Comments on: Facing the (Sometimes) Ugly Truth

By: Meghan Wilker

Meghan Wilker — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 19:37:44 +0000

Josh:

I took the tickler file setup I found in this article:
http://www.gtdtimes.com/2009/08/17/ways-to-organize-your-workspace/

Previously, I had my folders on a file riser on my desk. This setup is way easier to deal with. You can see it in this video here as well:
http://www.youtube.com/geekgirlsguide

By: Josh

Josh — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 16:17:18 +0000

I want to know what your new tickler file looks like? What did you change? What makes it better?

By: John B. Kendrick

John B. Kendrick — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 11:48:09 +0000

I agree totally Meghan – especially with your view of inboxes are never done. Mine are rarely done, well maybe for a minute or two. I have a bad habit of trying to handle my email inbox as items are pouring in, just processing them into my GTD workflow could keep me busy all day at times. I have to “just say no” and get some work done when I find myself trapped by the email demon. John

By: Russ Eisenberg

Russ Eisenberg — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 05:00:54 +0000

“there is no such thing as “done.” We have to get comfortable with that fact.”

This is the best thing about GTD for me and the hardest.

By: Aeon J. Skoble

Aeon J. Skoble — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 20:03:33 +0000

Meghan- I just listened to your “In Coversation” interview this morning, which I found very helpful and inspiring, so it was great to follow that up with a look at your work space! I think you put it very well when you noted that in a larger sense, we’re not “done” and that that’s not the best way to think about prefectionism; rather, think in terms of continual progress. And a work space that gets messy sometimes isn’t a problem, as long as you have a reliable method (and, ideally, time) for getting clear. Thanks for sharing!

By: Meghan Wilker

Meghan Wilker — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 16:18:35 +0000

John (wave_man):

Excellent point!

While I am a “knowledge worker” I am also, in many ways, a “maker”. There are projects I do that result in the creation of a thing (most often a web site or application).

The main point I was trying to make was that my work now is vastly different from the job I had working in a warehouse when I was 19. I got orders, I filled orders, I went home when the whistle blew. Simple, clean and easy. I knew when my work was done because the whistle told me so.

Now? Well, now I can do my work from home, from the office, or from a beach in Mexico (I wish!). So, it’s up to *me* to decide when the work is done (or “done enough” as I’m starting to think of it), and that can be a very hard thing to do. I don’t think our brains are wired that way quite yet. We have to remind ourselves to stop.

I do appreciate you calling me on the finer points of how I communicate that point. I love word nerds (and the Four Agreements, too)!

Thanks for weighing in.

By: DCB

DCB — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 04:05:05 +0000

I’m coming off a horrendously busy 8 days:

*A 13 hour car trip
*The loss of a friend to cancer
*Two major speaking engagements to prepare for and deliver
*Leading a three day conference I’ve been planning for nine months
*Another friend calling to say she was having heart surgery.
*Normal work stuff

What I love about GTD is that while I had stuff everywhere, a simple sweep of it all into my blue OFFICE folder and a quick toss of it all into my Inbasket and my desk was neat again to the unknowing eye. After tomorrow, however, I’ll be back in office and will face the blue monster and all the junk I’ve thrown to it. :-(

In the pre-GTD days, it would all be tossed into my bottom drawer and across my desk and the mess would bug me incessantly.

By: Jervis Groeneveld

Jervis Groeneveld — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 23:30:50 +0000

Great article, thank you!
Instead of living the illusion of being able to capture the whole of the mountain of things to do, I’d rather be a happy mountain goat, being with the what’s so and powerfully dealing with any breakdowns!

By: Lola LB

Lola LB — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 20:03:50 +0000

You make me feel better! Right now, my desk is more clean than not. It’s a daily struggle, though. I’ll see about getting a picture taken later this evening to send it off to you.

By: Daniel Williams

Daniel Williams — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 14:58:27 +0000

THANK YOU! One thing I keep reminding myself and others that eventhough we GTDers have things “orginized” it doesn’t mean that we aren’t busy – very busy!!