I think we’d been married 2 years when Rob read Getting Things Done by David Allen. He was moved and inspired and insisted that I read it as well. I couldn’t even understand what the guy was talking about. Write stuff down to get it out of your head? If it takes less than 2 minutes do it right away? I’d be running around the house writing fractured thoughts and folding socks and sweeping the porch and folding more socks in succession. It wouldn’t be any different than the way I already am only with added guilt that I was supposed to be organized now.
So I spent the next 3 years ignoring Rob’s suggestion for programs and habits that will get my frenetic brain under control. NO way! You organized people cannot help Head-in-the-clouds people like me. You’ll just squash my creativity!
Well, he showed me how to use Google Reader and I was OK with that. Now I could remember who’s blogs were fun to read without having to follow my old rabbit trails. That got my defenses down.
Now he’s got me using delicious. That’s not too bad, it keeps pages organized for me, I just have to tell them the Tag that goes with it and I don’t have to think about it again until I need it. Passive organization.
Then something I never thought would happen has just occurred. I found myself laying out my planned blog posts for my craft blog in Google Calendar. Woah. That can only be real planning. Real organization. Rob has taken me to the dark side. I’m sure it’s a passing phase…
I COMPLETELY understand. M is the same way, he has read GTD and other productivity books, reads the blogs, tries to show me something new every other day that will save me time and energy…
I too have resisted and am being worn down. Some of the ideas are good, but I still think the amount of time learning about being productive has to count against productivity. We are probably coming out best ;)
I actually think that pure GTD is probably not the best system for stay-at-home Moms (too much paper!), but a few of the principles are useful in any situation: Having a single place to capture ideas, a weekly review of all the stuff you’ve got going on, etc. It can be really handy when you have a few moments of downtime–the kids are playing nicely together for five whole minutes!–to have a list of the things you really needed to get done, so you’re not kicking yourself later. Maybe moms never have this problem, but I know I do all the time, which is why I appreciated GTD so much.