I tried to implement GTD and failed. This wasn’t the first attempt. I thought I could do it this time because I had more free-time to do it, but I realize that the main problem isn’t that I didn’t have enough time, but that I don’t have the right software.
I’m also working on a knowledge mapping project where I feel like the main problem is that I can only theorize about knowledge mapping, but I can’t really use the software to help me build it and I can’t actually see what benefit a particular hypothetical feature would have.
So, I need to learn how to code for two reasons—to help me write software to help me with GTD and with knowledge mapping.
I started CS101 on udacity and got through it in 2 or 3 days. I’m now stuck on CS253. I can’t get google app engine to work. I’m hopelessly stuck on my goal of learning to become a good programmer. My only sure fire option is to wait until University starts up, but then I’ll be learning C++ and not Python, so it seems that it will be quite a while before I’m able to learn enough programming to accomplish my goals.
I also started a blogtrying to track my progress learning CS.
If you can’t find the right software to implement GTD, why don’t you just use pen and paper?
Here is how I would do it: a plastic envelope for all papers; one paper for each project, one paper for each context, one or more papers for incoming ideas. Write any new idea on the “incoming” paper and process it later. On a project paper list all tasks that need to be done for this project; you can also use it for other project-related information. Make a circle around the “next task” (and write it on the context paper), then cross it out (on both project and context papers) when it is done. If any paper gets too ugly, replace it with a fresh version at home. You can keep an archive of the old project papers.
Maybe you have a good reason for wanting a computer version instead of paper version, but I have noticed that many computer users have a bias for doing everything at computer, whether it’s useful or not. For other kinds of information, computers have clear advantages: easier to process, not much space required for many data. However, GTD is different—most of the papers you just use for a short time and throw them away. (You can always make a digital record of your completed projects later.) Paper gives you high speed and complete freedom to customize, and you can start right now.
The problem I’m running into is that many of the things I’m trying to work on are very multifaceted and so I feel that I need a computer to organize my thoughts on them.
If I’m trying to make a complicated decision such as how to optimize my diet, there are MANY different things to read and you need to be able to break your research into manageable components. I feel like I can only manage this complexity with a computer.
I find that even existing computer tools are really unsatisfying. Trying to use pen and paper sounds maddeningly difficult. I’m curious that it works for you.
Also, I suppose part of the problem is that I need some help getting set up with GTD. I’ve failed so many times to set it up on my own, I don’t really feel like trying again unless something is different.
My experience with GTD is: trying, failing, trying again, failing again, etc. So I wouldn’t say it works for me. But I have noticed that waiting for a perfect implementation is a good excuse to procrastinate. And there is no guarantee the perfect implementation would make things work. Or I could change my mind and decide I now have different criteria for a perfect implementation. Etc. So it’s probably just an excuse. I could start with what I have now, and it does not prevent me to search for a better implementation.
And probably I am using it for much simpler tasks. Because my typical situation is simple tasks not being done. I can still imagine that for a complex project I would use a Word document in computer, and paper for “next actions”… because the “next actions” by definition are simple.
How exactly did you fail in your previous attempts with GTD? My typical failure mode is simply giving up and ignoring the system. The same thing could happen to me with a computer implementation, too. Some problems have to be fixed outside of GTD. GTD is basicly for people who have no problems with procrastination, they just do tasks in a wrong order (less important ones first) or remember them in wrong contexts (e.g. forget to send an important e-mail when at computer, remember it when walking outside, then forget it again).
“GTD is basicly for people who have no problems with procrastination, they just do tasks in a wrong order (less important ones first)”
People don’t do nothing when they procrastinate.
“How exactly did you fail in your previous attempts with GTD? My typical failure mode is simply giving up and ignoring the system.”
Basically, I didn’t actually use the system. I suppose this could be a failure on my part rather than a failure due to bad software. Thinking about this now, I’m surprised that I was able to rationalize things for so long saying that the problem was imperfect software.
I suppose the problem is that the software does not definitely tell me which option is better, and so I don’t commit to any option. Then, I just choose options based on what seems most relevant to work on at the time. I suppose the problem of definitively saying that one option is better than the other can’t be solved (actually, this is a bit of a rationalization). But, I can still commit to options without strong certainty in the options because I am sure that it would be really coincidental if the thing I decided to work on in the moment were actually the most important thing I could be doing...
