intuitive approach to GTD
Yesterday @TfTHacker@pkm.social wrote a thread about reconnecting with the greater purpose of the Getting Things Done methodology. They spoke of how the higher levels, known as 20,000ft to 50,000ft horizons of focus, is something they’ve struggled with prior to stepping back and taking another look.
I believe the hard part of having an effective organizational system is not the system itself but knowing your purpose.
This is the part that requires hard work. Setting up a system is the busy work that makes us think we are doing hard work, but it’s the easy part.
and
I think I will try reimplementing the system fully but go to the next level. I was so focused on the day-to-day stuff, the actions, and the projects, but I missed the broader point of GTD.
I’m curious about your experience with GTD and the Horizons of Focus.
I responded to this latter item with “Horizons of focus always made more for me to do/not do. I’ve left them to intuition” and was asked to explain further.
Most of my GTD time is at the two lowest levels. Runway (tasks) and 10,000 ft (projects) and this only for work. GTD at home has never really worked for me beyond a simple to-do list. The prime reason for this is system. Reviewing work GTD items is a work task. I don’t want to sit down each Sunday morning for example and review everything on my life’s radar. Sunday is my time, not work time. Whenever I hear of an executive who does this I think, “Poor soul. Take some of your own life back.” Systemically the connection also hasn’t worked, as I have different tools with me in the workplace (Omnifocus was the closest I got. Had difficulty with work and home reference systems both not being available at the same time).
For reference, the 6 GTD Horizons of Focus are 1:
- Runway calendar and next actions
- 10,000ft - Projects
- 20,000ft - Areas of focus and accountability
- 30,000ft - One- to two-year goals
- 40,000ft - Three- to five-year vision
- 50,000ft - Principles
I’m not a detailed, future-focused planner1. Outright the 30,000ft and 40,000ft levels are off my radar. Life has never been that certain for me. Yes, there are things I’d like to do, but nothing so critical I need to plan to any detail.
At the lower 20,000ft I get quickly overwhelmed with all the areas of focus and accountability I have in my life. Multiple areas of focus at work, then to add husband, father, son, friend etc. as well there quickly becomes too much to do. Work is too fluid - the nature of being a knowledge worker, and personal feels too impersonal.
Take a look at the GTD Incompletion Trigger List. The idea is to perform a mind-sweep of all that’s on your mind. In a perfect world, all of this would be stored in your GTD system for you to review daily, weekly and at longer times to help you focus on what’s important. This is what TfTHacker is talking about above, the longer term reviews.
I challenge anyone not to feel overwhelmed by half-way down the first page.
This is where intuition comes in for me.
At the runway level, at any give moment, there is a decision to make about what to do next. Does it have a deadline? Do I have the resources? Do I have the energy? Is it important for now? How does it tie to my life goals?
Sometimes the choice is made for me. More often than not I know already what needs to be done. Intuition and experience are balancing my internal estimates of time and priority to help me work out what’s next.
At great risk is overlooking your energy levels as a primary decision point. I’m perfectly comfortable saying, “I’m tired. The best I can manage right now is some filing.” or, “I’m really tired. The best I can do now is rest.”. Who schedules filling time until it’s too late.
I use similar intuition at the higher levels. This needs attention now. That feels like something I might do later. Hey, I’m really interested in this now.
Over time there are patterns of items that I regularly come back to. I go in-and-out of gaming, role-playing, cross-stitch, self-development, fitness, coding, organising photos. I have learned that if its important enough my mind will raise it when I’m ready. There is nothing I’m anxious about not having done.
In all of this I do keep the GTD horizons of focus to mind. I just do it when I feel I need to and without a formal timeline or output format to work to.
It works for me and that is a key tenet of GTD. Use the system as a guide and not a procedure. Do exactly what TfTHacker has done. Come back and re-evaluate when you feel it’s not working. Tweak and tweak again. Standing in the flow of life and letting it wash over you is fine - except for when it’s not. If you only use part of what GTD has to offer you’ll feel better for it. Intuition is powerful but trusting it can take time.
I once suggested a girl I met trust her intuition. 30+ years together now and we’re still going strong.
- Makes project management fun, but my basic GTD practices mean I have better control than others for the level of project management required. ↩