Anyone Given Up on GTD and Gone Back to Letting LB Do the Work?
Has anyone given up on GTD (or Franklin, or Prioirity Management, or any other system) and returned to plain old-fashioned vanilla Life Balance?
I'm asking this for a reason. I've tried various "systems" to help me accomplish various tasks and organize myself, and in the end, I think that everything boils down to one thing and one thing only:
The ability to look at your To-Do list, see what has to be done, and then do it!.
I'm currently working with GTD, (although it has helped me clean-up my work area, organize my files, and get into the habit of recording everything that has to be done) and I find that some tasks just don't get done because even though the task is on the list, you still must simply stop procrastinating and do it. And, if that is the case, the why go through the bother of using someone else's system at all?
In the end, perhaps the trick to "getting things done" is just to go back to loading in tasks according to life goals and objectives and letting LB tell you the suggested order of completion, then deciding to simply do them!
In short, if one tends to procrastinate, then at the end of the day it doesn't matter what system is being used to tell you what to do, you still ain't gonna do it! The trick to getting things done is not to use someone's system, but instead, to make a daily effort to break hold procrastination habits and concentrate on doing tasks.
Has anyone found that the GTD method has really, really made a difference and if so, were you a major procrastinator before? I've been diagnosed with mild A.D.D. and I find I get caught-up in the "geekness" of the system and waste time tweeking the system instead of looking at the To-Do list and saying "OK - that's what I need to do -- now I'll do it."
I guess I'm asking if GTD has really made a big difference for people who weren't known as being organized and on-top of things before. I've gone through the bother of setting it up -- I'm really asking if it's worth it to stick with it and see how things change, or is my assumption about the real trick is the ability to "just to it" being more important as correct?
Thanks
RE: Anyone Given Up on GTD and Gone Back to Letting LB Do the Wo
Disclaimer: I've been with the Llamas for a very short time, so take this all with an appropriate sized block of salt.
Alan: I'm with ya buddy! In some ways you sound like me. I have been a failure at the 7 Habits, and at GTD. My Franklin planner? Frankly unused. I've failed at implementing Life Balance twice.
But professional life has been kicking my behind. I decided something really needed to change and jumped into LifeBalance with a vigor. The bottom-up approach really clicks best with me, and a little voice in my head ("Hello, this is Sam, your neighbor's dog" Ooops... not that voice) kept hinting LB was the way I needed to go.
So like I said, I jumped in with both feet and got a really nice setup, great TLI's, dozens of forgotten todo's organized into a handfull of useful places. Work performance change: 0. Of course my undone work was in great order!
This week I reread GTD (since so many Llamaites seem to use it). Lots of great ideas, just like last time, and the refresher was nice -- thinking next action, act/delegate/defer etc. But walking in the office door I was not "Mind like water". I was back to old "Mind like oatmeal".
Last night (seems your timing was good) I read a book that really pulled it all together. Another voice in my head (it really is crowded in there) was hinting that the BIG problem couldn't be addressed by a better system. The problem was I kept avoiding what I really knew I should be doing in favor of some lesser task or escape. Yeah, I'm trying to say I am a procrastinator without actually admitting it. Ooops, guess I just did.
I'm sure there are many other great titles, but the particular book I read was "The Procrastinator's Handbook: Mastering the Art of Doing It Now" by Rita Emmett. (Notice how closely the title seems to answer Alan's question)
Before I turned out the lights last night, I had incorporated some of the antiprocrastination methods and measures into LifeBalance. All I can say is today was a MAJOR step forward. Aspects of GTD, 7Habits, and anti-procrastination techniques all neatly work together in LifeBalance.
But, it has only been one day. Keeping the ball rolling could be difficult. I've got a ToDo to get audio versions of GTD, 7Habits, and Procrastinator's Handbook for the commute to reinforce the synergy that _at least today_ seems to be doing the job.
Y'all might wonder why it has taken me till age 46 to figure out I have a problem with procrastination. If anyone has been wading though my past posts, you might know that I new have a medical condition that severely limits available energy, and can throw extra fatigue in at any moment.
In my pre-affliction days, I would work in bursts -- kick back for a while -- work hard till all was done, repeat. Sort of like the Hare in the old "Tortise and Hare" tales, except that I never slept so long as to let the tortise win.
Illness has put a serious damper on my "burst mode" capabilities. I cannot count on any given amount of energy to get the task done tomorrow. I only know what I have right now. But the old habits persisted, and I kept falling behind and feeling terrible about myself; I had become the loosing Hare. So now I have a TLI named "Become the Tortise". :-)
Love to hear additional thoughts... Paul
RE: Anyone Given Up on GTD and Gone Back to Letting LB Do the Wo
RE: Anyone Given Up on GTD and Gone Back to Letting LB Do the Wo
In putting off doing things & learning about how to avoid procrastinating, I also read Emmett's book. I helped myself realize no system works if you don't work it And techniques I picked up in various readings all helped.
I found the British author, Mark Forster's writing struck many right notes. You might try him. Down to earth & works with my LB/Covey/GTD approach.
http://markforster.net/index.php?view=15
He also has a Yahoo group archiving his writings & a book.
RE: Anyone Given Up on GTD and Gone Back to Letting LB Do the Wo
Thank you for the Forster link; I'm finding his articles very much worth reading. Thanks.
--Jon
RE: Anyone Given Up on GTD and Gone Back to Letting LB Do the Wo
I have spent many days stringing and unstringing my instrument while the song I came to sing remains unsung.
-- Rabindranath Tagore
RE: Anyone Given Up on GTD and Gone Back to Letting LB Do the Wo
Being a life long procrastinator.......
