April - GTD and Toodledo #13: Just Get Things Done

Ironically, when I need GTD the most, it's the easiest to fall off the wagon.

David Allen says one of the best things about GTD is that it's easy to get back on the wagon - which is good, because it's also easy to fall off, and even as the originator of this particular wagon, he falls off and gets back on all the time.  I learned this in a great intro-level video of a talk David gave at google.  Here's the video of David Allen at Google.

So, I fell off and got back on, a few times, in recent days.  As I have noticed, I learn the most when I iterate through problems, and this 30 day project has forced me to remain continuous in my resolve to find a way when I am in the gap between iterations of 'on'.  So, I tried something new.  I was working on some content for a client that does Iceland Excursions and I thought that maybe I could do the right thing at a client level and continue to refine my process without the mass of my entire workload to deal with.  It seems to be working.

Here's a tiny version of what it my 'working' screen looks like:

Key observations:
- More projects, fewer actions.  When I scan, I realized that my mind attempts to comprehend the top level items, so 5 items is as distracting as 5 projects - even though 5 projects might mean 25 actions.  Hmmmm.

- Most things actually ARE projects, so this is natural when you do it.

- Sorting by Tag puts all the 'super projects,' or in my case, clients, together.

- Because I can sort subtasks, I can reorder things as I see fit

- I have projects that never end, like doing web promotion for things like Iceland Excursions where tasks flow through, but the project never ends.  Truly, this is like exercise and eating, where I could have discreet projects that DO end, but I like this method.  It allows me to tick things off and feel advancement, add things to the end of the list and keep an eye on overall workload.

- I can put PROJECT-LEVEL waiting, someday/maybe, and reference items in this system.  In the tiny graphic above, I have a project at the top with several waiting items and reference items.  They are neatly sequestered where I need them, not taking up me-level overhead.

I think it's starting to come together.  If you just found this post, please visit the whole series; 30 days of Getting things done and Toodledo.com.

#2 30 Day project candidates

These are the projects I'm currently considering.  I'll pick one soon.

• Another weight loss sprint, this time working toward specific goals of distance to run or ride.
• House projects: finish the garage cleanup (trashing stuff, selling stuff, painting, etc.)
• * Focus: Focusing on my goals: 30 days of conscious, deliberate mental focus on my goals
• * Financial: Establish 2 new clients
• Financial: Set up a family budget and work to it
• * Habits: Follow prescribed work habits - this means get up at the same time every day, work to plan and knock things out in the allotted time so I'm available to my family (and more calm and peaceful) the rest of the time
• * Habits: Follow my To-Do system for 30 days
• * Meditate daily

You should know that I added the single word summaries after the list was created.  They represent refinement of thinking.

Tangent alert: These items are not all personal development.  Only the ones with an asterisk are actually the kind I intended to consider - the ones that are PERSONAL and action oriented.  These are different than a goals list, these are habits and personal actions (and the beliefs behind them) like weight loss.  That was a commitment to make good decisions about eating and exercise for a month, even though it was against my routine.  If I can create the macro habit of resetting one set of bad habits to a deliberately-crafted replacment set of habits every month... great!  That's the plan.

Ok - of these, I'm thinking the one that makes the most sense is the one(s) around habits.

Official next project: Managing my actions using my To-Do List and Getting Things Done system.  I'm actually using an online tool for processing To-Do's - the tool is by a company called Toodledo.  Their online to do manager is really cool and they've molded some functionality around the GTD system.  I've been a fan of the GTD and David Allen's system for a while, but I've had trouble implementing it due to my compulsion to always geek out on the process instead of just doing it.  This is one of the most valuable books that I own.