Are you Resisting your Trusted System?
November 30th, 2007 | by GTD Wannabe |A few days ago, I resurfaced after a long absence. I mentioned in that post that I have actually changed my GTD system (not once, but twice) since I decided that I liked GTD Tracks for my online GTD application.
I can hear you all from here….”What?!? You spent so much time evaluating applications before finally settling on one and then you quit it already?!?”. Yup, I can hear you.
Well, I hate to break it to you, but I just can’t seem to settle down. I’m not convinced that this is actually a procrastination habit for me. Granted, I’ve spent much time dicking around with this system or that system, or even figuring how to make an oldy-but-goody like Lotus Agenda work as a GTD system. So, yes, maybe procrastination figures into it. But I don’t think it’s the major reason.
Friction
I tend to switch GTD applications when they start irritating me. I originally moved away from Outlook because I found it bloated and it didn’t do projects very well. Since then I’ve forgotten how many systems I’ve tried. Some I do remember. I loved my text based system, but moved away from that when I got tired of the ugly text-only interface. I really enjoyed Lotus Agenda, but found the keyboard-only interface restricting after a while (although they really knew how to do pattern recognition from what you typed in). I tried Vitalist, but got tired of too much information in the main screen. I gave FusionDesk a good workout, but found that doing a review was just too hard, and there was little activity from the developer. Finally, I gave GTD Tracks a good go, but finally got annoyed at having my data online. I was about to head off on a bunch of trips, where Internet access was not going to be guaranteed, so I wanted to keep my next actions with me. Plus, I have to admit, the latency of a web-based application just about killed me. I hate waiting; drives me crazy.
I understand intuitively that when I get bored/irritated/annoyed, I start looking elsewhere. But I never really thought about it. Until I was listening to a podcast interview with Kelly Forrister (Yes the Kelly Forrister from the David Allen Company). It’s a podcast interview done by The Sassy Ladies. It was a good interview, but something Kelly said made a lightbulb go in my head.
She was talking about her own system, and how she occasionally experiences resistance, or friction, with her system. This is when your trusted system causes you some anxiety, and you start avoiding it. Obviously, this is the kiss of death when it comes to actually Getting Things Done. In Kelly’s case, when she starts feeling this resistance, she goes through her system and tightens things up, maybe rewords some next actions, etc.
When I heard this, I thought two things:
- Wow. Resistance! That’s what I’ve got. I resist using my GTD system because there’s something about it that’s not satisfying me. That’s why I keep changing it.
- Darn. I wish Kelly talked more about her own personal system; I’d like to know if she made major modifications to the process itself, or if it was just a case of “cleaning” the data, so to speak.
Reducing Friction
There have been several topical posts crossing my feed reader lately that can help you tighten up your trusted system and hopefully reduce the resistance you’re feeling:
- Eight Do’s and Don’ts of Effective Goal Setting. After reading this post, re-examine each and every one of your next actions. Are they specific enough? Are you using your Someday/Maybe list appropriately? Are you trying to accomplish too much?
- A Roadmap to Spectacular GTD Failure. A rather tongue-in-cheek post, suggesting the very best ways of screwing up with GTD. Some unhealthy behaviours you might be currently exhibiting: pushing the weekly review to a more convenient time, defining open-ended projects, turning your email inbox into your “trusted system”.
- 10 Ways to a Slim and Trim To-Do List: Part 1 and Part 2. This pair of posts has great ideas for making your to-do list lean and mean, regardless of whether you GTD or not. Great tips include: do quick and easy tasks *now* instead of writing them down, examine stale tasks, put reminders into your hard landscape instead of your to-do list, and make sure your next actions are *really* next actions.
My Plan
A couple of years ago, I moved away from Outlook for several reasons. I was kind of bored, even the macros weren’t enough to stimulate me. I didn’t like having my calendar and my next action list on two separate pages, I was eventually going to have to leave Outlook one day when I got a job, and it didn’t handle projects. Mostly, it was just me getting itchy feet, so I started on a multi-year odyssey to find the perfect tool.
And where am I now? Well, back at Outlook actually. After trying other things and still not being 100% satisfied, and after seeing the new Outlook 2007 interface (oooh, pretty), I decided to just bite the bullet and come back. First of all, I get uber-easy synchronization with my Palm, which was always a sticking point with other systems. Printing is nice, dragging things around with the mouse is nice, the new calendar view that shows your hard landscape, and a chosen selection of next actions, is nice.
I’d like to report that Outlook and I are doing fine right now. It’s only be a few weeks, but we’re getting along quite nicely. I forgot how much I liked having everything synced to my Palm! Wow. I’ve also been doing a little bit of scripting (no macros this time around – I don’t think I really need them), but a nicer script for entering new next actions (and appointments) from SlickRun. I’ve even learned a couple of things that make my calendar into a truly wonderful hard landscape. Of course, more on these topics at a later date.
