Why Some People Struggle with GTD

FocusGuy said:
It's a very interesting point. I won't answer for others but just give here after my own experience. I struggled quiet a lot applying GTD and still sometime. About control I think each step is easy to understand. What is more complex is 1) All the little tips and tricks I discovered and I am still discovering and 2) the focus it needs to stick to my habits like reviewing and so on. About Perspective in this turbulent time (as says DA) I feel complex to know what I want and where I want to go. When I fall off the wagon I re launch my project of learning GTD step by step, eg reading the books again and again, noting what are my missing point, reviewing them regularly and optimize my system currently

I sincerely notice that the most difficult and turbulent my life is, the most I conscienciously and hardly focus and stick to GTD. GTD Gives me space and calm my spirit.

I am still learning it. I discovers my own tips and tricks (I collect them in my inbox, clarify and organize them in my reference material). Each time I feel irresolute GTD is my compass. I do the same and take what I learned to make my system better.

I think GTD is like a sport for example skiing. It is a question of will. You can be gifted at the beginning or not. You can learn quickly how to ski because you understood the main principle. But what make the difference is training. The most I train, the best I become. But it can take a certain time. I think it is like a lot of things. It is a kind of quest. A never ending quest.
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Love this. Thanks
 
fooddude said:
People try to complicate it. I know I did.
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@fooddude

Thank you very much for your post

Whether acknowledged or denied, contemporary life is relatively more complicated than ever without any diminishing as far as anyone can see ?

Crafting a personal GTD system is one rational response to spearheading this harsh realty for as much vitality benefit as possible

GTD's system parameters, in part or whole, are simply proportionately complicated to first corral and then manage life's necessary Intrinsic/Extrinsic/External reality variables as much as humanly possible without exception

In that steadfast light, perhaps one GTD strategy can be to employ as many GTD parameters as necessary to comprehensively manage life's Intrinsic/Extrinsic/External variables in an appropriate Intrinsic/Extrinsic/External GTD manner while simultaneously achieving Intrinsic "mind like water" which is what GTD offers to interested teens and adults alike ?


As a minimal take-away:
People are struggling with life much more than they are struggling with GTD which is perhaps why many are empathetically struggling with life engagement more than necessary without a worthy personal GTD system

Possible GTD Solution: Make one's personal 'real life' GTD system appropriately user worthy ?

Hopefully continuous GTD corralling and Weekly Reviewing can be a relatively easy GTD focus for some space reprieve to overcome some of life's overwhelming random struggles ?

As David Allen appropriately encourages: The only way out is through

Thank you very much

As you see GTD fit. . . .
 
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fooddude said:
People try to complicate it. I know I did.
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Making it more complicated is usually a sign of "lack of mastery". Using DA's frequent martial arts references, masters rarely do lots of complicated movements, instead focusing on few and focused movements to yield effectiveness. As you get more comfortable and intuitive, its a good sign when you start removing superfluous stuff. That's best exemplified by things such as "@at_computer" contexts going away when suddenly every thing falls under that context. I no longer have "@calls", as that isn't a particularly distinctive state that needs to be differentiated. I'm currently going through a context curation process to compress, and maybe add, some contexts. I'm also trying to get rid of "miscellaneous" project groups, to put just a little sharper point on my projects.
 
Mrs-Polifax said:
I think David Allen would really like to get through to all people who want to learn GTD. whether or not they are struggling to learn GTD. What makes me think so? It looks to me like David Allen tries in every way to help people who want to learn GTD. For example:

He creates YouTube short and long videos to clarify the various aspects of GTD, and he works with you, Dave, to create videos for this same purpose, and his coaches create GTD Focus videos that clarify various aspects of GTD, and he offers a GTD Forum to support people in learning and sharing about GTD, and GTD Connect provides even more resources, such as podcasts, and he has written a number of books and articles that articulate his GTD methodology in detail, and he publishes start-up guides for various software that can be used to implement GTD, as well as a start-up guide for a paper-based system. There may even be more resources that I have not yet learned about.

As David Allen says in the updated 2015 edition of his original GTD book:

"Alas! As easy as it is to actually do what I suggest as best practices in this book, I have been rudely awakened to these two phenomena: (1) the amount of infomation and suggested activities here can easily be perceived as too overwhelming for someone to even begin to implement them; and (2) making some of the fundamental practices habitual can take quite awhile for most people."* " . . . It's really all about one step at a time."**

I think David Allen is behind us all the way in encouraging us to learn GTD, and in acknowledging that this can be daunting and can take quite awhile, and in helping us see that it is really all about one step at a time.

