I had an opportunity to present on a panel with three other IT professionals at IU’s Statewide IT Conference 2009 about David Allen’s “Getting Things Done.“
What’s broken?
I explained that calling it a “system” is a bit inaccurate. A system is supposed to work. And when the system doesn’t work, people feel like it’s they that are broken, rather than the system.
It’s a workflow. A state of mind. A way of thinking about things. And it’s deeply rooted in process, rather than product.
I was on a panel with two other IT professionals, presenting to IT professionals. Taking care not to assume too much, I gave a very brief overview of the GTD workflow.
The investigation begins.
People seemed very interested. Some were furiously taking notes. Others had very inquiring looks on their faces. For a presenter, this is like candy… you really want your audience engaged, interested; you want to be providing value.
I decided to take a quick, informal poll of the room. I asked how many people had never heard of this system. Maybe 2 out of 30 hands went up. I then asked how many people are practically applying this in their work or personal lives. Again, maybe 2 people.
Opportunity strikes.
Over 80% of the room had heard of GTD, but for whatever reason, didn’t get it. And I don’t mean they didn’t get it in any demeaning sense. It just didn’t click for them. Or it just wasn’t quite the system they were looking for.
Or, and this is my hypothesis, despite the vast amount of “overview” materials out there (the book, websites, forums, etc), they didn’t have a grasp on how to apply the workflow in any meaningful, practical way through their workday.
The right place.
Given that the session was “Getting Things Done: A Practical Approach,” this was definitely the right audience, at the right place.
We had very limited time for the panel. Almost 15 minutes of the 45 was introductions, and an overview. The discussion centered around how the panelists got started, why we chose this, and what problems we’ve encountered.
There’s more than a digital divide.
During the discussion, many people didn’t quite get how they could use this in an IT-centric world. In reality, 90% of an IT worker’s next actions would be on the @computer list. Contexts are a problem.
Additionally, there is the paper/digital divide. We still live in a world that has receipts, bills, forms, proposals, and all manner of other little tidbits on paper. Granted, more and more of our lives are shifting to digital, especially in the case of IT workers, but we also face a different sort of divide.
The Inbox Divide.
Multiple inboxes are a problem. A BIG problem. You’ve got your analog inbox at your home and at work, possibly even just at the mail room. But we have a whole bunch of other inboxes.
How many do you have? Here’s a short rundown of mine:
- Email inbox
- Facebook inbox
- Forum Comments (the ones that need monitored)
- Blog Comments
- New, unassigned Jira tasks (Jira is an issue-tracking system from Atlassian.
That’s just a few.
The Format Divide.
Along with the multiple inboxes, we get stuff in all kinds of formats… rarely are they ever compatible. If it’s not easy to get things into and out of the various parts of your system, you just won’t do it. That’s what I’ve found anyway. I’m lazy about things like that, and managing your tasks shouldn’t be harder than the tasks themselves.
The Coworker Divide.
Finally, we face BIG problems when we are the only person using GTD on a team of people. Luckily, my project manager and I are both experienced, rigorous GTD users. When he sends me something, there is a social contract signed:
- I have recorded the task. He knows it will get done.
- He has recorded sending the task. I know he’s waiting for me to do it.
But when you’re a lone gun, how do you know that what you sent out will get done? How do you know that your email isn’t lost in their hot mess of an inbox among 2000 other messages.
*You think I’m exaggerating about that inbox count… I assure you, I’m not.
Help me help you.
So, given that many have heard of GTD, and most don’t use it, and at least some would like to… what’s your blocker issue? What is keeping your from moving forward?
Is it finding the right tools? Is it that you don’t have enough time to do that first brain dump of everything into an inbox? Are you 1 sick day away from declaring email bankruptcy?
We needed more time.
We barely scratched the surface with discussion. Questions were passed about tools, but all three of us were Mac users and were speculating, at best, about how a Windows user could integrate GTD in their daily routine. I need more research from the Windows side, but in addition to Outlook, there are a range of very capable tools available for that platform.
Are you a PC?
I’d really like to hear how you are using GTD in a practical way on a PC in your daily routine. Tools such as software and services. Do you have experience with both? If so, I’d love to pick your brain about differences you’ve found.
Leave me a comment about your experiences with GTD. Do you think it works? Is it all hype? Would you recommend it to a friend, or more importantly, a colleague?
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