Three Common Misunderstandings of Self-Taught GTD Fans

Because David's bestselling book is so comprehensive, people often can get a long way with self-teaching. However, in this video veteran GTD® coach Robert Peake shares some of the common misunderstandings he has come across from those who try too hard to do things "by the book"--and how you can correct them.
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[@GTDintheUK]

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[@gs24x7]

loved the video. I am one of those "self-taughts" and coming around to GTD 1 year after I gifted myself the book. The point you made towards the end "relaxed focus and trusting your choices" is so liberating. Thank you and yes, please do keep sharing your thoughts.

[@RobertPeake]

So glad this was useful

[@brindmusicnerd]

Very helpful - thank you for sharing. Would definitely welcome more videos along same lines!

[@RobertPeake]

Excellent, glad to hear it!

[@andreadvorak2881]

Thanks Robert! I think you are really right, I have seen myself fall into all three traps you mention here. In fact, as I listened to you talk about trusting your choices - I realized that I was not feeling entirely settled about my plan for this morning to work on X defined project - doing so will mean I ignore something that has come up in the last day - so I'm going to CHANGE my plan for this morning, trusting my gut that putting time into Y defined project instead is actually more urgent/important/critical. Thank you for the just-in-time reminder :)

[@RobertPeake]

Excellent, glad to hear it!

[@edwardrobson]

Over tooling. Yup. Guilty as charged. I used ToDoist for a long time as my digital capture tool (alongside a small notebook) and had all sorts of filters categories etc etc. Basically 2 tools but the digital side was too complex and, as you say Robert, was getting in the way. Invested in a FF Malden planner (which is a lovely thing, by the way) with the basic set of lists and contexts alongside Microsoft ToDo on my phone as a digital In Box - to be ruthlessly processed into the planner regularly. Still carry a small notebook in my pocket as a capture tool. The next stage is to make good use of my Weekly Review. Your tip about using that to reflect on the system itself is insightful, thankyou. I think I'm getting my head around the GTD concept of Projects. I struggled previously with where to put all the subsequent steps in a project after adding the very next action to my Next Actions list. Listening to the Audible copy of Getting Things Done (again) has helped in that regard. This series is a fantastic resource. Thank you.

[@RobertPeake]

So glad you're finding the series useful, Edward, and sounds like you are reaping the benefits of some of your simplifications.

[@Longstreet1955]

This was very helpful, Robert. How many times do we catch ourselves spending an inordinate amount of time tweaking our contexts when we have the major project with a looming due date. Yes, look at your system, and simplify, simplify. Make it work for you. I for one would love to see more videos like this in a series. And of course, I have to comment again - your beard is looking good!

[@GTDintheUK]

Thanks for your kind thoughts, David. Especially about the beard. :)

[@sukshma239]

@@GTDintheUK 🙂

[@j.d.5709]

This helped clarify things for me I was working from more of a reactive approach as you said 3 methods you could approach GTD and I felt like that was the systems drawback but now I know for me implementing GTD from an areas of focus method works better for me. Thanks for the insight and info.

[@RobertPeake]

My pleasure, and so glad to hear.

[@SteveDunn]

Great stuff, Robert. I'm definitely guilty of overtooling - I think I've spent more time tweaking hundreds of apps than actually doing the work. The Weekly Review is something I've always treated as a chore rather than an opportunity...that will change. And it's clear that I've missed the three-fold nature of work (been through the book twice) - time for another read! Keep up the brilliant videos and tips you guys produce. Excellent.

[@RobertPeake]

So glad this was helpful, Steve! Sounds like three-for-three. Pretty neat.

[@sukshma239]

@@RobertPeake 🙂

[@dimadiall]

Oh Steve... How I can relate to what you wrote there! Hehehe 🤭

[@jjsadowski]

Great observations and perspective reminder. It’s so easy to slip into pure mechanics and lose the spirit of the system. Going to review the three-fold nature of work. +5 cool points for the beard 😝

[@GTDintheUK]

Go get 'em. And thanks for the +5 on the beard.

[@dupeadegebo4394]

Thank you so much for this insightful clip. I am clearly at fault in all 3 misunderstandings but especially the one on handling weekly review. Time to work on me!

[@RobertPeake]

Glad that was helpful!

[@paulsonap6]

A very helpful video! I would love to know more about misunderstandings you've seen folks have about GTD.

[@RobertPeake]

Thanks, Anne!

[@stephh9944]

Thank you for this! I always stumble across your wisdom when I seem to need it most. I stripped right back to a paper system after trying so hard with a digital system for so long, but I just couldn't find the sweet spot in the digital world and over-engineered it. My weekly review practice needs to be weekly (who'd have thought...) but I engage well with it when I do it. And the threefold needs a whole revisit.

[@RobertPeake]

So glad to hear this came at the perfect time, Steph.

[@asmith8511]

Really helpful, would love to see more videos on this topic if possible please :)

[@RobertPeake]

Great, thanks for the feedback!

[@Haadlum]

More please.

[@kevvy22]

I’m really having trouble with the difference between next actions and projects

[@GTDintheUK]

Projects are outcomes that take multiple steps to get there, and which usually get completed within a year. Next actions are the single next step to do something. So a project may have many next actions along the way to accomplishing it, done one at a time over time.

[@nomad1517]

Can somebody tell me how the actual flow of workflow goes? I got really confused on it because in the book, David says that you dont have to do it all at once, and break it up into chunks, but I have no idea what that would actually look like. Is it like whenever you have free time, you just, look clairify what's in your in tray, and do the whole process in one shot? He also says to get your physical stuff in first, and then your mental stuff. Im really confused on how an actual day of using GTD actual goes in sequence, could somebody explain that to me? Thank you.

[@RobertPeake]

Noma, this might help a bit I hope: kzbin.info/www/bejne/eZe3Z2t7oqeMo9U

[@samsmith6169]

Do the 3 misunderstandings are - Over-tooling - Over-thinking - Overcomplicating ??? I have difficulty processing verbal directions unless thereya transcript or even a short summary of the key points being made. Listened to this 3 times, and thie above 3 points are what I got. An I even close?

[@RobertPeake]

Focusing on tool ("overtooling"), missing the opportunity to think about your practice during a weekly review, missing the importance of the "threefold nature of work" are the three mentioned here. Does turning on the closed captioning help? In future videos we posted to our website, we now include a full written transcript.