Purely as a matter of clarification -- and this is of no practical significance to the Atlantic (which used to put all its material up free, and does so even now with a delay) -- but this was not exactly an illustration of the power of the Mighty NET. It is an illustration of the difficulty of observing or enforcing copyright. Nexis/Lexis is a prioprietary news source. It pays publications (like ours) for the right to publish material simultaneously with the online edition, and it charges its users for access to that information, complete with all kinds of warnings and statements that its material is explicitly not for re-posting or re-circulation. As a personal matter, I couldn't be more delighted to have people read this article. But as a window onto how the world works, I wanted to correct an impression that it was just a matter of finding better search tools. It's a matter of deciding not to pay attention to the agreement between Nexis/Lexis and its users -- but that's Nexis's problem, not mine. jf
 
Atlantic Monthly Article

Was just able to get a print copy (small town--first B and N didn't have it), and what a gift--a strong reminder of the basics and a kick start to make sure I'm implementing all parts, not just some! Thanks for a great article.
 
Thought it was a solid read and introduction. I'm making copies for my staff as another way to help the "Get it".
 
Re: Here is a link to the Atlantic Monthly Article

Guest said:
Here is the same using tinyURL:
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I have a friend who uses tiny URL. I rarely follow her links because I want to know where I'm going BEFORE I get there. In this case, the destination doesn't create any problems. Before I stopped clicking those links, I would get junk mail from the destination, and it's a PITA to get it stopped.

Carolyn
 
The Atlantic

I bought the Atlantic for the GTD article and found the rest of it fascinating. Jim Fallows' article on the debating styles of Bush and Kerry is insightful and the article about fighting in Fallujah was spellbinding. And P.J. O'Rourke was, for this liberal, a hoot. What a great magazine. Here's one new subscriber on the way.
 
I began reading The Atlantic back when I was a young Liberal, but as I matured into a Conservative I continued to subscribe. :D

Seriously, I've always enjoyed this publication for the range of subjects and the depth of coverage featured in most of its articles. And some of it short pieces are priceless, especially those about "When (famous person) met (other famous person)". My only complaint is that it sometimes lands in my mail box on a day I'm getting home late - that usually means a short night's sleep because I sit up reading the most interesting articles.

And while we hear lots of hype in the media about "fair and balanced" from both sides, I really believe the Atlantic comes as close as anyone to that ideal.

Regarding the subject of this string, Fallows' article is what led me directly to GTD. For that article alone, I believe the publication is worth at least the last 10 years' subscription prices, maybe 15 or 20.
 
Thanks....

I am glad that some of you like what you've seen in the Atlantic and glad to see a touch of symbiosis --- the magazine introducing some people to GTD; GTD introducing some people to the magazine. This will give me extra motivation to finish a long article that's due in, groan, about 60 hours. Jim Fallows
 
Jim: Hang in there; remember all those subscribers like me looking forward to the next issue. And if you find it necessary to lose a little sleep meeting the deadline, maybe it will be of some consolation to know some of us will choose to lose a little sleep (if necessary) to read what you wrote.
 
Have read and loved the Atlantic forever. And Fallows in particular.

Another place to find the article for free (sign up for free trial) is KeepMedia. A long-time magazine junkie, I like this service for magazines I would never read otherwise (for lack of time, not desire.) Circulation Management is a current find :) Totally legal.

http://www.keepmedia.com/

It's not davidco's job to do anything for me because I suddenly decide it is. What IS done is greatly appreciated. In truth, a company or magazine or entity or net can't do anything.

Intellectual property disgression:

I'll read anything that looks remotely interesting, and pay for it if I want to support the publication, author, whatever. If something or someone is IMHO stupid, or dangerous, not a penny will pass my credit card.

But: A widespread circumventing of intellectual property rights is a disincentive for good people to produce things. (Like me, for instance.) There are good people who disagree with me, and I should support them too. They keep me honest and clear. Luckily there aren't many like that ;) but I am always looking.
 
Atl miscellany

To TestTec: thanks for the encouragement. I like every part of my job except the actual writing. (In fact, everyone I know who writes for a living feels the same way. Topic for another time.) Have two long stories in the Oct issue, so it's a little bit of a push.

To Nikita: Many thanks, and thanks for the KeepMedia tip

To Moises: Yes, my day job is the Atlantic, but I do a monthly tech column for the NYT biz section. If you are a ham radio operator, please do NOT bother to register a complaint about a recent column on "Broadband Over PowerLines," which has the whole ham community up in a lather. Too complicated to deal with at the moment, but will address in next month's column. Jim Fallows
 
I, too, bought the magazine the day it hit the newstand. Although I do read things on the internet and listen to audiotapes/books, there is nothing so satisfying, to me, as holding the book or magazine in my hands. When I find something on the internet that I would like to re-read, it gets printed out, too.

