It has been more than 4 months since I’ve last heard about Getting Things Done
It took some effort to get into the GTD mind set. One of them, is to decide the exact next action of the “stuff” in my head. It’s quite a discipline to decide on the next action everytime some “stuff” pops up in my head. It’s easy for something we’re used to, like going out for dinner in a restaurant. This activity actually involves lots of next action. First, decide what to eat, then decide where to eat, then check if it’s open today, then check if the restaurant can accommodate our group of 4, then decide how to get there, then call a cab etc.
For something like “I want to exercise more regularly”, is not that obvious. “I want to exercise more regularly” is not actually an action. You just know you have to do something about it, but not sure what that something is. So this “thing” stays in your brain unconsciously. Everytime you feel like it (which could be weeks, or months later!), you’ll pick up your jogging shoes, just to find that the sole is gone. You’ll have to look for a replacement, but not sure where to look. You’ll then ask the regular jogger among your friends where you can get a good pair of shoes that’s within your budget. Then you’ll have to set a time to make a trip to that shop. And all these have not even addressed the original question of exercising “more regularly”. You’ve only addressed the “exercising” part!
Once I got used to nailing down what’s the next action is, I will feel uneasy if there’s no next action for something. Somehow knowing the next action makes me feel more in control, and more relaxed, even if I’m not taking that next action.
Right now, time sensitive actions are sometimes outside my control. However, a peculiar side effect of knowing exactly what needs to be done has actually resolved the time sensitivity of most things. Efficiency has increased, rendering a lot of things, less time sensitive.
Of course, if you really want to argue, there aren’t actually lots of things that are truely time sensitive. Most of the things that has to be done, doesn’t really “have” to be done that day. It can always wait, or choose not to do it at all. The more important things in life are normally those that are non-time-sensitive. So instead of getting things done, are we getting the “right” things done?
The GTD journey continues, and hopefully, it’ll eventually resemble GTRTD – Getting the Right Things Done.
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