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Getting Things Done revisited

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TaoPhoenix:
These themes have been covered before, though I couldn't find that recent thread (a few months ago?).

So now that the "craze" is passed, what do people think about Getting Things Done type systems? Over the past couple of weeks I got fed up again starting to make mistakes with the obligations in my life and returned to my version of it. The main two resources are a notebook with summarized notes in pencil especially including green return receipt cards for certified mail. The other is my tree notes app where I put a lot of specialized medical research, as well as some complex agency procedure info. Then the volatile layer is sticky notes and a couple of folders with ToDo sections.

I definitely feel better when I know I've been through it all! Now I need to make it a daily part of planning with twice weekly sweeps so that stuff doesn't feel totally out of control. This last part might be a subtle finesse - I think I'm finding weekly sweeps are too far apart because it doesn't process complex mid week info. For example I need to do the sweep again tomorrow because my credit card payment is due no later than Monday. But when I last did a sweep about last Tuesday it was "too far in advance" to really hit my radar and even Friday was "oh, I have some time, worry it about later". But with only one day to spare now I know how the still new to me pace of life here in NY means I risk tripping up Monday and  then I'm in trouble.

Something I don't recall from the little bit of research I did on the topic is that time of day oddly matters to me. Quick guess is I might be almost twice as efficient starting my day at 6AM rather than 9am because if I start at 9am then go to an "appointment" (moving the car out of the street cleaner day zone has to be done exactly 9:45), then by the time I regroup and start my todo list, it's already noon before I get up to speed. Instead I'll test the theory that if I can better use the pocket of time in the early morning, it will feel like the rest of the day got more time back into it. I'll try to post an update in a week or two if I remember ... uh... wait a minute!  ;D

barney:
Never had much use for the GTD stuff.  When in the military, it kinda made sense, as well as - at times - in the corporate world.  Problem, for me, is that a GTD schedule ignores the fact that some things have to get done, regardless of artificial time limits/constraints/schedules.  GTD seems mostly - again, to me - a matter of preferences.  It's also a way of avoiding onerous tasks in the name of time.

Losdollos:

I definitely feel better when I know I've been through it all!

-TaoPhoenix (April 21, 2013, 12:55 AM)
--- End quote ---

That is exactly the purpose of it  :) To make you feel more relaxed, knowing that you are in control of what you need to do. Which makes your mind (subconsciousness) take a break. I know from experience that is true. I am in the process of setting up a system that will work for me and me girl, using MS OneNote 2010 (I think that is an amazing, and extremely overlooked, piece of software. Finally something very good came from MS 0 ;D). I have to, since I am drowning in work, and, as a consequence, am doing a 1000 things at a time, *not* getting anything done  :D

TaoPhoenix:
Never had much use for the GTD stuff.  When in the military, it kinda made sense, as well as - at times - in the corporate world.  Problem, for me, is that a GTD schedule ignores the fact that some things have to get done, regardless of artificial time limits/constraints/schedules.  GTD seems mostly - again, to me - a matter of preferences.  It's also a way of avoiding onerous tasks in the name of time.
-barney (April 21, 2013, 03:06 AM)
--- End quote ---

Hmm, that's one reason I mentioned the topic, because it was the things that *have* to get done (with varying penalties) that led me to resume my system. I shall suggest that I take the theme somewhat broadly, without slavishly adhering to the book's version. In a nutshell, for example I *have* to:

Set (C)ar:
Move the car off the street cleaner weekly parking 1.5 hour parking ban on Monday exactly at 9:45 AM
Move the car back off the opposite side of the road weekly ban on Tuesday
But last week it was on a different street at a different time slot.
If I don't do it exactly at that time, I won't get to re-park back for the rest of the week.

Set (D)og:
Walk the dog every 6-10 hours, aka 3 times a day, and that "timer" includes sleeping overnight. Otherwise _____ happens, quite literally.

I also put feeding the cats in this category

So last week I mis-timed the two and ended up with a parking ticket because I didn't move my car fast enough before the weekly parking ban kicked in, and it's *not* a "suggestion". Done correctly, I would have planned it out and set my alarm earlier.

Another example is you only get one day a week to be allowed to call unemployment customer service to fix problems on your case, and the phone system actually kicks you off the phone on other days. More fun includes doctor appointments.

So it's absolutely about the important stuff for me because these interlocking time lines are overwhelming my instincts.
 :(

app103:
^^ this! (and that "you need to have long term goals all spelled out in a step by step plan, with deadlines, or you are a pathetic waste of life!" thing, which was the main trigger of my well documented productivity meltdown)

Lists don't really work for me unless we are talking about grocery shopping lists or check lists related to one task.
Lists don't remind me to read them.
Lists don't yell at me at the right time of the day, day of the week, month, or year.
Lists don't open web pages for me on the first of the month to gather all the freebies that various sites give away, and remind me to pay my rent.

Which is why I have always been a big fan of sticky notes that you can set alarms on, repeating alarms for repeating tasks. And ones that can open applications or web pages instead of just ringing alarms. Something that tells me "Do this right now!" works much better than a list I'll end up ignoring.

And none of these time management systems effectively address the problem of chronic procrastination, which is the biggest obstacle that a lot of people have with getting things done. No time management system can, because it's not a time management problem! It's a compulsive avoidance problem, akin to addiction and needs to be treated that way. Neither GTD nor any other time management system is a substitute for a 12 step program.

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