Turnaraound ... what is your hardest thing about GTD?

[emp]

After the discussion about the "most useful" things in GTD turned up a lot of info, I'll turn this around for a round of the toughest, hardest thing about GTD.
Helpers with these are, of course welcome and wanted.

So, without further ado, I'll start.

1. The weekly review
- No surprise, but I am working myself out of it with a few weeks under my belt now and lots of small, distributed reviews.

2. NA follow up
Once I have completed an NA, I find it difficult to get to the next action on the list. This is actually a "technical" issue, as I have my projects set up as contacts and I find the switch hard to do, especially on my PDA with pocket Informant.

::: emp :::

[spectecGTD]

For me, two things pop into mind:

1) First of all, definitely the weekly review. It's clear what this should encompass, but it's very tempting to work off a few action steps while doing the review. That's not a best practice even if they are less-than-2-minute items, as the weekly review should not be a "runway" event.

2) Secondly, getting in the habit of deciding on proper context at the time a N/A is INITALLY DEFINED. At this stage (6 weeks) I find myself having to move a lot of N/A's from one context list to the next because I didn't make a good choice of assignment on the front side. This isn't worrisome, though, because I know it's a habit which must be taught by experience and reinforced by repetition - a few mistakes in this area are simply good training tools. Here's the good thing - I can clearly see why it's so important to put the N/A's in the right context at the time they are defined, so this is a habit worth cultivating.

[taxgeek]

Two things for me:

1. Weekly review. I just can't make myself sit down and do it.

I think it's pathological!

[spirithaven]

I have just realized that my weakest link is PROCESSING.

My mind goes blank when I look at a piece of paper.....Anybody have any suggestions on fixing this problem? I am stuck in Amorphous Blob mud in My "I'm GTD" project until I solve this problem....

I could use all the help I could get! :roll: The paper is really piling up!

Thanks,
Bridgette

[Anonymous]

I have a hard time with each part of GTD. I think it is an extremely difficult system to use as intended. In fact I think its too hard for most people to do. That said, I think its the best system out there.

To be be honest, I'm looking for something easier - all the time. I'm thinking there are things I'm willing to give up in order to have a system I am more likely to use consistently. For example, collecting EVERYTHING. I'm beginning to think I should be able to get along with some open loops in my life.

I dont mean to bash GTD, I've just begun to realize that after a year spent trying to implement it, I'm probably not going go the whole route. There has to be a middle ground.

[Ambar]

My mind goes blank when I look at a piece of paper.....Anybody have any suggestions on fixing this problem? I am stuck in Amorphous Blob mud in My "I'm GTD" project until I solve this problem....


David's list of questions really help me:

What is this?
What do I have to do about it?
(David says "Is it actionable?" but to me the jargon sounds tortured.)

[Anonymous]

spirithaven: Let me take a stab at this. Consider your thought process and your job.

First of all, you never look at a "piece of paper" unless you are opening a package and taking out blank sheets one at a time. (Kind of a dumb thing to do, don't you agree?)

What you are calling a "piece of paper" is information. It needs a home.

It is something on which you need to begin a process of next actions, something you need to defer to some other time (or file as reference material), something you need to delegate to someone else, or something which deserves a proper burial. Every bit of written information you handle falls into one of those categories. Your job is to help it get home so both it at and you will be relieved of your stress.

[apinaud]

Without any doubt the weekly review is the hardest thing in the GTD.

For me is been hard, I made the mistake to find a better system before I really understand the system, after I decided to use the KISS principle my GTD is getting better, my inner geek wants to use more software, but I have 6 more weeks (an 8 weeks trial) without new software for GTD, I am using Palm Desktop, the basic and most simple setup. The result is been great.

For me that is the second thing more hard in GTD, break with the old habits, and understand the system is different...

For the people with problems with weekly review (I was one) for me works great change mine to Wenesday, instead of monday or friday... at friday i was thinking in go home, at monday i was extingish fire at work, wenesday instead is been a great thing.

The other secret to my improve is the physical basket in my home...

Tomorow I will add another element to my GTD, a Journal, I will go to B&N or Borders and find one of those nice Journals to let my mind free...

I will report...

[emp]

Hi spirithaven.

I think the anonymous poster has a point, what you are looking at most likely isn't a blank piece of paper.

