New-Agey tosh or useful technique?

Yvonne Aburrow

GTD

Michel Foucault, The Care of the Self and the panopticon society

The antecedents of GTDSources• New Age

o "Spiritual"o Human potential

movemento Self-esteem

• Businesso Insight seminars

• Self-regulation (the care of the self)o Foucauldian?o Oppressive?

• Taylorism • Science? 

o Bottom-up approacho Emergent complexityo For rationalists

• Getting Things Done by Percy Redfern Creed in 1946 and 1947, revised from How to Get Things Done, 1938.

• Getting Things Done by Edwin C. Bliss and Malcolm Hancock, 1976

• Getting Things Done by Roger Black, 1990

• The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey and Hyrum W. Smith

• The 10 Natural Laws of Successful Time and Life Management by Stephen R. Covey

• Action Research• The Principles of Scientific

Management by F. W. Taylor (1906)• The Secret• and a million other self-help books

 http://tr.im/10h6

Concept

This is your brain

Before GTD

After GTD

Concept

• Rememberingo Difficulto Clutter

• Recordingo Externallyo Uncluttered

• Concentrate on:o Performingo Completing

Principles

How it actually works

Collect your stuff... in a bucket

• Inbox• Tape-recorder• PDA• Notebook• Desktop

Methodology

1. Workflow1. Collect2. Process3. Organise4. Review5. Do 

3. Planning1. Define purpose & principles2. Envision the outcome3. Brainstorming4. Organising5. Identifying next actions

Get some...• Control• Perspective

2. Framework6. Life goals5. Five-year vision4. Yearly goals3. Areas of    responsibility2. Current projects1. Current actions

Models

Process

• Start at the top• One at a time• No procrastination• Actions

o Doo Delegateo Defer (waiting for)

• Non-actiono Fileo Bino Incubate

Ladder by Georgia O'Keeffe

Organise• Categorise

o Next stepo Projecto Open-loopo Waiting for

Action? Event? Maybe

Future possibility learn Chinese take diving holiday

• Fileo Calendaro To-do listo A to Zo Tickler file

• Reviewo Dailyo Act

Just do it Simple, easy, fun

Tools and techniques

• Tickler fileo 43 folders

12 months 31 days

• Softwareo Desktopo Onlineo Collaborativeo Personal

• The Hipster PDA

Technique• Store• Track• Retrieve

Parietal Disgorgement Aid http://tr.im/10h1

My recommendations

• Should be optional• Evaluate if it's useful for

youo Cognitive styleo Cost-benefit analysiso Homeostasis

• Shifts the locus of...o Fearo Anxietyo Stress

• Individual?• Environment?

 http://tr.im/10qu