Organize IT

David Allen claims he falls off the wagon all the time. He loses control and goes loopy (maybe) on a regular basis. His co-workers at his company also fall off the wagon and have regular in-house training just to get back on board. Twitter is full of people falling off the wagon. I used to fall off the wagon regularly too. Used to…

Last week I read a very intriguing post on Zen Habits covering seven productivity tips for people that hate GTD. It was a great read (it’s nice to see these sorts of productivity posts still pop up there) though it garnered a lot of interest for several remarks that were included by the author, Jonathan Mead. It certainly got me thinking about some of the points, so I’ve decided to write my own response piece. I’d be keen to hear your own take on some of the points made.

One of my favorite posts over the last couple of months has been my look at a three step technique I am using to control my negative self-talk. In that post I also asked whether positive self-talk can end up making you blind to mistakes and errors. Is taking a positive, optimistic attitude to everything just as irrational as taking a negative one? There were many interesting comments on that subject but here are just a few highlights for you to check out.

Whatever methodology you are a fan of – whether it be Getting Things Done, Do It Tomorrow, The Four Hour Work Week or even The Power Of Less – the one bit of advice that always gets repeated by bloggers and productivity fans alike is to tailor these systems to suit your needs. Perhaps, one of the big reasons GTD is so popular and has so much written about it is because you can tweak and modify it so much.

One of the truest facts of life is that trust needs to be earned. If you’re constantly lying to your friends… well, they won’t be your friends for very long. If nobody trusts the manager then he can’t create a stable team or get the most out of his people. Even telling a white lie can have subtle effects on your relationships and how you are perceived by others. But trust isn’t just about other people, it’s about yourself. Simply put, if you tell yourself you’re going to do something and then you don’t, what is your subconscious going to think?