There’s been a lot of material in the blog world over the last year or so about Getting Things Done. Blogs and blogs have been devoted to it. While it’s been a bit much, it has also been rewarding to learn that I’m not the only person who has trouble getting things done.
I’ve bought the book, but only skimmed through it so far. While it does seem like an amazing way to get things done, it also seems remarkably process-heavy.
To me, the process just seems to be another thing to get done.
I have a different system, one I learned on a tall ship when I was 13 years old. The thing about sailors is that while they always have a billion things to do, they’re also the laziest people I’ve ever met. This means they’re also among the most efficient people I’ve ever met.
Why waste energy doing something, a sailor will tell you. And though they are lazy, they always get stuff done, because for a sailor, not getting something done can mean destruction, death, inconvenience, pain, suffering and a whole slew of bad things.
Like so many sailing philosophies, the work ethic of a sailor is reduced to a simple statement:
Get three things done before noon or you’ll have four things to do tomorrow.
Try it. You’ll like it.
1) I ate breakfast
2) I didn’t stop breathing
3) I typed this comment.
Now I can take a nap!