bcmyers2112
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There's an article about GTD that has been discussed at great length in another thread, but I decided to appropriate it for a new thread because I'd like to look at it from a different angle. I'd like to start a discussion about why so many people mis-interpret GTD, which I feel is actually a plainly-written book filled with ideas that aren't difficult to understand.
Here's a link to the article for those of you who may have missed the prior thread (although I don't see how that is possible -- it is an epic thread) here is the article in question:
http://www.lifehack.org/articles/pr...productivity-part-3-the-trouble-with-gtd.html
Admittedly, the central conceit of this post is that I *do* understand GTD. Some of you may agree, others not. But that's the whole purpose of a discussion, right?
So, first let me begin by picking apart the article's misnomers about GTD:
1. "For the rest of us, though, GTD feels a little too much like the kind of work we picked the book up to help us manage in the first place. That is, it feels like business, and for people whose business is not business – creative professionals, for example – it feels “external” to our real work (and identity)."
When I clicked on the link to the web site of the author, Dustin Wax, I noticed that among other things he labels himself a photographer, curator, and "art world booster." Which is why I am perplexed as to the way he dismisses the idea that GTD can be applicable to a creative person's "real work (and identity)."
I am an art hobbyist. I was a fine arts minor in college and I enjoy figure drawing. I also used to write TV scripts as a hobby (I even had a reputable agent get one of my scripts in front of the producers of Star Trek: The Next Generation -- she had other clients for whom she had sold scripts to that show -- although I didn't make a sale). I also have many friends who are creative professionals or dedicated art hobbyists. So I know a bit about this. And the one thing I can tell you is that the only way you get good at art is to recognize that art is work, just the same as farming, sales, computer programming, running a company, or what have you.
Almost all of the great novelists had a writing habit. They would write either a minimum number of pages per day or a certain amount of time per day. Jerry Seinfeld uses the "Don't Break the Chain" method -- where you try to make a daily habit of something -- to motivate himself to write a joke a day. A friend of mine who has done work for Nickelodeon and who is developing an original animated children's series for that network has always approached his art in a disciplined fashion.
There is nothing about art that wouldn't lend itself to a GTD approach. For a painter, a next action might be, "Do five preliminary sketches" or "Finish underpainting." For a novelist, "Do character bio for protagonist" might be the next action. Or a musician might have on a next actions list, "Spend two hours jamming with band to come up with song ideas."
2. "Perhaps Allen’s biggest innovation in GTD is getting rid of priority-setting in favor of context-awareness."
Uhm... no. DA suggests you set your priorities in the moment, based on your intuitive understanding of your roles and goals and what is -- or isn't -- happening right now. DA advises against priority CODING of your lists. That's not the same as eschewing priority SETTING.
3. "GTD is a ground-up system, meaning that the system focuses on getting your day-to-day tasks in order, not on higher-level goal- and priority-setting."
Again... no. Clarifying your roles, longer-term goals and life's purpose are integral to GTD. DA simply suggests that it's a lot harder to clarify those things until you've gotten control over the tactical, day-to-day realities of your life.
OK, so... having established (at least to my satisfaction) that the "problems" this author feels he has so brilliantly identified in GTD are insubstantial strawmen, the question I have on my mind is: why do people have so much difficulty understanding GTD? Because in fairness I had to read it three times before I really began to understand.
For me, it's because I brought certain unchecked assumptions and preconceived notions I wasn't even aware I had. Like Yoda admonished Luke Skywalker to do in The Empire Strikes Back, I needed to "unlearn" before I could learn.
For me, the biggest preconceived notion to break was that productivity principles and productivity technologies are inextricably linked.
If anyone cares to share his or her perspective, I'd love that. Do you agree? Do you think I'm full of crap? Something in between? Very interested to know. Thanks.
(Apologies to Folke for hijacking your idea. Sorry! )
Here's a link to the article for those of you who may have missed the prior thread (although I don't see how that is possible -- it is an epic thread) here is the article in question:
http://www.lifehack.org/articles/pr...productivity-part-3-the-trouble-with-gtd.html
Admittedly, the central conceit of this post is that I *do* understand GTD. Some of you may agree, others not. But that's the whole purpose of a discussion, right?
So, first let me begin by picking apart the article's misnomers about GTD:
1. "For the rest of us, though, GTD feels a little too much like the kind of work we picked the book up to help us manage in the first place. That is, it feels like business, and for people whose business is not business – creative professionals, for example – it feels “external” to our real work (and identity)."
When I clicked on the link to the web site of the author, Dustin Wax, I noticed that among other things he labels himself a photographer, curator, and "art world booster." Which is why I am perplexed as to the way he dismisses the idea that GTD can be applicable to a creative person's "real work (and identity)."
I am an art hobbyist. I was a fine arts minor in college and I enjoy figure drawing. I also used to write TV scripts as a hobby (I even had a reputable agent get one of my scripts in front of the producers of Star Trek: The Next Generation -- she had other clients for whom she had sold scripts to that show -- although I didn't make a sale). I also have many friends who are creative professionals or dedicated art hobbyists. So I know a bit about this. And the one thing I can tell you is that the only way you get good at art is to recognize that art is work, just the same as farming, sales, computer programming, running a company, or what have you.
Almost all of the great novelists had a writing habit. They would write either a minimum number of pages per day or a certain amount of time per day. Jerry Seinfeld uses the "Don't Break the Chain" method -- where you try to make a daily habit of something -- to motivate himself to write a joke a day. A friend of mine who has done work for Nickelodeon and who is developing an original animated children's series for that network has always approached his art in a disciplined fashion.
There is nothing about art that wouldn't lend itself to a GTD approach. For a painter, a next action might be, "Do five preliminary sketches" or "Finish underpainting." For a novelist, "Do character bio for protagonist" might be the next action. Or a musician might have on a next actions list, "Spend two hours jamming with band to come up with song ideas."
2. "Perhaps Allen’s biggest innovation in GTD is getting rid of priority-setting in favor of context-awareness."
Uhm... no. DA suggests you set your priorities in the moment, based on your intuitive understanding of your roles and goals and what is -- or isn't -- happening right now. DA advises against priority CODING of your lists. That's not the same as eschewing priority SETTING.
3. "GTD is a ground-up system, meaning that the system focuses on getting your day-to-day tasks in order, not on higher-level goal- and priority-setting."
Again... no. Clarifying your roles, longer-term goals and life's purpose are integral to GTD. DA simply suggests that it's a lot harder to clarify those things until you've gotten control over the tactical, day-to-day realities of your life.
OK, so... having established (at least to my satisfaction) that the "problems" this author feels he has so brilliantly identified in GTD are insubstantial strawmen, the question I have on my mind is: why do people have so much difficulty understanding GTD? Because in fairness I had to read it three times before I really began to understand.
For me, it's because I brought certain unchecked assumptions and preconceived notions I wasn't even aware I had. Like Yoda admonished Luke Skywalker to do in The Empire Strikes Back, I needed to "unlearn" before I could learn.
For me, the biggest preconceived notion to break was that productivity principles and productivity technologies are inextricably linked.
If anyone cares to share his or her perspective, I'd love that. Do you agree? Do you think I'm full of crap? Something in between? Very interested to know. Thanks.
(Apologies to Folke for hijacking your idea. Sorry! )