GTD doesn't solve that; and Franklin Covey always just gave me more things to procrastinate from or procrastinate with.
What those systems do well, is solve that problem of worrying about "lost things" and they free up your brain for creative thinking.
I stick with GTD as a philosophy for only a couple of reasons. 1) I know that everything I might need or want to do is in one place. 2) Everything is broken down it steps that I can actually do without having to think about what to do. Disclaimer: Not having to think about "what" to do; doesn't not imply that the task does require an enormous amount of mental thinking. It just means I've already figured out the "what" and just need to then do it.
That's it; that's the only reason I use it.
Why I use life balance is it's the only tool that lets me store and organize everything in a proper fashion. To do lists offer too little detail for the volumes of things I would like to do or life has forced me to do. And I trust Life Balance; I never loose data in Life Balance; occasionally I "miss place" data in Life Balance but that's my laziness when faced with a complex tool. But I don't sweat it because I know I will find the item if I have to.
Life Balance also lets me automate certain things. So it just works.
Now on to procrastination.....
I like to call dealing with that: Acting with Integrety:
I strive to:
Demonstrate principled leadership leadership and sound buisness ethics; show consistency among principles, values, and behavior, build trust with others through own authenticity and follow-through on commitments.
That's a fancy way to say promise what you can deliver and no more. And then Deliver. A perfect consist 70% capacity utilization is better than inconsistent 110% everytime. One is reliable the other is frustrating to others.
Anything I must do for someone else because I promised something goes in Life Balance in an area call "Act with integrety". When I feel that voice in my head going, your not doing what you promised. I go focus on those items until I stop feeling that way. Then I return to either what I want to work on -or- what Life Balance suggests.
The trick is making sure you don't stress out is, if the voice in your head is nagging you; then you better listen; or it doesn't go away. What exactly is it saying to you? Is it right? If you don't want to do what it's saying; well tough; if it is right it right and you learn to evaluate that. At the very least re-negotiate the aggreement it's nagging you about.
In college I learned a great lesson. I was in Philosophy class reading volumes of David Hume. (Very thick material). I use to get hungry after hours of reading and I'd sit there, ignore the hunger and press through the material. Must read, must finish, must read I would tell myself, eat when you are done as a reward. Then one day it occurred to me: if I was focusing on my hunger, how could I focus on the book. So I learned to eat when I was hungry and read when I was not.....amazingly I read faster and learned more.
Sounds simple doesn't it?
I've got a mind like water and I let gravity tell me which way to flow. It much less stressful....
RE: Anyone Given Up on GTD and Gone Back to Letting LB Do the Wo
Ratz:
Thanks for your response.
I guess what bugs me about the GTD method is that I find my To Do List getting longer... and longer... and longer. Since everything has the same importance, the list just grows, and I find myself going through the list and having to make judgement calls on what I need to concentrate on. I find that this is very distracting, and the lengthy, unordered list becomes confusing and tends to make me feel like there's just too much to do.
Allowing LB to make the calls as to what is important and valuable seemed to me to make my To Do list more manageable and logical.
So that's my dilemma. I guess I need to use LB to enter all of my tasks, and in that respect, honour the GTD principles, but still make an initial assessment as to the relative importance of each task to its parent and to the time frame available and due date, and then let LB tell me "two minutes or not, you really need to work on this task right now.
Does this make sense? It just seems that LB's method of moving tasks up the list based on importance, time, and balance is really a good system.
RE: Anyone Given Up on GTD and Gone Back to Letting LB Do the Wo
That's what I do. Life Balance me it easier for me to prioritize in the momment.
RE: Anyone Given Up on GTD and Gone Back to Letting LB Do the Wo
I'm at the same place you are Alan. The list is huge, and things never seem to get done, and things that have to get done, I now have to remember to do.
I've read the Procrastinator's Handbook because at times I feel like it's easier to write down what you need to do than to actually do it.
There are so many thoughts as to why I am not getting things done.
Maybe one is, learning how to recognize how much you can handle? Learning how to say no? Learning to not go to the Discussion boards when you should be doing something else? :-) That last one I am guilty of. But I came here tonight hoping for some missing key, some insight in to what I am doing incorrect.
I use LifeBalance and the GTD principles and the RATZ outline in LB, and I have found, that I cannot possibly use LB to balance or prioritize my items. The main reason for this is the effort! It doesn't work unless you track your effort for every item. For people with small lists, they may be able to handle it, but for people with huge lists, it takes me too much time to try and calculate the effort so that LB will 'balance' my life. :-)
The other obsticle to using the effort sliders is the fact that you cannot change multiple items at once. Let's say you define a project in LB, with 50 subtasks, and oops, the effort slider was at full force. But many of the items, don't need full effort. You have to click on every item to change it.
Simply put, it's too much effort to adjust the effort.
But, I still use LB because it is a great tool for organizing ToDo Lists, and I love the place concept. And sometimes, I can get LifeBalance to prioritize based on what I think needs to be done. Usually by giving a task item a date, with a huge leadtime (like 8 weeks) even if i just started on the project will move it up towards the top.
If it sounds like I'm frustrated at LifeBalance, I'm not, just trying to figure out Life. :-)
RE: Anyone Given Up on GTD and Gone Back to Letting LB Do the Wo
I've got an impossibly long list too, but I have one idea for you. I've been dealing with the effort sliders by adjusting them when I check tasks off rather than when I create tasks. I think of effort as a 4-hour scale, more or less, and after I've done something I approximate how long it took, drag the slider into the right general neighborhood and click the checkbox. I've found it an easy habit to get into, and LB reflects my fluxuating priorities quite well. Now if only I could figure out how to get 36-hour days working properly...
