Doing work as I show up

When you think of GTD and being productive, you probably think about the system that supports your organizational prowess. The calendar, the task list, and so on. Or maybe you think about weekly review, the collection habit, or the horizons of focus. But how about the doing part? During a recent GTD Virtual Study Group call, I noticed we weren’t talking about doing at all! That got me to thinking about how I do work and carry forward actions.

David Allen talks about two ways of doing work: as it shows up and taking on pre-defined tasks. But in thinking about it, I’ve come to recognize a third way of doing work: doing it when I show up. Here’s an example. I get up from my desk to grab a glass of water. On the cabinet is a box that just arrived. The contents of the box are pre-defined work--it’s a filter for an air purifier. The filter is in my system as @waiting-for, the task of changing the filter is also in my system; it’s all pre-defined work as far as GTD is concerned. Suddenly, I find myself opening the box and changing the filter instead of getting the glass of water and sitting back down to resume what I had been doing. I did that work as I showed up, not as it showed up. Sound familiar?

Doing work as you show up can be part of the cycle of self-distraction. One of my friends called it “learned ADD.” You teach yourself to be easily drawn off, following your nose to whatever activity you run across. On the other hand, there are times when doing work as you show up can be highly efffective. For me gardening is a positive example of this “doing work as I show up;” it’s a relaxing and natural way to accomplish what needs to be done.

The key here is noticing. If you tend to get less done than you think is possible for you, and you’re working your system, take a look at your tendency to follow your nose and do work as you show up. On the flip side, if you have many related tasks and wandering from one to the next feels natural, then having a lot of pre-defined work that you take on in a somewhat associative, sort of random pattern might be just the thing for you.

Comments

[Donna McMaster]

Thanks, Tara! I tend to be the ADD follow-the-nose type and I justify it sometimes because of its efficiency in certain situations ... good reminder that it's not always the best way to go. ;)

[Brian Darnell]

I like this concept Tara. Thank you for sharing.