ZTD FAQ

see also: Zenhabits website ZTD FAQ

A number of readers have written to me with questions about Zen To Done, and I thought it would be useful to address them here in a Frequently Asked Questions format.

How is ZTD different from GTD? It seems the same.

Zen To Done adopts some of the principles of GTD and other productivity systems ... but with some different focuses:


 * 1) GTD asks you to adopt a bunch of new habits all at once, and so many people have failed. As I’ve talked about on Zen Habits, habit changes require a lot of energy and focus to be successful, and it’s much better to do one at a time. ZTD asks people to do the habits of GTD one at a time (or two at the most).


 * 1) ZTD focuses on simplifying what you are going to do down to the essentials, and not trying to tackle everything. GTD has less of a focus on what’s important, and instead treats everything coming in the same.


 * 1) With GTD, many people have focused on the tools and the system, while ZTD focuses more on doing. It presents a way of doing your tasks so that you are focused on one task at a time, clearing your distractions, and getting into the zone. GTD doesn’t talk much about the actual doing.


 * 1) GTD only cursorily mentions goals. It is intentionally a bottom-up approach, and for what it tries to do, it is great. But ZTD focuses more on goals -- during your yearly, monthly, and weekly reviews, and on a daily basis with your MITs. So it combines the bottom-up approach of GTD with the top-down approach of people like Steven Covey.


 * 1) With GTD, your day is very unstructured, which again is a strength, but for some people can be difficult and confusing. ZTD adds structure to your day with your MITs and with your routines (morning, evening and otherwise). Many people find this easier to work with, but it’s an optional habit.


 * 1) Finally, ZTD adds the last habit of finding your passion. While not strictly a task-related habit, finding your passion is extremely important in doing something you love, so that you actually get more done. I think this is an important point for a lot of people.

With Habit 8 (Simplify), aren’t you defeating the purpose of GTD’s mandate to get all open loops out of your head and dump them on your lists?

If you simplified before you wrote things in your capture tool (such as a pocket notebook), yes, that would defeat the purpose of the mandate to get things out of your head. However, ZTD asks you to first write them down, to get them out of your head, and then to review them later. It’s during the review process that you simplify, and decide whether you really need to do the task, and whether it’s really important.

This system doesn’t seem very simple at all. It’s 10 different habits!

First, most productivity systems actually have way more than 10 habits. GTD has perhaps double that number, for example. Stephen Covey’s 7 Habits are actually many more once you implement his entire system, where the rubber meets the road. For example, to implement the habit First Things First, you actually need to do several steps, putting things in quadrants, prioritizing from there, etc. The other systems just don’t spell out the habits as simply as ZTD does -- and they suggest you implement them all at once, which is a big reason for failure.

Second, you don’t need to adopt all 10 habits. They are all good habits to adopt, but you can just choose 5 of them, for example. Use the habits that will help you the most, and will work with your working style. Everyone is different, and no one system will work for every single person. This approach allows flexibility.

For a more minimal approach, see Minimal ZTD in ZTD Minimalist System.

It seems like it would take too much discipline to do only one habit at a time.

I agree, it can be difficult to restrain yourself enough to do one habit at a time. But it is actually much more difficult to try to adopt many habits at a time.

Think about it this way: what if you tried to quit smoking, become a runner, work out at the gym three times a week, become a vegetarian, wake up at 5 a.m. every day, stop procrastinating, become neat and organized, and do meditation ... all in the same week? How successful would you be? You’d probably fail, right?

The truth is, habit change is difficult. It’s a skill that takes practice. It can definitely be done -- I’ve done it, and so have many others -- but it requires focus. You can’t focus on 10 things at a time. You can focus on a few at a time, but if you focus on one thing at a time, your focus is much more concentrated. That makes you much more likely to be successful.

If you think you’re pretty good at habit changes, I would suggest you try adopting 3-4 habits at first, but not all 10. Perhaps try Minimal ZTD, and then add on other habits 1-2 at a time after those first 4 habits have been adopted. Do them one month at a time, and gradually add more.

Look at it like this: bad habits weren’t formed overnight, and good habits won’t be formed overnight either. If you adopt one habit per month, by the end of a year, you will be a very productive, organized, and calm person! Isn’t that a pretty good accomplishment for a year?

What if I can’t find my passion? Should I still implement the other habits?

The 10th habit is optional, and you should still adopt as many of the other habits as you can (or as apply to your work style), even if you’re not in a job you love. However, the key to the 10th habit is to keep your eyes open. At least begin the search, and always be on the lookout for opportunities or ideas that could lead to you living a life where your passion is your work.

Do I really have to just stick to one goal per year? I have so many I want to focus on!

I know how you feel! But again, focus is the key to achieving anything, and you can’t focus on 10 goals at a time.

I know this for a fact, because I started out 2007 with a long list of goals I wanted to achieve, and a lot of enthusiasm. Each week, I would plan out the action steps needed to move all those goals forward. It wasn’t long before my enthusiasm waned -- it’s just too hard to keep that energy going for so many goals at once.

Instead, I’ve adopted a new approach: tackle one goal at a time. Now, do you need to take an entire year to accomplish that goal? No. You can focus on one goal that can be done in a week, or a month, or 6 months. But just focus on that goal. When you’ve accomplished it, then choose another. In this way, by maintaining that high level of focus, you can achieve a lot in a year.

Isn’t ZTD a trademark infringement on David Allen’s GTD?

No, actually. First of all, although I am heavily indebted to David Allen and other productivity systems, David Allen didn’t invent the concept of collection or processing or review. These have been the tools of productivity gurus for decades. Allen just put them together in a great system that is very logical and comprehensive, and makes sense.

I’ve taken some of those tools he uses (and that have been used for decades) and combined them with other tools that have been used for decades. Concepts such as Big Rocks and MITs, that were used by Stephen Covey ... and others before him. Concepts like simplifying, that became popular in the 1970s. Concepts like finding your passion, that are centuries old.

Second, "Zen To Done" is not an infringement upon "Getting Things Done". They only share one word in common, to start with, and there is not a chance that anyone would get the two terms confused. Also, while "ZTD" might sound like "GTD", David Allen does not hold the trademark on all combinations of letters that rhyme with "GTD".

In truth, I am indebted to David Allen, and others, but this system is my own blend of very useful tools, and one that others have found useful as well.

So what is your ZTD setup?

Everyone’s setup will be different, as you need to find the tools and setup that work for you. However, if you’re interested, here’s my setup:


 * Moleskine pocket notebook, that I carry everywhere and use as a capture tool.


 * In the notebook, I write my three MITs for the day, along with "batch tasks" at the bottom of the page. I write my master to-do list, along with separate lists for errands and calls and follow-ups, in the back of the notebook.


 * I use Google Calendar for appointments only (and my kids’ activities), Gmail for email, and Google Documents and AbiWord for writing.

That’s all