--Jon
RE: Anyone Given Up on GTD and Gone Back to Letting LB Do the Wo
>I've been dealing with the effort sliders by adjusting
>them when I check tasks off rather than when I create tasks.
I'm not quite sure how that helps you prioritize or complete tasks that are not yet done, or am I missing something?
RE: Anyone Given Up on GTD and Gone Back to Letting LB Do the Wo
I was addressing Stephenz's problem with getting effort sliders appropriately set, and the perceived resultant inaccuracy of the balance pies and in turn, the to-do list:
>It doesn't work unless you track your effort for
>every item. For people with small lists, they may be able to
>handle it, but for people with huge lists, it takes me too
>much time to try and calculate the effort so that LB will
>'balance' my life. :-)
I simply find it easier to report how much effort a task took after doing it than to predict it ahead of time; just a small part of the larger issues of this thread.
--Jon
RE: Anyone Given Up on GTD and Gone Back to Letting LB Do the Wo
Thanks for the suggestion Jon.
It's a great idea to adjust the effort as you complete tasks, it's just a habit I have to develop.
At one point, I was adjusting the effort for 1 hours increments. But on those 4 or 8 hour tasks, I would have to set to recurring daily with 1 day leadtime, click, update, click, update... etc. When you finally complete a task, set to once and click.
LB started to balance out nicely.
The problem occurs with using the effort slider as time occures on those tasks that take longer than 1 hour, or 4 hours. When you have a task that takes 10 hours (paint north side of house for instance) and you work on it for an extended period of time, it becomes a little more cumbersome.
Or what happens when you work on a task for 30 min, then you are interrupted by another person, or something comes up. Then you get back to it later in the day for another 30 min and are interupted again? Either you track the time with another application, or guesstimate the time, or set the task to recurring every day and click, update, click, update...
The problem with the click update method, is it takes away from setting a task due on a specific date, with a lead time. You can do this with a parent item, and maybe that's the answer.
The other problem with this method, is the time it takes for every task I check off, I need to go to effort, figure out the time, adjust slider, if finished then select complete once and click, if not finished, complete task then update then go to task again, change the effort slider, if finished then select complete once and click, if not...
I like your idea for a 4 hour effort slider. You have motivated me to give it a try again.
RE: Anyone Given Up on GTD and Gone Back to Letting LB Do the Wo
>I'm at the same place you are Alan. The list is huge, and
>things never seem to get done, and things that have to get
>done, I now have to remember to do.
My wife, who uses a simple smaller binder and note paper, and a cheap calendar for her "hard landscape" stuff, and is productive to the point that it makes me sick tell me the following:
"The problem with you PDA tech lovers is that you waste so much time trying to perfect your stupid systems and enjoy playing with the toys so much that you get caught up in that process and forget that the point of the PDA and software is to assist you to get stuff done."
I often think she has a point, and although the Llamas and others here might not like it, it does make sense. There are times when I think back as to when I was my most productive at work and home and realize that it was when I was using a paper planner (Priority Manager actually). However, that was in the late 90's and my job is now more complicated, with more details, tasks and deadlines. I'm not certain if it's because my job has changed or I simply got caught up in the technology of the PDA and associated software.
My wife says she knows she a "visual" person and unless she writes it down, it doesn't connect inside her head. She also swears that it's much easier to open a planner and go up and down the page and determine today's tasks than it is to scroll up and down a 3" by 2" screen (or on a PC or Mac). She believes in the value of being able to open a planner to a page that has the entire month at a time and see everything, in one shot, instead of a bunch of dotes and icons. In her experience, it doesn't connect the same way. She finds it irritating and counter-productive.
Hmmm.. I've been tempted to try a paper planner again for a couple of weeks. GTD fits into the paper scheme equally well, but, I have to admit that I'd miss the ability to have reminders and alarms pop-up for tasks and advance warnings of meetings and calls. I'd also miss being able to use "Bug-Me" to quickly jot down and activiate reminders. I user that one a lot.
I'm in a real state of indecision here -- and the work keeps piling up. Help!
RE: Anyone Given Up on GTD and Gone Back to Letting LB Do the Wo
She definately has a point! And if it works for her, more power to her.
The problem with a paper based system is the amount of work it takes to move items around.
For instance, if she uses a paper calendar, every year when she buys a new calendar she must go through and pencil in all recurring appointments, birthdays, anniversaries, etc.
If she buys a new address book, she must enter all the addresses in again.
If she wants to pencil in a recurring task, she must write it on every day instead of going into the event, and setting it to start on one day, then repeat until this date.
And if an appointment changes, she must scratch it out, then re-enter it on another day. Instead of going into the item, and simply changing the date.
If it is an appointment that has recurring items, she must mark out all the items, and re-enter all the items wherever they have moved to.
If she doesn't complete tasks for a day, she must re-enter them on the next day she wants to do them.
If someone changes their address, she must stratch them out and re-enter their name and new address information.
In an electronic system, any items entered on a day can automatically be viewed in a months view. It's too small to do on the Palm, but if you sync with your computer (Outlook, iCal, or whatever you use) you can see the events in a months view. In a paper system, you have to enter on the daily paper and in the monthly calendar.
If you ask me, paper systems are much more time intensive than electronic. Not to mention less friendly to the trees of the world.
It all depends on how insane your life is, how many appointments you keep up with, and how often those appointments change.
To each their own.
RE: Anyone Given Up on GTD and Gone Back to Letting LB Do the Wo
I forgot to mention the size issue:
If you are on the go, carrying around a paper based planner is large, bulky and inconvenient.
But carrying around a PDA... it's increadible how much you can hold in there! Address, phone, task list, date book, notes, passwords and even ebooks if your car breaks down!
