Getting Things Done When You’re Getting Things Done October 30, 2008

I have nothing against GTD; It’s a great system for getting organized.

Well I lied. I do have something against it. GTD is perfect if you’re already an organized person. In which case, you learn to become super-organized.

But if you’re like me, a superslob, then GTD fails because it doesn’t address the most important issue of being organized – Motivation. I’ve tried to follow GTD, as I’m confident you have too. But after one or two days, I’m back to being my old slob of a self.

I Could Be So Organized If I Were Organized

For the me the key to staying organized is seething to be organized. That’s not a typo. I did write “seething”.

Many people want to be organized.

Many people even need to be organized.

But few seethe to be organized.

“Seething to be organized” means hating how pathetic your life is because you’re unorganized. “Seething to be organized” stems from the belief that you could be so much more, if only you could get your act together.

To seethe, you really have to call upon that deep down envy of all the people you went to school with, who are now more successful than you are. Or you have to think about all the losers you’ve met who have:

1. more money than you

2. have a bigger house than you

3. have a nicer car than you

4. have everything better than you

and for the life of you, you can’t figure out why.

The most important thing however, is to ball up your anger and let it out slowly. Use it. Keep the rage bottled and let out just enough each day to allow you to stick with any organizational system you choose: GTD for example.

The more reasons you can find to be angry, the better you’ll do. And if you need a name for this method of motivation, call it GTDWYGTD – Getting Things Done When You’re Getting Things Done.