One of the most memorable events of my life was when I was 14 years old. After finishing the school year and middle school, our class went on a trip to visit tourist spots in Rio Grande do Sul — including Gramado, Canela, Bento Gonçalves, Caxias do Sul, São Leopoldo, and Porto Alegre. Leading everything and coordinating the trip was our lovely teacher and class advisor, Eleaci Zacca (in memoriam).
In Bento Gonçalves, during our visit to the Aurora Winery, curious as always, I walked right beside the tour guide, paying close attention to everything he was saying. However, if you were to ask me what we actually saw during the tour, I must confess my memories are vague. I paid attention to the history he told, absorbing every word, but observing almost nothing around me.
This reminds me of other situations in life. Ideally, we should observe our environment and absorb the best of it. Being one step ahead is usually a good thing; however, it is important to enjoy every step of the journey, savoring each lesson and gathering the best memories.
When I decided to look for a tool to get better organized, I created a 12-week timeline to have a clear starting line and finish line. That way, I could evaluate the steps I had taken and track my progress along the way.
The motivation arrived at just the right time: I had overindulged in all the treats surrounding my daughter’s wedding festivities, and my smart scale no longer recognized me. My workout equipment was gathering dust, and my book project felt completely forgotten. With the 12-week plan in hand, I felt motivated and confident that I would reach the podium with complete success.
However, I confess I was disappointed with my results by week 3. I had barely left the starting line and hadn’t reached the 25% goal I had hoped for. That feeling of failure wanted to bring me down. In a desperate attempt to race against time, I pushed my limits and almost pulled a muscle on the treadmill.
I paused for a moment of meditation and reading. I discovered that it’s completely normal to feel butterflies in your stomach or the impression that you are racing against time. As David Allen says in his book: “one of the main reasons many people haven’t had much success getting organized is simply that they try to do all five steps at once.”
Perhaps this is one of our biggest mistakes too: wanting to race against time in pursuit of perfection. Huge mistake! Perfection is an illusion! That will only bring more stress and anxiety — and that is certainly not our goal. Quite the opposite. When trying to get organized, the main idea is precisely to minimize these two factors that insist on harming our mental and physical health.
Whatever your schedule looks like, remember that the idea of simplification isn’t about reaching your goal by staying one step ahead, nor is it about perfection: it’s about consistency and measurement. If the week didn’t go as planned, we adjust our compass without guilt and focus on current strategies. Learn to calibrate your compass without stressing out, forgiving the stumbles of the first few days, and keeping your focus on what truly matters.
In previous chronicles, we’ve already covered:
- Capture: getting things out of your head (eyes bigger than your stomach);
- Clarify: deciding what to do with each item;
- Organize: giving a “hanger” to every hat.
After that trip to the Aurora Winery in Bento Gonçalves and the frustration of missing out on the sights I didn’t see, I learned to pay closer attention to my surroundings. In Porto Alegre, our last stop before heading home, we visited the Iguatemi Mall. There, together with my classmates, I was able to spend a few moments contemplating the beautiful water clock designed by the French physicist and artist Bernard Gitton.To this day, I am captivated by that memory — it just keeps playing on repeat in my mind.
The next logical step in GTD is Reflect / Review: what is the importance of taking a moment (like your weekly review) to look at the map, see what is working, and figure out what needs to be discarded before running off blindly?
