David Allen’s Getting Things Done system (the cool kids call it GTD) is a way of organizing your life around your next actions and the contexts in which you operate. It’s fantastic, it’s actually pretty flexible, and it works. If you don’t believe me, go ask Merlin Mann over at 43Folders.com.
Not everybody is sold on GTD, though. One of my Twitter friends, comedian Cathleen Rittreiser, has started a parody movement called GND – Getting Nothing Done. It’s really funny, but the whole productivity geek scene hasn’t fully spread into the mainstream. It’s not like Hollywood has made a movie abo … oh, wait.
Chaos Theory, filmed in early 2006, and due to hit US theaters next week, seems to be directly inspired by GTD:
Frank Allen (Ryan Reynolds), celebrated author of the bestseller The Five Minute Efficiency Trainer, has perfected the art of living via a foolproof system of timetables and index cards. In fact, his daily “to do” lists are legendary. A man known for playing it safe, Frank doesn’t believe in spontaneity. Every choice he makes is deliberate––designed to contribute to a well-ordered, predictable life. But life, as he soon learns, never adheres to a strict schedule.
…
Frank is about to discover that not even an efficiency expert armed with timetables and index cards can change the serendipitous nature of family and friendship, love and forgiveness.
Maybe I’m reading too much into this, but to-do lists are a major plot point, and the protagonist’s surname is the same as the author of Getting Things Done. Assuming GTD really did inspire the film, though, I’m bored of shallow criticism of the system. My friend Marina Martin has pointed out numerous times — see her fantastic post on how to leave for Paris in an hour — that organization systems like GTD can actually free you up to be more prepared for any spontaneous opportunities and disasters.
So what’s the deal with a movie that centers around the opposite idea? Maybe the method Frank Allen subscribes to in Chaos Theory is actually nothing at all like GTD. Maybe it really is inflexible, oppressive, and poisonous to relationships with your friends and family. Or maybe not, maybe it’s just misunderstood.
Have you seen the movie? Any thoughts?
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2 responses so far ↓
Marina Martin // March 4, 2008 at 2:49 am |
I had no idea this movie was coming out, but I will have to check it out. (Maybe we could go together?)
Most people’s organizational and GTD systems are oppressive and restrictive. Just look at “popular” software like Paper Tiger, which require their users to be slaves to their strange, outdated, extremely-proprietary system in order to be fooled into thinking that they’re doing a better job of staying organized. I appreciate your linking to my Paris post, as that’s what I feel *should* be the goal of an organizational system — getting the minutiae out of the way as easily as possible so I can put my resources towards other things.
Edward // June 29, 2008 at 5:23 am |
Hi,
Just saw the movie here and liked it. It’s a pretty good feel-good movie I think…but I agree about the total misinterpretation of David Allen and GTD. I have had the fortune to be at one of his seminars and I think Davis Allen could draw some pretty good examples of what’s done wrong in by Frank in the movie. The movie is more like The Dice Man by Luke Rhinehart.