So, I’ve gone back to an older, but well-trusted, system for my next actions. I’m currently feeling no resistance. The next time I start to feel friction with my system, I’m going to explore that feeling – am I itching because I’m bored? because I’m procrastinating? because there’s something about the system that doesn’t satisfy me? or because I need to tighten things up?
20 Responses to “Are you Resisting your Trusted System?”
By @Stephen | HD BizBlog on Nov 30, 2007 | Reply
Great stuff! I too encounter resistance, and my system continues to evolve.
When I have the latest kinks ironed out, I’ll have to do a post on it.
Thanks!
By eamonireland on Nov 30, 2007 | Reply
It’s good to see you back! I’m currently travelling, and so an online system doesn’t work for me. I’m using Thinking Rock, which is great in functionality, but really slow on my old PC. I’ve been seriously thinking of switching back to paper for the remainder of my trip!
By SpiKe on Nov 30, 2007 | Reply
Thanks for linking to my slim and trim article! This is a very good post you have here. I enjoy the process of evolving my system Seeing as you intend to follow through with any feelings of friction about your system, may I suggest you also look at another of my articles (if you haven’t already) covering 9 questions to ask yourself when analyzing your systems (part 1 2 and 3).
By Jeroen Sangers on Nov 30, 2007 | Reply
Oulook is soooo configurable, you can tweak it forever! Some people try out many applications, I simply try out features within Outlook. At the end, the result is the same: spending too much time tweaking…
By A. Marques on Nov 30, 2007 | Reply
Online systems simply don’t work. As you and a commenter mentioned, there are situations when you can’t be connected and if you are trusting a system and you can’t access it anymore, it’s harder to adapt.
What is working for me is My Life Organized, directly from the D Allen Company. It’s very simple to use, has everything I need for my current workflow and syncs with both outlook and PDA. Bad thing? It’s not free. But with a trial period, you can try it and see if it works for you or not.
By Rob on Nov 30, 2007 | Reply
I´ve experienced friction too. I switched from Outlook Plugin to My Life Organized to Thinking Rock to a couple of softwares i don´t remember their names and back again.
Finally, what i did, was separating my to do´s from my 50.000 feet life planning. I realized this was my main problem, trying to plan my life and my to do´s on a single app.
For my life planning, I bought a Moleskine and that works perfect. Sketching and mind mapping there is very useful, and i am getting used to actually getting off with my moleskine to actually think of my goals (when i tried this on my computer i end up reading my rss feeds).
For my to do´s GTD, i´m using a software called Accomplice (free ad versión available) but i started to have friction with it last week. Its a great software, not complicated, easy on resources and all good, but it just started to tire me. And I think thats the whole point, I get tired of the same software, the same interface, the same layout/design everyday on and on. I think its not the software, its the person. So I think the solution is actually going back to plain GTD, yes, with paper, folders,etc, and once I have this system stablished, I´ll build my “e-gtd” needs up from there, adding things up as I really need them, not just changing the software all the way again and again.
By Christian on Dec 1, 2007 | Reply
I don’t know … sometimes I think when it comes to GTD people try too hard …!
Maybe my life is not complicated enough, but I am really fine with the stuff David Allen wrote and the different things I use to make things work.
Outlook (@job), OmniFocus/iGTD (@home) and a calender on the road.
Keep GTD simple!
By GTD Wannabe on Dec 1, 2007 | Reply
Thanks for all the great comments everyone. It’s heartening to see that I’m not alone out there with the friction/resistance issue.
@SpiKe: I will check out your posts on analyzing your system – I’m sure I’ve already read them from your feed, but I’ll give them another look-see.
@Jeroen: Yeah, that is one “problem” with Outlook, i.e., you can still waste time configuring it. On the other hand, I think I finally went back to it partly because of this. I have a certain way I want to see things, and the flexibility of Outlook lets me show exactly what I want.
I think one of the great things about GTD is that it is so flexible. We never have to converge on a single system to implement it – we can use Outlook, MLO, ThinkingRock, Remember The Milk, pen & paper, etc. etc., and still all be happy. Very cool.
@Rob: I like the point you make about separating your day-to-day from your life-planning. Very smart.
:)
By Bdizzy on Dec 1, 2007 | Reply
I have to chime in here and say that I use an online app (Todoist) and have been using it for months now and see no signs of switching. For people who always do work near an internet connection, it’s really no problem at all. I’m not businessman, so I don’t need a palm, and for the few times I need to capture ideas while walking, I Jott myself.
