How much “scuzz” can you take?

You won't fix your systems until the mess starts to really bother you.

Many people have asked how I “got into all this,” and how did I find out how these things work that I teach? (And, if this stuff is so simple, why haven’t people implemented it before?) One explanation may be helpful for understanding why it is tricky to implement “mind like water” overnight.

I came at productivity backwards from the traditional path. I sought my own inner awareness, peacefulness and clarity first, before I paid much attention to the professional world. (I had 35 jobs by the time I was 35!) As I matured, I moved much more consciously with a purpose into the world of business and organizational life. I published the first edition of Getting Things Done when I was 55.

The good news was that I had already developed an internal standard of peace of mind. I didn’t always have it (and I’m still working on it, believe me!) But I noticed that in the professional world, some basic principles about clarity and focus that I had learned for myself, had immediate and powerful application for improving someone’s environment of work and business. And the intensity and complexity of making things happen in the physical world was a great learning and testing ground for the more subtle skills of living effectively.

If I knew how to be clear, how could I stay that way in that kind of worldly engagement? That’s where all this stuff came from—discoveries that emerged along the way, with that standard driving them.

The inner standard of feeling in control instead of out of control, or peacefulness versus anxiousness, will ultimately determine the motivation to seek and implement these tools. If you’re addicted to stress, you’ll think you should get organized, but maintaining a certain degree of chaos and pressure will win out when cruise control takes over. And cruise control always takes over.

As your inner environment gets used to increased levels of relaxation and equilibrium, you—like me—will find you have to get to closure, completion, and renegotiation with yourself and others—just to be comfortable.

I empty my in-tray for the same reason I brush my teeth—if I don’t, the scuzz factor gets too high.

Stay clear,

David