It doesn't work!

[Heiko28]

Hy everybody,
A long time ago I start working with gtd. Over time I realized, that there are some typical things, that doesn't work well.
For me it is the empty physical inbox. Its become bigger and bigger and not more empty, as it should.

What are your fights with the stuff?
What do you think is complicated?
What should be rethinking?

Thanks for your awnsers.
Heiko

[cfoley]

Are you setting aside enough time to process your inbox? If it is accumulating stuff then I suggest you are not.

[TesTeq]

What are your fights with the stuff?
What do you think is complicated?
What should be rethinking?

Delete, delete, delete

And if in doubt - DELETE

[jrdouce]

For me it is the empty physical inbox. Its become bigger and bigger and not more empty, as it should.Heiko

A full inbox isn't a failure of GTD, or any other system, it's a reason you need a system. In my experience, there are two reasons why my inbox backs up, 1) I'm not dedicating enough time to processing it, or 2) I'm not making decisions (i.e. choosing next actions) on the contents of the inbox. No matter how deep in the inbox is, if you can dedicate enough time and decide on your next actions, or process 2-minute actions immediately, you will empty your inbox. Keep in mind, you are dealing with 1 item at a time, not all of it at once.

If you're having trouble emptying your email inbox, I asked a similar question recently and received some great help in this thread:
http://www.davidco.com/forum/showthr...with-this-mess

It's been over two weeks and I've gone home with an empty inbox every night since.

Good luck.

[Gardener]

Remember that things aren't removed from the inbox when they're done, but when they're processed. You might process something months before you get it done.

For example, if you tossed a magazine in the inbox because you want to read an article in the magazine, then to process that magazine, you insert a PostIt to bookmark the article, put the magazine in the "to read" stack (which is not the same as your Inbox) and possibly enter an action "Read article about widget innovations" in the appropriate action list. Or you might have some entirely different way of handling "to read" items, but whatever your way is, it should result in getting the item out of your inbox in less than a minute or two. You'll read it later.

Similarly, if you tossed a handful of paint sample cards in the inbox because you're painting the bathroom, those don't stay there until the bathroom is done. They stay there until your review, at which time you might:

- Create a folder called "Bathroom remodel support materials."
- Put the paint samples in the folder.
- Create a project called "Bathroom remodelled"
- Write a Next Action of "Show paint samples to Joe and get his opinion".
- File the folder away in your filing system.

Again, you'll talk to Joe later.

If you're completely confused about how to process something, I'd say _still_ get it out of the inbox. Create a "confused" file folder, put the item in it, create a "Process Confused items" project, and give it a repeating Next Action of "Process one Confused item."

If the Inbox is too full to allow you to get to new items quickly and keep it empty, then you could just dump the _whole thing_ into the "Confused" folder (now the "Confused" box), and maintain a clean Inbox while you're slowly working your way through the older items.

If you're trying to follow the two-minute rule but you keep starting on things that end up taking more than two minutes, then just make a rule that you won't "do" _any_ tasks while you're processing your inbox. That's my rule.

Now, you still may end up with too many projects and Next Actions - that's another issue. But it should be possible to regularly empty your Inbox.

Gardener

[artsinaction]

If the Inbox is too full to allow you to get to new items quickly and keep it empty, then you could just dump the _whole thing_ into the "Confused" folder (now the "Confused" box), and maintain a clean Inbox while you're slowly working your way through the older items.

Hi, Gardener!

I was typing my response while you were posting, and I see we're thinking along the same lines. When I was first starting GTD, there was a LOT that was confusing. So I can imagine my room full of boxes and folders all labeled with various levels of confusion: "Confusing" "Really Confusing" "More Confusing Than Those Other Piles" "Too Confusing, Call A Therapist"

Good thoughts in your post... thank you for sharing them!

Dena

[S-Tolland]

So I can imagine my room full of boxes and folders all labeled with various levels of confusion: "Confusing" "Really Confusing" "More Confusing Than Those Other Piles" "Too Confusing, Call A Therapist"

Dena - Loving the 'Call a Therapist' line! I fear that a number of the boxes in the back of my loft cupboards might need this label!!

[Almost Done]

GTD newbie myself, so my words are not gospel but I have not yet experienced an ampty in box.

What I have experienced are more ideas, more creativity,'more energy and enthusiasm for my work.
Was that a side effect if GtD or a sign I have not mastered the system (I have only been at this 3 months).

[Oogiem]

Well GTD does work but I hear you on the physical inbox still full problem. Mine is actually a 2 fold problem, the physical inbox and the physical items of action support.

For example here is what is in my inbox right now:

Size 5 dog muzzle To properly process this I need to create an action to go make sure it fits Harri, file the instructions and warranty info in a new file Equip.- Dog Muzzle, add an item to the shopping list for the local town feed store to buy some small dog treats for training, and add an item to errands to stop at feed store see shopping list. Even if I get the lists updated I still have the muzzle as action support to take outside and try it on Harri. As a result it's still sitting in my inbox even though the rest of the stuff is done.

I also found for me that creating a "to File" pile was just that, another pile and I never did it. For me filing has to happen as part of processing or it never gets done.

[Gardener]

Well GTD does work but I hear you on the physical inbox still full problem. Mine is actually a 2 fold problem, the physical inbox and the physical items of action support.

Here, I'd add the muzzle-related items to my lists, with a note, "Muzzle in laundry room, top shelf" or wherever I'm going to put the muzzle, and put the muzzle away.

Obviously I'm not saying you need to do it that way. But for me, I work better with simple boundaries, and therefore the In Box is just for incoming items that have not been processed or planned in any way at all. If I didn't want to file or store "action" items away somewhere, I'd probably have an "action" box right next to my In Box. Then those items would be handy, but I'd never have to shuffle through them when processing new items.

In fact, there's a very high chance that when I do work an action for something that's been "filed", I'll find that it's still in the "to be filed" pile. That's OK; it's still out of my In Box. I might end up searching for the item in two places, but there's no great harm in that.

Gardener