Going lo-fi for GTD
I’ve tried countless ways of ‘getting things done’ better in the past. Starting off with online applications to manage to-do lists and appointments, before moving to application based solutions on the mac. But I always have the same two week burst of enthusiasm for using a new system before leaving it to gather dust.
So, I’ve gone lo-fi. And it’s working. I’m still hideously lazy and cavalier about the majority of my (mainly academic) commitments - but at least now it’s my own failings as human being at fault, and not the frailties of the way I’m keeping things organised.
So, here’s what I’m doing now.
I have a white-board hanging from my wall, a small thing on which I pen down three or four pressing tasks which need doing within the next day or so. I can’t avoid it, since it’s hanging right there in front of me for most of the time when I’m at home.
For more detailed or distant tasks, I’ve bought a lovely little diary, which allows me to be a bit more verbose. I make a habit of writing out my tasks once a week, and checking them off when they’re done.
In order to remind me that I have noted down things to do, for every item written in my dairy, I make a small mark on my desk calendar, which lets me know that a task has been filed under a specific day. It’s unobtrusive, and thus far, effective.
I think the tactile nature of the system is what appeals to me. Software and web apps are all well and good, and good ones even evoke a desire in me to use them, but there is nothing like opening up a diary - full of lovely type - and printed on great paper, all bound in a wicked looking leather trim to get me involved in GTD for real.
I now rarely leave the house without my diary, and never without a cursory glance at my whiteboard to make sure I haven’t missed something of critical importance. Granted, somethings will be delayed and overlooked, but as I said before, that is because I am essentially quite apathetic about most things, and not because this new workflow is itself, flawed.
And I think that’s the problem all GTD applications will forever face. People put things off, prioritise, and (intentionally or not) fail to do things. That’s just human nature, and you can’t replicate that sort of hap-hazard, on the spot decision making by turning it into a deliberate action within a software application. A feature allowing me to ‘postpone a task’ in a GTD app is just another task l’ll likely fail to complete, not one which will replace actually committing to getting things done, which after all is the entire ethos of the genre.
nb: I bought all of my stationary from the wonderful Loft Store in Fukuoka.
