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Why Most People Don’t Care about GTD

By , on Monday, July 9th, 2007

Enemy

One of the first things I notice about many new GTD converts (says the guy who has been doing it for all of 8 months now) is how ready they are to try to recruit their friends and family (myself included). I would venture to say that Getting Things Done is lent out more than any other book in my house (and we have a mess of books here). If I’m not rereading it again, I’m forcing it on one of my poor friends, telling them about how it will make their life so much easier and how it will help them lose weight and be a better lover. Ok, so that last part might be a slight exaggeration, but the point is this – GTD begets GTD, I think. People who really get it are excited to share it with others.

Here’s a cold, hard fact about GTD evangelism: Most people don’t care and aren’t interested.

Not what all of us productivity enthusiasts want to hear, but it’s the truth. First, not everybody is interested in having to read some book and buy a bunch of crap just to make sure they don’t forget their dentist appointments and kids’ birthdays (even if you can do it for around $20). The way I see it, people fall into one of three categories in terms of personal organization and productivity:

  1. Uber-Productive – the kinds of people that have blogs about personal productivity and drool over office supplies
  2. Completely Hopeless – they have no clue where anything is, nor do they have any real way of organizing their lives and business.
  3. Everybody Else

If you ask me, the vast majority of humanity falls under #3. They have their ducks in a row (to varying degrees), but they have managed to survive as adults without being arrested for masses of unpaid parking tickets and haven’t had their mortgages foreclosed upon. They don’t have pristinely-configured filing systems or handy little note-taking devices in their pockets. They just make sure the dry cleaning pickup slip is on the fridge so they’ll see it.

These are the people who will politely listen to you rave about GTD, but quickly dismiss it as soon as you’ve gone to see the selection of pens at the new Office Depot. And, really, can you blame them? While you and I might be all a-quiver about how great it feels to have your life in order, your goals and tasks properly outlined and accounted for – there are masses of folks who are just fine without any of that stuff. Why? Because they don’t think they need it. And (get ready) – they might be right.

For all the things GTD is, I don’t believe it to be something that everybody needs. Don’t get me wrong, it’s pretty much revolutionized several areas of my life. I think the reason for that is that I sat firmly in category #2 in the above list. For all the people who love to go around telling people how awesome GTD is, your time would be better spent with folks in that category.

Which isn’t to say that you won’t get the occasional convert from #3, but (in my experience) they’re few and far between. Now, once they forget an anniversary or miss a crucial meeting with somebody, they might be a bit more willing to listen. But, for now, they’re not taking you or your ramblings seriously because they haven’t had any sort of catastrophe that left them yearning for what you’re selling.

Don’t lose heart, young spreaders of GTD gospel – just understand that you’re not going to convert the world. At least, not as quickly as you’d like.

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  • http://gtd.marvelz.com/blog gtdfrk

    I find that it’s easy to get people around me (including friends, colleague’s and wife) enthusiastic about GTD, but that I haven’t converted anybody to a full-blown GTDer (yet). What’s more, some like to read the GTD book first, while others are better off starting with some practical tips and tools borrowed from GTD. I know I have to be patient, not everybody is such a self-improvement freak as I am! :)

  • http://collaborativepiano.blogspot.com Chris

    I don’t fit into any of those categories–I drool over office supplies and try out every productivity tool in beta but I’m still completely hopeless.

  • http://www.roniyaniv.net Roni

    Here, at Israel, it’s even worse – we don’t have anything related to GTD translated.
    Usually, I just wait to hear from someone something like “I don’t have time for anything”, “How do you find the time for all of this”, “I wish I was as organized as you are” or anything along these lines. Then, I POUNCE. :-)
    Converted just one person so far (been at it for about half a year)

  • http://www.jugglingfrogs.com Juggling Frogs

    I’m with Roni, you have to wait until someone asks. Defensiveness is a natural response to someone thumping on a book with evangelical zeal.

  • http://curtispartridge.com Curtis Partridge

    There are some people that are just content watching a television all evening or watching sports all day Saturday on the couch. I would much rather be out doing than watching. GTD allows me to have fun knowing that all of my ducks are in a row, and that I have not forgotten about something. I am still pressed for time, but at least I do not have those surprises when people say, “but you said you would…”

  • http://ideamatt.blogspot.com/ Matthew Cornell

    Well put. I’ve had to realize that there’s nothing *I* can do ultimately to make someone else change. I can find people who are genuinely interested, I can teach them a better way to self-manage, but soon there comes a point at which they either take it and fly, or not. I will continue to improve how well I can teach the work, and create improved support while they’re trying it, but that’s about the limit of what I can control…

    That said, I’ve been surprised by clients who connect months later to say they’ve adopted parts of it, which they’ve found valuable, so you never know.

  • http://www.rickyspears.com/blog Ricky Spears

    I posted my comment as a post on my blog, but apparently the trackback didn’t work. Anyway, here is the link:
    No Investment Equals No Interest – http://rickyspears.com/blog/?p=165

  • http://thecapranica.fbcsanjacinto.com/index.php/2007/07/11/do-you-care-about-gtd/ THE CAPRANICA – » Do You Care About GTD?

    [...] Why Most People Don’t Care about GTD · The Cranking Widgets Blog [...]

  • http://www.shainemata.net Shaine

    There are some people I’ve known who don’t use a GTD system, but somehow always know what needs to be done and when. They remember all the little details of everything. The reason I picked up GTD is because I would like to be as together as those few people. If it’s not in my nature, maybe I can hack myself into being productive.

  • http://blog.nuancelabs.com Andy C

    The same can really be said about anything that is in the self-help (and probably other willpower related) arena(s) be in working out, meditation, productivity, getting organized, etc. As a physical trainer if the client would last with me to month 3 I knew they’d be a lifetime achiever. Otherwise I have a litany of what people say as excuses.

    Either a person has the will to live life forward, something scares them in to that position, or they are more okay with mediocrity. If a person is okay with the status quo then there is very little that will incite them to behave otherwise.

    Can you kindle something in a portion of these souls? Without a doubt. It’s all a ratios game and from those who lack inspiration you’ll be real lucky if you got 20% of them to adapt and adopt.

    -a

  • http://allnarfedup.com/2007/07/20/my-cousin-loves-gtd/ My cousin loves GTD at All Narfed Up

    [...] is fascinating hearing this after what Brett Kelly and Ricky Spears wrote a couple weeks ago. Now, I’d probably email someone a few links about [...]

  • http://www.vakil.org/?p=113 Vah! – the Vakil Housing Blog – 10 GTD Jargons that every GTD Afficiando knows and loves

    [...] Radical Common Sense: Bret has written a lovely blog post why it’s so difficult to convince people on GTD. (Arif’s comment: “Tell me about it, [...]

  • http://www.vakil.org/2007/08/11/10-gtd-jargons-that-every-gtd-afficiando-knows-and-loves/ 10 GTD Jargons that every GTD Afficiando knows and loves | Arif & Ali’s Blog

    [...] Radical Common Sense: Bret has written a lovely blog post why it’s so difficult to convince people on GTD. (Arif’s comment: “Tell me about it, [...]

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