A PDA can fit in your pocket, a daily planner cannot, unless it is one of those extremely small checkbook size planner.
RE: Anyone Given Up on GTD and Gone Back to Letting LB Do the Wo
It sounds like your wife is using the same logic that people who resist computers use.
How many times have I heard the arguments that computers do not make our lives easier. And they don't make them easier, yes we can get more done with computers, but getting more done leaves us with more to do.
What so many people bring up about computers is there doesn't seem to be more free time with the advent of computers. And yet we are doing more than our anscestors did.
500 years ago it was a full time job to hunt food, create clothes, wash clothes, prepare food and maintain a dwelling place. Today we spent less time with those physical aspects of life, and work has changed from physical to informational. With this change in what work is, we need to change. We can resist, or we can change.
This doesn't mean that our quality of life has increased...
Usually the people who argue most against computers are intimidated by them. They do not want to learn something new. They have paid their dues and are ready to reap the benifits of their period of learning.
But all this has changed, work has changed, no longer can a person get a degree, stop learning, and settle into a job. Now, the learning never stops.
The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn. -- Alvin Toffler
RE: Anyone Given Up on GTD and Gone Back to Letting LB Do the Wo
>It sounds like your wife is using the same logic that people
>who resist computers use.
Oh no, not at all. She's an avid computer user and internet fan. She's an accountant and can whip through a spreadsheet faster than anyone I know.
In terms of organizing, she firmly believes that there a more real connection between hand, pen and paper than there is from "graffiting" stuff into a PDA and then attempting to read it on a small screen.
She did give a PDA a try for 8 months or so but found herself spending more and more time trying to get the stuff in and out the way she wanted, and she also claims that what really works poorly on a PDA is the monthly view. She says she simply cannot get a quick and accurate feel for upcoming obligations with icons and dots on the small PDA screen.
I think, for her it's just a question of having tried a PDA and agreed that it didn't work for her.
By the way, I don't recall any of my friends or colleagues panicking because they've lost their paper planner. I can, however, clearly recall 3 friends who lost their PDA and yes, their data was safe, but their wallets took a major hit replacing the PDA. It's just that I don't think people lose paper planners...
I understand an address book is difficult to maintain in a paper planner system. There are two approaches to this: One can get a planner with a PDA pocket and continue to use it for address and Bug-me, so these are always with you. Alternately, one can maintain the address book on their PC and very quickly generate a printed copy of it. When updates are required, you just recycle the old one and print the amended list.
By the way, I recall Palm software that had a really good monthly display. It displayed information in little squiggle things that looked like text, so you can see what days had lots going on. It just looked better than the icons and dots and bars. Does anyone know of this software?
I'm enjoying this thread -- great contributions from everyone.
RE: Anyone Given Up on GTD and Gone Back to Letting LB Do the Wo
I stand corrected. Thanks for the response.
You make a good point that loosing a PDA put's a big hit on your wallet. But it isn't the tool that is valuable, it's the information.
I think there are probably a lot of stories out there from people who lost their paper planner.
Or... maybe people who use paper planners leave the planner at the office and never take it with them anywhere, so it never get's stolen? Why would they leave it at the office? Because they don't want to lug around the beast.
However, you could make the point that human existence becomes more enjoyable when we can leave the planner at the office. For some jobs this may work, and others it may not.
If you had a paper planner and a PDA, with all the same information in both. And you lost both. Which one would you rather have... er... lost?
The paper? It's much cheaper to replace, but you won't get your information back.
Or a PDA? It's more expensive, but you buy it, bring it home, sync it and vwalla! All the information is back.
You make another good point that viewing the monthly and even weekly events on the PDA is just about useless. But did you sync your PDA to your computer? What software did you use to look at your calendar?
RE: Anyone Given Up on GTD and Gone Back to Letting LB Do the Wo
>You make another good point that viewing the monthly and even
>weekly events on the PDA is just about useless. But did you
>sync your PDA to your computer? What software did you use to
>look at your calendar?
I sync to LB of course! But I also use the Palm Desktop for the calendar from time to time.
Here's a perfect example that happened just this afternoon in a meeting with myself, my VP, and 2 colleagues:
I carry a large notebook with me and I keep scribbles, meeting notes, etc in it. If there are notes from a meeting or call that need to become actions, I asterisk them and put them into LB later, because firstly it's slow and secondly, it's just plain "geeky" to ask everyone to stop talking and wait while you tap your way around your PDA in a meeting, but I digress.
The meeting lasted about 30 minutes and the VP asked about "next actions" and a follow up meeting for next week. One person didn't have a planner, one had a paper planner, and then there was me. The one with the paper planner opened it to the month view, and said, "I'm free Tuesday afternoona and mentioned a couple of other times." Meanwhile, I popped open my PDA and started tapping and beeping and holding my stylus over various dates with dots and icons and while they patiently waited, finally found out what was going on each day.
Sigh -- that was exactly what I was talking about. In this case, it was just plain less efficient to use the PDA.
By the way, the software that I mentioned as "MonthPlanner".
Here's a pic: >You make another good point that viewing the monthly and even
>weekly events on the PDA is just about useless. But did you
>sync your PDA to your computer? What software did you use to
>look at your calendar?
I sync to LB of course! But I also use the Palm Desktop for the calendar from time to time.
Here's a perfect example that happened just this afternoon in a meeting with myself, my VP, and 2 colleagues:
I carry a large notebook with me and I keep scribbles, meeting notes, etc in it. If there are notes from a meeting or call that need to become actions, I asterisk them and put them into LB later, because firstly it's slow and secondly, it's just plain "geeky" to ask everyone to stop talking and wait while you tap your way around your PDA in a meeting, but I digress.
