ยป Getting Things Done Sucks
I’ve been running a GTD system in my personal life for a few months now. Little things used to just slip through the cracks and then I’d feel guilty about forgetting about them. I used to feel bad doing frivolous activities because I had a vague sense that there was something else I should be doing. It feels great to finish things and see my task list shrink.
GTD is supposed to make you always aware of “what you’re not doing” so that you can choose not to do things without the sinking feeling that you’re forgetting something. One of the biggest problems in my life right now is that when I know everything I could be doing, I try to do as much of it as possible:
- I schedule outings to hit a bunch of non-@home tasks
- When I get home I try to crank through as many @homes as I can
- I resent things that distract me from cranking through tasks like people who always want to chat online
- When my task list starts to build up, I cancel frivolous activities to spend more time completing tasks
- I don’t get to bed on time
I feel like my life is focused on fighting entropy. Instead of having fun and living with the consequences later, I’m doing Right Action more often. But is it better to be responsible or become comfortable with being irresponsible?
Did you let Mom write this entry?
Kyla
9 Jun 09 at 2:21 pm
I relate to this quite a lot. I’m constantly trying to develop the most effective program, suited to myself, to attend to all my responsibilities and manage my time efficiently. It’s almost funny if I take a step back – I’m so obsessed with productivity yet most people who know me well have always insisted I’m the most organized person they know anyway. I’ve become much better over the past few years at just letting life direct me and not micro-managing as much.
My real ongoing struggle is about finding balance between all the ways of “getting things done” and living in the moment or being flexible.
tara
10 Jun 09 at 12:09 am
And this just reminded me… do you remember more than a year ago, you asked on my blog whether the randomness that made my life more interesting just found me, or if I did something to cultivate that randomness… I think this is connected.
tara
10 Jun 09 at 12:10 am
I lived on (near?) the West Coast for a few years, which gave me a more laid-back, don’t-obsess, go-with-the-flow attitude. Maybe you should try that‽
Don
10 Jun 09 at 6:35 am
[...] Don on Getting Things Done SucksI lived on (near?) the West Coast for a few years,… »tara on Getting Things Done SucksAnd [...]
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