GTD…
 
Good morning dear reader & welcome to my world for another week. Today, as I begin to write my inspiration has come from the frustration this morning of responding to two individuals by email over the same topic which could have been achieved in a simple two minute telephone call. I tried, but no one answered the telephone. Conversely, I clarified the entire matter with my client in less than 2 minutes ~ over her mobile. Regretfully, both people had time to continue the lack of productivity with emails…
 
Many of you dear reader will have attended professional & personal self-help training programs which consistently emphasize higher-horizon focus ~ the usual stuff, clarity of purpose, values, vision, goals; I suspect there are many more. I agree such focus does play a critical role in finding alignment, balance, & perspective.
 
So, what was the problem? If you are trying to get to a beautiful lake or beach & you are caught in the weeds, ignoring the weeds & their constraints will produce nothing but desperation & angst. You first need to know what weeds you are in, & how to get unhooked from them. If your boat has a serious leak, you do not care what direction it is pointed. Rather, you must get control of your current situation & increase your stability, mental & emotional balance in order to get your focus on where you think you should be going.
 
So if your day-to-day world is out of control in any way, trying to focus on the bigger picture will only produce frustration & guilt over not effectively doing what you feel you should be doing.
 
A unique aspect of GTD [getting things done], starts with where you are, not where you should be. It is a misconception GTD does not focus on the "Big Stuff." GTD helps people address whatever has their attention right now so they can free up mental space to more clearly target what they want to focus on. If where you want to be five years from now is your focus, apply the GTD process: What is your desired outcome? What is your next action? Your methodology for GTD, helps you get clear on to next actions, whether you are clearing weeds today or chasing your dream tomorrow.
 
I find people often think GTD focuses on "the weeds" because this where they are ~ in the weeds. For example, when students write down what has their attention it is never "Fulfil my destiny as a human spirit on the planet." Yet from my point of view, this is the only project any of us really has. What people write down is, "buy cat food,” "find new babysitter," "hire a marketing manager," "plan summer holidays," "fix the printer," & such like.
 
My point is friends, whatever has your attention becomes grist for the GTD mill. GTD is about doing what you need to do to appropriately engage with life. If this is higher horizon stuff, make sure you have made this operational within the GTD process. If it is cutting weeds, GTD is the best weed cutter.
Thank you for taking the time to be with me once again. I hope my journey may encourage you also.

This is Kenn Butler in Paradise, Nelson, with my best wishes for the weekend ahead. Fins Up Mako men, sorry I cannot be with you in Dunedin on Sunday afternoon. I look forward to being with you all again next week.
 
 
 
 
www.kennbutler.com