Quote:
Originally Posted by MEP
It's not that GTD software forces the "InBox --> planning --> work" method of doing things. It's that GTD does. That's part of what GTD is. ...
OF doesn't have to work for "both types of people", and it probably shouldn't. The point of GTD is to change your life in a positive way, not to facilitate messy and broken systems. The point of OF should be to facilitate a good GTD workflow and to encourage good habits while discouraging bad ones (to help you use and improve your own GTD system).
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MEP, maybe I should explain how my mind works on these things. [Though I'm spacey and probably have about half my usual IQ, due to a sinus headache ...]
Throughout my day, I have two sorts of Action ideas that come to my head:
A. Specific Actions, "I need to e-mail that R.s.v.p." or "I need to talk to DH about Tuesday night's schedule". These are usually singletons, and I already know the Project/Context when the idea comes to me. If it's something I need to enter in OF, I go directly to the correct Project and type it in. [BTW, I rarely/never have Contextless things on my lists. I agree with you here; nothing without a Context should leave the InBox.]
At some later point the item may become a Project, but probably not. In any case, I have no need to go through the full GTD process to get it out of my head.
B. Fuzzy Projects, "Do something about my geeky wardrobe", "I've got a great idea for the next GT Conference, and I need to bounce it off some people" These are definitely Projects, and how I handle them varies.
If I have a few minutes (85% of the time), I'll think about them and enter them directly into the Projects section. They won't be fully planned, but I'll have a Project and a couple of actions. Again, no Inbox is used.
If I don't have time, I'll throw the idea into the Inbox, for later processing.
MEP, note that 95% of the time, I don't use/need the Inbox or the full Collect -->Process -->Organize -->Review -->Do method. In fact, going through all the steps would slow me down A LOT. I doubt David Allen goes through all the steps for every Action, either.
The reason other GTD programs don't work for me is that they enforce the InBox --> Plan system, even for trivial tasks. [Do I really need to go through all the steps just because I remembered I need to buy a birthday gift, or mop the kitchen when I get home?] I agree the steps are necessary for Big Projects, and I do go through them when I need to, but most of the things I need to remember to do are Small Potatoes.
As far as messy and broken systems, any system that lets me get my ideas out of my head in a way I can recover them later, without tying me up in planning flow is better than no system at all. A system that forces me to go through a 5 step process when an Action needs only 2-3 steps (Collect --> (Review -->) Do) is a system I won't use ... and I'll be back to my messy, broken non-system.
Sorry for the length of this post ... I hope it makes sense.
--Liz