I read GTD and practiced it for a few years. I always felt on top of my tasks, but gradually seemed to fork off my own system, although, I definitely still track tasks in a list* wrt context, due date, and time estimation.
One cautionary note with GTD is that it's easy to get caught up feeling like you're cranking widgets and lose sight of the forest in favor of the trees. I welcome suggestions for this.
With respect to BJ's talk / the Fogg model:
- Triggers:
The GTD system helps you capture all your task triggers in one place. This is a great idea that works well in practice.
- Ability:
The most common behaviors for interacting with your GTD system are adding new tasks, deferring tasks, and reviewing. The concept of a universal inbox accomplishes task insertion very easily, but one must build the habit of processing the inbox into their own GTD system __daily__ to really trust it. That was difficult for me in practice.
- Motivation:
The weekly review system provides a renewal and closure based on what you've done recently and have upcoming. The higher-level reviews "20,000 to 50,000 feet" are a harder habit to form since practiced so infrequently. I never really became great at this.
* I use one plain text file for tasks. I group with headers based on the date I plan to work on each task. Some items have hard due dates, but most don't.
# TODAY
x completed task
- uncompleted task 0.5h /* estimate of how long it'll take */
- another task (due 9/8)
- ...
# TOMORROW
- ...
# NEXT WEEK
- ...
# NEXT
- ...
# SOMEDAY / MAYBE
- ...
And 3 separate lists for errands, groceries, and calls:
# @GROCERY
- ramen
- gatorade
- etc.