Old fashioned, huh?

Carolyn

P.S. I am considering a subscription to Atlantic. Good reading! The thing that gives me pause is that I have stopped so many of my subscriptions because I wasn't finding time to read them.
 
Carolyn: By all means, subscribe to the Atlantic. You'll probably make the time to read it once you get hooked. And go ahead & take the 3-year deal - it saves you lots of $.
 
OOOPS (re SpecTecGTD)

:oops: I meant to say thanks to you for the "gambatte" [never give up! don't die in the traces!] message during my last writing ordeal. And thanks again for service as a circulation salesman for us! But if I say any more I'll violate anti-commercial principles. Again, thx. jf
 
Anonymous said:
I have been an Atlantic subscriber for years and usually scan it the day it arrives. I read the article about GTD and it immediately rang a bell with me due to my being overwhelmed with work/life issues at the moment. The logic of the system as explained in this very good article impressed me to the point that I bought both David's books the very next day, ordered the CD seminar that afternoon, and spent my spare vacation time listening to the CD's. I have since listened to them repeatedly while driving and have begun implementing GTD as rapidly as I can. I recommend the CD's higly to anyone with a real desire to grasp the concept. Although I am still in the early stages, it has already changed the way I manage work flow and I see hourly/daily evidences of how my thinking has already changed drastically. (If GTD doesn't alter your thinking, you're either already doing it or else you haven't gotten it yet, IMO.) I agree that the article should be distributed as widely as possible.
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I plan on making hard copies of the article ASAP, and might even purchase multiple copies of the audio book -- to give together with the article for gifts this season.

I'm glad to find another person so touched by Fallows' article. It's impact upon me was instantaneous, lol.

But you were brave - you purchased everything the very next day after reading the article.

Myself, I was a bit suspicious. I realized that my life had undergone a radical revision from reading Mr. Fallows' article -- but that actually made me hesitant to buy the book, what if the book destroyed the radical metamorphis that occurred from reading the Atlantic Monthly article?

I actually wondered if I should research FALLOWS, as opposed to ALLEN. LOL :)

Like others above, I look forward to the day in the future, years or even decades hence, when the Allens decide to write and publish their "Spiritual Autobiography" -- and I'm already certain that it will be a major bestseller filled with memorable anecdotes, both of the humorous and the sublime variety.

But I don't "see" that occuring any day SOON, but I can wait.....
 
Your post got me thinking about something - Why did I jump into GTD so rapidly after reading the Atlantic article? So I went back & re-read the article out of curiosity and to figure out what happened. Here's what I came up with:

First of all, I had been exposed to the idea of empty inboxes before, and had been following the practice of emptying my voice mail for years. However, my process of emptying it involved transferring the info to sequential phone call lists - where it sometimes still fell through the cracks. My lack of success in keeping that system going was spilling over into e-mail, which I wasn't using efficiently at all. The article offered tantalizing hints of how GTD offers solutions to that problem.
Secondly, the rationale for the "two-minute rule" was so intuitively obvious that I was shocked I had never heard it from someone else (or even thought of something like it myself).
Finally, Jim laid out four principles of GTD in such a concise manner that he simply made me hungry for more. I decided that I either needed to learn all I could about this system or figure out why it wouldn't work for me and move on. Either outcome was OK with me.

I bought the books in the AM, scanned some high points during mid-day when I had a few minutes, and on the basis of what I saw I decided I needed to hear the CD's, especially since I had vacation coming up. So the decision to do all this was not simply a leap of faith, but a logical process of following the information where it lead me.

At about 5 months into implementing GTD, I certainly haven't reached anything approaching "mind like water", but I'm making progress and can see how I can get there. Sometimes I even get a taste of what it may be like and it just energizes me to keep working at it. Meanwhile, my stress level is way down and I'm controllling my work instead of it controlling me.
 
spectecGTD said:
... the rationale for the "two-minute rule" was so intuitively obvious that I was shocked I had never heard it from someone else (or even thought of something like it myself).
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Thanks for sharing your reaction to Fallows article. It is very intriguing to me how you articulate your puzzlement to the discovery of the 2-Minute Rule. It really is shocking in its OBVIOUSNESS, and like you, I've *never* run across anything like it. The very closest comparable advice I read decades & decades ago about clearing clutter was that if you were seemingly permanently 'stuck' and unable to confront a room, much less the attic or garage, that you should decide on a TWO-FOOT CUBIC SPACE anywhere in your home, and only concentrate on that 2 cubic foot area until it was absolutely spotless, and then after a break, choose two more feet immediately adjascent to the one clean spot in your home.

