Kaj Sotala said:
[I]f you punish yourself for trying and failing, you stop wanting to try in the first place, as it becomes associated with the negative emotions. Also, accepting and being okay with the occasional failure makes you treat it as a genuine choice where you have agency, not something that you're forced to do against your will.
So maybe we should celebrate failed attempts more often ... I for one can't think of anything I've failed at recently, which is probably a sign that I'm not trying enough new things.
So, what specific things have you failed at recently?
The problem I'm running into is that many of the things I'm trying to work on are very multifaceted and so I feel that I need a computer to organize my thoughts on them.
If I'm trying to make a complicated decision such as how to optimize my diet, there are MANY different things to read and you need to be able to break your research into manageable components. I feel like I can only manage this complexity with a computer.
I find that even existing computer tools are really unsatisfying. Trying to use pen and paper sounds maddeningly difficult. I'm curious that it works for you.
Also, I suppose part of the problem is that I need some help getting set up with GTD. I've failed so many times to set it up on my own, I don't really feel like trying again unless something is different.
My experience with GTD is: trying, failing, trying again, failing again, etc. So I wouldn't say it works for me. But I have noticed that waiting for a perfect implementation is a good excuse to procrastinate. And there is no guarantee the perfect implementation would make things work. Or I could change my mind and decide I now have different criteria for a perfect implementation. Etc. So it's probably just an excuse. I could start with what I have now, and it does not prevent me to search for a better implementation.
And probably I am using it for much simp... (read more)