No, no, no!!!
It all seemed to be great - I read the book, sorted through everything to get all my To Do's listed. I even did all the really important ones (filing, banking etc)...
Well, the filing was already on my list to do so that would have been done eventually anyway, reading the book just gave me the jump start I needed to pull out all the paperwork that was hiding away (or blatantly lounging around the house...), sort through it and file it away properly. The banking is always on my list to do, as it's something I do regularly, otherwise things don't get paid which would be no good at all.
I got myself some trays so I would have a "things waiting for action" tray, a filing tray, and a bills to pay tray. I also wrote all the things that I needed to do on one sheet of paper each (including the items on my 101 in 1001 days challenge - that may not have helped) and kept them all in my filofax so that I knew where everything was and so that I could look in it and pick off the items one at a time - no prioritising system at all so no need to spend time going over the same tasks again and again while I re-prioritise them all.
So what went wrong...? Well, the filing tray is empty (not because I file everything as it comes in now, but because I still have a very bad habit of dumping it all on the table), the bills to pay tray has a few bits in it, and the "action" tray has seen very little action and is therefore full (too full to put anything else in...). The filofax pages have barely been looked at because just looking at such a muddle of total randomness really doesn't work for me... it is hideous and impossible. I know I have to look at it today to at least write a list of all the items in there that are not related to my 101 in 1001, otherwise I may find that I have missed something that is vitally important... fingers crossed I haven't already.
LJx
hi Lindsay.
ReplyDeleteI've been a pretty hardcore GTD-er for a few months now, and I think you've hit on something really important, namely that if not properly (and constantly) maintained, the system just falls behind really quickly in a way that's really hard to rescue. I'm binned my lists and started again several times, and I don't seem to be any closer to getting *habitually* current.
Also, I seem to spend all day transferring stuff to and from the 'waiting for' list, as replies to queries are received, small actions are taken which move the initiative on a project to a third party (or back), etc etc.
On the plus side, however, I can run the whole system out of my personal Hampstead Filofax using only straight-forward lined paper, so I'm not constantly looking for exotic inserts, or trying to design them, and generally, I feel much *much* closer to being on top of things in a general way than I ever was before.
As we've discussed before, I suspect it's a system less suited to the application of perfectionism than maybe a slightly more casual approach - or is that heresy?
What an outrageous suggestion!!! Ha ha ha!!!
DeleteI have actually managed to set up email folders at work under the actions and waiting for headings and they're working(ish). My main problem with trying to use it in my Filofax seems to stem from the fact that the sheer number of sheets of paper that everything is written on is just unmanageable for me. But I will try to read through the main GTD points to see what I can do to fix the problem... maybe I should just take a load of tasks out and see if anyone shouts to tell me I've forgotten something - I doubt anyone would notice as none of it is work related, it's only me who expects so much from me :-)
Maybe after I've finished the 101 in 1001 days I should give myself the task of not trying to plan everything... what would I do with all that extra time?
:-D
Forgot to add - if you want to talk about filing lounging around the house, you should see my dining table! seriously though, I have two LARGE plastic boxes under my desk. All post gets opened every day. Filing gets scanned and the originals put in the right hand box for recycling when the bin men take it once a fortnight. Action paper not yet in the GTD system goes in the left hand box and gets taken out and processed at least once a week in the weekly review. Try it - it works! 30 minutes a week is enough to process the 'left-overs', and ten minute a day to scan the filing. No paper in the office, or the house, other than that. Ever.
ReplyDeleteThis is like having a conversation with Yoda.
Delete" Paperwork overcome you may..."
Will give that a go, I currently have a stack of paperwork for shredding which seems to put me off going anywhere near the table :o)
I wore out my shredder doing the initial 'collect' phase!
DeleteTry leaving project-agreements you've made with yourself on the Someday/Maybe list until you know you're really ready to follow them through, then put them on the projects list and first action on the actions list. I had a bunch of stuff on my projects list which I knew when I was honest with myself that I was just punting on and wasn't really engaged enough to honestly call it a project. Works for me.....
ReplyDeleteThe filing tray is empty... ha, ha, made me laugh right out loud. Sounds like my filing system!
ReplyDeleteI have always been rubbish with paperwork - I keep telling myself that as I am now an adult with children and responsibilities then I should be better at these things... oops!!!
DeleteI'm using Leo Babauta's Zen to Done version of GTD. One inbox. One list of all to do's. We shall see.
ReplyDeleteHi Sansra, can you post a link for that system please?
DeleteWould be interested to take a look at that one. One list (even if it's huge) may be easier for me to maintain...
Delete