You will be amazed to see how much I can actually get done using this weird method. But a friend of mine told me to try pomodoro or GTD to get my work in order. Do you think having order in your work increases the output so much that it's worth the effort?
What having some kind of a written/electronic system does is that it frees you from having thoughts of "crap, that's another thing I need to remember to do" interrupting your creative work. When you have a thought like that, you should quickly get it out of your head and into a trusted system (your "outboard brain").
Then every so often (it has to be often enough that you learn to trust your system), you go back and look at your list and see what you can and/or must do. Slightly less often (GTD suggests weekly), you go through your projects and, in an organized way, ask "What am I missing?", and write the answers down.
In short, once your life gets moderately complicated you'd be silly to try and keep all the stuff you have to do in your head. That's what computers and paper are for.
From my personal experience and those in working with our customers, I think individuals can be divided into at least 3 distinct groups. If you've ever taken the Meyer Briggs test, you may notice that the 4th letter is P for Perceiving or J for Judging. I want to break the J's into 2 subsets (B and C).
The three groups, in my opinion, are: A) Perceiving, people in this group are not interested in general organization unless necessary. GTD will not work well for these individuals. B) People in this group must plan out the specific details of their work. Knowing the purpose of what they have to do next gives them peace and comfort. GTD and/or Pomodoro work well for these individuals. C) People in this group are interested in planning, but only for important things. The general approach to prioritization and categorization is sufficient to keep the person sane, but there's no necessary investments into detailed planning. I think the Covey method works well for these individuals.
To go back to your original question, do you think you are in A, B, or C? I think that group A individuals who try GTD will see the planning work for a while, but will quickly become frustrated as they get a lot of things done, but they don't feel like they get IMPORTANT things done. GTD looks at tasks from an altitude-like levels: "10,000 ft view" vs "50,000 ft view" etc. For perceiving individuals, the 0-10,000 ft level can be frustrating. But for many Judging people, I certainly think that this detailed planning provides clarity.
This describes me. I did the same sort of thing where I used it for a while and gradually burned out on it. I still try to keep files for organizing papers, one of the few parts of GTD that I kept.
Generally I do not have enough tasks that I am going crazy trying to remember them all. I am more interested in a methodology that keeps me on track and keeps me from procrastinating, especially as I am ADHD
http://www.minklinks.com/weblog/2010/11/16/countering-procra...
(original HN submission here: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1910005)
I haven't tried GTD. My experience so far with pomodoro has basically helped in two areas: focus and distraction.
I'm finding that I'm much more focused on the task at hand (and have usually planned it) with pomodoro. I'm also more aware of my distractions. That's not to say that I don't get interrupted, but that I handle it a lot more efficiently.
As for things such as maintaining interest, I'm not sure if that's a goal with pomodoro, but it's too early for me to tell.
I work for a bit, and when the timer goes off I do some jumping jacks or push ups. For the longer break (~ every 2 hours) I take a longer exercise period, generally go for a walk around the block or something.
I find it helps a lot because I feel healthier, and additional it takes me away from the task for a little bit and can give perspective. Sometimes you get bogged down in a problem, and you become focused on "solving" it...and just taking a breather can help the answer just come to you.
Using just the technique by itself without the exercise didn't help much...I often found myself getting distracted during the 5 minute break.
The problem I have with systems like pomodoro or anything that “forces” you to put leisure time in-between times of focus is that, for me, it’s difficult to get into the zone when you’re switching gears so much. If I really get into my work I might leisurely browse the net every-now-and-then and get right back to it without really thinking about it. With pomodoro I had to make a conscious effort to stop due to the pomodoro timer, with a slow ramp-up time right after.
I’ve also tried GTD years ago but it never really fit for me. A Post-It note with all the stuff I need to get done for the day works for me.
I've only ever dabbled in GTD or Pomo, but the basic building block -- have a list of tasks grouped and broken-down by time -- is what lets me get things done.
I'm sure the processes recommended on top of that building block also help. But I'm set in my ways, and don't like much overhead, so I keep it simple just by keeping a Pomo pool around, without the egg timer.
In the absence of any outside influences, 'keep hacking until it's done' is probably close to an optimal strategy.
I basically structure my inbox with categories (like categorizing tasks but doing it with email) and send myself emails of individual action items that get categorized.
Then I can filter by category and focus on 1 project at a time.. been working great for me for several years and I feel insanely more productive!