At least in my life, I boil down the True Meaning of GTD even further, to this tight little nugget:

GTD is about clearing my mind and reducing my anxiety until I can actually think about whatever’s actually in front of me.

Everything else fans out from there. I need a system I can depend on because otherwise I’ll just try to keep everything in the “back of my mind” (which turns out to be the front of my thoughts way too often) anyway. Then I need to use that system in a, well, systematic way, or again, I’m not getting the good out of my system.

Everything else is details. Anything that doesn’t work to this extent for you is by definition not Getting Things Done.

-R

When you get to the point where it’s easy to see every single thing, and you have to face the fact that some of the things you have to do aren’t aligned with your goals and values, and you can’t just drop them, it can be painful.

I shied away from full-monty GTD after a change in projects at work. The stark reality of what I had to do, and the fact that it didn’t get me anywhere near The Big Nouns, was causing more anxiety. I think this happens to a lot of people. You just have to face up to it and work through it. Some days are going to be better than others.

In the long run, it’s probably better to keep yourself aware of the deviation between your necessary next actions and your goals. When the right thing comes along you will recognize it.

Triggers look super powerful, but I personally don’t want to waste precious space in my brain remembering the shortcuts. Is there a way to put the triggers into a list somewhere, so I can select from a list?

But, funny thing: the folks who stick with GTD past the experimental try-on phase often discover it gives them sharper insight into their goals and values than some of the theoretically more lofty systems that are out there.

Yes! I think Allen’s insight is that the system is approachable from many levels, but it’s also deep - as exhibited by the (warranted, in my opinion) excitement it generates. His “bottom-up” approach has certainly helped me quite a lot, at a time when top-down would have done nothing. That said, I do believe the upper levels aren’t there yet. I’m working on tying together Allen’s version at the lower levels (“Managing Actions and Projects”) with Sally McGhee’s “Meaningful objectives”…

Thanks for the post!

[…] Merlin Mann posts a tid-bit about someone who had an “a-ha” moment regarding the Getting Things Done “system.” That person’s epiphany also happens to reflect why I prefer “Getting Things Done” to Covey and the Franklin system: The best summary is on page 19 [of the book]: “The real issue is how to make appropriate choices about what to do at any point in time. The real issue is how we manage actions.” […]

I love seeing and hearing when people start to experience the vertical as well as horizontal nature of GTD. Truth is, if we don’t give appropriate attention to what has our attention, it will take more of our attention than it deserves. When you really deal with what has your attention, then you’ll really start to see what really has your attention, which, when dealt with, will let you really see what really has your attention. Really.

Thanks, Merlin, for all the good info- and perspective-sharing you support. (Palm Court lives!)

“The real issue is how to make appropriate choices about what to do at any point in time. The real issue is how we manage actions.” […]

Ummmmm…Maybe. I’d like to hold out this alternative for thinking about what the real real issue might be: Most of us worry about what to do, when we ought to be concerned about how to be.