The meeting lasted about 30 minutes and the VP asked about "next actions" and a follow up meeting for next week. One person didn't have a planner, one had a paper planner, and then there was me. The one with the paper planner opened it to the month view, and said, "I'm free Tuesday afternoona and mentioned a couple of other times." Meanwhile, I popped open my PDA and started tapping and beeping and holding my stylus over various dates with dots and icons and while they patiently waited, finally found out what was going on each day.
Sigh -- that was exactly what I was talking about. In this case, it was just plain less efficient to use the PDA.
By the way, the software that I mentioned as "MonthPlanner".
http://images.palmgear.com/software/screenshots/160x160/52120.gif
The only screen I like is the month view. The rest doesn't do anything for me.
RE: Anyone Given Up on GTD and Gone Back to Letting LB Do the Wo
You make a very good point...
I'm reluctant to enter items into LB while people are standing around for the same reasons:
1. It feels Geeky
2. It feels slow.
As for #1, Geek is Shiek baby... anyone who tells you different is afraid of not being cool. And anyone afraid of not being cool, isn't worth being around.
I struggle with these same issues.
I can totally see how the situation that you described shows the underbelly of the PDA. It is harder to use the month view in a meeting situation, but I think you can still be efficient with the PDA without using the Month View.
The situation you described... after the first person said Tuesday, you could have gone to that date to see if you were free in the single day view. If you were free, then shout it out at the top of your lungs, if not, then it's relatively painless to move to the next day (you can hit the up/down button down on the bottom of your palm, or use your stylus) or sometimes the week view works better. Switch to the week view, look for a slot, then go to that day to suggest a day. You can easily scan a week at a time with the week view.
I totally agree with the Month View... there's no point to it. So why not strike that out of your habits and see how the other 2 views work? Maybe practice it with your wife? Have her suggest 5 days to get together, and you see how fast you can respond to her with the week view, or goto date function?
What seems to be happening, is you are taking how others are working with their system (paper planner) and trying to shove the PDA into their mold? Every tool has it's own way of working, and the PDA may be a different method, a different paradigm of looking at your calendar.
Don't let those other guys get to you. :-) If you like using the PDA, then use it and to $%#% with what others think. If you like a paper system, then use it, and to #$%$ what others think.
:-)
RE: Anyone Given Up on GTD and Gone Back to Letting LB Do the Wo
When I was ten I read fairy tales in secret
and would have been ashamed if I had been found doing so.
Now that I am fifty, I read them openly.
When I became a man I put away childish things,
including the fear of childishness
and the desire to be very grown-up.
C. S. Lewis
RE: Anyone Given Up on GTD and Gone Back to Letting LB Do the Wo
>You make another good point that viewing the monthly and even
>weekly events on the PDA is just about useless. But did you
>sync your PDA to your computer? What software did you use to
>look at your calendar?
I find the week view(s) in DateBk5 work very well for me, even on a Palm Vx (small screen, grey-scale). I can quickly see whether I am free, and (usually) see if the events in the calendar are movable.
But I almost never enter information directly into the Palm. Like Steven (I think he wrote this), I keep meeting notes on paper and asterisk those that mean actions for later transfer to the Palm or doing when I review the notes, if they are short enough.
Cheers
KeithC
RE: Anyone Given Up on GTD and Gone Back to Letting LB Do the Wo
>I think there are probably a lot of stories out there from
>people who lost their paper planner.
>
Stephenz
Back in the 1990's I accidentally left my paper planner (Filofax) in my car. Came back 2 hours later and it had been stolen. Took me ages to get back together my addresses, notes, plans etc.
To make matters worse my car was so old and knackered that even though it had a key permanently in the ignition due to a fault, and could have been driven away by the crook, they left the heap where it was ;-)
RE: Anyone Given Up on GTD and Gone Back to Letting LB Do the Wo
Thanks for sharing the story!
Sounds like my car! :-)
What they wanted with your planner is beyond me, unless it had some credit card information in it.
But it reminds me of another pro for a digital planner. You can put a password on it with a timer, so even if it gets stolen, people can only get to your data for a couple hours.
This may not be a big deal for people who have paper planners, but if you store other peoples phone numbers, credit card numers, passwords for work, pin numbers for ATM's, then it's comforting to know that the crook won't have access to that information for too long.
If you are storing that kind of information in your palm, I suggest keeping it all in an encrypted password keeper. SplashID is what I use.
http://www.splashdata.com/splashid/
But the Palm OS also allows you to hide information with a password.
That way the really sensitive information always needs a password to get to, and the non sensitive information (addresses) you can use the palm timer to automatically lock once a day, so a person only has a day to get that information out, but cannot access the crucial information.
RE: Anyone Given Up on GTD and Gone Back to Letting LB Do the Wo
>But it reminds me of another pro for a digital planner. You
>can put a password on it with a timer, so even if it gets
>stolen, people can only get to your data for a couple hours.
>
I've been using onlyme for a few years now to secure my palm. The best feature being that if you wrongly guess the password 3 times, it increases the time before it lets you try again each time. So after a few more goes you will have to wait minutes and then hours before you can even try to break in.
I have no other links with Tranzoa than as a satisfied user.
AlastairJ
RE: And how do you backup a paper system?
With my Palm if it was ever lost or stolen I could by a new one and hotsync it and voila, my data.
While I think I could enjoy the tactile use of a paper system this is the one thing that would be a huge issue.
With a paper system you'd have to copy everything and put a second copy somewhere safe. This would be a nightmare and I doubt it would be kept up to date.
