Task-focused GTD systems
Posted in opinion on December 30th, 2008 by ben – 3 CommentsAbstract: A primary disconnect of GTD systems is that they are more interested in the data than the actions.
As an analogy, let’s pretend you are are tasked with starting a new rocking chair manufacturing company. Would you rather have
- A pre-designed assembly line that had all the jigs and supplies for the steps involved in building your product, or
- A Norm Abrams-style workshop (à la New Yankee Workshop) where you have every imaginable high-end tool needed to craft anything out of wood?
I’m hoping you’d choose #1 (since the question wasn’t whether you aspire to be a craftsman). The key here is that choice #1 is a task-oriented solution, and #2 is focused on the materials and tools.
GTD focuses on the “next action,” driving you toward tasks that you can process through with less mental baggage than abstract project goals. It is this decomposition of projects into the next actionable tasks that causes so many “ah hah” moments for new GTD disciples. In hindsight, it’s obvious, but it’s a fundamental shift for most folks.
The trouble is that most GTD systems are based on the data you use to perform your next actions, rather than the actions themselves. For instance, Microsoft Outlook has email, calendaring, todo items, notes, etc. – all the tools you’d need for a good GTD implementation. But it doesn’t help you turn that new request from your boss in your inbox into a todo item that’s due by Friday. There’s no easy way to take a message you just sent and create a tickler for following up 3 days from now. I could go on…
I want a system that focuses on what to do with the data, rather than giving me arbitrary ways to organize it. I want an assembly line that I walk up to in the morning and that enables me to crank through whatever work is on my plate and whatever comes at me. I don’t need lots of customization of views and fields, as long as I can trust that the system isn’t going to let open loops get stale.
In order to make a new system that has a chance of success, it needs to build on a mental model that blends with what new users bring to the app. What are other analogies for this action vs. data struggle? What other apps are more focused on the action than the data?
Feedback is welcome,
-benJ