The 'logic' was that the Clean Would Spread, two feet by two feet.
Never worked for me, but might have for others.

The 2-Minute Rule ALONE can change such alot, that I'm really curious what the actual consequence is of following the entire system, and thus I want to slowly and fully absorb it --- and like you, if it turns out it's not "my thing," that's FINE, I won't consider it wasted time, it'll be a fun interesting experience.

I'm not even near the stage first in-box collection, and am already amazed at what frequent "Eye Opening" experiences I'm having about a whole number of different areas in my life. It's quite amazing and when I take breaks to come online, I luv exploring this messageboard to read others' experiences.

The undeniably BIGGEST SHOCK in Fallows' superb article was the tidbit about vacations --- that immediately prior to leaving on vacation was one of the few times that ANYONE in our society has all the loose ends tied up.

I've NEVER seen that mentioned anywhere before, and although I've personally experienced that identical albeit infrequent & temporary "Closure-Nirvana" --- I am still simply shocked that THAT I've never seen ANY mention of it anywhere ---- as obviously there are millions of others who experience such ACTUAL closure just as infrequently as I do, lolololol :)

I'm simply dumbfounded that I hadn't ever IDENTIFIED that -- the only way I've noticed same in the past is kind of an aversion to vacation, as it requires such a 24/7 maximal workout for weeks in advance, that I don't really look forward to vacations --- at least now I am totally conscious as to why it's so easy for me to postpone any real full-fledged vacation, and I can see the exact same thing in some friends & associates, and wonder how pervasive this might be among the population at large.

That it's NOT any type of "workaholic perfectionism" but rather that most of us are surfing upon torential tidal waves of Open Loops and quadzillions of infintesimal (or otherwise) delayed chores/tasks/errands - a veritable Ocean of Unfinished Business throughout all areas of our lives.

We're NOT drowning in that "ocean" but have developed sophisticated aversion games and occasionally almost clinically intense defense mechanisms of denial.

The imagery this provokes about our culture makes me ponderous, indeed.

Finally, Jim laid out four principles of GTD in such a concise manner that he simply made me hungry for more. I decided that I either needed to learn all I could about this system or figure out why it wouldn't work for me and move on. Either outcome was OK with me.

I bought the books in the AM, scanned some high points during mid-day when I had a few minutes, and on the basis of what I saw I decided I needed to hear the CD's, especially since I had vacation coming up. So the decision to do all this was not simply a leap of faith, but a logical process of following the information where it lead me.

At about 5 months into implementing GTD, I certainly haven't reached anything approaching "mind like water", but I'm making progress and can see how I can get there. Sometimes I even get a taste of what it may be like and it just energizes me to keep working at it. Meanwhile, my stress level is way down and I'm controllling my work instead of it controlling me.[/quote]
 
Normally I would never have read an article about any time management system, as none of the ones I've read about over the decades have ever 'clicked.'

I read this article because of the introductory paragraph - presuming it would be a 'cute' fluff-piece about the latest Biz-Cult to come out of California --- as Fallows stated that he'd never thought he'd ever come across a cult that he'd like to be a member of.

Meantime, I've become very perplexed.

WHY in heaven's name would GTD be referred to as a "cult?"

This isn't a CULT.

A cult has a charismatic leader who encourages the formation of an entourage of disciple-like followers and assorted groupies - who together comprise a manipulatory program to find ever new members to adhere to the rules of the cult, whose prime purpose for existence is the accumulation of ever more millions of dollars and the ego-aggrandizement of the Leader & His Closest Associates.

I tried to find out at google why GTD is referred to as a cult, but my search was overwhelmingly fruitless with thousands & thousands & thousands of retrievals and any links I clicked on, (not very many) simply referred to GTD as a CULT - but with no explanation of why this term would be thusly applied.

I consider cults to be very very very negative; I also consider the term 'cult' to have a specific definition and find NOTHING in the book nor this board nor any blogs to in any way, whatsoever, to be indicative of any type of cult.

Goodness, if GTD is a "cult" --- then Covey's system should be termed an outright religion for the impact it had the masses and the rules & regulations comprising its system.

Anyway, if someone can enlighten me, I'd deeply appreciate it --- as I currently consider GTD a strong method for SELF-empowerment, something which is entirely antithetical to the very idea of *CULT* -- any good links out there, perchance?

Thank you.
 
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