So you need to look at it and

a) decide what to do about it
b) file it
or
c) destroy it

When I look at the piles that people make, I see two categories of items or papers

1 - Trash

These things are either trash that needs to be thrown out or

2- Important papers in need of filing
These often have no predefined home or are in a shape that doesn't lend itself to filing.
Bank statements and shopping receipts fall into that category, as do manuals for appliances.

So..

You need to set up a filing system, then sit down with your piles and work through them, one at a time.
Decide what to do about each item and then file or destroy the paper.

my $.02
:::emp:::

[Busydave]

Speaking honestly and from the heart?

The lack of excitement.

I think this is because I might have been a bit of a last-minute-adrenaline-junkie: now I find I am looking for a new kind of motivation. I have to go to work, I have to get the stuff done … and the whiz-bang of dead-lines barely met was often the only pulse raising thing that happened all year.

Don’t get me wrong, I think the whole GTD system is beautifully integrated and works on so many levels, and I have no problems with any of its components. But let’s face it, and organised well ruin accountancy practice is not where you go to experience the true meaning of life.

The best route that I can see is to go for so stretch targets: X number of new clients per quarter maybe, just to get the pulse moving again.

(I can sense Scott Lewis putting a positive spin on this post, and he’s right: GTD has helped me “tidy out the garage” at work: I know now where everything is, and what is expected, and when – I should capitalise on the opportunity presented and focus more on business development. Stretch targets it is!)

Dave

[Scott_L_Lewis]

But let’s face it, and organised well ruin accountancy practice is not where you go to experience the true meaning of life.
(emphasis mine)

Freudian slip, Dave? :D

[Scott_L_Lewis]

Speaking honestly and from the heart?

The lack of excitement.

I think this is because I might have been a bit of a last-minute-adrenaline-junkie: now I find I am looking for a new kind of motivation. I have to go to work, I have to get the stuff done … and the whiz-bang of dead-lines barely met was often the only pulse raising thing that happened all year.


Dave,

Go to your project list and make entry for "Project Adrenaline." Use the natural planning method to brainstorm least fifty (and I mean fifty) ways you could get a good shot of adrenaline without screwing anything up. Then use your system to start exploring them.

From what I know about you from reading your posts, it may be that your search for serenity, tranquility, and calm is having the effect of boring you to death. You might want to start embracing the whole range of human experience. Think about the possibility of being able to meditate profoundly all morning and riding the Rollercoaster of Death at the local amusement park all afternoon.

I had an insight this morning as I was driving to work that you might find useful. It occurred to me that in order to make ourselves feel better, we often start out by doing more of the things that are making us miserable in the first place.

[spectecGTD]

busydave: A couple of accountant-related posts here.
1) You could decide that BEATING deadlines is more important than MAKING them, and make it a priority to see how quickly you can effect turnarounds of work rather than finishing "just ahead of" or "just on" deadlines.
2) This would possibly free you up to spend time cultivating more consulting projects with your existing clients. You already know their business so it's a natural transition to consult with them and bring added value in the ancillary services you provide.

Stated another way, it's not how many cows you have in your herd, but rather how you milk them that counts. (I don't mean "Milk" in a negative sense)

(In the interest of clarity, I was "guest" on the 4:09 pm post - had signed on from another computer & didn't automatically get logged in)

[emp]

There is a theory in psychology in regard to the level of excitement people seek out.
According to this theory, people tend to gravitate towards the activation level that keeps them awake. Starting out with different tresholds leads to all kinds of behaviour.

Following this, people needing a lot of activation would tend towards ectreme sports, adrenaline pumping beats, etc..

Of course, you can reach this by slipping enough deadlines, but I think there would be financially healthier ways to achieve this.

My $.02

Get skiers, rollerblades, a skateboard, or a sled (depending on weather and mood) and let some kids show you the local "hill of death".
Proceed.

:::emp:::

[jmarkey]

I still struggle with getting my paper inbox to empty. My e-mail inbox is lean and mean, but the paper likes to pile up. I'm very strong on processing, so I think it's just not setting up enough time to process, trash and file. The weekly review goes much more smoothly if the inbox is empty.

[Busydave]

Scott

The image you created in my mind of hurtling down the Roller coaster of Death in full lotus position reminded me of your All Time Greatest Post: it was on the “Motivation” thread where you reconciled for me “being energized” with mind-like-water; the answer was Flow.

“Flow” was what I meant in my first post: scratch “Adrenaline”. Tight deadlines effectively force you on to a roll: nobody will dare interrupt you, and you can give the task all of your attention. You get home at two in the morning, but you feel mighty pleased with the work you got done, and for some reason, you aren’t tired.

