The fastest way to GTD is to remove the need to do them

This quote from Nick Smith, linked to in a comment over on this really interesting thread, really resonated with me:

“We seem to be developing a whole industry of productivity aids and techniques to help us find balance, carve out periods of ‘flow’ and ‘get things done’ within stressful, conflicted lives that are befuddled by limited beliefs. I am sure this need not be.”

I love my GTD for the few but important techniques that it taught me, but it isn’t the end game. It efficient, but not necessarily effective.

My mom recently asked me to loan the book, and I’m quite certain it’s not what she needs. She needs to study her motives and fears, not techniques.

GTD doesn’t help if you’re not doing the right things, or if your emotional patters are hurting you. In fact, chances are it might hurt, because it delays the breakdown where you realize you really need to do something.

That’s not meant as a warning against reading it, I do recommend it, just read it for the right reason. And it would have been a lot better as a 50-page e-book, so just scan it for the nuggets.