"You fake 'em and you take 'em" - The Aggrolites, Jimmy Jack
I asked a question to twitter yesterday:
I was surprised that, at least amongst those who responded on twitter, old fashioned pen and paper was the most common way people were tracking tasks. On Friendfeed, RTM and some integration with Android was the overwhelming answer (proving FF is really nerdy). There were other services/softwares mentioned—OmniFocus, Things, and Google Tasks—but no one expressed overwhelming love for any of them (except for the Android app, Astrid). I don't know if that suggests that there's still an opportunity out there for a great task management service or if there just isn't a one size fits all way for dealing with this.
What I realized, though, is I think Getting Things Done has totally screwed me up. GTD creates all these processes around task management and when I was in the training and reading the books a few years ago, I thought, this is awesome. I'll be in control! Nothing will fall through the cracks!! I'll take over the world!!!
Yeah, no. GTD turns task management into a task in and of itself. I don't want that. There are two things I want to do: remind myself to take care of the mundane tasks that I always avoid/block and remind myself that I need to be working towards the big goals, milestones, concepts, ideas. I don't need sub-tasks. I don't need projects and mini-projects and processes to manage processes. I need BIG IDEA post-its that follow me everywhere and a nag. And I don't need making To-Do lists to be a chore.
So, I'm hoping RTM can help me do that. This is my second or third go 'round with the service. The last time, I used it actively for a few months before getting distracted by some new thing to try (probably gTasks) and then quickly gave up on that, too. I like that it's everywhere. The Chrome Milk extension, the gMail and Google Calendar extensions, and the iOS and Android Apps help with the everything-ness of it (although, now that I know Astrid syncs with RTM, I'm going to switch back to that I think) and I will take some advice from the pen + paper set and review and potentially rewrite my TO-DOs for the day/week every morning.
Maybe that'll work to help me lose this lack of control I've been feeling.
You see, that's the real problem and maybe this is better suited for another post but what all this task/to-do list nonsense is really all about is about me trying to exercise some control. I'm usually really good at adapting and reacting to change but there's just a ton in flux right now and unlike most of the time when I get to help others through change or champion it or whatever, I'm in the middle of it. Things are directly affecting me and I have very little way to impact them whether personally or professionally.
I get moments where I can nudge things in the right direction but most of this is wait and see. Others have to do the heavy lifting and, gah, that's frustrating. Especially when the changes take longer than I'm used to.
I like to just rip off the band-aid.
But I'm not the actor. So, instead I sit here with a bit of stress and anxiety. I feel undisciplined. I am spending a little too much time in my head. And eating the wrong things. And not focusing on the tasks at hand.
I woke up this morning, though, tired of waiting for the cheese to move.
It's time to Remember the Milk.
Nobody else is going to.
