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April 09, 2009
Is GTD for anyone, but not everyone
Is GTD better for men? For women? For techies? For organizers? For ENFJ's, but not INTP's? For Americans, but not for Brits? The debates are endless and the opinions are plentiful.
Honestly, in my experience, it's for anyone but not for everyone. In my 15+ years of working with this and David Allen, I've seen people "get" GTD from every walk of life: men, women, young, old, techie to luddite. So what does it really mean to "get" GTD?
GTD is about finding and using the most energy-efficient, effective, and least stressful ways of getting things done. It has nothing to do with someone's personality or lifestyle. Sometimes "organized" people are too structured to get what they really want done, so they need to loosen up. Some people need to tighten up. They're both GTD. It's an approach, not a system. If someone's system gets in the way, it's not GTD. If it's creating freedom and expansion and results, it is. Simple as that.- David Allen
Posted by Kelly at April 9, 2009 01:52 PM
Comments
As humans, our minds can overanalyze some things, taking our attention away from what is necessary in the moment, to what we think should be right.
It is refreshing to revisit "the spirit" of GTD as opposed to "the letter" GTD.
Posted by: brian turner at April 9, 2009 05:25 PM
"I have nothing against the system or David Allen. I’m sure it must be awesome for some people (that’s why it has all those followers, right?). But for others, it just doesn’t fit. Mostly with creative-minded people." - Zen habits blog
TesTeq comments:
"Do you mean that GTD is good mostly for non-creative people? Interesting... I know many creative people (including me :-) ) that have no problem with GTD."
"Figuring out what to stop is part of the GTD Weekly Review process. (If you are not doing your Weekly Review, you are not doing GTD and not thinking about your life enough). So there's no need to create yet another list what not to do. I prefer to have Next Actions list(s) 'to do' - not the list 'not to do'."
"Partial GTD implementation disables entry to 'mind like water' state."
"I am afraid that people who are not disciplined enough to implement #GTD say that it is because their creativity. They're wrong."
Posted by: TesTeq at April 10, 2009 05:29 AM
I only use about 5% of the GTD system to determine next actions, waiting for items and to get to inbox zero at least once a day. Although a miniscule amount, just these parts of the system enable to me to keep on top of my projects and maintain a certain level of low stress levels.
GTD as a whole certainly isn't for everyone, but I cant think of a single person not using any of it who wouldn't benefit greatly by just adopting some...
Posted by: Sam Barnes at April 11, 2009 03:11 PM
