{"id":16199,"date":"2017-08-03T08:28:52","date_gmt":"2017-08-03T15:28:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/?p=16199"},"modified":"2017-08-03T08:29:59","modified_gmt":"2017-08-03T15:29:59","slug":"hows-your-altitude-aptitude","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/2017\/08\/hows-your-altitude-aptitude\/","title":{"rendered":"How\u2019s your altitude aptitude?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Over the years, it has become more and more helpful in my work to help people understand the ecosystem of GTD\u00ae<img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-13984\" src=\"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/DA-47_PLN_295x3659-215x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"215\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/DA-47_PLN_295x3659-215x300.jpg 215w, https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/DA-47_PLN_295x3659.jpg 261w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 215px) 100vw, 215px\" \/> (particularly priorities) by framing their thinking and decision-making around my altitude model:<\/p>\n<p><strong>GROUND:<\/strong> Calendar\/Actions &#8211; The nitty-gritty this-moment doing level. Call Fred. Buy tires. Draft proposal. Email Susan.<\/p>\n<p><strong>HORIZON 1:<\/strong> Projects &#8211; The things you\u2019re committed to finish that one action won\u2019t finish. Give Barbara a birthday party. Set up my new MacBook. Implement this year\u2019s budget. Hire a new marketing VP.<\/p>\n<p><strong>HORIZON 2:<\/strong> Areas of Focus and Accountability &#8211; Current job responsibilities and status of key aspects of your personal life. What are your roles and responsibilities re: work? What areas of your personal life need to be maintained at some appropriate level? Given a review of all of those, what projects should you have on your list that you don\u2019t have yet? Any projects on your list you should dump?<\/p>\n<p><strong>HORIZON 3:<\/strong> Goals and Objectives &#8211; The typical strategic level. Goals and direction of the organization and your work. Things you want to accomplish personally, in the longer term. Definition of current and new key result areas.<\/p>\n<p><strong>HORIZON 4:<\/strong> Vision &#8211; Career, lifestyle choices. Is this the job you want? Are you in the right game? What does success in the long term look, sound, and feel like? Talents, skills, interests.<\/p>\n<p><strong>HORIZON 5:<\/strong> Purpose and Principles &#8211; Life. Living the one you want? Quality of life issues. Values, balance, style, inner gifts, personal expressions.<\/p>\n<p>So what about this? Well, too often I find people trying to solve a Horizon 4 problem with a Horizon 2 solution. Or trying to solve a Ground-level problem with a Horizon 5 solution. Doesn\u2019t work\u2014and even worse, it creates deep frustration and confusion because they know somehow that the questions that they are posing are good ones.<\/p>\n<p>Whichever of these levels most has your attention is a fine place to begin, and to reassess its contents for yourself. However, trying to solve an out-of-control inbox (Ground) by agonizing about whether this is the job you should have (Horizon 4) is the Serious Pits. That\u2019s why I usually coach on this scale from the bottom up\u2014if your landing gear doesn&#8217;t work, it&#8217;s pretty hard to make real decisions from any other level! Getting control of where you are is a prerequisite for healthy thinking about where you should be.<\/p>\n<p>\u2013David Allen<\/p>\n<p><em>This essay appeared in David Allen\u2019s Productive Living Newsletter.\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/eepurl.com\/UWZKr\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Subscribe for free here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Over the years, it has become more and more helpful in my work to help people understand the ecosystem of GTD\u00ae (particularly priorities) by framing their thinking and decision-making around my altitude model: GROUND: Calendar\/Actions &#8211; The nitty-gritty this-moment doing level. Call Fred. Buy tires. Draft proposal. Email Susan. HORIZON 1: Projects &#8211; The things &hellip; <\/p>\n<p class=\"link-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/2017\/08\/hows-your-altitude-aptitude\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;How\u2019s your altitude aptitude?&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":13984,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","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":[27,716,32],"tags":[770,796,745],"class_list":["post-16199","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-david-allen","category-free-resources","category-productivity-tips","tag-productive-living","tag-gtd-newsletter","tag-david-allen","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>How\u2019s your altitude aptitude?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Where are your gaps in any of these levels? Where do you want to be focusing more or less of your time?\" \/>\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\/2017\/08\/hows-your-altitude-aptitude\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How\u2019s your altitude aptitude?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Where are your gaps in any of these levels? Where do you want to be focusing more or less of your time?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/2017\/08\/hows-your-altitude-aptitude\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Getting Things Done\u00ae\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/gettingthingsdone\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-08-03T15:28:52+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2017-08-03T15:29:59+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/DA-47_PLN_295x3659.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"261\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"365\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"GTD Times Staff\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@gtdtimes\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@gtdtimes\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"GTD Times Staff\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/2017\/08\/hows-your-altitude-aptitude\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/2017\/08\/hows-your-altitude-aptitude\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"GTD Times Staff\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/#\/schema\/person\/52d8dfa5db8d4e8792586794625c12a4\"},\"headline\":\"How\u2019s your altitude aptitude?\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-08-03T15:28:52+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-08-03T15:29:59+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/2017\/08\/hows-your-altitude-aptitude\/\"},\"wordCount\":419,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/2017\/08\/hows-your-altitude-aptitude\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/DA-47_PLN_295x3659.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Productive Living\",\"GTD newsletter\",\"David Allen\"],\"articleSection\":[\"David Allen\",\"Free Resources\",\"Productivity Tips\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/2017\/08\/hows-your-altitude-aptitude\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/2017\/08\/hows-your-altitude-aptitude\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/2017\/08\/hows-your-altitude-aptitude\/\",\"name\":\"How\u2019s your altitude aptitude?