Flylady and GTD: A Study of Similarities

In a recent article from David Allen, his Food for Thought section was entitled “GTD Karate”. In it he talks about the similarities between GTD and karate.

I’m going to extend this concept by taking his list and compare these to the Flylady system. The text in italics are David Allen’s conclusions.

1. There are no beginners moves. You already know how to do everything you need to know to do GTD. Flylady says that there is no right way to do housework: “Any housework blesses your family.”; and that you already know what it takes to keep the house and life together.

2. It feels counter-intuitive and unnatural when you start. GTD seems rigid and counter-intuitive when you start. So does Flylady. She says, “Shine your sink”. Huh? How can shining a sink help get control of my life and my house? Well, it works. A commitment to a shining sink means your dishes will be caught up, either in the dishwasher or by hand, because you don’t want to mess up the sink. Then the rest of the kitchen will follow, then the rest of the house. Weird, but it works.

3. Once you’re used to it, it is the most natural way to move. GTD does become second nature. Same with Flylady. She recommends building habits, one step at a time, so that things get done without my fully being aware of it. What this all boils down to, GTD and Flylady, is establishing good habits.

4. It handles basic movement and resource allocation masterfully. GTD is flexible and scalable. So is Flylady. Everything you do with both systems can be ramped up to take on big projects, as well as handle the details.

5. It supports a peaceful and spontaneous way to move through the world, with minimal effort. Both systems are about gaining peace.

6. We don’t seem to be born knowing it or doing it.. Flylady maintains that there are some people who are “born organized”. I don’t know about that. I think they just happened to find something that worked, but they still had to learn it. I’ve never seen an infant be able to manage a household. Or an email system, for that matter

7. It can be learned. David Allen is teaching GTD. Flylady teaches Flying. If neither could be learned, neither would be around today.

8. It can be taught.. Ditto.

9. It can be practiced. The more rehearse, the better you get. The more I do my routines, the more they become second nature - for both systems.

10. There is no end to how good you can be at it.

Going back to my post on What GTD Is:

GTD is not a “buy this product and become organized” system. GTD can be done with paper and pencil. Or with any other tool that works for you as an individual.

GTD is not a system that insists you start with a grand purpose statement and decide your activities from that. In fact, it works in the opposite direction — take care of and manage the tasks you are already committed to — to free up time and energy for planning.

GTD is not about rigidity. GTD allows you to know, at any moment, what is outstanding, so you can make flexible choices to do, or not to do, any of it.

Flying is not about products. It’s about using the tools that work for you as an individual. There is no magic tool that will accomplish this stuff. It takes work.

Flying is about taking care of the details in a way that frees you up to be all you can be.

Flying is about knowing what is outstanding, tackling it in a way that allows time for other things; it allows flexibility and a way to maintain the norm when circumstances impose on my life.

All in all, it’s almost like GTD and Flying are the yin and yang; both made of the same substance, but approaching from different points of view — one male, one female — one business, one home.