Comments on: Does GTD Make Your Brain Lazy?

By: Ron L

Ron L — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 13:07:02 +0000

I find that GTD does just the opposite for my memory. If I do not have 50-100 things on my mind at any one time, it is free to think and be creative.

Also, if I need to remember something I have room because I’m not having to remember all those other things. GTD for me is like a thumb drive for a PC. I store all the information on it and it frees up my computer memory (brain). Just like a PC, if you free up resources, it will work better and faster for you.

By: Helen

Helen — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 15:17:32 +0000

Well, I think that a conscious person will always take care of his/her brain because even if you write down or classify things, that doesn’t mean that your brain isn’t thinking. It’s thinking, but not at those stuff. Writing down of the tasks, getting them out of your mind is meant to make your brain function more quickly. It’s harder to think of something, when you have your mind full of other things!

By: Albert Wells

Albert Wells — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 12:09:05 +0000

I would suggest that a lot has to do with where you need to focus your mind. I need to plan and problem solve more than remember facts, although facts play an important role in both. Before GTD I would struggle with keeping all the facts organized in my head, which took away the ability to allow the imagination to run outside of the box and find creative ways to solve issues. My brain knew where and how it could retrieve the detailed information if necessary so it allowed a greater freedom of thought in the directions I needed to get my work completed. Playing the keyboard; working on crossword puzzles and reading still keep my brain active enough to avoid going stagnant.

By: Armen Shirvanian

Armen Shirvanian — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 01:05:32 +0000

This is an interesting way to look at the possible downside to all the efficiency and low-stress environment created by solid GTD usage. It is worth wondering if using GTD for five years, and then cutting off usage of it, will then be a struggle compared to those who never used it in the first place.

I think very few people use GTD fully, but for those that do, they would probably want to maintain it. I’m sure the brain would recuperate but having a physical system running for a long time, and then giving it up, could leave a person regularly unfulfilled.

By: Rich

Rich — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 16:33:57 +0000

Actually now you mention it, when I was trying to learn Spanish, the discipline of learning vocab on the bus every morning did seem to improve my short-term memory generally.

I suppose like any muscle you only have limited training time, and it is impossible to train for the 100m and the marathon! That on the bus vocab learning time is now my creative thinking time.

By: Shane

Shane — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 16:31:51 +0000

Very interesting point (also, a great title).

What I want to add to the discussion is that your brain power, just like almost all skills, is highly contextual, or in other words, highly specialized. This means that keeping tasks in your head only increases your skill at keeping tasks in your head. Just like playing chess increases your skill at chess, practicing calculations makes you better at calculating, etc. The flipside of this is that playing chess does not make you more intelligent and neither does solving math problems or any other type of brain exercise (with perhaps the exception of learning a language or a musical instrument).

I guess it can also be likened to exercise. No matter how many pull-ups I do, my legs won’t get stronger, I’ll just be able to do more and more pull-ups.

By: James

James — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 15:50:40 +0000

Thanks for the comments. Charles, I certainly wouldn’t suggest going back to trying to track and remember everything in ones head. However, it might be worthwhile to adopt some form of brain training into our lives in the same way we go to the gym.

You make an interesting point about working on mind challenging projects. if the work is broken down to next actions how challenging can that be? Perhaps I’m focusing on the wrong thing here. Could next actions could make our brains lazy by taking away much of the thinking and difficulties of our work?

Rich, I would agree that GTD has helped with the whole creativity side of my mind because it has been freed up from having to track everything. However, it still leaves the recall/recollection side that doesn’t get the same workout anymore.

By: Charles

Charles — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 09:42:52 +0000

The point of getting things to do out of our head and on lists for quick reference is to not lose track or forget, and keep making progress. Putting everything back in your head might be a way to give it exercise, but it is at the risk of failing, and not making that progress.

If you have projects in development, actually carrying out those projects will give your brain plenty of useful exercise.

Steering clear of GTD, or whatever it is you want to call it, just to keep your brain in shape seems like the wrong choice of exercise. Just choose mind challenging projects to work on and you get the best of both worlds!

By: Rich

Rich — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 09:36:29 +0000

Hi James, I actually think that GTD has improved my brain function. I find I am a lot more creative when I have my GTD system up to date – when every second thought isn’t “I must remember this” or “Don’t forget that”. My subconscious seem to be better at problem solving and coming up with new ideas (which I promptly forget, but that is another issue).