7Breaths

One criticism raised about the GTD methodology is its bottom up rather than top down approach. David Allen defines certain "altitudes" as a metaphor as to where your focus is at any time.


50,000 ft ... Purpose and core values, our ultimate intention.
40,000 ft ... Vision ... long-term outcomes and ideal scenarios.
30,000 ft ... Goals and objectives for the next 12-24 months, in order to make the vision happen.
20,000 ft ... Areas of focus and responsibility.
10,000 ft ... Current projects.
"Runway" ... Next actions.

Unfortunately, with the way GTD is practiced you do tend to get stuck at the lower altitudes and life can just become about "cranking widgets".

In my case I find that I'm fine dealing with things that get my attention - I just write them down, process, organise then act on them and review progress each week. The perfect GTD machine.

The problem is that I have become reactive rather than proactive. I feel a need to take stock and decide where I want to go rather than just reacting to inputs as I am tending to do at the moment. Continuing David Allen's metaphor - I need to raise my eyes from the ground and look to the sky.

With this in mind it's time to pull back for a week - to spend time focusing on where I want to go rather than where I am at present. I'll be analysing all aspects of my life - and one of these will be this blog.

One of the main reasons I started this blog was to show how I used OneNote in conjunction with GTD. I thought it was a useful contribution to the conversation on Getting Things Done and from the feedback I have received It seems people have found it useful. However there is only so much one can say on this topic - the question I am now struggling with is what direction I should be taking the blog in the future. I still have things to say about GTD and OneNote but I'd like to continue Blogging and contributing to the GTD and OneNote Communities once this is exhausted. I have a few ideas about how I see this blog evolving - but I would value feedback from the community on what areas you would like to see covered. In the end Blogging is a conversation - so please let me know what you think.