Thanks for your post and your videos, Dave. A great source of GTD wisdom.

Warmly,

Emily

* introduction, page xx
** introduction, page xxi
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Hi Emily,

Thank you for your thoughtful message—it’s clear how much effort David Allen and the GTD ecosystem put into equipping us with tools, resources, and insights to master the methodology. Your observations truly resonate.

Your mention of David Allen’s acknowledgment about the challenges of implementation reminds me of a parallel from the athletic world that might help illustrate why some people struggle with GTD despite the abundance of resources. For example, many athletes use platforms like TrainingPeaks to plan and organize their training. The dashboard offers a clear roadmap—sessions crafted by their coach, visualized progress, and even reminders about recovery, hydration… But here’s the key: no matter how well-designed the system is, if the athlete doesn’t commit to doing the sessions—putting in the hard work—those beautifully structured plans won’t move the needle on performance.

GTD operates in much the same way. It’s a roadmap to clarity and action, but the system itself doesn’t do the job for us. Many of us can find ourselves engrossed in fine-tuning our tools or diving into resources, but it’s the consistent habit of executing—capturing, clarifying, organizing, reflecting, and engaging—that really brings about the transformation GTD promises.

I believe this is why David emphasizes one step at a time. Just like an athlete focusing on today’s training session rather than the entirety of their season, a GTD practitioner benefits most when they start with the immediate next action, no matter how small. It’s in the doing—not just the knowing—that the magic happens.
 
People don’t struggle with GTD; they struggle with life. I remember David Allen saying (quoting?) “There are only two problems in life: Knowing what you want, and knowing how to get it.” Not so easy, and to quote the Rolling Stones “You can’t always get what you want. But if you try sometimes, you might find you get what you need.”
 
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dtj said:
Making it more complicated is usually a sign of "lack of mastery". Using DA's frequent martial arts references, masters rarely do lots of complicated movements, instead focusing on few and focused movements to yield effectiveness. As you get more comfortable and intuitive, its a good sign when you start removing superfluous stuff. That's best exemplified by things such as "@at_computer" contexts going away when suddenly every thing falls under that context. I no longer have "@calls", as that isn't a particularly distinctive state that needs to be differentiated. I'm currently going through a context curation process to compress, and maybe add, some contexts. I'm also trying to get rid of "miscellaneous" project groups, to put just a little sharper point on my projects.
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@dtj

Some very good GTD points

Thank you very much

For instance, in terms of immediate and remote vertical GTD parlance:

On this end, all Areas-of-Focus [subjectively five] guided by Purposes include Intrinsic/Extrinsic/External Spaces*

Horizons appropriately embedded within their Areas-of-Focus which encompasses appropriate Projects as well as 'boxed' Someday/Maybe's

For whatever it might be worth to any other GTD practitioners, 'boxing' has reduced 'numbness' and engagement slippage
Numbness, through 'boxing', is now seen as a clarifying prompt to keep list(s) attractively numb-free

Thank you very much

As you see GTD fit. . . .

*While appreciating everyone is cognitively different, however, we all must humbly accept all of the simple realities always in play, especially if hopes to more freely benefit from them ?

Have found that "Intrinsic/Extrinsic/External" Spaces --- especially after appreciating their unbroken continuation --- has upgraded the personal GTD system to be more extrinsically intuitive . . . especially by reducing list(s) deliberations for easier and more confident ad hoc re-negotiations

"Intrinsic/Extrinsic/External" as 'sub-leads' for each Area-of-Focus
"Intrinsic/Extrinsic/External" as 'leads' for multiple Context(s)

Slow for Seeing . . . Small ['adding'] for as prompt as possible Error Recoveries

Again, as you see GTD fit. . . .

Thank you very much
 
Dave Edwards said:
Lots of good ideas posted here. I really believe some people just overthink the principles of GTD. It's not intended to complicate our lives and everyone has to adapt it to their own life situation.
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@Dave Edwards

Indeed . . . GTD is intended to simply one's mind by removing life's complexities for objective control by having everything in one's subjective mind subjectively removed for greater objectivity through extrinsic analysis/consideration ?

Concur with what @mcogilvie expressed well: "People don’t struggle with GTD; they struggle with life."

