Wired magazine just published a new edition that included a story on the founder of GTD® (Getting Things Done), David Allen.
Much was made of his spiritual background and beliefs, and some have proclaimed the story a “Slam Job“, with the intention being to make him and his work look bad.
I do think it went overboard in trying to make GTD sound like a path to spiritual enlightenment. The author just seems to have intentionally looked for a juicy angle, and then tried to bend everything about David and his work to fit the angle. It sounds a bit forced.
Nevertheless, there are some valid points made. One is that Allen has gone to great lengths to find the Holy Grail of time management – the ultimate answer, and the cure to everyone’s inefficiency.
My opinion is that he will only drive himself and others crazy with more and more detailed prescriptions that ultimately describe an approach that works for him, and others very much like him in the habits they currently use. In other words, they will have to follow his system to the letter, in order to be a “good student”.
This has value, but I doubt that most people are very much like him. Instead, their habits place them all over the map, and they too need a way to become more efficient, and a place to start that won’t be like running a marathon in their first road race.