Quote Originally Posted by DavidAllen
ProjectThis - I'm fine that you want to communicate whatever, in some appropriate manner - to me or to others, but your agenda seems something other than what this Forum is about. Frankly, I don't know anyone of any consequence on this planet who hasn't bothered and scared someone else by being who they are and sharing it with others. So? The good news about this discussion is the validation it has surfaced from those who follow my message: try it, and if it works, use it. If something works better, cool. I keep working on it, myself... I don't particularly like to play this way, but our WebMaster is tasked with keeping the Forums on track, so if you continue to pursue your agenda, it'll get nixed. - David Allen
Thank you for the message. I have no agenda, other than trying to understand what GTD is all about, and which parts of it work, and which parts of it don't work. Surely GTD could benefit from some scrutiny, and subjecting it to proper testing done by independent sources in various accredited universities.
Its vitally important for psychological systems like GTD to encourage and be totally open to analysis and criticism, and to not try to suppress it.

In the 'Welcome' to the book Getting Things Done, David asked us to try GTD, and even challenge it. The quote is...

"I want you to test this stuff out, even challenge it".

I have tested it out, and there are some parts of GTD that I think could be challenged, or rethought, or might be mistaken.

I don't think anyone would have any problem with labelers, filing, or making lists, and things of that nature.

But around page 230 of the book, it moves into other areas, where I do have some challenges. So I am going to briefly list a few of these challenges, and see if there are others who have some challenging parts of GTD as well.
GTD is not only just a few tricks to use. Its also stressed very clearly in the book that it is a totalist complete system for managing all of our personal and professional lives. My question is, does it actually work, or is the system too difficult to implement, and thus causes even more stress for some people?
I think this is a valid a reasoned question that could be objectively tested.

Here are a few areas I am not sure are necessarily correct.
-Agreements. On pg 230-235, the point is made that the agreements we have made are all held in present tense in the psyche. I don't think this is correct, as I know my brain can certainly tell the difference between the past and the future in most cases. My grandma had a stroke last year, and now she cannot tell the difference between agreements made last month, or 10 minutes ago.
Also, he says that we can break inner agreements we are not consciously aware of! That would seem to me to be speculative at best.
Also, that breaking these agreements are the cause stress, and that writing them all out will help relieve this. I don't know for sure, but I doubt this is accurate when taken too far. I think if a person attempts to capture 'all' of these, then this can create more stress, and not just in the short term. So basically I don't agree that breaking agreements with ourselves that we are not even aware of erodes self-trust and creates bad feelings. I do agree that consciously doing this can create problems at times, but going to far with this can easily backfire.
There are more issues in this area, but I'll leave it at that for the moment.

-Organizations. I don't think the full GTD process can be fully implemented in an organization, and I don't know if that is even desirable. It would be interesting to see objective 3rd party research on the results of attempting this. Also, getting groups to behave and think together in this fashion can lead to GroupThink. I personally would not want everyone to be thinking and acting in the same way in a group or organization, I personally find that somewhat creepy. Also, getting in my head that others should be more GTD-like, is going to make me more stressed. The bottom line is, if I am not their boss, or even if I am, I basically have to learn to accept a lot of 'unacceptable' human behavior that I don't like in people. If my expectations for others behavior are unrealistic, I am going to suffer, with frustration, anger and even intolerance.

-clear Psychic RAM. Does having clear psychic RAM make us more productive? Is it even possible to achieve this state? Is keeping 'everything out of your head' an achievable goal? Does not writing down a call make a person stressed? I don't know if it does. I know many people who are not particularly stressed, and they keep lots of things in their heads. I also know people who write everything down who are a mess. So again, I would think this could benefit from some careful testing, to see if it backfires for certain people. Also, there is often a genetic temperament component with these types of issues.

-Contexts. One thing that seems to be missing, is our ability to create and choose our own contexts based on personal priority. This is a minor issue, but one that can stump people.

-Stress-free productivity. I think that is obviously a catch-phrase, but I am not sure again, that is realistic. Reduced stress? Well, that can be objectively measured. Increased productivity? That also can be measured. But there ain't no such thing as 'stress-free' on this planet. But again, these things can be measured objectively by 3rd parties. Wouldn't it be interesting to see if the GTD process made certain types of people more stressed out? Is getting a Mind Like Water a realistic goal? Or is it another unattainable concept?

-GTD as a global thought process. David mentions that is his mission. But on a personal level, can the GTD methodology be gainfully applied to both our professions, and with our wives and kids? I personally think it is going way too far to push this type of systems thinking into one's intimate relationships, which is why most people 'grimace' when hearing the idea of directing the wife to your Inbox. I don't want to be hit on the head one day with an Inbox.

There are a number of other issues along these lines that I personally question. David said there is more to GTD than meets the eye, and that GTD can have a profound impact on people. This I do agree with. But its a profound error to think that the full monty of GTD is simply a few tricks to be more productive. GTD is presented as a totalist system, and even a comprehensive philosophy of life, and folks are strongly encouraged to try to implement the 'entire system', to get the 'full benefits'.
What can easily happen, is because this is so difficult to do, and certain aspects of GTD might not even be possible, it could theoretically make a person more confused, and stressed, and even to start blaming themselves for not being able to do it.
I believe it was the big man himself, Robert Scoble (Scobelizer) who mentioned that even he could not consistently apply and execute GTD.

So I agree that there is much more to GTD than meets the eye, and so it might be a good idea to have a look at those things with open eyes, and see where they work, and also where they do not work. It would be a shame if folks were blaming themselves, when it was certain aspects of the mental GTD system that was creating a problem for them.

Its vitally important for psychological systems like GTD to encourage and be totally open to analysis and criticism, and to not try to suppress it.