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December 14, 2005
To sleep, to dream, or...?.
Had a recent GTD seminar participant write me with this comment:
"Spent more than half the night awake as the next layer of lurking 'stuff' all came flooding to the surface once the first mass had been better organized! Didn't even know this latent demand was there - waiting to find a slot."
I've noticed over the years that when people get the first real GTD "hit," they either sleep better than they have in a long time, or they don't sleep at all, because of all the pent-up creative energy it uncorks. What's amazing to those of us who coach people with GTD one-on-one, is the wide range of effects this process can have. I'm sure at some point the science of attention will be much further developed, and this will all seem rather mundane. Until then, tally ho...!
Shed, as you do your garments,your daily sins,
whether of omission or commission,
and you will wake a free man,
with a new life.
- Sir William Osler
Posted by David at December 14, 2005 08:25 PM
Comments
In his book Hackers and Painters, the computer programmer/artist/businessman Paul Graham talks about the liberating power of *implementing* your ideas when you get them. You don't have an idea and put it on the shelf, because then . . . it's stuck on the shelf, where it will nag you, and where it will block all the other great ideas you could and should be having. You *implement* the idea so that all the other ideas - many of them even better - that are waiting in line behind it can rise to the surface. A very GTD idea, to my mind.
Posted by: Tim Walker at December 15, 2005 08:28 AM
Sometimes I wish I had a little David Allen in my pocket...I have the notes and all. The hardest thing is when things change around me and I'm still trying to get through the processing. Got a new boss last week, had to put the dog to sleep, losing a key volunteer employee to another department (I rely on volunteers for my work statement) and it's almost Christmas! Rapid changes can be so unsettling. I recently attended one of your seminars on the Roadmap. It was great. What impresses me most is the elegance. Now back to those notes and processing! Nice visiting you.
Posted by: Maria Wilson - work at December 15, 2005 10:58 AM
Hello! Implemented GTD in Outlook yesterday. And I had a laugh when I came upon this post this morning: I have been soooooo busy in my dreams organizing my stuff in the right categories and getting my tickler file done. Woke up this morning feeling as if I have worked all night. It's just such a big change that my body needs all its reserves to adjust...
This is fun!
Posted by: Sanne at December 19, 2005 02:37 AM
Just spent the holidays with my parents. Although being an avid "GTDist" for the last year, I spent most nights organizing, processing, writing and collecting.
My lists are fatter than ever and I left the holidays happy and organized. It seems the peace and quiet let my mind wander and GTD helped me catch it all.
Onword to the new year.
Posted by: Marcus at January 3, 2006 12:30 PM