Dear David and Co.,
About three years ago, on a long plane ride, I was able to fully deploy GTD into a paper-based system. I had read the book. And the book suggested writing down all active Projects, Tasks, and Waiting Fors.
After writing down all my projects, I looked at the list. It was easy to see I had too many irons in the fire. Looking at the Projects list, I knew what I had to to next. More importantly, I knew what I had NOT to do.
Within several hours of getting off the plane I was able to gracefully unplug for three major initiatives which a) were soaking up a lot of time, b) did not mesh well with a heavy travel schedule.
This was a revelation. It was the first time I felt that I could control my work world. Up to that point, my work, and my interests had been controlling me.
With a functioning GTD system, I now end up launching far fewer new projects. Paradoxically, this enable me to get much more done.
Thanks for your hard work in bringing such a useful system to the world.
Steedman Bass
Cambridge, MA
Excellent point. One of the most powerful things I picked up from the book was the idea of renegotiating one’s commitments with oneself. I don’t _have_ to do _everything_!
I’m sure everyone faces his/her own challenges when implementing GTD. Mine is dealing with the volume of requests that arrive via personal visits, phone calls, and e-mail messages.
If I truly try to capture all of these items, add them to lists, and define next actions, I’d never actually get any of them done!
Seriously, what’s the GTD way of knowing when your plate is full? How does one tactfully decline or redirect requests? This is where I really need help.
-Jason
Exactly. People start looking for GTD tools after reading the book without realizing the single most powerful concept in the book is to understand what NOT to do. Weekly review is the key to this. You get that right the tool doesn’t matter.
Aeon: the corollary to ‘i don’t _have_ to do everything’: ‘i can’t/shouldn’t do everything’.
There really are only so many hours in the day. I never realized that 10 years ago, but now I keep bumping into that fact again and again.