(I can just visualize Gary Larson’s interpretation of an accountant on a roll ….. hmmm.)

The point is, some of my best flow moments were under pressure of deadlines.

Spectec, you’ve hit two nails on the head – clear some empty space in the day to get some real client development done.

Emp, I like that theory. Deadpan, yet true. Dare I propose a Lewis-emp theory of self-motivation: in order to make ourselves feel better, we often start out by doing more of the things that are making us miserable in the first place, in order to gravitate towards the activation level that keeps us awake?

I’m not being facetious here, I’m nearly sure I have caught myself delaying starting tasks so that I would have just exactly the right amount of time to get it finished, (but it was just in the interests of flow, honest).

Dave

[Mike Ferguson]

1. My weekly review remains weak.
2. Still have holes in my "capture," i.e. still holding things in my head until they slip out my ear.

[emp]

Hi Busydave

Actually, there are other factors that come to mind, when it comes to procrastinating.

One factor you mentioned was the "coolness" of it all. I think deadlining oneself has the potential of building stories.
(As humans are story-telling animals)

Stories like:
"Look at that guy, he wrote all that code in the last two days of the project."
or:
"We did it, and we had only 5 days left, so we had to stay until 2 am, but we made it!"

So, this makes life interesting, in a way, and gives you stories to tell.

However, looking at myself, I tended to do exactly this: Last-minute, no hope, no limits project crunchtime.

Do I have stories to tell? You bet.

Did I feel absolutely miserable during crunch times? Did I make everyone else miserable, including those close to me?
You bet!

Could my outcomes have been much better, without as much hassle and crunch-time bad mood?
Definetely!

Thanks to GtD I am actually succeeding in breaking that habit. And although this is not as "cool", I am much more relaxed and stress-free. Tight deadlines and all-nighters still happen, but not because of my procrastination, and I usually have everything handy and in-place when those events hit.

What about them stories?
Still trying to make my life interesting every day, but in the hoping to succed in building stories not composed of deadline stress.

And there is hope that a reputation of

"That guy got the job done in time, delivered great quality and he didn't seem to sweat once."

Earns even more respect than

"That's the guy who got the job done in the last minute, he had to work overtime the whole last week! Yes it's a bit rough around the edges, but ..."

:D
:::emp:::

[Busydave]

Nice post emp

I suppose that what I am pursuing is a more mature attitude towards work (and about time too!).

GTD tends to put you in a position where you have time to think: you step outside the chaos (in you head) and take a look at what you are doing, and you may wonder “Is this what I really want to be doing?”

It does present opportunities to “work on your business rather than simply work in your business” (a quote I copied from somewhere recently).

There is something about a team getting the package out the door against the clock that creates a very particular kind of interpersonal connection. However, it’s pretty much the same buzz as that which you get when you land a new client. (See? I’m thinking proactively rather than reactively!).


"That guy got the job done in time, delivered great quality and he didn't seem to sweat once."
Now that’s exactly what everyone wants to overhear being said about them.

Dave

[spectecGTD]

busydave: That was a very nice post by emp - it captured both sides of the issue rather well. Your response added still more clarity. I'd like to add a personal note regarding the "deadline" trap. Maybe someone will identify with this angle as well.

I've spent lots of time in that mode and there's one thing that (for me) never quite goes away. No matter how hard I worked and how much of a sense of accomplishment I felt after meeting a tight deadline just under the wire, for me there's always what Dave refers to as a GSA (Gnawing Sense of Anxiety) about the completed project. Operationally I know that no matter how much I applied myself, there's a chance that something got overlooked in the rush. And the mathematical odds of that happening are actually pretty good because it's hard to concentrate on being your best when you have one eye on the task and the other on the clock or calendar. So even when it's done I'm not mentally finished with the project if it's completed under pressure.

This is still a struggle for me at 6+ weeks into GTD simply because historically there are lots of open loops around me just waiting to be closed and there are only so many hours in the day. But the techniques I'm applying are already showing results and I'm convinced that my future mode of operation is going to be drastically different across the board.

Instead of getting into the "Busy Trap" I'm training myself to periodically look at the whole game and consistently make good choices on next actions.

