Matt,

Thanks again for the interesting post.

Regarding "Time", I'm guessing you can only invest it, share it, spend it, or waste it. I really don't see how you can maximize time from the bottom-up. This is where I disagree with GTD. It may be my "fault" in that I am goal-driven and do all my planning from the top-down. From the big-to-the-granular.

Since time is limited, and I need to make an impact, I plan my week around the movement of goal attainment.

I work from a 30-60-90-day and annual goals paradigm. I do something everyday associated with positively impacting these goals. True, many of the 30 and 60-day stuff leads to 90-day goal attainment. There are certain milestones I need to meet quarterly to achieve my annual goals.

I work daily in three 2-hour chunks of time. I only respond to email and voice mail once a day, so I get quality time to perform whatever task I'm working on. Since I only schedule three high impact items daily, I stay focused and engaged in my work.

So in a typical day from 7am-9am work on task one, 9a-11a, task two, 11:30-12:30 lunch with client, 1p-3p task three, 3:30-4:30 f.up on delegated tasks to subordinates and peers, 4:30-5:30 review voice mail and follow up (call backs at the end of a day tend to be short and sweet...since the recipient is probably finishing their day and headed home), 5:30p-6:30p review email and follow up as required (any e-mail that takes longer than 2 min. I forward to my assistant for summary and tentative course of action- I follow up the next day 3:30p-4:30p). 6:30p-7:00p daily review and planning for the following day. 7:00p-7:45p communte home with John Coletrane or Thelonious Monk.

Matt, sorry for the long post. I can't really define productivity, but I can feel it. I've notched out a system that works for me. It's hybrid, not all GTD, not all anybody, it's "hodgepodge".

Keep up the good work and thought-provoking commentary.