{"id":1405,"date":"2009-04-23T12:47:06","date_gmt":"2009-04-23T20:47:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.gtdtimes.com\/?p=1405"},"modified":"2009-04-23T12:47:06","modified_gmt":"2009-04-23T20:47:06","slug":"the-first-big-productivity-hurdle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/2009\/04\/the-first-big-productivity-hurdle\/","title":{"rendered":"The First Big Productivity Hurdle"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Anyone who is entertaining the idea of implementing some form of productivity system in their business (or life, for that matter) will have a lot of resources at their disposal. The Internet alone has nearly 15,000 sites that mention GTD and personal\/professional productivity, so right there you\u2019ve got as much surfing to do as the Big Kahuna. As far as books go, you could read thousands that touch on the subject of productivity as well. So, once your eyes stop bleeding, where do you begin?<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><strong>That\u2019s the biggest hurdle of all.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><a href=\"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/gtdtimes\/2009\/04\/hurdle2.jpg\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-1407\" src=\"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/gtdtimes\/2009\/04\/hurdle2.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"282\" height=\"227\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>The more options you have to entertain, the more options you feel that you have to entertain. This is counter-intuitive to what GTD and productivity is all about. While you can spend countless hours reading, researching, adopting and implementing &#8211; you are only more educated on different means of getting things done. And that\u2019s all you\u2019ve gotten done. Way to go!<\/p>\n<p>David Allen\u2019s system is tried, tested and true. Many follow it. Others find it too complex; too overwhelming to adopt in one fell swoop (which you really have to do to fully benefit from the system) so they either don\u2019t do it right or let it slide unintentionally. There are other, more \u201czen-like\u201d approaches to productivity, which get the job done in a different way. You can use software, a Moleskine, the back of a napkin or a Hipster PDA. You can write with any number of instruments, from bullet pens to clutches to nothing at all. You can use multiple things if you want. But, remember, sometimes you don\u2019t want what you need &#8211; and vice versa.<\/p>\n<p>(If the rest of that paragraph didn\u2019t confuse you, I bet the last line just sailed by. And it probably made sense.)<\/p>\n<p>The first hurdle is one of the biggest; the size of the rest are often determined by the hurdles around them. To get past this first hurdle, however, you need to get past the multitude of options and go with the one thing that you know best.<\/p>\n<p><strong>You.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Know your habits. Know your strengths. Know your weaknesses. The more you know how you\u2019ll handle working towards a more productive lifestyle, the easier the hurdle will become.\u00a0 Keep in mind, adopting a more productive lifestyle will definitely lead you down \u201cthe road less traveled.\u201d Making the right choice on what system is the best for you will make the trip a hell of a lot easier.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1406 alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/gtdtimes\/2009\/04\/mikevardy.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"134\" height=\"210\" \/><\/p>\n<p><em>Welcome <a href=\"http:\/\/effingthedog.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">Mike Vardy<\/a> as our newest contributor to GTD Times. With his great sense of humor and self-professed productivity expert credentials, we hope you enjoy his perspectives on GTD! <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Anyone who is entertaining the idea of implementing some form of productivity system in their business (or life, for that matter) will have a lot of resources at their disposal. The Internet alone has nearly 15,000 sites that mention GTD and personal\/professional productivity, so right there you\u2019ve got as much surfing to do as the &hellip; <\/p>\n<p class=\"link-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/2009\/04\/the-first-big-productivity-hurdle\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;The First Big Productivity Hurdle&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[67,28,537],"class_list":["post-1405","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-featured","tag-hipster-pda","tag-getting-started","tag-moleskine","entry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.8 (Yoast SEO v26.8) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>The First Big Productivity Hurdle  - Getting Things Done\u00ae<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/2009\/04\/the-first-big-productivity-hurdle\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The First Big Productivity Hurdle\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Anyone who is entertaining the idea of implementing some form of productivity system in their business (or life, for that matter) will have a lot of resources at their disposal. 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