- Mark
RE: Anyone Given Up on GTD and Gone Back to Letting LB Do the Wo
There are ways around a lot of your objections, although I agree that there are major advantages to electronic calendars and address books. As for recurring tasks, I mostly track those with a tickler file system. I probably don't need to explain that to folks on this forum, but just in case--basically it's a revolving system with one file folder for each month and 31 folders for the days of the current month. Drop in pages to whatever date you want to remind yourself of something, and check the current folder every morning. Recurring tasks just get moved to the corresponding new folder each time they come around. Thanks go, of course, to David Allen and _Getting Things Done_ for the concept.
I'm also very partial to (color-coded) index cards for keeping all kinds of lists because they're so easy to shuffle and sort.
RE: Anyone Given Up on GTD and Gone Back to Letting LB Do the Wo
With regard to paper vs PDA--
I know that as a 'recovering' procrastinator I can spend my entire day playing with my Palm, Outlook, support groups, etc ostensibly 'becoming more organized and productive' while the truth is quite the opposite.
However, I'm sticking with the PDA because so much of my input comes in the form of email. It is easy for me to drag an email to an Outlook Task or Appointment, and magically it propogates to my Palm, and second computer.
One of the big reasons I started using the Palm is that it is a virtual conduit between work and home. It automatically keeps my calandars, tasks, notes, and contacts consistent between locations. (I use the PocketMirror feature to not sync private items to prevent things like my credit card info being on my work computer)
On the other hand, I find a sheet of paper to be an easier way to take manual notes than the palm, and also a better way of keeping the days tasks in my conciousness. So I always keep a notepad and pen handy. At the end of the day anything I've jotted down but not resolved, gets input into the palm. I then print out a LifeBalance ToDo list for tomorrow to hit the ground running.
Due to the nature of my work, and nature of my health, keeping detailed professional and medical records is important. In this regard I find the Palm to be invaluable.
RE: Anyone Given Up on GTD and Gone Back to Letting LB Do the Wo
For me, the thing that has made GtD worthwhile more than anything else is the structure of the weekly review. That in turn gives me more confidence that I have captured everything.
Cheers
KeithC
What Color Is Your Procrastination?
I've been following this thread and trying to figure out where my experiences parallel those of others, and where they diverge. I'm getting the feeling that "procrastination" is an awfully vague term; it's not much more specific than "failure:" it doesn't give (for me at least) any helpful understanding of exactly what went wrong, which is disheartening.
My procrastination is anxiety-colored. I tend to hold in my head an idealized picture of what my life 'should' be like, and the endless observable differences between the life I think I should be living and the reality that surrounds me can drive me to distraction.
The tasks that find their way onto my to-do list seem to fall into 2 categories. There is the short list of activities that I enjoy and look forward to, or hope to do someday; these tend to hold a sort of 'someday/maybe' status, rarely get developed, and linger indefinitely on the horizon like a mirage. Then there is the long list of things that I want to 'get done:' things I'd rather put behind me, which serve to relieve anxieties, meet other people's expectations, maintain the lifestyle to which I've become accustomed and help me avoid situations that I fear. These things dominate my lists. I don't so much keep a 'To Do' list; I keep a 'To Get Over With' list.
The "songs I came to sing" usually only get hummed quietly in the shower.
The problem I have with plans and goal-driven to-do lists is that I think of goals as things I want to put behind me. If the goal is such a good thing, why would I want to leave it behind? I suspect my understanding of the nature of goals is somehow short-circuited, but I generally feel more interested in and engaged with journeys than destinations. "Chop Wood, Carry Water" seems right, whereas "Seven Habits of Highly Successful People" seems kinda repulsive. But day-to-day existence isn't so simple and routine as chopping and carrying, even though I fantasize that it can be. The problems that perennially spring up, weed-like, in my little garden command my attention more easily than the big picture does. I feel obliged to focus on them until they are solved, but there is no end to them. They seem so much more real and important than any mist-obscured hopes or dreams.
I dislike splitting my life into work and rewards, obligations and electives. I sometimes fall for the fantasy that I could, if only I worked hard enough or found the right system, somehow keep all the plates spinning and still have the energy to "do something I really want to do," and then I feel suckered. That way lies madness, I think, or at least a heapin' helpin' of disappointment and regret. That's just not for me.
The thing is: I am motivated by anxiety. I move forward briskly when I can't even see the light at the end of the tunnel, when I'm groping in the darkness for something cold and sharp and slippery to cling to. The moment I find my footing and realize I'm okay I slow down, and when I emerge into the light I feel a bit deflated. I'm not sure I feel too good about that, either.
--Jon
RE: What Color Is Your Procrastination?
Interesting post Jon!
I'm finding out, that as soon as anything is put on my list, even if it's things that I have put on the list, things I want to do, there is a wall of resistance that appears. I can understand when someone else gives me something to do, the resistance that is there could be it's not something I want to do. But why in the world would I want to resist something I want to do?
The exception for this is when I am working for someone else and getting paid to to something, the time I spend on a job is not my own time, and I can stick to what I am supposed to be doing.
If this is true, how much more should it be true in my own life? Where I'm not getting paid but my time is more valuable!
I wonder if this may have something to do with naming a desire. It's much easier to live life without any expectations or desires, you'll never be dissapointed if you never try for anything specific. If you just accept what is given to you, without any expectations, it may be possible to be happy.
As for your statement:
My procrastination is anxiety-colored. I tend to hold in my head an idealized picture of what my life 'should' be like, and the endless observable differences between the life I think I should be living and the reality that surrounds me can drive me to distraction.
There will always be "stress" if that is what we want to call it, over an idealized life and the real life. I think most marriages fail because both parties have an idealized image of what the other person should be.
You could always become a Buddhist, and work on never having ideals, goals or passion.
