Everyone wants to paint the big picture

But nobody wants to have anything to do with the detail.

Maybe an overstatement, but a lot of the people around me seem to want to be seen as the ones who have the Big Strategic Thought and steer the Ship of Enterprise Software towards the horizon of double digit growth and glory.

Nothing wrong with having big thoughts. But if everyone on the boat wants to set a course for a slightly different dot on the horizon, and no one wants to do all the other things like feed the crew, stoke the boilers or pump out the bilges, where will we end up?

Answers in a floating bottle, please.

Is it regret that makes you choke up from time to time?

As I'm getting older, I find that I tend towards the odd tear; the occasional (or sometime more frequent) tendency to choke up for familiar but not entirely understood reasons.

So, listening to Neil Young singing 'Copperline' on Jools' music program this evening, I felt a twinge of that emotional stuff; starting just below my throat and working its way to try and squeeze a little something from my tear ducts.

Why? Not clear why. Possible reasons might be a sense of loss, regret or nostalgia? A stress related thing? Old age turning me a bit foolish? half a bottle of wine and a large scotch? Some underlying realisation that I'm spinning my wheels?

Who can say. Nice song, though.

Do It Tomorrow

Last week I read Mark Forster's latest book - Do It Tomorrow and other secrets of Time Management.

I have to say, as someone who has been trying out GTD for some time, that DIT seems to really hold out promise as an effective, simple-to-use approach to time management.

I'll keep you posted.

GTD and the Stockholm Syndrome

Have you ever heard of the Stockholm Syndrome?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stockholm_syndrome

It's a condition in which a hostage starts to identify with, and even defend, their captor.

It occurred to me that there may be an element of that going on between me and GTD.

I first read the book "Getting Things Done" about 4 or five years ago. It struck me then - as it does now - as a great workflow tool to help get in control of your working life.

However, for unknown reasons, I find that I am struggling to get it working as I'd like. It may be the struggle to find a 'trusted system' - I am wary of using an electronic method and paper can be fiddly. It may be dark hidden reasons - the same fear of failure / success that is supposed to be the mark of the procrastinator. Or it may be something completely different.

Despite all of that, I find that I keep coming back to it with the mindset that it must be right so I ought to stay with it, regardless of whether it's the right thing for me.

Has anyone else hit this?

Has anyone tried it and decided that it's not for them? The only references I see in the blogosphere seem to be overwhelmingly praiseful.

Am I the only person that GTD won't fly for?

Answers on a sheet from a Hipster PDA, please...

Temporal Suspicions

Here we are. The start of another week.

If anyone reads this item, maybe you can help me with a little question.

Why is it, despite several years of trying to improve my organisational skills and time management - reading time management books, writing cryptic notes in filofaxes, typing into Outlook - why am I still crap at it? Is the ability to be organised and Get Stuff Done something that you need to learn before you get to 7 years old? Reading some of these books (which takes ages because I don't have the time), I also get the impression that a lot of the authors are actually so obsessed with the techniques that they have lost sight of the fact that the techniques are there to help get other stuff done - not as an end in themselves.

"nice day at the office dear?"
"yes - I filled in 23 to-do lists, and re-sorted them in reverse alphabetical sequence".
"That's nice dear. Did you remember to get the car insured".
"Don't be silly - I was far too busy colouring in my calendar"