ForumsGetting Things Done®Procrastination help
Procrastination help
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cjuzda |
I'm a huge fan of Taska as the best GTD app and would not leave it unless there was something really superior, which I think would be difficult to do, but can't stop looking for new stuff. I believe I completely "get" GTD but I'm also considering going to something much simpler, not really GTD but a simpler list that will provide more focus somehow. My biggest problem is that I seem to spend more time tweaking my system/lists and looking for new, better solutions than actually doing stuff - classic procrastination and now GTD seems to be enabling procrastination by providing a diversion, rather than reducing it. Any tips for dealing with this issue?
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Andrew A |
LOL. Don't get lost in the system! Doesn't matter what approach you take, you might end up constantly tweaking that one too!
If you get GTD as fully as you claim, then you know that, in all honesty, there is not that much detail too it.. it a customizable approach. I use a very sparse version compared to some (proxomo comes to mind), and it works. However, that said, I believe in the intuitive approach for next tasks, don't think I need automatic promotion of subtasks to next action, other automatic doohickeysm or project managenent gtd software. My view is this task management and that I drive my tasks, not the other way around. Folders for projects (though I wish there was more room), a folder for single actions, and contexts for the rest. I do use waiting and delegated statuses. Higher level items are not in Toodledo for the most part, though I do use Goals a little. I find this handles everything up to the 30,000 foot view for me (key here, for me). Hope this helps, perhaps all you needed to remember was that GTD can be the system you need if you can walk away from the system you created????? |
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Claudio |
Take a look at ZTD: http://zenhabits.net/zen-to-done-ztd-the-ultimate-simple-productivity-system/
This message was edited Jul 19, 2010. |
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cjuzda |
Thanks for the input, hopefully others can add - Looked briefly at ZTD and there are some interesting points. I looked at Mark Forster's auto focus and I like that approach. I can easily modify Taska to fit it by moving all my usual "areas": Wealth, Health,Family, etc. into two lists "Backlog" and "Active". I'll use Taska's excellent Action List feature to highlight items off whichever list I'm working from that I am going to do next. One thing I've decided on is to more or less eliminate the use of "due dates" unless they are Really hard, in which case I'll move that task to the calendar (which, granted, is what GTD prescribes)it to the calendar. I have a tendency to think "I'll do this on Tuesday", set a due date and on Tuesday, there it is but it's not really "due". Auto Focus presumes your intuition at the time will be correct in determining if something should get done and/or you actually feel like doing it. I don't feel that by design Auto Focus is the most efficient system by any means but it may be more effective for me at least, from a practical standpoint of getting things done and it may lead to less "playing" with solutions and more action. However, I will retain the use of contexts as they are very useful under any circumstances - Taska will allow me to quickly filter my lists by context anyway.
Chris |
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cjuzda |
So far, so good, I've put everything into Backlog and started to add new items to Active and moved Hard due date items to the calendar (Calengoo). This has been very liberating as I'm no longer mentally committed to such a huge list. going through my backlog and following ZTD, I'm putting top 3 or 4 items (MIT's) into Taska's Action List instead of just working off the Backlog list which allows me to retain my focus. The beauty of this is that the are still assigned to Backlog or Active while they are in the Action List but they are flagged so I'm not actually creating yet another list and I don't feel so overwhelmed by a list of 50 items. I think the trick is to let your instincts quickly pick 3 or 4 items from the Backlog or Active list, stick them in the Action List, then forget about the rest. The other thing I need to try is to be fairly ruthless about getting stuff off the list if I'm not actually going to do it in the foreseeable future and move them to Taska's "Someday" list.
I hope this will work out but in any event, I feel better already and even though I'm procrastinating again by writin g this :) , I've actually already gotten 3 items done and off my list! This message was edited Jul 19, 2010. |
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PeterW |
Posted by cjuzda:
So far, so good, I've put everything into Backlog and started to add new items to Active and moved Hard due date items to the calendar (Calengoo). This has been very liberating as I'm no longer mentally committed to such a huge list. Good to hear! Assigning 'soft' due dates is definitely an easy trap to fall into. I still do it occasionally because old habits die hard. My recently created 'Focus List' (my version of a Hotlist) is working well for me in terms of having a short list of what needs to be done before the rest and it's easy to move things on and off the list. |
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cjuzda |
Posted by PeterW:
Posted by cjuzda: So far, so good, I've put everything into Backlog and started to add new items to Active and moved Hard due date items to the calendar (Calengoo). This has been very liberating as I'm no longer mentally committed to such a huge list. Good to hear! Assigning 'soft' due dates is definitely an easy trap to fall into. I still do it occasionally because old habits die hard. My recently created 'Focus List' (my version of a Hotlist) is working well for me in terms of having a short list of what needs to be done before the rest and it's easy to move things on and off the list. Yes, i'm starting to realize (finally) that looking at a list of more than 5 items at the start of the day is for me, not very productive, even if they are sorted by priority or whatever. GTD is about clearing your mind and I just can't do that with a huge list staring me in the face. I think it's a good idea to follow some of what Forster says in terms of moving items you find yourself consistently not doing off your lists completely either delete them entirely or move tem to some really obscure area Chris |
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