I really agree with Christian when he says that people just try to hard with GTD. I’ve found that when I’m tweaking my system, as much as I try to convince myself that I’m not just procrastinating, I am. When you have work to do, and you instead keep spending time on planning, that is, by definition, procrastination isn’t it?
Good to see you posting again GTDwannabe. Let me tell you, I’ve made a conscious effort to move away form system tweaking to getting things done and it’s been LOADS better for stress and the grad school life!
By Robert on Dec 2, 2007 | Reply
You know, I finally decided to try Outlook after I bought a Blackberry since it seems to be the only thing that syncs properly with it and it left me wondering…why is everyone searching for this magic GTD bullet? Because it does nearly everything I could possibly think of needing.
Then again, Outlook 2007 is my first experience with the program, but really – I’m impressed.
By Friedbeef on Dec 3, 2007 | Reply
I’m on outlook too – my whole working life revolves around it!
By Scot Herrick on Dec 5, 2007 | Reply
My online searches for GTD software always used Outlook at the comparison. The closer it was to outlook, the better.
When it comes to Outlook, seriously look at ClearContext. It is a program that is designed around GTD and they provide some very good enhancements to the look and feel of the GTD discipline, including a dashboard to see all things at once. I’ve used ClearContext for client based Outlook for two years now and they keep getting it better.
And absolutely correct about resistance — usually what causes it is that everything isn’t out of your head, it’s not framed with what provides success out of the action, or what is there really isn’t the next action. Thinking is hard!
It is rarely the tool, but the tools help.
By Jack on Jan 13, 2008 | Reply
I have been irritated several times since using GTD. I just installed an Outlook add in that is pretty awesome.
Clear Context. http://www.clearcontext.com. It will change the way you think about GTD and make it less irritating.
Jack
By Christoph Dollis on Feb 25, 2008 | Reply
I’m a really big fan of using a spreadsheet for projects…
One column is project name, next column project description.
My someday/maybe list is just another sheet organized the same way within the same file.
Other sheets make good next action lists, waiting for lists, etc. I use OpenOffice.org calc and have a plugin that allows me to export/import the whole file to/from Google Documents. So it’s a local system I have total control over, but if I need to, I can see and edit the data online. I also have various versions backed up to Google Docs since each time I export, it’s a new file with a different time stamp.
I set up the column width so each page prints on a normal sheet of paper if I want a hard copy. I really don’t see the friction or unnecessary complexity in my system. I haven’t needed to “tweak” it since I set it up.
Yeah, I have some other ways of organizing things like real files, an inbox… and my “My Documents” is organized with a virtual inbox folder, next action folder, reference folders, etc… but really… I think some of you spend too much time looking for the perfect application when a simple spreadsheet will do nicely.
Project PLANNING is a different animal… for most, you don’t need to do much planning… just choose a next action… for some, very detailed planning is required, in which case use Mind Map or an appropriate tool, or pen and paper, or whatever. But 95 times out of a hundred, just choose a next action.
One thing I DO have is a “daily next action” and a “weekly next action” list. So, car maintenance, cleaning mirrors, kitchen, checking smoke alarm, etc., goes on the weekly list, and daily list are such things as taking my green food supplement, exercising, reading for 20 minutes on my business, etc.
Again, these are in my single spreadsheet file.
By Eric on Mar 16, 2008 | Reply
For me, the biggest problem is the swarm of options and my nagging ADD. I have used Outlook on and off for years. For the most part, I’ve liked it, especially 2007. My main issue is that in order to have it truly portable and hardware independent, I’ve got to run some variant of Exchange, which can be frustrating.
The problem shows up once I go online. It takes me all of 15 minutes scanning my RSS feeds to read about 25 new amazing systems that I simply have to try out. I’ve switched back to GMail countless times just from reading the borderline evangelical praise that Lifehacker gives it. It’s actually what I’m using right now, along with Vitalist.
I really like GMail’s clean interface. I find it does a better job managing multiple email addresses than Outlook. I also like the SMS reminders (Outlook does it too, but not in Canada)I just wish it had it’s own project/task list system. Sure, I can plug in a 3rd party app like Todoist or Remember the Milk, but then that’s one more system to maintain.
I guess in the end you’ve got to find a program that does most of what you want right away, and has the flexibility to be molded to fit your particular needs. Most importantly, once you’ve found that app, you have to find a way to filter out the other apps vying for your attention. Sure, they’ll have a fancy new interface, and they may have a new feature that you wish you had. But, will the time it saves you be greater than the time it takes transferring your old system, and learning the new one?
By Joe Williams on May 18, 2008 | Reply
I have found myself trying quite a few – Google notes, Outlook, Remeber the milk etc….. although I think I have found one that I am finally happy with and is all backed up on my own DB. It’s name, Active Collab! Worth a look if you are still looking.