It’s not literally nothing, but I’d say they often do some “infinite task”—a thing that can expand to take all available time, and can be used to avoid anything else. Modern example is web browsing, but classic example could be e.g. house cleaning. Avoiding is the critical component of procrastination, but it can be masked by wasting all the time and then saying “no, I don’t avoid it, I just don’t have enough time, because I have so much work”. Sometimes the waste of time is obvious, such as with web browsing, but sometimes one can do many relatively useful things just to avoid one unplesant task.
GTD is good to fix bugs like: “you did a decision, then you forgot it, then you had to decide again, so you wasted twice as much time” or “you went to place X to do task A, then you returned home, and only then you remembered that you also have to do task B at the same place, so you had to travel twice”. It supposes one is already efficient, but wants do be twice as efficient. So one creates lists of “all tasks that need to be done at place X”, lists of already made decisions, etc.
GTD is bad to fix bugs like: “you had enough time to do A, but instead you spent all the time on Reddit”. One can write a list of projects and tasks… and spend all the time on Reddit anyway.
I suppose the problem is that the software does not definitely tell me which option is better, and so I don’t commit to any option.
Yeah, that’s another thing GTD does not do (not 100% sure about it, but this is what I remember). It supposes that you choose a doable amount of work, and do it all. The only difference is that by being twice as efficient, the amount of doable work increases.
Planning is a different thing than doing; and it shouldn’t be done at the same time. -- When planning, we focus on how useful things are. When doing, we are inevitably influenced by how easy things are. When we mix planning and working, there is high risk of rationalizing the easier task as more useful, just because we prefer to do something easy.
For me planning is easiest when the work is in the far mode; for example on evening, or when I am walking outside.
EDIT: Actually, GTD makes an important distinction between projects (you started doing), future projects (you didn’t start yet, but you will start soon) and maybe projects (you probably will not do it), and it prioritizes the projects that already started. Which makes sense, because by decision to start a project, you expressed that the project has a high priority, so you should respect it (unless you change your mind dramatically).
I recommended the software Nozbe in the product/service recommendation thread. It’s worked wonderfully well for me personally. There are other recommendations in that thread which I haven’t looked into simply because Nozbe is working for me, and this is the first time anything has worked for me for more than a couple of days.
I tried to implement GTD and failed. This wasn’t the first attempt. I thought I could do it this time because I had more free-time to do it, but I realize that the main problem isn’t that I didn’t have enough time, but that I don’t have the right software.
I’m also working on a knowledge mapping project where I feel like the main problem is that I can only theorize about knowledge mapping, but I can’t really use the software to help me build it and I can’t actually see what benefit a particular hypothetical feature would have.
So, I need to learn how to code for two reasons—to help me write software to help me with GTD and with knowledge mapping.
I started CS101 on udacity and got through it in 2 or 3 days. I’m now stuck on CS253. I can’t get google app engine to work. I’m hopelessly stuck on my goal of learning to become a good programmer. My only sure fire option is to wait until University starts up, but then I’ll be learning C++ and not Python, so it seems that it will be quite a while before I’m able to learn enough programming to accomplish my goals.
I also started a blogtrying to track my progress learning CS.
Any help appreciated.
If you can’t find the right software to implement GTD, why don’t you just use pen and paper?
Here is how I would do it: a plastic envelope for all papers; one paper for each project, one paper for each context, one or more papers for incoming ideas. Write any new idea on the “incoming” paper and process it later. On a project paper list all tasks that need to be done for this project; you can also use it for other project-related information. Make a circle around the “next task” (and write it on the context paper), then cross it out (on both project and context papers) when it is done. If any paper gets too ugly, replace it with a fresh version at home. You can keep an archive of the old project papers.
Maybe you have a good reason for wanting a computer version instead of paper version, but I have noticed that many computer users have a bias for doing everything at computer, whether it’s useful or not. For other kinds of information, computers have clear advantages: easier to process, not much space required for many data. However, GTD is different—most of the papers you just use for a short time and throw them away. (You can always make a digital record of your completed projects later.) Paper gives you high speed and complete freedom to customize, and you can start right now.
The problem I’m running into is that many of the things I’m trying to work on are very multifaceted and so I feel that I need a computer to organize my thoughts on them.
If I’m trying to make a complicated decision such as how to optimize my diet, there are MANY different things to read and you need to be able to break your research into manageable components. I feel like I can only manage this complexity with a computer.
