DonationCoder.com Software > The Getting Organized Experiment of 2006

Getting Organized in 2007

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nudone:
good point. i suppose that this shows what exactly each person took out of it or expected to take away from last years experiment.

i merely wanted to stop procrastinating. i wasn't really concerned how it would be done or whether the systems really worked - i still consider it to be a matter of belief - the system is pretty irrelevant. the whole experiment provided me with something to believe in and so it was a personal triumph.

i appreciate that you were a lot more serious about it and wanted to really obtain some useful findings from it all. it's a shame that didn't happen.

i think we can do this experiment again (perhaps experiment is the wrong word). it's a bit of fun. i think it will help motivate a few people. will it be a life changing experience - probably not, but if it just creates a bit of a positive belief for a while that's no bad thing.

it would also be a shame if you felt like refraining from taking part. it might be good to know why you abandoned your system (sorry, i can't remember if you've already posted about it) and it would certainly be interesting to hear if you've a current way of dealing with procrastination.

app103:
I am going to pass on this year's experiment.

I never realized just how productive I really was till my personal failure with last year's experiment. I thought I needed help in the area of productivity...thought I could be doing much more with my time than I was.

What ended up happening was the opposite.

Before last year I had a system that worked for me, even if it left areas of my life quite neglected for awhile. I just never realized how well it worked.

It allowed me to hyperfocus on a major task a day and stick to it till it was done, and actually enjoy the time I spent on them.

I seem to have lost the ability to do that by trying to cover all my bases in all areas of my life at the same time. It forced me to think about too many things at once and distracted me, leaving me unable to focus on one single thing and get it done. Instead of 30 projects finished in 30 days, one at a time, I ended up with the same 30 projects never completed and hating any of the time spent on them.

It's a damn shame when things you once enjoyed, that felt like play, become work that you get no pleasure from. I nearly gave up programming, web design, digital art, and most of the things I used to love to do. It all stopped being fun.

It also forced me to think about things I never thought about before...or didn't want to think about, just adding more on my plate when I already felt full. My life works better when I am focusing up close and in detail, taking it one day at a time, rather than stepping back to look at the big picture and thinking about 6 months, a year, 5-10 years from now. It's how I keep my sanity...just get through today and don't worry about tomorrow.

All of this GTD stuff tends to focus on a longer time span than 1 day, making you plan ahead, set weekly, monthly, yearly, lifetime goals. I can't do that. It interferes with me getting through today.

The more I tried to do, the less I was able to do and it was quite depressing. I feel like I have damaged my attention span somehow and taken all the fun out of my life.

I am still recovering from last year's experiment...trying to get the old me back. This past year has been the least productive in my whole life. It hasn't been easy to reverse and go back to the way I used to do things.

No, I won't be trying this again. I have things really want to get done some time soon...or at least get started with before the end of this year. And I want the fun back in my life so that I can enjoy the things I used to love.

nudone:
oh dear.

so that's two against and two for.

i wasn't expecting the experiment to be so controversial. nor so serious.

perhaps we are reminding everyone what a load of rubbish these GTD things are. not a bad thing in itself.

mouser:
I'm definitely in.
I developed a great system during last years GOE 2006, and i can't wait to refine my system and create version 2.

I don't think we should do the whole big interviewing thing, and we've already done a lot of different approaches last year, so maybe this year we just focus on each of us trying to find a system that works for us, and refining it.

urlwolf:
I think we DC people all have the 'damaged attention span' App is talking about. I think it's a problem with people who spend a long time on a computer with internet an are naturally curious :)

@Mouser: the 'tweak virus' is another bad habit. In my view, the system should be so simple that you don't even pay attention to it, and you should train yourself to make it a habit. If you have to think on how to improve (read: tweak) it, that's bad news.

Sorry to be so negative.

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