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A Beginner´s Guide to Getting Things Done

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Re: A Beginner´s Guide to Getting Things Done

#51

Post by submeta »

PeOe wrote: post #45
submeta wrote: post #37

I read David Allen's book in 2002 and immediately started implementing it. At first it felt like godsend. Capturing every "open loop" (everything that is not the way it should be = everything with a delta between current and desired state) and deciding for each of them if there is any action that I need to take and if so, what the very next step was - that practice alone released a ton of energy and gave me a sense o…

Hey, thanks for your comment. I also think so. GTD is more keeping track and less actually defining priorities or what to do first. Nonetheless, it´s a very efficient system if you already know where you´re headed and know where your priorities lie. My favourite author, Tim Ferris, has brought the 80/20 analysis to my attention. It´s really great for determining how to set priorities and deciding what to focus on. It…

I do agree that GTD helps to start learning to keep track of all the moving parts in our lives. That's the micromanagement part. Many people I know do not have a clue how to tackle this part of their lives (some of them are excellent at getting results, at macro managing their lives, but if you look at the details of their lives: there is a total mess)

Re 80/20 (Preto Principle): There is also a book from Richard Koch named "The 80/20 principle" that'll help to see how some activities will have a huge leverage and others will contribute almost nothing to our big goals. Be it that we read a book (and try to focus on the nuggets instead of reading every chapter) or trying to do every item on our lists vs selecting only one or two for a day and blocking a huge amount of time to get this activity done.

Also Peter Drucker has written a great book about this topic: "The Effective Executive".

I keep reminding myself that in life things are not distributed equally. Wealth, intelligence, insightful books, the contribution of activities to my goals, etc

Re: A Beginner´s Guide to Getting Things Done

#52

Post by d0mine »

dogruck wrote: post #40
ThomPete wrote: post #7

GTD is the utopia of productivity. Everyone attempts to reach it but almost no one (if any) ever will. Those who get the closest realize that you can't live your life like that. In my world GTD become a goal in itself rather than a way to better manage your life. With a few exception (calendar) I lived my life in a way that would make a GTD enthusiast cringe. I am always impressed by those who attempt to do it but ne…

You make the bizarre claim that nobody successfully follows GTD because you’ve never done so, and you know many others who have also failed to do so. That’s like a fat dude looking around at the donut shop and saying “nobody ever sticks to their diets, haha!” I’ve used GTD for years. I just shattered your claim.

As a side note: diet doesn't work long term:

> After about five years, 41 percent of dieters gain back more weight than they lost. Long-term studies show dieters are more likely than non-dieters to become obese over the next one to 15 years.

> ... The study found that a single diet increased the odds of becoming overweight by a factor of two in men and three in women. Women who had gone on two or more diets during the study were five times as likely to become overweight.

More [earlier]:

> men with severe obesity have only one chance in 1,290 of reaching the normal weight range within a year; severely obese women have one chance in 677. A vast majority of those who beat the odds are likely to end up gaining the weight back over the next five years...

https://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/08/opinion/sunday/why-you-ca...

Re: A Beginner´s Guide to Getting Things Done

#54

Post by jrgifford »

peruvian wrote: post #46
jstewartmobile wrote: post #31

This was mercifully shorter than the Cal Newport book. That's about all I can say for it. Ivan Sutherland had the secret, and it only took one paragraph to share it: ' I used to hate washing dishes. I would delay as long as possible. Eyeing the daunting pile of dishes, I would say to myself, “I'll be here forever at this dumb task.” The enormity of the task deterred me from starting. I still dislike washing dishes, b…

As much as I respect Mr Newport, a lot of books like his could be one long form blog post (or paragraph!) instead of a 200~ page book.

This is true, however he is trying to explain the idea to multiple people, so he's explaining his ideas in multiple ways.

So no, it could not be a long form blog post.

