Tim Noyce Advies

I was reading an article on Matt’s Idea Blog about the pitfalls of trying a “Big Bang” approach to learning GTD.

I work in a large organisation here in the Netherlands and have never succeeded in getting someone to “go GTD” in one fell swoop. Dutch people are culturally often cautious pragmatists and most people do not feel the need for an “Xtreme Life makeover”.

They are interested in refining their performance and reducing their stress, so I often start out by sorting out their e-mail and straightening up their action lists. Then I make an appointment to go back and “hold the line” for them while they do a weekly review. In between I drip-feed them useful ideas and tidbits to them to keep them on track. It is not revolutionary, but it works and generally sticks, once I get them moving! GTD is  life changing, but it is also pretty handy as a collection of tools.

If you are more a drip-feeder than a red-blooded revolutionary here is my tip for the week:

Go through your action list this week and check if everything you see is really attractive and do-able: if something repels you then it is either horrible (cleaning out the green “vegetable” dustbin is my unfavourite) or it is a project you have not thought through. You need to break it down until it is a hard, sharp “Next Action” that you are eager to cross off your list! For an example of that process you can look at this post from my own coaching practice.