The correct adoption of the GTD methodology, besides a boost in our outcomes, can also cause some important psychic side effects. David Allen himself frequently acknowledges it, sometimes with a bit of irony:
A complete and accurately defined list of projects, kept current and reviewed on at least a weekly basis, is a master key to stress-free productivity. And it is still nonexistent for most people we encounter. Perhaps that’s because it really works.
(’Ready for anything’, page 102)
The problem is, after a long time wasting one’s own resources, not taking profit of one’s own ideas, thinking twice or even more times the same thoughts without doing anything about them, a tool like GTD causes a sort of earthquake in the inner layers of the self. After learning to get things done, next thing is very often a ’shock of seeing things done’. But it is a nice shock, all in all, because you feel grown up, the day has suddenly more hours, and you become maturer and more aware of this miraculous gift you’ve been given called life.
The usual work process has always been 1) doing some “hmm” and then 2) go for the task. In a way, what Getting Things Done does is putting all the “hmms” together so that later you can have a nice flow of doing and doing and doing right away. It made me think of the “The fly” films. Remember? It was a scientist who had invented a machine to teleport from A to B. The problem is that a fly entered the teleporting chamber and got integrated on the arrival to B.
I think one of the GTD fears has to do with that. After splitting all your projects into their relevant actions, what if they do not come together in the right way later? The difference is that, in GTD, in case of malfunction, you simply return to A, but with a clearer head after having a glimpse of B. So you keep trying.
Funny how GTD causes a lot of psychological side effects, similar to those guys who, after living for some years in a prison, find hard to return to everyday life. Lately, I’ve been considering coaching GTD myself one day, once my planning skills become stronger. I think my combination of psychologist and GTD geek could make me useful in a peculiar way.
What about you? Have you implemented GTD? What was your experience like?
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