The Two Gears of Getting Things Done® (GTD®) Adoption

I've published a whitepaper that presents the concept of the "two gear of GTD adoption". This concept is part of my research into introducing the concepts of Getting Things Done. I also touch on methods for adopting GTD.

Here is a preview...

The "first gear" of GTD adoption is effectiveness and the "second gear" is doing it all stress free.

GTD is not about speed, it is about momentum:

The idea of the two gears of GTD adoption comes from the concept of converting energy into momentum.

Just as a manually geared car (i.e. stick shift) stalls if you try to take off in 2nd gear, so will GTD if you try stress free before you've mastered effectiveness.

You need to get some speed up before you can change to the 2nd gear. Changing gears too early will stall your progress; i.e. focusing on the finer details of GTD too early will kill your enthusiasm. Likewise, changing gears two late will break your engine, i.e. working all the effectiveness techniques and routines without learning the critical thinking will have you exhausted before you experience the truly profound benefits of mind like water.

... Download the white paper to read more...

Stress Free Effectiveness is…

Stress Free Effectiveness is basically this – the ability to focus completely on what you are doing at any given moment, and the knowledge that what you are doing is the most appropriate thing you should be doing at that moment.

The issue for most of us is two fold: firstly it is difficult to completely focus on what you are doing because of interference from others and more importantly your own thoughts; and secondly, confidence you are doing the most appropriate thing at any given moment assumes you know everything you aren’t doing at that moment. The reality is that most of us don’t have a complete inventory of everything we should or could be doing.

The solution is both easier and harder than you may think… here it is…

(1) clear your mind and keep it that way.
(2) get everything you should or could be doing on to lists.
(3) keep those lists up to date and reviewed often enough that you trust the contents to be correct and complete.