Begin, again
Alright, so I’ve been a full-on ‘Getting Things Done’ convert since roughly 2001 or so. Since that time, I’ve claimed it as my own One True Way, and I’ve evangelized the book and the methods near and far and I still do.
Having said that, I’ve got to admit that I regularly fall off the wagon. Slowly but surely, papers start to back up on my desk. I start to ignore my physical inbox (never have been too concerned about the email inbox). All the doodads on my Palm start to gather virtual dust. And I start losing stuff–I have close calls with deadlines, I begin to rely on other people to "remind" me of committments I’ve made, etc. Not good. Even for a Slacker Manager, it’s not good.
As an aside, the great thing about GTD for a Slacker Manager, is that it provides you with ample timespace. Because you don’t have to concentrate on not dropping balls, you can concentrate on stuff that’s more interesting.
So every now and then, when it all piles up too much, I close the door to my office and I turn off the Amazing Distraction Machine (aka the ‘puter) and I let calls go to voicemail. I tell folks in my office that I’m having a "vertical day." We have vertical days every once in a while when we have a specific task that urgently needs doing. Most recently we had a vertical day for sending out tax information.
During my vertical day, which may or may not last the whole day–or it may last more than one day–I reinvest myself in GTD-ness. I pile my inbox full of all the junk that got trapped on or around my desk. Papers, magazines, assorted knickknacks…they all go in the inbox. Then I work that thing, top down, one item at a time. I reaquaint myself with my neglected friend, the labelmaker. I have a stack of plain paper nearby to capture any thoughts that tumble out of my head during this time–those all go in the inbox. I review my Palm for orphaned "stuff" that needs doing or tracking and I put it down on paper too.
I find it immensely helpful to re-read GTD right around this time too. Lately, I’ve had several long drives, so I’ve taken advantage of the GTD audiobook. I think I’ve listened to the whole thing at least three times in the last seven days. I’ve got a vertical day coming up today, I think.
Fortunately, the time between GTD vertical days has lengthened considerably over the years. I don’t know if I’ll ever hit the "black belt" status, consistently, but sometimes it feels like I’m getting close…then, slowly, I get overconfident in my ability to capture stuff, I start to rely on my head to remember things, and I let it all fall apart again. I think my life motto ought to be: "Begin. Again."
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6 opinions for Begin, again
Marc Orchant
Feb 2, 2005 at 8:07 am
Bren:
Great post. I recommend you consider investing in a copy of the Getting Things Done Fast CDs - much higher energy than the audiobook, these CDs are an abridged live recording at one of DA’s two-day seminars. The CDs include a PDF workbook like the one used at the seminars that you can print out to do a mind sweep and other prep activities.
Ian's Messy Desk
Feb 2, 2005 at 10:16 am
Poor old Michael Finnigan,
begin again
or
The turning point
A couple of posts on getting things back on track with GTD.
…
Dave
Feb 2, 2005 at 10:41 am
I have found the minute you deem an item from the in box a project and truck it off to a file, you’d better keep up on the system. I allowed myself to fall off the wagon so many times, I got reluctant to make something a project and just left it in the in box.
Hmmmmm, maybe we need a GTD renewal…minus the Kool-aid.
Lifehacker
Feb 2, 2005 at 10:44 am
Back on the productivity wagon
What do you do when your productivity systems fall apart? Begin again, says weblogger Slacker Manager. We all do it - make resolutions to keep a calendar and a to do list and a neat file cabinet and our PDA’s…
Dwayne Melancon
Feb 2, 2005 at 2:10 pm
Sounds like a place I go quite often. I second Marc’s comment about the GTD Fast CD’s - they’re so much more kinetic when you already know the content. With those, CD’s I find you get more of the Zen (or Kool Aid).
Management hack: Vertical days » Project Syndicate
Jul 1, 2006 at 10:58 pm
[…] This is really more of a personal management hack than a personnel management hack, but I think it scales pretty well–I’ve had an entire office take vertical days from time to time. And actually, I like this so well that this isn’t the first time I’ve written about it. […]