Wednesday
Oct052005
My GTD tally: 70 NAs, 30 PROJs, & 15 AORs
Wednesday, October 5, 2005 at 12:43AM
A quickie: I attended David Allen's GTD | RoadMap seminar on Friday in Boston (it was great), and I again heard his various average "counts" for professionals - Next Actions, Projects, etc. So I thought I'd add mine up - I'd be curious how these compare with yours: Right now I have ~70 Next Actions (including Waiting Fors and Agenda items), ~30 projects, and ~15 areas of responsibility. According to Allen (depending on when you talk to him) most people have 150-170 Next Actions, 30-100 projects, and 10-15 categories of areas of responsibility. (So I'm an overly responsible person with a lower-than-average amount of work to do? Doesn't feel that way!)
I didn't include the higher level horizons (Goals, Vision, and Purpose) because I haven't worked them out clearly enough, and (to be honest) they seem like the weakest and least thought out portion of Allen's book. (Yes, I'm a little resistant, you might notice.) As a result, I came out of the seminar realizing that getting clarity in those areas is one of the next challenges I'd like to work on.
I didn't include the higher level horizons (Goals, Vision, and Purpose) because I haven't worked them out clearly enough, and (to be honest) they seem like the weakest and least thought out portion of Allen's book. (Yes, I'm a little resistant, you might notice.) As a result, I came out of the seminar realizing that getting clarity in those areas is one of the next challenges I'd like to work on.
Reader Comments (4)
Hi Matt,
So it seems we're both resistant to the "bigger vision" part of GTD.
Same happens here - it look to me as a self-help-book-kind-of-approach.
Then again, I was looking for ways to organize the "daily grind".
Just my $.02,
Ricardo
(out of topic: if you know anyone who's looking for free MT hosting, ad supported, drop me a line,ok?)
As usual, a great comment, Ricardo. I was also drawn to addressing the "daily grind" (as you put it). And I think I understand what you mean by the "self-help-book-kind-of-approach" feel to the other parts. I hope to post something soon on the book [ Sham | http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1400054095/104-8657897-1159931?v=glance&n=283155&s=books&v=glance ] and address some of the aspects of the self-help movement that bother me. Thanks!
matt
Hi Matt,
What exactly do you mean by the "areas of responsibility"? I read the Allen's book already, but I don't remember this term. Thank you for explanation.
Hi quirkyalone. In Allen's terms, he breaks the world of work into six perspectives: Six-level model for reviewing work:
* 50,000+ feet: Life (why do you/company exist?)
* 40,000 feet: 3-5 year vision.
* 30,000 feet: 1-2 year goals.
* 20,000 feet: Areas of responsibility.
* 10,000 feet: Current projects.
* Runway: Current actions.
(taken from [ here | http://www.gyford.com/phil/notes/2005/01/03/getting_things_don.php ] ). He talks about it in multiple places in the book, but it's easy to miss when focusing on actions and projects (I did). Hope this helps!
matt