GTD

I want to focus. I want to narrow down the things I think about, the things I am paying (notice the verb) attention to. Such things are receiving my attention like money that I am paying to them. The question is, what am I getting in return for my "investment"? It seems as though the broader the base, the larger the group of diverse items, that I pay my attention to, the less any of them can give me back. Another way of putting it is that I can only pay a little to each one at a time; therefore they can't give me much at a time.

So last night, in the dark, I pulled out my little notebook, the one I consider "disposable," for short-term to-do lists, grocery lists, and the like, and wrote something a little more important in it. I will copy it below, for posterity's sake.

I don't have a conclusive answer to the questions I've been posing the past couple of days. I'm not sure I ever will. On the one hand, I don't really think GTD is somehow only for unbelievers and the spiritually immature. But I don't want to fall into the trap of thinking the organizational equivalent of the Maasai man's comment about the American and his watch: "You keep your god on your wrist." I don't want to think that my dayplanner or Next Action list is the sum total of who I am and all that's worth doing on a given day.

There's part of me that really finds it comforting to think that (1) the God of the universe is constantly with me, (2) longing to guide me into a perfect pattern of circumstances where (3) I will find fulfillment in (4) glorifying Him.

And, to be honest, maybe part of the allure of this G.O.D. concept is that it takes the organizational onus off me and leaves it on the infinitely broad shoulders of God, who can handle it. While that may reflect my own laziness, it also leaves me with perhaps the larger burden of stifling my selfishness in order to be perfectly listening and obeying God 24/7. Wow.

Yesterday I wrote about liking the idea of GTD, but not being able to settle on How to do it. Finally (after chasing down who knows how many rabbit holes), I actually prayed about it. I asked God which system He wanted me to use. I always get frustrated with myself when I take on an issue or project that seems very important, and try to take on godly attitudes and biblical ideas in the process, but don't actually ASK God what He wants me to do in that particular situation. Often the answer to such direct questioning takes me in a direction I wouldn't have ever thought of.

In this case, upon turning my mind towards praying about it, turning my mind towards God, I was reminded of a metaphor I arrived at a number of years ago. I likened God to a secretary. Or, better, an administrative assistant, like the assistant to a high-powered executive. Someone who is keenly in tune with what the executive is doing, and can make appointments for the executive, who knows the executive's schedule better than the executive does.

I was introduced a number of months ago to a concept known as "Getting Things Done," named after the book by David Allen. The more I read about the concept on sites like 43folders.com, lifehack.com, and others, the more I came to appreciate and value the ideas. I even finally broke down and bought the book itself, just to read more details and understand it more clearly.

But I've had the worst time trying to figure out how to implement the ideas. From what I've read elsewhere, I'm not alone in this. Flexibility gives people more control, more options. But the more options we have, sometimes the easier it is to freeze in indecision.