Re: A Beginner´s Guide to Getting Things Done

#55

Post by dogruck »

ThomPete wrote: post #50
dogruck wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You make the bizarre claim that nobody successfully follows GTD because you’ve never done so, and you know many others who have also failed to do so. That’s like a fat dude looking around at the donut shop and saying “nobody ever sticks to their diets, haha!” I’ve used GTD for years. I just shattered your claim.

Did you read what i wrote? You proved my point :) you dont do it anymore.

I’m not seeing your joke. Confused.

Maybe you’re like an evil hypnotist. “You will stop following your diet. You will stop following your diet. You will stop following your diet.” :-)

Seriously though — I think these two claims are both frequent and harmful:

1. It’s impossible to stay disciplined in the long run.

2. Discipline sucks the joy out of life. On the contrary, I think discipline gives you freedom.

Re: A Beginner´s Guide to Getting Things Done

#56

Post by dogruck »

d0mine wrote: post #52
dogruck wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You make the bizarre claim that nobody successfully follows GTD because you’ve never done so, and you know many others who have also failed to do so. That’s like a fat dude looking around at the donut shop and saying “nobody ever sticks to their diets, haha!” I’ve used GTD for years. I just shattered your claim.

As a side note: diet doesn't work long term: > After about five years, 41 percent of dieters gain back more weight than they lost. Long-term studies show dieters are more likely than non-dieters to become obese over the next one to 15 years. > ... The study found that a single diet increased the odds of becoming overweight by a factor of two in men and three in women. Women who had gone on two or more diets during th…

You’re right — most people will fail to stick with diets, exercise, and personal organization. Frankly, it feels hilarious that researchers had to spend time proving that claim. Just look around!

On the other hand, there’s a powerful minority of people who do stay disciplined. They get a lot of stuff done.

Lastly, although it’s easy to fail, it is possible to join that powerful minority.

Re: A Beginner´s Guide to Getting Things Done

#57

Post by TillE »

ThomPete wrote: post #50
dogruck wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You make the bizarre claim that nobody successfully follows GTD because you’ve never done so, and you know many others who have also failed to do so. That’s like a fat dude looking around at the donut shop and saying “nobody ever sticks to their diets, haha!” I’ve used GTD for years. I just shattered your claim.

Did you read what i wrote? You proved my point :) you dont do it anymore.

I realize English is an ambiguous messy language, but "have used for x years" usually implies that you have been and still are using it.

Re: A Beginner´s Guide to Getting Things Done

#59

Post by kaybe »

jstewartmobile wrote: post #31

This was mercifully shorter than the Cal Newport book. That's about all I can say for it. Ivan Sutherland had the secret, and it only took one paragraph to share it: ' I used to hate washing dishes. I would delay as long as possible. Eyeing the daunting pile of dishes, I would say to myself, “I'll be here forever at this dumb task.” The enormity of the task deterred me from starting. I still dislike washing dishes, b…

There is a second step to this: 'You can stop if you want to.'

Just washing one plate does not mean I have to wash all of them. Stopping after only half of them is acceptable and preferable to not starting. So I can pick up and wash one without worrying about the full task.

Re: A Beginner´s Guide to Getting Things Done

#60

Post by taneq »

d0mine wrote: post #52
dogruck wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You make the bizarre claim that nobody successfully follows GTD because you’ve never done so, and you know many others who have also failed to do so. That’s like a fat dude looking around at the donut shop and saying “nobody ever sticks to their diets, haha!” I’ve used GTD for years. I just shattered your claim.

As a side note: diet doesn't work long term: > After about five years, 41 percent of dieters gain back more weight than they lost. Long-term studies show dieters are more likely than non-dieters to become obese over the next one to 15 years. > ... The study found that a single diet increased the odds of becoming overweight by a factor of two in men and three in women. Women who had gone on two or more diets during th…

So 59% of dieters sustain their weight loss over 5+ years? That doesn't sound like "doesn't work" to me.

Also there's a big difference between controlling your diet and "dieting". The latter is explicitly a temporary thing, and so of course doesn't have a permanent effect.

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