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Title: Getting Things Done: personal productivity management from the perspective of situated and embodied cognition


1
Getting Things Donepersonal productivity
management from the perspective of situated and
embodied cognition
  • Francis Heylighen Clément Vidal
  • (ECCO, VUB)

2
Outline
  • Introduction
  • Summary of the GTD method
  • Cognitive foundations of knowledge work
  • Cognitive paradigms applied to GTD
  • Further research about GTD (brainstorming)
  • Collaborative GTD
  • GTD and happiness.
  • Etc.

3
1. Introduction
4
The problem
  • Complex informational society
  • Most of our activity is knowledge work (Drucker
    1973)
  • Growing complexity and change
  • Constant bombardment with new information
  • Priority and resources are constantly changing.
  • How can we organize such information-dependent
    work?

5
David Allens (2001) Getting Things Done (GTD)
Method.
  • Subtitle  The Art of Stress-Free Productivity 
  • Minimize stress and anxiety
  • Maximize productivity
  • Very popular method
  • Bestselling book in  time management , etc.
  • More than 1 000 000 web pages about it.
  • We propose a theoretical investigation of the
    method.

6
GTD as a praxeology
  • GTD is a praxeology,
  • a value-independent theory about how to manage
    actions.
  • Constitutes one of the six fundamental components
    of a worldview, according to Leo Apostel

7
The worldview questions. (Apostel, Van der Veken
1991)
Question Philosophical Domain
1. What is? Ontology (model of the present)
2. Where does it all come from? Explanation (model of the past)
3. Where are we going? Prediction (model of the future, futurology)
4. What is good and what is evil? Axiology (theory of values)
5. How should we act? Praxeology (theory of action)
6. What is true and what is false? Epistemology (theory of knowledge)
8
Self System
4. Theory of values goal
6. Theory of knowledge Perception
5. Theory of actions Action
Diversions (problems and opportunities)
WorldEnvironment
2. Explanation Past
3. Prediction Future
1. Ontology Present
Worldview of an individual as a cybernetic
system. Heylighen (2000).
9
2. Summary of the GTD method
10
Main principles
  • Get everything out of your head, in a trusted
    external memory.
  • Coherent method to use organizational tools most
    effectively
  • To do lists
  • Calendar
  • Notes
  • Etc.

11
Five stages of our work
  • We (1) collect things that command our attention
    (2) process what they mean and what to do with
    them and (3) organize the results, which we (4)
    review as options for what we choose to (5) do.
    (Allen, 2001, 24)
  • (1) Collect
  • (2) Process and (3) Organize
  • (4) Review
  • (5) Do

12
(1) Collect
  • Collect everything that catches your attention.
  • Physical collectors
  • Trays, folders, notebook, etc.
  • Electronic collectors
  • Email application, outliner, etc.

13
(2) Process Organize. 1/4
14
(2) Process Organize. 2/4
15
(2) Process Organize. 3/4
16
(2) Process Organize 4/4
17
Result an organized external memory. Example
below.
  • Next Actions
  • Buy a present for Ellen
  • Call Peter about the new contract
  • Project Travel to Belgium
  • Book hotel
  • Phone tourist office
  • Calendar
  • Oct. 29 Ellens birthday
  • Nov. 12 departure for Brussels
  • Waiting for
  • The plane tickets for Brussels
  • Someday/Maybe
  • Read that novel set in Belgium
  • Reference
  • Visa pin code 4576

18
(4) Review
  • Daily review
  • To do list.
  • Calendar.
  • Weekly review
  • update your whole external memory
  • up-to-date and trustable
  • feeling of control and goal directedness.

19
(5) Do
  • First model
  • Context
  • Time/Energy available
  • Priority
  • Second model
  • Do work as it shows up
  • Do predefined work
  • Define your work.
  • Third model (longer term goals/values)
  • Current actions
  • Current projects
  • Areas of responsibility
  • 1-2 years goals
  • 3-5 years goals
  • Life goals

20
3. Cognitive foundations of knowledge work
21
Limitations of Rational Cognition
  • Working memory
  • not more than about 7 (Magical number) items can
    be processed or stored
  • Patterns of activation interfere and decay
  • Long-term memory
  • Recognition is easy
  • Recall is unreliable

22
Situated and Embodied Cognition
  • Basis of cognition is not internal reasoning
  • But interacting with the external situation
  • Sensory-motor feedback
  • Perceptions trigger actions
  • Actions change situation
  • Changes are perceived
  • Triggering further actions...

23
Stigmergy
  • Environment-mediated coordination of actions
  • External effect of action stimulates subsequent
    action
  • By same or different agent
  • Can be
  • Synchronous reaction follows immediately
  • Asynchronous action leaves stable trace

24
Extended Mind
  • Traces left by actions function as external
    memory
  • External memory stimulates actions

25
Extended Mind
26
Flow
  • Csikszentmihalyis theory of well-being
  • Requirements
  • Clear goals
  • Continuous feedback
  • Challenges matching skills
  • Being in control
  • able to advance smoothly towards goals

27
4. Cognitive paradigms applied to GTD
  • GTD implements the lessons from
  • Situated and Embodied Cognition
  • Stigmergy
  • Flow

28
Facilitating stigmergy
  • Externalizing memory
  • Storing tasks in different repositories
  • Formulating information in an actionable form
  • Intended to stimulate action
  • Without need for further reflection

29
Situation-dependent execution
  • Choosing next action first on basis of context
  • Affordances
  • Time
  • Energy
  • Only then on basis of priority
  • Rationale
  • priorities are subjective and changing
  • affordances are objective and need to be used now

30
Not planning but adapting
  • Stigmergy produces coordinated action
  • But without plan or blueprint
  • Situations change, creating
  • New needs (problems, priorities)
  • New opportunities (affordances)
  • This requires great flexibility
  • But without losing track of which things to do

31
Achieving flow
  • information overload ?
  • Anxiety, confusion, procrastination
  • GTD ? Flow
  • Focus on task
  • Well-being
  • Smooth and fast progress
  • mind like water doing without thinking or
    worrying

32
5. BrainstormingFurther research about GTD
  • Collaborative GTD
  • Maximizing well-being

33
Collaborative GTD
  • Task repositories shared by people in
    organization
  • Individuals choose tasks to perform based on
  • Personal abilities
  • Time, situation, context
  • Quantitative stigmergy
  • Tasks have points representing importance
  • Individuals collect maximum of points
  • Makes sure important tasks are done
  • And everyone performs a fair share

34
Maximizing well-being
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