Personally, I think the answer is a balance of both, the idealized and the real.
The word "goal" has been given a dry meaning in life. It feels so business oriented, so cold, so sterile, so uncreative. But the word passion or desire has a more flavorful connotation to it. When we are passionate about something, it doesn't feel like a goal, it feels like... well... it doesn't feel like anything. That is to say, it isn't defined as anything, it just is there.
I think part of the trick, in this, and in life, is to think about what you want and then forget about it. An example is a musician who learns a piece of music, but when they play it becomes a part of them and they don't think about the notes. This is what I imagine GTD or LB to do, the planning is creating the music, and the completing of the tasks is playing the music.
As for your post here:
If the goal is such a good thing, why would I want to leave it behind? I suspect my understanding of the nature of goals is somehow short-circuited, but I generally feel more interested in and engaged with journeys than destinations
I am in total agreement that the process is the product (from 7 habits of highly effective people), and it is the journey that is important. But what is a journey without a destination? Thay are intertwined. The journey is important, and more so than the destination, but the destination adds flavor to the journey. The important thing is to journey, arrive, enjoy both, then start again.
Another quote from your post:
"Chop Wood, Carry Water" seems right, whereas "Seven Habits of Highly Successful People" seems kinda repulsive.
Have you read the 7 habits? The title put me off for a long time, but it's much more of a relational book than it seems.
What I like about the concept of LB, is if you can be disciplined enough to enter the effort in correctly, it tries to steer you away from all the things you are doing just to put behind you, toward the things you want to do.
If only there were an easier way to keep track of effort with tasks...
RE: What Color Is Your Procrastination?
>I'm finding out, that as soon as anything is put on my list,
>even if it's things that I have put on the list, things I want
>to do, there is a wall of resistance that appears....
>
>The exception for this is when I am working for someone else
>and getting paid to to something, the time I spend on a job is
>not my own time, and I can stick to what I am supposed to be
>doing.
I have a different permutation of this sort of experience. I too resist doing things I've said I want to do, but not in favor of jobs I'll get paid for. In fact, I tend to find it harder to engage a task if I'm getting paid for it. When I'm doing something for someone else as a favor I tend to feel good about it, loosen up creatively and do excellent work. However, if I'm geting paid, my conception of the work becomes ridgid and onerous; I worry about my own competence, and begin thinking in terms of right and wrong.
>I think part of the trick, in this, and in life, is to think
>about what you want and then forget about it. An example is a
>musician who learns a piece of music, but when they play it
>becomes a part of them and they don't think about the notes.
>This is what I imagine GTD or LB to do, the planning is
>creating the music, and the completing of the tasks is playing
>the music.
I've been finding that when I tackle a project that isn't fairly routine for me, I don't do well at anticipating its course when I initially outline it. The process of building a multilayered structure of tasks and subtasks does help me to break an intimidating monolithic impossibility down into chunks (even morsels) that can be dealt with, but when I get down to business I almost never actually follow the plan; I learn too much as I go. Perhaps this is part of the trouble with geeky systems that Alan's wife described; it's easy to get absorbed in a fantastic conception, a mental model, of how things will go, and lose touch with reality.
>Have you read the 7 habits? The title put me off for a long
>time, but it's much more of a relational book than it seems.
I confess that I have not read it. I am guilty of judging the book by its cover.
>
>What I like about the concept of LB, is if you can be
>disciplined enough to enter the effort in correctly, it tries
>to steer you away from all the things you are doing just to
>put behind you, toward the things you want to do.
>
>If only there were an easier way to keep track of effort with
>tasks...
Ahh, a more technical note. I don't think I understand the problem you're having with LB's effort settings. What do you see as the issue here?
RE: Under Pressure
>I have a different permutation of this sort of experience. I
>too resist doing things I've said I want to do, but not in
>favor of jobs I'll get paid for. In fact, I tend to find it
>harder to engage a task if I'm getting paid for it. When I'm
>doing something for someone else as a favor I tend to feel
>good about it, loosen up creatively and do excellent work.
>However, if I'm geting paid, my conception of the work becomes
>ridgid and onerous; I worry about my own competence, and begin
>thinking in terms of right and wrong.
You make a good point. I would agree with that as well. Loosening up is the key. It's what makes all great artists, actors and sports players perform on that higher level.
There is a time when you must think about something, and a time when you must be able to forget that you are thinking at all.
RE: Anticipating the course
>I've been finding that when I tackle a project that isn't
>fairly routine for me, I don't do well at anticipating its
>course when I initially outline it. The process of building a
>multilayered structure of tasks and subtasks does help me to
>break an intimidating monolithic impossibility down into
>chunks (even morsels) that can be dealt with, but when I get
>down to business I almost never actually follow the plan; I
>learn too much as I go. Perhaps this is part of the trouble
>with geeky systems that Alan's wife described; it's easy to
>get absorbed in a fantastic conception, a mental model, of how
>things will go, and lose touch with reality.
Another great point! There will always be a difference between the ideal and the real. But there isn't anything wrong with that. What outlining a project does, is it gets my mind thinking about the project. I learn as I go, and as I learn the outline changes.
I kinda like the process of change though. It suggests to me that I am exploring and learning as I go.
If you look back at many of the great inventors of the past, so many of them seemed to be in the habit of keeping notes of things they worked on as they went. This wasn't for prosperity or writing things down so other people would see them. I think, it's because when we try to explain something to someone, even if it is in writing, our minds kick in and we learn on a different level.
This is also mentioned in the 7 habits. If you want to learn something, teach it.
