Tag: “Self-Improvement”

Can you implement GTD by halves? Sure. Is it still GTD? Nope.

Virtually, all the projects you want to perform in your life will require the utilization of time and money. Both resources are often limited and usually shared by all your projects, so it’s necessary to manage them with good judgement to make the most of them.

Surely you know that the book written by David Allen in 2001, Getting Things Done, has become the manual of personal productivity for hundreds of thousands of followers. The great success of this method is that it has been used and validated empirically by a crowd of supporters.

Are you being productive or just active? They’re not the same thing, but we often use—unconsciously—the concept of activity to deceive ourselves (or consciously, to fool our boss). Sometimes we need to feel busy to not have to do other important tasks that make us uncomfortable for any reason. “I keep doing things all day. So cool!”. No doubt you’re working hard; you show dedication, but dedication sometimes masks a meaningless work. Are you inventing things to avoid doing what’s important? Think carefully about it and be honest with yourself.

When I talk to someone who has successfully implemented GTD, I try to find out the reason that has led him to try it. It is not just curiosity. There are many people interested in productivity-related books, blogs and applications, which fail to implement any methodology or system. I want to know what differentiates the former from the latter. What does it take to succeed? Is there a secret?