Congratulations to Frank (Mr. "What's the next action") on his two year GTD anniversary!

Frank Meeuwsen, author of the terrific What's the next action GTD blog is reflecting on two years (!) of practicing GTD. Frank kindly invited me to share in his accomplishment - in my small way - by contributing some thoughts on the topic.

• I'm still relatively new to GTD: The first record I have (one of the nice things about keeping a detailed professional log - it's easy to look things up) are some references from January, 2005. But I started my implementation (I wrote about it in Actually getting things done with Getting Things Done! Surprises and learnings from my implementation) in May, so I've only been practicing a year and a half.
  
• Applying these ideas of self-management is a practice, and it takes time to make the changes stick. As George Leonard writes in his wonderful little book Mastery: The Keys to Success and Long-Term Fulfillment, mastering anything (be it a sport, writing, or painting) takes time and practice, and GTD is no different.
  
• Where am I on the belt scale? Somewhere between the last three, I suppose. Though for my clients I prefer my "operationalized" version found in GTD Workflow Assessment/Tips Checklist.
  
• My technology hasn't changed much - I'm still paper-based, having started with the Hipster PDA then moved to a traditional paper planner with tabs for contexts (see Matt's Idea Blog: Fare thee well Hipster PDA - I barely knew ye).
  
• I still have some next actions that sit around longer than I'd like, becoming a bit smelly.
  
• I still don't do the weekly review every week.
  
• I still have anxiety about some of my actions - but I still do them!
  
• I use the "turnkey" contexts, partly because as I'm explaining this to others it helps to
  
• Regarding my technical work, I haven't yet integrated extreme programming and GTD. There's a big opportunity there, I believe. (You might enjoy Robert Peake's two articles on GTD and programming, and GTD and project management.
  
• To keep the practice fresh I do three things: a) teach it to others (see The crucible of teaching: Want to learn in a hurry? Teach!), b) "return to the well" by continuing to read everything I can on the topic, esp. the GTD forum (my RSS feeds are here, FYI), and c) looking for connections wherever I see them, this time by reading as much varied non-fiction as possible (see How to read a lot of books in a short time).

To sum things up, GTD's made a tremendous impact in my life, and has opened many, many new doors. In addition to the personal improvements I experienced (e.g., curing my insomnia, losing 15 pounds, starting a blog, and fixing a severe back problem), I'm switching careers to coaching others in this stuff.

It's been huge, and, as Mark Forster pointed out in my interview with him, this might not be such a surprise:

Time management and personal organization have ramifications for the whole of one's life

Put another way, It's not about productivity: Real change focuses not on techniques but on the way people think about themselves, their colleagues, and their work.

Is GTD perfect? No - there are a number of weaknesses I continue to probe and document. But having studied dozens of books on time management and personal productivity, as well as some major competing systems, I still think Allen's work is one of the tightest and most complete ones out there. But it does take work to implement, and to stay with.

That Frank has done this and created a great blog in the process is extremely inspiring to me - Congratulations!