Personal Operating System FAQs and Ideas

I'll add to this over time as we learn how people work with the curriculum.

"Task management seems daunting. I'm worried I won't stick with it."

One of the best things about the task management process is that when you set it up the first time, you are creating the foundation. It won't work perfectly at the outset because your mind hasn't learned to trust the system yet. It's likely you'll fall off the wagon at some point. Honestly, when I'm in periods of deeply intense activity I do as well. But I know all it takes is a weekly review (if perhaps a slightly longer one) to get back on top of everything, because the system and the process is so ingrained.

Give yourself a "cookie"

One student suggested giving yourself a "treat" of some kind when you complete a difficult task or a task you've been putting off. You could work on your someday/maybe list a little, or simply do something you enjoy for 10 minutes.

One thing for work, one personal, one for me

One student suggested that a way to have more balance and move forward on important things more holistically is to select 3 "big rock" tasks each day, one of which is for work, one is for a personal thing, and one is purely for self-care or enjoyment.

Gall's Law

One student reinforced the importance of starting simple by referencing Gall's law. It states that all complex systems that work evolved from simpler systems that worked. If you want to build a complex system that works, build a simpler system first, and then improve it over time.

How do you prevent overwhelm with your to-do lists?

Several participants have mentioned how a fear with implementing GTD is the massive number of to-dos that you end up having in front of you. How do you prevent yourself from just getting paralyzed by it? A few suggestions:

• First, realize that you already have these to-dos, they're just floating around in your head. By getting them down on paper you get clarity on the full inventory of things you've committed to (explicitly or implicitly.) This allows you to make more rational decisions.
• GTD advocates the use of "contexts" to help focus in on the todos that are actually worth looking at. You don't want to be living in a view that has a consolidated view of everything you might work on. Rather, you want to focus on your "errands" list when you're in your car, or your work tasks, filled by today, starting with your MVT. Or your "admin" tasks for your afternoons when you're low energy.
• The "someday-maybe" list is liberating. This allows you to take things that you haven't moved on in a while (or that you don't anticipate being able to get to if you're honest), and simply renegotiate the commitment to yourself. In effect your'e saying, "It's not a 'no', it's just not a 'right now.'"
• If you still are having a ton of difficulty, or your backlog of tasks keeps growing and growing without seeming to chop it down, give yourself permission to declare "task bankruptcy." Seriously. Nuke the system. Start with a fresh brain dump. Whatever is worth pursuing will still be in your mind and get re-added.
• Someday-maybe also works at the highest level as well. Remember that your vision plans are over a 10 year horizon. If you wanted to get to something this year but you realize that it's not realistic, don't beat yourself up - keep it in your 10 year vision, but remove it from this year's goals.

Feeling guilty when reading

Several members commented on struggling with feeling they “should be working” when they read newsletters, professional blogs, and especially fiction.

We talked about potentially blocking off time either mid-afternoon or on a weekend, so they've already tackled their most important work and can read without feeling guilt.

Another member mentioned developing a practice of refusing to start a non-fiction book until they've implemented something from a previous one, which reduced their guilt by preventing them from endless reading without applying anything.

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