GTD

New-Agey tosh or useful technique?

Yvonne Aburrow

Michel Foucault, The Care of the Self and the panopticon society

The antecedents of GTD

Sources New Age
o o o

Business o Insight seminars Self-regulation (the care of the self)

o o

"Spiritual" Human potential movement Self-esteem

Taylorism Science?
o o o

Foucauldian? Oppressive?

Getting Things Done by Percy Redfern Creed in 1946 and 1947, revised from How to Get Things Done, 1938. Getting Things Done by Edwin C. Bliss and Malcolm Hancock, 1976 Getting Things Done by Roger Black, 1990 The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey and Hyrum W. Smith The 10 Natural Laws of Successful Time and Life Management by Stephen R. Covey Action Research The Principles of Scientific Management by F. W. Taylor (1906) The Secret and a million other self-help books http://tr.im/10h6

Bottom-up approach Emergent complexity For rationalists

Concept
This is your brain

Before GTD

After GTD

Concept
Remembering o Difficult o Clutter Recording o Externally o Uncluttered Concentrate on: o Performing o Completing

Principles

How it actually works

Collect your stuff... in a bucket

Inbox Tape-recorder PDA Notebook Desktop

Methodology
Get some... Control Perspective Models 1. Workflow 1. Collect 2. Process 3. Organise 4. Review 5. Do 2. Framework 6. Life goals 5. Five-year vision 4. Yearly goals 3. Areas of responsibility 2. Current projects 1. Current actions 3. Planning 1. Define purpose & principles 2. Envision the outcome 3. Brainstorming 4. Organising 5. Identifying next actions

Process
Start at the top One at a time No procrastination Actions o Do o Delegate o Defer (waiting for) Non-action o File o Bin o Incubate

Ladder by Georgia O'Keeffe

Organise
Categorise o Next step o Project o Open-loop o Waiting for Action? Event? Maybe Future possibility learn Chinese take diving holiday File o Calendar o To-do list o A to Z o Tickler file Review o Daily o Act Just do it Simple, easy, fun

Tools and techniques

Tickler file o 43 folders 12 months 31 days Software o Desktop o Online o Collaborative o Personal The Hipster PDA Technique Store Track Retrieve

Parietal Disgorgement Aid http://tr.im/10h1

My recommendations
Should be optional Evaluate if it's useful for you o Cognitive style o Cost-benefit analysis o Homeostasis Shifts the locus of... o Fear o Anxiety o Stress Individual? Environment?

http://tr.im/10qu