GTD Wannabe

Just Say No, and Renegotiating: David Reduces My Guilt

A while ago, I embarked on a journey to find a new GTD application. I told you all that I would look at both on- and off-line GTD-friendly applications. I spent hours thinking about what I wanted, hours compiling lists of applications, and more hours exploring various online solutions. And even more hours writing up a few posts about a few of them.

But then I ran out of steam. Or hours. Or motivation. Or whatever. July was a busy month for me, since I had a hard research deadline. And of course, my research has to take precedence.

But there’s been a niggling sense of guilt residing in my subconscious. It’s been *bugging* me that I haven’t fulfilled my commitment to you, my readers. I (kind of) want to, but I just can’t seem to drum up enough enthusiasm to spend even more hours writing up posts about applications that I know I’m not going to use.

What should I do about this?

What Would David Do?

I decided to look at this conundrum from the whole “Getting Things Done” perspective. I vaguely recalled something about renegotiating contracts. So, I went back to my GTD book.

Imagine that! On page 227, David Allen nails it right on the head:

The sense of anxiety and guilt doesn’t come from having too much to do; it’s the automatic result of breaking agreements with yourself.

I had agreed (with myself, really) to write up a bunch of posts. I don’t really have the time to do it. I don’t really want to do it. I feel like I’m letting you all down. I feel like I’m letting myself down.

According to David, there are three ways to prevent such broken agreements:

1. Don’t make the agreement.
2. Complete the agreement.
3. Renegotiate the agreement.

Obviously, the second one is just not going to happen. I’m just not going to get to writing about all of the other offline applications that I’ve tried out. I’m most definitely not going to download and try scores of offline applications, and then write about them.

So, that leaves me with “just say no” and renegotiation. Okay, we’re getting somewhere now. By saying that I’m not going to finish what I started (sorry guys), I’m following the first technique above. But I still have some things to say, so I’m also going to follow the third technique too.

Renegotiation of (Our) Agreement

So, my new agreement, with me and you, is the following: I will write a few more posts about off- and on-line GTD applications. I won’t do the grand coverage that I had envisioned, but I will cover a few more applications.

Basically, I will cover the ones that I have been giving a serious workout to. Because I’ll let you in on a little secret – it’s actually been months since I’ve used my home-made Perl todo.txt script. About when I started on this “Baby Wants a New GTD App” odyssey, I switched my system over to a particular offline GTD app, because it looked really cool, and it looked like it would be the one. Part of the reason of looking at everything else was to decide if it really was the one, and therefore worth the exorbitant price. After looking at a bunch of online apps, I decided that no, it wasn’t the one (phew, saved a chunk of change there), and I switched to an online app (will wonders never cease?). Now, I’ve got (at least) one more offline app that intrigues me, so I’m going to give it a shot.

What this means is that the journey has been successful for me, in that I’ve found (at least) one usable GTD tool, for me. It just isn’t going to result in a heck of a lot of posts about other GTD applications.

I have to say, it’s nice to be able to go back to the GTD book and find a way out of my anxiety/guilt. I still feel a little bad, but I feel better knowing that I’m addressing the issue. If I don’t “just say no” and renegotiate the rest of the agreement, the whole issue is just going to be a weight on my mind, wearing me down.

The Moral of the Story

If you get yourself into trouble by agreeing to too much, even if it’s just with yourself, you do have a way of recovering. As David Allen says, you can either say “no”. Or you can just buckle down and do it all. Or you can renegotiate the agreements you have, even if those agreements are just in your own mind. I find the first and last techniques very powerful, and most definitely underused. Think about what agreements you have with yourself right now. Do you really need to keep them all? Of those that you decide to keep, can you renegotiate them, to make them more palatable?