\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/2017\/08\/hows-your-altitude-aptitude\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/2017\/08\/hows-your-altitude-aptitude\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/DA-47_PLN_295x3659.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-08-03T15:28:52+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-08-03T15:29:59+00:00\",\"description\":\"Where are your gaps in any of these levels? Where do you want to be focusing more or less of your time?\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/2017\/08\/hows-your-altitude-aptitude\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/2017\/08\/hows-your-altitude-aptitude\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/2017\/08\/hows-your-altitude-aptitude\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/DA-47_PLN_295x3659.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/DA-47_PLN_295x3659.jpg\",\"width\":261,\"height\":365},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/2017\/08\/hows-your-altitude-aptitude\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"How\u2019s your altitude aptitude?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/\",\"name\":\"Getting Things Done\u00ae\",\"description\":\"David Allen&#039;s GTD\u00ae Methodology\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Getting Things Done\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/gtd-logo.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/gtd-logo.png\",\"width\":370,\"height\":338,\"caption\":\"Getting Things Done\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/gettingthingsdone\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/gtdtimes\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/gtdtimes\/\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/groups\/2328651\/\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/#\/schema\/person\/52d8dfa5db8d4e8792586794625c12a4\",\"name\":\"GTD Times Staff\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4df22f74cebc078fff6e9f4d8e6e74a980295dec0849d6ab2d6b303ee0c92030?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4df22f74cebc078fff6e9f4d8e6e74a980295dec0849d6ab2d6b303ee0c92030?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"GTD Times Staff\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/author\/webadmin\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"How\u2019s your altitude aptitude?","description":"Where are your gaps in any of these levels? Where do you want to be focusing more or less of your time?","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/2017\/08\/hows-your-altitude-aptitude\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"How\u2019s your altitude aptitude?","og_description":"Where are your gaps in any of these levels? Where do you want to be focusing more or less of your time?","og_url":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/2017\/08\/hows-your-altitude-aptitude\/","og_site_name":"Getting Things Done\u00ae","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/gettingthingsdone\/","article_published_time":"2017-08-03T15:28:52+00:00","article_modified_time":"2017-08-03T15:29:59+00:00","og_image":[{"width":261,"height":365,"url":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/DA-47_PLN_295x3659.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"GTD Times Staff","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@gtdtimes","twitter_site":"@gtdtimes","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"GTD Times Staff","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/2017\/08\/hows-your-altitude-aptitude\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/2017\/08\/hows-your-altitude-aptitude\/"},"author":{"name":"GTD Times Staff","@id":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/#\/schema\/person\/52d8dfa5db8d4e8792586794625c12a4"},"headline":"How\u2019s your altitude aptitude?","datePublished":"2017-08-03T15:28:52+00:00","dateModified":"2017-08-03T15:29:59+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/2017\/08\/hows-your-altitude-aptitude\/"},"wordCount":419,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/2017\/08\/hows-your-altitude-aptitude\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/DA-47_PLN_295x3659.jpg","keywords":["Productive Living","GTD newsletter","David Allen"],"articleSection":["David Allen","Free Resources","Productivity Tips"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/2017\/08\/hows-your-altitude-aptitude\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/2017\/08\/hows-your-altitude-aptitude\/","url":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/2017\/08\/hows-your-altitude-aptitude\/","name":"How\u2019s your altitude aptitude?","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/2017\/08\/hows-your-altitude-aptitude\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/2017\/08\/hows-your-altitude-aptitude\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/DA-47_PLN_295x3659.jpg","datePublished":"2017-08-03T15:28:52+00:00","dateModified":"2017-08-03T15:29:59+00:00","description":"Where are your gaps in any of these levels? Where do you want to be focusing more or less of your time?","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/2017\/08\/hows-your-altitude-aptitude\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/2017\/08\/hows-your-altitude-aptitude\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/2017\/08\/hows-your-altitude-aptitude\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/DA-47_PLN_295x3659.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/DA-47_PLN_295x3659.jpg","width":261,"height":365},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/2017\/08\/hows-your-altitude-aptitude\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"How\u2019s your altitude aptitude?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/","name":"Getting Things Done\u00ae","description":"David Allen&#039;s GTD\u00ae Methodology","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/#organization","name":"Getting Things Done","url":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/gtd-logo.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/gtd-logo.png","width":370,"height":338,"caption":"Getting Things Done"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/gettingthingsdone\/","https:\/\/x.com\/gtdtimes","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/gtdtimes\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/groups\/2328651\/"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/#\/schema\/person\/52d8dfa5db8d4e8792586794625c12a4","name":"GTD Times Staff","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4df22f74cebc078fff6e9f4d8e6e74a980295dec0849d6ab2d6b303ee0c92030?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4df22f74cebc078fff6e9f4d8e6e74a980295dec0849d6ab2d6b303ee0c92030?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"GTD Times Staff"},"url":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/author\/webadmin\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16199","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16199"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16199\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13984"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16199"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16199"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16199"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}