Getting Things Done (GTD) - Cult or Awesome?

i read that book a couple of weeks ago, it is like 30% hilarious nonsense and 50% verbiage, but what remains is good and i am going to tear my apartment apart this xmas in response.

holy shit it's a phenomenon

I would up it to something like 50% nonsense and 40% verbiage, but there is definitely some truth in there in the remaining 10%.

how does reconcile the urge for hyerproductivity with the principles of ~zen~, sounds like one foot in 2 very different mindsets

setting yourself up to do the least amount of thinking possible so you can just act is p zen imo/e

this thread makes me so anxious.

like:

thanks for this, i like this idea--i listened to a talk some guy gave recently where he talked about the kind of first question to ask when looking at a goal is "how are you gonna get there?" and the next question should be "what will you try if that doesn't work?"

― BIG HOOS aka the steendriver, Tuesday, November 18, 2014 3:39 PM Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

This is totally true, and it works for me, and it also makes me anxious and exhausted all the time. Thinking about the practice of this makes me even more anxious.

my approach is basically just always be worrying about something and you'll get a lot done. maybe not all the things that you might thing you want done, but all the things you really care about getting done at least. i guess also -- don't pretend you're being productive when you're relaxing, and take the time when you're relaxing seriously, and attempt to do it without guilt (i always fail with the latter)

i occasionally make to-do lists but they are in scattered files and notepads and don't really last more than a week, and its only when i have a few really high priority items that i feel the need to write them down a few times just to be sure they're there.

even thinking about adhering to a system makes me feel panic

Did I post about reading that stupid Eat That Frog book? Please do not waste your time with that drivel. I mean read the first chapter or two if you must, while standing in the bookstore, but them put it down and run away.

Hahaha

I will, however, support reading "More Time for You," which also contains drivel but also a "system" of sorts that I have found quite helpful, especially back when I was having to deal with hundreds of e-mails per day. Just as useful now that I am a full-time stoodent.

Unrelated (OR IS IT): I am now reading Jon Kabat-Zinn's "Full Catastrophe Living" i.e. getting things done is overrated/not even a real thing.

this decluttering shit is too real. i found a $70 HSA check from 2007 and a nudie mag from 1972

excuse me the check was from 2011. i'm also doing this drunk.

don't remember ever laying eyes on either

check's expired yet the mag's still good, amirite?

eeyyup

does anyone have any good ideas for storing a huge bunch of cdr's? like a couple hundred. i really hate those booklet things. i'm thinking of getting a buuunch of those simple paper sleeves and then some kind of set of drawers or bins for them. anyone do anything like this?

store them... in the garbage

i read that book a couple of weeks ago, it is like 30% hilarious nonsense and 50% verbiage, but what remains is good and i am going to tear my apartment apart this xmas in response.

― 𝔠𝔞𝔢𝔨 (caek), Monday, December 22, 2014 10:27 PM (1 week ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

so just bought this and am reading it now because of this thread and yeah --- it is sort of hilarious/alarming (esp thinking about the adolescent author going around tidying everything in sight) but i'm feeling more and more ready to purge the shit out of this place

what's interesting to me is that certain areas of my life (kitchen, "gear") are pretty organized while others (books, papers, clothes) are not, and i think that reflects, uh, particular anxieties (cooking and outdoor stuff are relaxing enriching activities, paying bills and apparently dressing myself are not)

(esp thinking about the adolescent author going around tidying everything in sight)

love this

it is p funny, like "i've been thinking about tidying since I was 5yo", but also i'm like o_O dang maybe we should talk about this

lol she is extremely passionate about tidying

"I once worked as a Shinto shrine maiden for five years."

i mean

i love it

After being a j-fold and stacker for many years, reading her book has got me vertically organizing all my drawers - surprising amount of space freed up. Mr. Jaq piled all his clothes up in the front room yesterday and said thanks/goodbye to 5 bags full. And his socks are all resting like fuzzy snails in his sock drawer.

does anybody use Slack at work?

i have a need for a place where a teammates can comm w/each other, share google docs, etc, that feels more joined up that the combo of IM and email that we're currently using, but i can't quite get my head around how Slack is supposed to work

try Hipchat?

i use slack. it's great. it's just like IRC but with archive search and some google integrations.

Trying to use OmniFocus for the iPhone now and it sure is a hell of a lot more complicated than Reminders.

I've been digging Todoist.

ok i've done that thing where i'm psyched about slack and invited my team and nobody cares

My company just banned skype. Did the trick.

catn stop me from skypin fascists

it is allowed for calls and you get an exemption if you are old

lol

legume old as hell

i am old but i dont really skype, ive skyped maybe 5 times tops, it seems bad

That's true it's bad

I want to try Slack because I’ve heard a lot of good chatter about it, but I would have to force someone else to sign up too or w/e.

yo markers ilxmail me your email address, I have started company "ilxor" on slack and would love to talk to you

same goes for anyone else

Awesome idea. Will do now.

Done. Check yr email.

markers, can i check this out? i need to find some decent collaborative communication and task management software and want to try a few things out before deciding on a set.

i use slack at work - a new boss came in before xmas and got us all using it. it's hard to see the need for it until you start using it - it really is useful - it creates a culture of people discussing things informally as they work - like in our job we work with a very particular type of editorial and there are many rules but also many instances in which you can break them - slack has become a place where people will throw these out for discussion. you'd never really send an email to do this. i think it also is good for general messing or chat that isn't about work - creates a good team atmosphere.

tracer - the only thing i'd say is you might need some way of forcing everyone to join - i was sceptical at the start but our boss was the one introducing it so we all kind of had to start using it.

tracer - the only thing i'd say is you might need some way of forcing everyone to join - i was sceptical at the start but our boss was the one introducing it so we all kind of had to start using it.

this is the main issue i have with even quite basic tools - i run a small team across countries within a larger team. that larger team is still fairly archaic (sending emailing word docs back and forth for revision ffs!) but feel that if i can get the smaller team to use tools.

i don't want to create too much admin for them tho, and have ended up managing their tasks within my own task list and letting them manage theirs as they see fit, as long as they get it down.

but having an informal work communication tool feels like it would help foster a bit of team coherence (a bit of a worry across countries - why i was interested in the non-work chat point LG) and also develop ideas in an informal way. only problem is we have a company wide IM tool, and asking people to use two tools for effectively the same thing isn't likely to be successful and probably a bad idea anyway.

i think slack would be great for my program but i think i'd have to convince the chief resident to implement it from the top down for anyone to actually start using it

it works very differently to Im mainly because you'll have one channel with everyone in the team looking in - it really is well-named, it creates new conversations rather than replacing a tool you already use. it's a very simple casual tool that just gets people talking and sharing problems more, in my experience.

cheers LG. just had a look round on their intro material. definitely going to explore.

Yeah, I've used slack some for non-biz stuff, but there is no way I could ever convince my team to adopt a new tool.

dont call it a tool be like "its just a cool place to hang out if ur into it or whatever"