[TesTeq]

"That guy got the job done in time, delivered great quality and he didn't seem to sweat once."
In the perfect world this statement would work but in the marketing-based world the statement "he didn't seem to sweat once" does not build the required image of workaholic. You have to show your boss that your job requires many sacrifices and your success is achieved with extreme dedication.
TesTeq

[emp]

Actually,

I agree with TesTeq.
Although everybody knows that projects done in a calm and organied manner yield better results and less errors, tales around the campfire talk about those nightmare-projects, looming deadlines and heroic all-nighters.

Sadly, management, too tends to notice those bad project (and leaders) more because they create more storm and excitement.

I was witness to the career-climb of the most horrible project lead ever.
(Hey, he had all those really difficult projects to handle, and he managed somehow, didn't he?)

But for my own safety and mental health, I'll pass.

Shortly, I'll get back to work with a project lead who is one of the most organied (and relaxed) people ever... And find myself looking forward to it.

::: emp :::

[Bellaisa]

My weakest link initially was also what has probably helped me the most.. - so this addresses both threads - I initially resisted anything related to filing - a ticker file, putting my files in alpha order, a labeler, filing my email rather than leaving them in in box. Those were the some of the last things I implemented, but they made all the difference. I do so much less backtracking and now they are just habits I don't realy think about.

I think my current weakest link is having the discipline to do predefined work in the right amounts rather than doing work as it shows up. I think it a similar sort of weakness that Busydave was taking about with procrastinating...there is a certain fun in seeing what shows up each day and going with flow...but I bring so much more benefit to my company, family, life when I stragetically think about what really needs to happen and make sure I am moving those projects forward rather than bouncing around with each email, phone call and person coming into my office. This is probably why I struggle more with my daily review than my weekly review - I'm always just temped to jump into my email, voice mail and see what's new.

A couple cheap tricks for those who need urgency and people who struggle with the weekly review. And these really are cheap.

For the weekly review, I always have a sense that at least my in-box needs to be totally empty before I start.....I'm just ready to start, and in comes another piece of paper. I've learned that if I need to, I just give myself a few minutes to do an emergency scan of my paper in box, see if there is anything that will really truly blow up if I don't handle it that afternoon and then I stick the rest of the paper in my tickler file to put back in my inbox the next morning or when I'm done with my WR. That way I don't see it out of the corner of my eye and get distracted by it. There are probably a number of reasons why this is a bad idea, but sometimes it is what I need to do.

For Busydave and other who need a sense of urgency - fake it. You've probably heard this one, but I've been playing iwth this idea during my daily review and it helps. If you could win an all expense paid vacation for 30 days, where would go you? Picture that in your mind. When you come into work and you are doing your daily review, imagine that you get a call saying you've won that vacation and they've already worked with your boss to get you the time off, but you have to leave tomorrow. What would you absolutely have to wrap up before you go? See what that queestion raises as a game plan and then try to stick with it that day.

You can do the same thing for home...if you got a call on Saturday morning saying you had to leave your home and family on Sunday for two weeks (I find a month too depessing) for some sort of an emergency, how would you play that day.

[Anonymous]

My toughest piece is just looking at the amount of time it takes to MAINTAIN this system. It can be very draining. It can almost be like a job onto itself.

I would be interested in hearing how people make decisions on where to
"draw the line" on how 'extreme' they go with aspects of the system, and/or on where 'quantity cuts/reductions' are made/ boundaries are upheld so that maintaining the gtd system doesn't become a virtual full time job in itself.

[Janice313]

Two things:

1. I work in a very deadline-driven job, and I'd have to say that keeping track of upcoming deadlines & priorities has been and continues to be a huge challenge for me. (I'm doing a great job of getting batteries replaced, though!) :wink:

2. Getting/keeping all the parts working at once. Sometimes I feel like implementing GTD is like being a conductor (or a one-man band!). You need to know when to call on your calendar, tickler, next action lists, etc. and you need to use them with just the right touch or the system doesn't work as well as it could and can become over-burdensome. Wish I could think of a better analogy.. maybe someone else can...

Janice

[spectecGTD]

Here's my NSHO:

I'm going on 7 weeks into implementing GTD, and I'll admit that I've devoted a considerable amount of administrative time to changing/altering my systems & metodologies. However, I'm seeing immediate paybacks in terms of time saved by my eliminating many of the redundancies in my old system, and I see exponentially greater productivity payoffs down the road..

I don't plan on GTD being a chore - I plan to weave it into the way I do things to the point that I don't really think about it, I'll just automatically do it. So for me, the essence of doing GTD is moving toward making GTD the framework supporting all my work, , not some separate entity that requires its own support system. Otherwise I personally wouldn't be bothering with it.