Getting Things Done wasn't written for your brain

It was 2011, and I was staying with my friend Michelle in Brooklyn when I saw the book that was going to change my life.

It was spine-out on her bookshelf, nestled among all the others, and I couldn’t look away.

I grabbed it and beseeched her, “Oh! Does this work??”

She replied, “Oh, that? You can have it.”

It was David Allen’s Getting Things Done, and, friend, the spoiler is that it wasn’t the answer to all of my life’s problems, even though I tried to make it so.

And what does this have to do with allowing myself to be the best asset my business has? Everything.

Here’s why:

David Allen didn’t write Getting Things Done for my brain. If he had, it would have worked by now.

And I’m willing to go out on a limb and say he didn’t write it for your brain either. Because linear systems like GTD aren’t made for the highly-creative brains that are curious and interested in all the ideas and likely also have a million other responsibilities other than just themselves.

The GTD system is for the (probably) man who has consistent energy each day.

Who experiences no resistance when it comes to doing things that are tinged with vulnerability.

Who can solve productivity problems by just scheduling them in his calendar.

I wish, I wish, I wish.

So for the rest of us whose brainpower cannot be condensed down into an algorithmically favorable flowchart that will tell you exactly what to do next in any instance, I have this takeaway:

Do you need 8 beverages and a playlist from 2006 to focus? Great, get to it. There’s no such thing as too many drinks.

Are you self-conscious about the need to stop whatever you’re doing—even if that means pulling your car over—so that you can write down whatever you’re thinking about? Own it.

We both know I’ll remember later is a myth the size of the Odyssey. Fun to think about, not super true.

Have you tried making complicated reward charts and promising yourself new jeans once you follow through on all those impossibly-seeming tasks? Reward yourself first.

You’ll be shocked at how easy things become when you wear clothes that make you feel alive.

The common denominator here? You’re no longer depending on willpower, discipline, and demanding your brain work like David Allen’s to show up consistently.

Shapeshifting is exhausting.

Forcing yourself into the mold of someone born with every systemic advantage and a neurotypical brain, while still navigating your own executive dysfunction and mental load is a losing game. At best, it’s impossible; at worst, debilitating.

Which means the only answer right now is to let YOUR brain be your brain.

To find a way that works for you rather than trying to cram yourself into the spaces that were never built for you to fit in.

You in?

1. Write a book!

   The book is underway! I have 2,707 words, a detailed outline, and a picture of how it all comes together.
   

2. Decide: the podcast is just audio!

   As soon as I made this “risky” decision last week, I felt a flash of inspiration and recorded two back-to-back episodes.

   The thing I’d been putting off since February took sixty minutes to complete once I moved the resistance of how I was looking at it. Good to know, eh?

3. Apply for nuuly’s Creator Program

   Happening today!
   

4. Go through 2024 planner and pull inspo, create content, get it done
   This week! I am so curious about what gems are there and am giving myself permission to underthink the creative aspect!

Want to say yes to your own Creative Risk project? Come join us in the Public Practice Studio for support, structure, resources, co-working, and so much more!