Getting Things Done – Naked!

May 1st, 2009

I love getting things done. And I love tracking all those things that have yet to be accomplished; it makes me feel so very productive. The problem is that feeling productive isn’t being productive. Like many, I spent years trying to fine tune David Allen’s Getting Things Done (GTD) task management system to my exact specifications, eventually learning that feeling productive can be the best way to procrastinate. Nevertheless, a bit of tracking is important to remind you what needs to be accomplished. So here now is how I track my tasks without any needless prepping of supplies, tools, hacks, or other things that stand in the way of progress.

Problems

I encountered two major problems when I implemented a GTD-based task system.

1. Every task can be broken down endlessly

   The GTD methodology advises to focus on you next action. According to the system, rather than think “clean up entire yard and garden”, think about the very next step, perhaps “mow lawn”.

   Yet, depending on how overwhelming the idea of mowing the lawn is, you may even break it down to even smaller tasks like “gas up mower”, or “sharpen mower blade”. So a task as simple as mowing the lawn can become a miniproject, comprised of a chain of little tasks. Inevitablibly those little tasks can become miniprojects of their own (”find the jerrycan”, “drive to gas station”, “fill jerrycan”). Next thing you know, you’re consumed by countless, ever-expanding miniprojects and have lost track of your original goal, to have a clean yard. Nevertheless, you did spend a lot of time making mutant to-do lists and feeling pretty productive, no?

2. The temptation of myriad productivity “solutions”

   Paper? PDA? Web-based? There are thousands of suboptions as well. Do I use a Moleskine notebook? If so, what kind of pen will clip to the spine of the book? It better be a button-drawn pen, not a capped one. What if I run out of pages in the book? Time spent addressing these questions balloons; all the while tasks remain undone.

   Computer based systems can cause even more problems. Issues of compatibility, accessibility, and synchronization can FUBAR your productivity, not to mention these methods lack free-form entry. Can my tasks be transferred onto my cell phone? Accessed away from the computer? What if I upgrade? Again, time is spent addressing problems you didn’t have before you decided to be “productive”.

After much experimenting, and even more time wasted, I settled on a solution for each of these problems.

Solutions

1. Link tasks and goals with the following crazysimple annotation:
   

   task 1,, task 2,, final task==goal

   Rather than simply planning the next task, I plan all of the next tasks required to achieve the goal, separating them with two commas (,,). The final goal is the rightmost entry, found after the two equals signs (==). The number of tasks is arbitrary. Draw up as few as necessary to get the job done. Try not to get carried away addressing every little issue that inevitably pops up. As tasks are accomplished you will cross them out, left to right, until all that’s left is the final goal, well accomplished. An example:

   email friends & family,, put propone tank in car,, refill propane tank,, purchase burgers & buns==prep for BBQ

   Using this barebones syntax for tracking tasks forces you to think out the entire initiative before you even start. Maybe you need a wrench to disconnect the propane tank. If so, you’ve already had a chance to think of that. All the while, the final goal remains in sight so you don’t get swept up in other chores.

   Why use two commas or equal signs? They act as a differentiator in case you use a single comma or equal sign elsewhere. It also pays homage to programming syntax, which I am fond of.

2. Don’t spend any time developing a “system” for tracking tasks.

   I can’t tell you how much time I spent thinking about how I’m going to track my tasks. Here is a visual showing a mere fraction of the considerations I found myself making.

   

   My final task management solution didn’t really develop till years later, inspired by frustration and the fact I wasn’t ever using my cumbersome, customized, Outlook-based-macro-enhanced-Exchange-linked-ActiveSynced-via-CDMA-with-specializaed-smartphone-based-task-management-and-kitchen-sink system.

   What is my final solution? What do I use now?

   

   Paper.

   What kind? - Doesn’t matter really.

   Do I have a special pen? - No.

   As much as I like gizmos and having all my data synchronized magically over the air, the time I put into managing a sophisticated task management system defeated the purpose. There are many academics who insist computers do not increase societal productivity. They suspect that computers simply shift work to others, namely technicians and IT staff. Without these kinds of paid computer experts at your personal disposal, you will just shift more work onto yourself.

If you’ve read Getting Things Done, you know the benefits of keeping a task list and focusing on next actions. In my experience, productivity tools, hacks, and customized systems paradoxically reduce productivity. I encourage people interested in accomplishment above all else, to keep it simple and focus on doing, rather than just preparing to do something. Yes, make the list, but make sure not to lose sight of the end goal: crossing it off.