I find that even existing computer tools are really unsatisfying. Trying to use pen and paper sounds maddeningly difficult. I’m curious that it works for you.
Also, I suppose part of the problem is that I need some help getting set up with GTD. I’ve failed so many times to set it up on my own, I don’t really feel like trying again unless something is different.
My experience with GTD is: trying, failing, trying again, failing again, etc. So I wouldn’t say it works for me. But I have noticed that waiting for a perfect implementation is a good excuse to procrastinate. And there is no guarantee the perfect implementation would make things work. Or I could change my mind and decide I now have different criteria for a perfect implementation. Etc. So it’s probably just an excuse. I could start with what I have now, and it does not prevent me to search for a better implementation.
And probably I am using it for much simpler tasks. Because my typical situation is simple tasks not being done. I can still imagine that for a complex project I would use a Word document in computer, and paper for “next actions”… because the “next actions” by definition are simple.
How exactly did you fail in your previous attempts with GTD? My typical failure mode is simply giving up and ignoring the system. The same thing could happen to me with a computer implementation, too. Some problems have to be fixed outside of GTD. GTD is basicly for people who have no problems with procrastination, they just do tasks in a wrong order (less important ones first) or remember them in wrong contexts (e.g. forget to send an important e-mail when at computer, remember it when walking outside, then forget it again).
“GTD is basicly for people who have no problems with procrastination, they just do tasks in a wrong order (less important ones first)”
People don’t do nothing when they procrastinate.
“How exactly did you fail in your previous attempts with GTD? My typical failure mode is simply giving up and ignoring the system.”
Basically, I didn’t actually use the system. I suppose this could be a failure on my part rather than a failure due to bad software. Thinking about this now, I’m surprised that I was able to rationalize things for so long saying that the problem was imperfect software.
I suppose the problem is that the software does not definitely tell me which option is better, and so I don’t commit to any option. Then, I just choose options based on what seems most relevant to work on at the time. I suppose the problem of definitively saying that one option is better than the other can’t be solved (actually, this is a bit of a rationalization). But, I can still commit to options without strong certainty in the options because I am sure that it would be really coincidental if the thing I decided to work on in the moment were actually the most important thing I could be doing...
It’s not literally nothing, but I’d say they often do some “infinite task”—a thing that can expand to take all available time, and can be used to avoid anything else. Modern example is web browsing, but classic example could be e.g. house cleaning. Avoiding is the critical component of procrastination, but it can be masked by wasting all the time and then saying “no, I don’t avoid it, I just don’t have enough time, because I have so much work”. Sometimes the waste of time is obvious, such as with web browsing, but sometimes one can do many relatively useful things just to avoid one unplesant task.
GTD is good to fix bugs like: “you did a decision, then you forgot it, then you had to decide again, so you wasted twice as much time” or “you went to place X to do task A, then you returned home, and only then you remembered that you also have to do task B at the same place, so you had to travel twice”. It supposes one is already efficient, but wants do be twice as efficient. So one creates lists of “all tasks that need to be done at place X”, lists of already made decisions, etc.
GTD is bad to fix bugs like: “you had enough time to do A, but instead you spent all the time on Reddit”. One can write a list of projects and tasks… and spend all the time on Reddit anyway.
Yeah, that’s another thing GTD does not do (not 100% sure about it, but this is what I remember). It supposes that you choose a doable amount of work, and do it all. The only difference is that by being twice as efficient, the amount of doable work increases.
Planning is a different thing than doing; and it shouldn’t be done at the same time. -- When planning, we focus on how useful things are. When doing, we are inevitably influenced by how easy things are. When we mix planning and working, there is high risk of rationalizing the easier task as more useful, just because we prefer to do something easy.
For me planning is easiest when the work is in the far mode; for example on evening, or when I am walking outside.
EDIT: Actually, GTD makes an important distinction between projects (you started doing), future projects (you didn’t start yet, but you will start soon) and maybe projects (you probably will not do it), and it prioritizes the projects that already started. Which makes sense, because by decision to start a project, you expressed that the project has a high priority, so you should respect it (unless you change your mind dramatically).
I recommended the software Nozbe in the product/service recommendation thread. It’s worked wonderfully well for me personally. There are other recommendations in that thread which I haven’t looked into simply because Nozbe is working for me, and this is the first time anything has worked for me for more than a couple of days.