I look at the outlining in this way. Outlining something out, get's your mind engaged, and allows you to start thinking about a project. It gives you those first steps so you don't procrastinate because you're not sure what the next thing to do is. At least with an outline, you have a next step. And if it is wrong, well, that's just part of the learning process.
There isn't anything wrong with being wrong... it's how we learn. To be afraid to be wrong is to be afraid to try and to learn something new.
A young reported heard that Thomas Edison had failed more than ten thousand times in his attempts to invent the light bulb. The reporter posed the question,
RE: The Problem With Effort
>>What I like about the concept of LB, is if you can be
>>disciplined enough to enter the effort in correctly, it
>tries
>>to steer you away from all the things you are doing just to
>>put behind you, toward the things you want to do.
>>
>>If only there were an easier way to keep track of effort
>with
>>tasks...
>
>Ahh, a more technical note. I don't think I understand the
>problem you're having with LB's effort settings. What do you
>see as the issue here?
Here is an older post that I'm repaisting here:
The balancing piece of LB is what makes LB unique and a wonderful tool. The only problem I have with the effort, is determining how much effort to give an item, and cutting back on the amount of "work" I spend adjusting each task.
There are two approaches to effort, one is how much you 'feel' you put into the task. The problem with this is you can work on a task for 5 hours and not 'feel' like you put much effort into it. While you may work on an intense task for 30 min and feel like you put a lot of effort into the item.
The other approach is a straight approach based on time. What I've done in the past is to count a full effort bar (slider over to the right) as 1 hour. And then I break the stlider bar down to 3 other sections for 15, 30 & 45 min. If a task takes longer than 1 hour, I set it to repeat daily with a lead time of 1 day. Then I check off the task, hit update, check off the task, hit update... and continue until I reach the desired amount of time the task took me.
I haven't been using this method because I got tired of constantly messing with the effort slider and trying to keep track of the time. Especially when I would start on one task, then go to another, then come back to that one.
Okay, so now we have reached the suggestion section of our program...
It would be cool to select a task that is 'active' and have LB automatically determine the amount of time I am spending on that item, store the time, and count it as effort. If a user is done working with the item, they 'de activate' it by clicking on another task, or deactivating the item somehow.
<deep breath>
One of the problems i can see happening with this method, is starting a task, then forgetting I am working on it when I get interrupted and not 'un activating' the task so the effort then is counted too much.
One solution to this problem is to have LB go to active mode or focus mode by displaying a full screen on the plam of the item you are working on. On that screen it allows you to deactivate the item. But how would this translate to the desktop?
Maybe something as simple as just clicking on a task, or to the left of the task and seeing a small clock icon next to the task that is active.
LB could deactivate the item based on a time specified by the user. Like 15 min. LB could send out an alarm to ask you if you are still working on the item, if you are you keep working if it doesn't get a response it 'de activates' the item. This would also keep me focused on workin on one task, if I have sidetracked to something else and the LB alarm comes up, I can get back on target.
One of the rewarrds for keeping track of effort as time, is LB could then print out time reports, useful for jobs that require time reports.
I think LB sales would drastically increase if you had this functionality in it. It would be the biggest baddest most impressive time clock, outline, management software alive! And then the Llama's could rule the world! (Not that they don't already
RE: What Color Is Your Procrastination?
I too am a procrastinator. I have avoided using that word/concept for many years because for me it was connected with very unhelpful self-judging that just increased my anxiety and immobility.
But now I am relearning about being a procrastinator, thanks to an excellent book. "The Now Habit" by Neil Fiore has given me new insights into what motivations underlie my procrastinating and even how I can use my own tendencies to my advantage. And Fiore does it all in a voice that is compassionate rather than judging of procrastinators.
So I offer this in case any other procrastinators out there may find it useful.
Cheers,
Lenore
RE: The Now Habit
Thanks for the suggestion! I'll check it out!
RE: What Color Is Your Procrastination?
>But now I am relearning about being a procrastinator, thanks
>to an excellent book. "The Now Habit" by Neil Fiore has given
>me new insights into what motivations underlie my
>procrastinating and even how I can use my own tendencies to my
>advantage. And Fiore does it all in a voice that is
>compassionate rather than judging of procrastinators.
Just ordered it from Amazon.
Thanks!
RE: What Color Is Your Procrastination?
I hope it's as useful for you as for me. I'd love to hear how you find it.
--Lenore
RE: Anyone Given Up on GTD and Gone Back to Letting LB Do the Wo
Really Getting Thing Done
I believe that GTD has really great advantages :
- I know what I have to do, instead all living constantly in fear of something I have forgotten.
- I have confidence that I can follow-up on non-priority projects. (instead on never doing them, because i have never think about them when I can progress on them)
- all my documents, bills, receipts, are organized.
Basically, I am organized, and feel less overwhelmed.
But if you are a procrastinator like I am, it won't help you start doing what is important. And it will give you easy excuses to do something else.
To tackle the procrastination issue, I strongly recommend " The Now Habit" of Neil Fiore, which has been said to be the more effective strategy against procrastination. This book deals with the psychological aspects of procrastination (fear of criticism, fear of failure, fear of success, perfectionnism, low self-esteem, feeling victimized, resentment, guilt, anxiety) and let you has a strategy for working effectively and having a lot of guilt-free play to enjoy life and work.
An important poitn is that this book will not make you feel guilty, or facing another dreadful challenge. It will help you :
- understand procrastination
- do something about it
- balance your life
- have realistic thoughts and emotions about work, etc.
When you overcome these psychological blocks, GTD is a great help to organize your work.
The problem is not being organized, but overcoming procrastination. You can buy this book, it will always help.
By the way I am not sure that using a software to do the work is a good solution. It will just impose more burden on you. Choose what you want to do.