You know, for the longest time, I was just spinning my wheels. Seriously. My desk looked like a multi-car pile-up, and my brain felt like it was constantly in the breakdown lane. Trying to juggle everything, big projects, small annoying tasks, the whole shebang. I’d start one thing, get distracted by another, then forget what I was doing in the first place. Sound familiar? I bet it does for some of you.
I’d read about GTD, all those fancy systems, but a lot of it just felt too… abstract. Too many lists, too many rules. It wasn’t clicking. Then, one day, probably after misplacing some really important note for the tenth time, I had this weird thought about cars. Yeah, cars. And that’s kinda how my own spin on things, what I call my “GTD Pro Cars” approach, started to take shape. It’s not some official thing, just what works for this old dog.
Getting My “GTD Pro Cars” System on the Road
So, the first thing I did was I had to face the mess. I pictured all my commitments, my big projects, my ongoing responsibilities, as different vehicles. This was key for me.
- The Big Inventory – My “Garage”: I literally sat down and listed out every single “car” in my life. Some were like shiny new sports cars – exciting projects I was eager to drive. Others were more like old, reliable sedans – the everyday stuff that just needs to keep running. And yeah, there were a few clunkers in there, tasks I’d been avoiding, rusting away in the corner. Getting them all written down, just seeing them, was a huge first step. No more hiding!
- Understanding Each “Vehicle”: Just listing them wasn’t enough. For each “car,” I started to define a few things:
- Its Destination: What was the actual point of this project or task? Where was it supposed to go? Sounds obvious, but you’d be surprised how many “cars” I had just cruising aimlessly.
- Next Tune-Up (Next Action): This is classic GTD, right? What’s the very next physical thing I need to do to move this “car” forward? Not the whole journey, just the next turn of the key, or the next bit of fuel.
- The “Dashboard”: For bigger “cars” (my main projects), I’d jot down key info – deadlines (the ETA!), who else was in the car with me (collaborators), stuff like that. Quick glance stuff.
Regular Inspections – The Weekly Pit Stop: This became the absolute cornerstone. Every week, usually on a Friday afternoon, I’d do a “walk-around” of my “garage.” I’d look at every single “car” on my list. Are they all still needed? Does one need to be “sold” (delegated) or even “scrapped” (dropped)? Is there a clear “next tune-up” for each one? This stopped things from just idling and running out of gas without me noticing.
And the “Pro” part of “GTD Pro Cars”? For me, that was about shifting my mindset to being a Fleet Manager. I wasn’t just driving one car anymore; I was overseeing a whole fleet. Sometimes, a flashy sports car had to wait because the delivery truck (a critical work project) needed priority. It helped me make better decisions about where to put my energy, my “fuel.”
Actually Driving the Things
I didn’t try to switch everything overnight. I started with just a couple of my main “cars.” I used a plain old notebook at first. Didn’t need any fancy software, though I eventually moved to a simple digital list because my handwriting is terrible. The biggest win was that weekly “pit stop.” Honestly, that changed everything. Before, I was just reacting, jumping into whichever “car” was making the most noise.
It wasn’t always a smooth ride, mind you. Sometimes a “car” would get a “flat tire” – an unexpected problem would pop up. But because I had a clearer view of my whole “fleet,” I could deal with it without the entire system collapsing. I knew which other “cars” could keep going, and which ones might need to slow down a bit while I fixed the flat.
What Changed? Well, Pretty Much Everything.
The biggest thing? I felt less like I was drowning. I actually started to feel in control. Fewer things got forgotten. I could see what was coming down the road. And you know what? I started to actually enjoy “driving” my projects again, instead of just feeling the pressure of keeping them from crashing.
This whole “GTD Pro Cars” thing, it’s not about being a productivity robot. It’s about having a reliable system that fits you. For me, the car analogy just clicked. It made all the abstract concepts of task management feel a bit more real, more tangible. I’m not even a huge car fanatic in real life, funnily enough. But when it comes to managing the chaos of work and life, thinking like a fleet manager for my own “cars” has made all the difference. Maybe you’ve got your own metaphor waiting to be discovered. Give it some thought!
