Why GTD should matter to developers

I am starting out unapologetically singing the praises of GTD, by arguing no developer should be without a way of planning their work, and this is the best way I’ve found to date. Disclosure — that’s an affiliate link, and it helps me, but it won’t cost you any more, just getting that out upfront.

I’ve spoken to many a developer who thinks it’s too convoluted, inefficient, overkill or unwieldy. I’d argue precisely the opposite, that once you get up to speed with it, you’ll find the speed at which you can sort your work and clear your head is anything but clunky.

What is it?

Based on the explanation from David Allen himself and my own experience, I’d say GTD is a way of:

Managing your commitments

• If you’ve ever missed important meeting prep because you were fire-fighting something else, then GTD can help.
• If you are struggling to make sense of everything that’s on your plate, GTD will give you clarity.
• If you are going round in circles, unsure of how to break something down, then GTD can help you.

Having Ideas, not holding them

More than one productivity expert would say the idea of a ‘second brain’ is vital in the ‘Knowledge Worker’ age. GTD offloads all of the ‘what I have to do’ and the ‘when I have to do’. More specifically, once you’ve determined the above, you don’t constantly fret about it. You have a trusted place to go back and review at any time you need to feel you’re across everything.

Being appropriately engaged

Ever been at a meeting and then remembered you forgot to ask all of the questions you need? Ever had thoughts from work buzzing around your head at home, or had home errands distract you at work? Your ‘second brain’ can help alleviate this.

Handle ‘getting attacked from all fronts’

For a start, I think we’re our own worst enemy. We distract ourselves so easily when we procrastinate and lose our thread. That’s without including:

• The context switching that gets forced on us by changing priorities and collaboration with co-workers
• The fact that we get inputs from email, Instant Messaging, SMS, face to face conversations
• Our brain gives us random, unrelated ideas at an inappropriate time that we might not want to lose
• Our brain gives us relevant, really great ideas that we really don’t want to lose either.

GTD lets us take all of these, and streamline them in a uniform way.

What is it not?

It’s worth being clear on what GTD cannot do so as not to misrepresent it. It won’t let you:

• Stop you making ridiculous commitments (I wish)
• Magically make more hours in the day (My wife and I wish)
• Make you better at prioritising the most important work first (You’re still a decision making machine after all)

There are many debates about things like ‘Efficiency vs Effectiveness’, that treating every input equally like GTD does is not the best way to prioritise. I personally think that’s missing the point. I think of GTD as complementary to Agile techniques and I think of GTD as the weapon of choice once we’ve decided on our work.

How does it work then?

I’ve linked to a workflow of the process to explain the high level concepts. I’d suggest reading through that first and then give a more specific guide.

Can I see a specific example of GTD at work?

An excellent idea, examples are always easier to grasp. I’ll use an example of some sprint work to show how this system will give you a reflection of your current commitments at the office.

Originally published at https://www.learncoderetain.com on August 6, 2018.