Comments on: The Organize IT Habits: Always Ask Why And How

By: Personal Finance Money Tips

Personal Finance Money Tips — Sat, 08 Mar 2008 00:05:06 +0000

By: Pinkblocks

Pinkblocks — Sun, 24 Feb 2008 19:34:24 +0000

By: Mike King

Mike King — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 06:28:14 +0000

Awesome post James! The whole concept of using curiosity to improve yourself, others and the systems around you is an important one. It gets ignored in work all the time, exactly like your example. I certainly value curiosity so I’ll strive to ensure I don’t loose it with age, like you mentioned happens to many.

By: Learning At Light Speed

Learning At Light Speed — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 03:12:53 +0000

By: 7P Productions

7P Productions — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 06:22:53 +0000

By: James

James — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 20:25:12 +0000

Thanks for your comment Johannah, you’ve pretty much summed up the key value of this habit – figuring out what the specific roadblock is and what to do to fix it. When it comes to working on your habits it’s highly useful.

By: Johannah

Johannah — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 19:35:36 +0000

Wow! What an interesting article. My whole job centers around figuring out why things work the way they do (or don’t) and how to fix them, but for some reason I have not consciously applied that method outside of work.

I mean, I often wonder why it’s so hard to keep up a certain habit or routine, but I’ve never taken it to the level of really figuring out what the specific roadblock is and what to do to fix it. The end result is always just a mental note to try harder next time.

I’m going to start trying to look at some of those issues you listed – falling off the GTD wagon, not going to the gym – as puzzles to be solved and see how that works!

By: James

James — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 15:54:10 +0000

Al, that’s a nice analogy. My current system is so far removed from what it used to be and if I was to show it to to people, they’d probably think it was a really sloppy approach… but it actually works for me.

By: Al at 7P

Al at 7P — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 22:32:20 +0000

Great article. I think one of the drawbacks people have with GTD is that it seems so rigid. I see the most successful implementation of GTD actually being a custom work flow, one that conforms best with the user.

To make an analogy, GTD is kind of like a new pair of jeans. Once you break it in and make it fit your profile, it can be pretty comfortable and one can forget that it’s even there.