For those of you not familiar with GTD (Get Things Done) sites, let me say this. A large percentage of the GTD sites out there are simply a Weblog with useful tips to help you GTD faster and more efficiently.
In themselves GTD sites are extremely useful. The problem, however, is that lately there has been 100 GTD sites started every day. So now we’re faced with a few problems: 1) Which one do we listen to? 2) How do we find the methods that work? and for the site owners themselves 3) How can your GTD site hold more value than the next GTD site?
Recently a fire was lit under the authors of these sites by complaints that there were far too many GTD sites being started. And not only were their complaints about the GTD saturation, but also about the fact that some of the sites had described how to do some of the most fundamental things which lessened the value of that site. I think most of us are perfectly qualified to wipe ourselves, yet some sites were running out of material or something.
So, what would I like to see from GTD sites that I do not currently see? I’m glad you asked.
I’d love to see a GTD site that wasn’t just just a Weblog. Weblogs inherently are a quick and easy way to provide content and receive feedback. So if a GTD site would like to have a Weblog on their site to get the community’s opinion(s) on numerous ways to GTD, I’m fine with that. But let’s say that there were tried and true ways to get specific things accomplished, should I have to traverse months and months of archives to find the ones that worked out?
Perhaps if GTD sites would put together lists based on genre of activity or perhaps occupation, that consisted just of methods to GTD that had been tried and received favorable community opinion. These opinions could come in the form of Weblog comments I suppose, but perhaps there could be a way to actually rate different methods on the site itself – and the highest rated methods made their way onto these lists automatically. Lifehut.org attempts to use a rating system, but I do not see a way to filter those methods based on rating, so of what value is the rating system?
If the whole point of GTD sites is to help me GTD faster and more efficiently, shouldn’t the sites themselves reflect that same goal?
I also wouldn’t mind seeing GTD sites that were focused. Solution Watch comes to mind, as it is focused mainly on pointing people towards software to help them GTD. I think it’d be good if there were GTD sites that focused on writing code, building databases, cooking, working on your car or perhaps doing your hair. At least at that point, I’d be able to subscribe to the things that I’m most interested in, rather than needing to wade through all the junk.
