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January 08, 2006
Priorities moment to moment...
Our seminar leaders met last week to do some editing and fine-tuning of the GTD support materials, and Jason shared an anecdote that was one of those spur-of-the-moment great responses to a perennial seminar question: But how do I structure priorities in the system? His answer reflects a great example of why our lives are so complex with so many variables, any structured system that you felt you'd have to abide by, moment to moment, would be insufficient and create undue constraints. Here's the gist:
If your cellphone rings while you're doing something else, and you notice who the caller is, how many things are you likely to consider in your decision to answer it or not. If you decide not to answer, and in a minute they call again, how many other things go through your mind about whether to answer it then?
Simple situation, but not really...
Posted by David at January 8, 2006 02:11 PM
Comments
Are you saying we naturally prioritize - like when the cell phone rings and we decide whether to answer? I thought you had recommended that we have everything in the System and choose intuitively based on everything.
I feel the need to see my whole System at a glance. It's too much to look through my entire System when deciding moment-to-moment what to do now. Every day I take about 2-5 things that I ABSOLUTELY HAVE to do that day, and put them in a place where I know I'll see them.
Are we saying different things? Aren't you saying in this blog entry that we do prioritize, whether consciously or unconsciously? And if that's true, why not do it consciously?
Posted by: Adam Koren at January 8, 2006 08:53 PM
David here - Adam, we're not disagreeing. My point here is that there the cell phone is not on your Top Five for the Day list. So do you feel bad for answering it? Or just have to recalibrate fast with a lot of variables whether to do it or not? The point of GTD is indeed to keep it all reviewed, as completely and currently as possible, so you CAN trust your intuitive judgments...and perhaps even galvanize them to give you more mature decisions.
I have my Top Things for the Day, too - they're usually pretty self-evident, though sometimes I have to make a temporary short list, too, just as a process of scanning all the options to make sure I'm not missing something. But I stay very flexible so the ad hoc and surprise stuff that truly does take priority sometimes in the moment doesn't create heartburn.
Posted by: David at January 9, 2006 03:07 PM
Simple.. If it's a client or customer they pay your salary, answer it. If it's a spouse or another family memeber, they expect to be treated as the most important, answer it. Now living on the edge, Un-identified number, take a chance and answer it. Identify who it is, what they want and how you can help, right? That solves the problem of them calling back, and you have something to do tomorrow.
Posted by: Roger at January 10, 2006 05:08 PM
While I agree that answering the phone could be off you top five list for the day, you could always make an exception for really important possibilities - if you're expecting a call from your pregnant daughter, for example, caller ID would let you glance at your phone and answer her call for emergency babysitting. I don't see why this is such a tough decision.
Posted by: George Krafcisin at January 25, 2006 06:41 AM