It seems that over the past two years, I’ve heard from a consistent stream of friends and acquaintances who have converted to the Getting Things Done system. Most recently, it came up when Lewk and Schmitty were here last week. Lewk whipped out his well-worn copy and explained how he’s been keeping track of things on to-do lists and the like.
And then I realized, it’s been ages since I had a real to-do list.
Obviously, I keep one at work, because I always seem to forget the minor details in my pursuit of the bigger picture. And I’ve still got a list of project ideas that I’ve had running for a few years now. But really, I haven’t kept a running, daily-consulted to-do list since I finished classes. In a way, it’s been kind of nice: I’ve felt relatively free from responsibility. I’ve done a lot of reading. I’ve put a significant dent in the list of movies I hadn’t seen (that list doesnt count, since I never really made it). I can’t really say I’ve accomplished much, though.
I think it’s time for that to change. I’ve been feeling listless lately, like I’m not sure what to do with myself, and having some personal projects on deck would certainly help. But then, what to do? I’m losing interest in programming; it’s not the kind of thing I can do all day at work, and then do at home for fun. I keep saying that I want to write more. I’ve got the time, and I’ve got the means, but I don’t have the inspiration. I have some ideas, but when I actually go to write them down, I don’t know what to say.
Lewk mentioned that writing things down has helped him be more creative. It’s true that I tend to be more stressed when I lay in bed each night, mentally re-hashing everything that needs to be done in the coming days. I still carry my Hipster PDA, but haven’t used it much lately. I also got in on the Moleskine craze a little late, but I’ve been jotting notes and making lists in there a bit more lately. It’s tough to get in the habit of making a quick note when ideas occurr to me.
I’m hoping that Lewk is right, though: maybe taking a couple minutes to get things out of my head and onto paper will allow other things some breathing room.
I, too, got into GTD through the back door. It started with the hipster PDA, which seemed like a great way to jot down loose thoughts and to-dos. But then I found myself with a lot of scattered 3×5s with little organization. So I bought the book, read a bunch of posts on GTD implementations, and developed a task management system on index cards. I’ve never been much into productivity stuff, as I’ve often feared that all that left-brain activity would dampen spontaneity and creativity. If anything, the opposite is true. It’s amazing what a calming, energizing effect a little organization can produce.
GTD is a great book. The few things that have made me more productive are simply writing down EVERYTHING I have to do, doing anything that will take less than 2 minutes IMMEDIATELY and simply not procrastinating things I don’t want to do.
I’m about 1/2 way through the book, it’s really good and practical. The simple act of writing things down frees up your mind so much and allows it to work at 100% knowing everything is being kept track of.