It doesn’t sound like you’re doing it wrong. To me it sounds like you’re new enough to this style of work you don’t trust the system you’ve set up yet, and that just takes some time.

There are a few things I think help you get through that: - Time with the system to be able to trust it

• Getting comfortable with the idea that all of us have more ideas about what we should do then we could ever accomplish.

• Getting comfortable with a weekly review as a chance to both examine what you want out of life and cherry pick your list of things you could do for the ones that are actually necessary and/or get you towards your bigger goals.

• Gaining a little perspective on your project lists. Having spent many (too many) years being driven by my inbox, it took a while to shake off the feeling that anything at all I was looking at must be dealt with promptly because it was there in front of me. Stepping back and evaluating how important it is without presuming it needs to be done now/at all takes some getting used to.

There’s a bit of mental readjustment involved, I think, and that can just take a while. And I’ve seen people handle it in different ways - including a coworker who creates a “Not to do” project.

You’re right: I’ve never had an ‘inbox’ before, and have usually been pretty bad at keeping my files / paperwork in order.

Coming from a design background, I’m familiar with working on “Projects” but have never applied that to anything outside of design briefs at work and uni.

I do need to become comfortable with my system as well, I think — working at uni, home, and work on different and often overlapping projects, I think I’m going to need something portable. I’m trying out TaskPaper because I like it’s simplicity, coupled with a hPDA which currently contains my @calls and @errands contexts (since my main other ones, @home @computer @work @uni mean I have access to a computer with an internet connection) with a few spare cards for capturing things to process when I’m out and about. I’ll see how I’m going after a week or so.

It does feel good to cross things off a list after I’ve done them, though :)

If you’ve got too many active projects for you to get your mind around, I would suggest temporarily moving some of them (the least-developed and least-urgent ones) to your “Someday/Maybe” projects list. This will help you see your list and feel more in control of it, then you can move things back into ‘active’ status as you begin to feel more comfortable with the system.

I used to be scared of a too-long Projects list as well, and I created all these nebulous, umbrella-shaped meta-projects like “Manage computer security” to swallow up all the tasks involving security issues (I’m a systems administrator in a research lab). However, that really didn’t end up working, and though my Projects list is now much longer it provides me with a much more accurate sense of direction in my work.

The monster list will contain exactly the same number of projects as you have right now: they’ll just be written down in one place.

The place to start will be to decide which of those projects you will work on “now” and which you may work on “later”. Ignore the later projects and work out what you need to do on the “now” projects. Then do some of it.

I agree with the advice above. I’ve also noticed a couple things about the process of learning GTD that might help you deal. I have to go back to them all the time.

1. GTD is a martial art for the mind. You don’t learn it overnight, in one week, one month, or even one year. But you get better at it and make it your own over time. For example, I still struggle with renaming my contexts to something that works better for me, and I’ve been practicing GTD for almost a year now. I’m still not a GTD ninja, but I’m much further along than when I started.

2. You will keep finding your weaknesses. They’ll be there despite your best intentions. For me, I ignored the weekly review for a long time and finally it clicked for me. You turn a weakness into a strength and move on to the next weakness.

3. Be realistic about putting things on “hold” or “someday/maybe.” I’ve started to put things there if I won’t get to them this week. Otherwise the list is just too huge and it gets depressing. If I can’t do it this week because it’s not that important, it goes on hold.

4. Do a “mental dump” or a review whenever you feel anxious about all the stuff you have to do. It satisfies the paranoid part of your brain that doesn’t trust the system yet. And you won’t trust it until you know you will review it.

5. Keep it enjoyable. If you like index cards, cool. I can’t stand the things, so I use OmniFocus. If I had to use paper I’d scream and never make it. I have to be digital. Some people have to be analog. Whatever works for you, that’s your flavor of GTD. Like Merlin says, use a tool you like to use but not too much. If you don’t like it, you won’t use it. If you like it too much, you’ll waste time playing with the tool itself. Just don’t force yourself into someone else’s flavor because you think it’s gospel. When I teach music to a student, I always keep it fun or they’ll give up. Same thing here. Enjoy the process.