This the new link to the Shu-Ha-Ri and GTD article.

This the new link to the Shu-Ha-Ri and GTD article.

Your question is interesting because there seems to be a conflict between GTD and zen (from which GTD is based). Zen emphasizes doing rather than “getting done”. The book may therefore be misread in that it may encourage readers to find fulfillment in rushing to finish tasks, just to cross them out of the DO list.

What complicates it further is that there are many layers that involve “doing” in GTD — the GTD system itself is a system of perpetual “doing”, a continuous dance of sorts– using the steps DO, DISCARD, DELEGATE, DEFER– that leads to a more organized and productive life.

Reading the book, I tend to think that author David Allen wants us to focus on the GTD dance, to make GTD a habit. As he notes in the book, that is the more difficult challenge: to change the daily habit in order to incorporate GTD.

I won’t pretend to know much about Zen, but i think it wants to be holistic — it also acknowledges the importance of living in the material/physical plane, in which things must get done.

So I would infer that GTD espouses zen balance between doing and getting things done, and I hope I made some sense in trying to explain

Your question is interesting because there seems to be a conflict between GTD and zen (from which GTD is based). Zen emphasizes doing rather than “getting done”. The book may therefore be misread in that it may encourage readers to find fulfillment in rushing to finish tasks, just to cross them out of the DO list.

What complicates it further is that there are many layers that involve “doing” in GTD — the GTD system itself is a system of perpetual “doing”, a continuous dance of sorts– using the steps DO, DISCARD, DELEGATE, DEFER– that leads to a more organized and productive life.

Reading the book, I tend to think that author David Allen wants us to focus on the GTD dance, to make GTD a habit. As he notes in the book, that is the more difficult challenge: to change the daily habit in order to incorporate GTD.

I won’t pretend to know much about Zen, but i think it wants to be holistic — it also acknowledges the importance of living in the material/physical plane, in which things must get done.

So I would infer that GTD espouses zen balance between doing and getting things done, and I hope I made some sense in trying to explain