When i was starting out in Tech I thought that project management was lame. I didn’t respect the team, and I thought that the product and sales teams were better. There was a lot of hubris in me during my younger years, and I’m glad to have the humility now to admit when I am wrong. Project management, when done well, is extremely valuable.
As with lots of turning points in my life, the change came about unexpectedly. It wasn’t even work that changed my perspective. In 2023 my wife and I welcomed twins into our family and all of a sudden my life became unmanageable. I went from being able to hold multiple contexts in my head, manage multiple projects at a time and remain healthy, to an absolute mess. I needed help managing everything in my life. So, as with most overwhelmed people, I started creating lists. I wrote down everything we needed at the house. I wrote down everything I needed to do. This helped get a lot of the chaos out of my head, but the problem remained how to organize this? I would lose physical lists, and digital lists would get stagnant and become holding areas.
The big problem for me was that the lists weren’t specific enough. I needed to break down projects into action items. When I read Getting Things Done things started to fall into place. The idea there, that
GTD Philosophy
Getting Things Done (GTD) is a method of managing mental load. The core principle is simple: your mind is for having ideas, not holding them.
The system works through five fundamental steps. First, capture everything—and I mean everything—that has your attention. For me, this meant writing down both “order more diapers” and “review Q4 strategy.” Second, clarify what each item means. Is “baby stuff” actionable? No. But “schedule 6-month checkup” is. Third, organize these items into appropriate categories: next actions, projects, waiting for, and someday/maybe.
The fourth step, reflect, became my lifeline. Every evening, I spend 10 minutes reviewing my tasks for the next day. Weekly reviews help me stay on top of projects and responsibilities. This regular reflection prevents things from falling through the cracks—crucial when managing twins and a career.
The final step is engage—actually doing the tasks. With everything captured and organized, decision fatigue diminishes. Instead of constantly juggling tasks in my head, I can focus on what’s in front of me. When a baby needs attention, I’m present without worrying about forgetting other responsibilities.
What makes GTD powerful is its focus on actionable next steps. “Research preschools” became “Call top three preschools from Google reviews for tours.” “Home renovation” became “Measure guest room dimensions” and “Contact three contractors for quotes.” This granular approach transformed vague anxieties into concrete actions.
Then, I started using GTD with ChatGPT, and things got even easier. GTD acts as the organizational system, and ChatGPT the executive assistant for managing this system. The combination of the two allow me to be far more productive than I normally am. Below is snapshot of what my projects look like at the moment.
Each of these projects could be broken down into sub-projects, but some just have a list of tasks. Each evening I sort of run through the ones on my mind, and create some time on my calendar to get them done. At the end of the week I go through each project and ask myself why it isn’t moving, or what I need to do to get it done. That task is either scheduled or tabled.
Prioritization is a big part of this. If I don’t do a weekly check in, often times I’ll just go through the week doing what is most important at that time. But this let’s me actually move things forward. And if something isn’t moving forward, then it’s not a priority and not even a project, it was just a fantasy I had. Those are the hardest ones to let go. But that’s where the humility returns. If I want to be effective, I have to be realistic.
Building out this system has been rewarding because it has been successful. I get a nice dopamine hit from closing projects in Things 3. Furthermore, it’s a work in progress, and I keep improving it by pruning or addition. I’ve added emojis this week, which was a fun addition. This is hopefullly a system that I can keep for the rest of my life. Every system requires inputs or else it will die, and I’m grateful to have enough of those. Keep working friends.
Relevant Links
The Book – https://gettingthingsdone.com/
The Community – https://www.reddit.com/r/gtd/