Likewise, GTD is a principle based personal system that helps one more clearly see life's complexities by helping one make life's concerns more objective by making life's complexities-&-concerns extrinsically manageable ?


Lastly, if anyone's ever been told they "keep too much in their head," then one could say GTD was especially developed for them ?

Likewise, GTD is for anyone interested in breaking the stressful-&-unproductive habit of keeping stuff in their very limited head/memory ?
 
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dtj said:
Making it more complicated is usually a sign of "lack of mastery". Using DA's frequent martial arts references, masters rarely do lots of complicated movements, instead focusing on few and focused movements to yield effectiveness. As you get more comfortable and intuitive, its a good sign when you start removing superfluous stuff. That's best exemplified by things such as "@at_computer" contexts going away when suddenly every thing falls under that context. I no longer have "@calls", as that isn't a particularly distinctive state that needs to be differentiated. I'm currently going through a context curation process to compress, and maybe add, some contexts. I'm also trying to get rid of "miscellaneous" project groups, to put just a little sharper point on my projects.
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I totally agree. After years of GTD I learned that the system must be as simple as possible. Making things simple and efficient is difficult. It is very easy to make complex.
 
FocusGuy said:
I totally agree. After years of GTD I learned that the system must be as simple as possible. Making things simple and efficient is difficult. It is very easy to make complex.
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@FocusGuy

Thank you for your good post

Respectfully:

Perhaps GTD can be said to simply be understood as an extrinsic memory reference system corralled for future Next Action(s)-&-Project(s) completions, as in, "what does done look like," etc. ?

As such, perhaps keeping everything 'imposing' on one's memory outside of one's memory in one extrinsic mindsweep tool would indisputably be GTD's most simple threshold possible ?

Thus, if one's GTD system is in one extrinsic mindsweep tool is sufficiently efficient for one's life's purposes and commitments then why would anyone add any further GTD complexity to their GTD system ?
 
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gtdstudente said:
@FocusGuy

Thank you for your good post

Respectfully:

Perhaps GTD can be said to simply be understood as an extrinsic memory reference system corralled for future Next Action(s)-&-Project(s) completions, as in, "what does done look like," etc. ?

As such, perhaps keeping everything 'imposing' on one's memory outside of one's memory in one extrinsic mindsweep tool would indisputably be GTD's most simple threshold possible ?

Thus, if one's GTD system is in one extrinsic mindsweep tool is sufficiently efficient for one's life's purposes and commitments then why would anyone add any further GTD complexity to their GTD system ?
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Yes I think so. I see GTD as a cockpit. I never flew a plane, but I imagine you have to learn some rules to do it and also check lits. Gtd has rules too and also kind of check list (Habits, process...)
 
TesTeq said:
@FocusGuy Isn't OmniFocus too complicated? Isn't it an overkill for a bunch of simple lists?
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Yes of course ! However I think it depends on what you attend from your system.

It is a complex question which need a serious answer.

For example I changed my Mac and bought for Christmas the last iMac. I discovered some new way working with Apple reminders and apple notes. It does the job very well. I was so impressed that I gave a try to it to see if I could not simplify my system and use only apple note and apple reminder. Finally I gave up keeping only but apple note and went back to Omnifocus for my projects and next actions.

Omnifocus is not a simple system. OF can be as complex and un manageable as you imagine. But OF can also be as simple as you like. See for example the Wonderfull job Meg Edward did with it on gtd connect It is here !
When I feel lost I go and see her video and I adapt my system.

Also it also depends on what you need. For example my life is complex. I am involve in many roles and responsibilities (H2)
I have 3 old people of my family to help (92,93, 95 years old) they need a real care... Sometime it is a full part time job. I also have my own life, my own family life to manage, my job (the one I do for living (real estate) and my side projects I am running on.

So my life is complex. At nearly 63 years old it has never been as complex that it is today. So I need a good system. Something I can really trust.

I think the most complex is your life the most structured your system must be but also as simple as possible. If my life was simple apple note and reminder would be absolutely perfect. But as my life is complex and as I want to be able to embrace every aspects of it at a glance I need a complex system I try to make as simple as possible.

Happily I am a lot in front of my computer and OF4 for Mac is really good. I try not to use the iPhone version which is as bad as the iMac is good. It is nearly impossible to do a real job with it except for collecting.

So, To go straight to the point, yes OF is complex. But with my busy life it is the only one for me which makes the job.
 
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