Doing Things vs. Getting Things Done
January 25th, 2008
A quick thought for this fine Friday: Something about the term “Getting Things Done” always bugged me. Now I know what it is. It’s the passive voice.
Instead of the indirect phrasing using the verb “to get”, maybe we really should simply say “Doing Things“. GTD isn’t about getting other people to do things — it’s about you doing things. Even delegation is something you have to actively do.
Or, as Nike said, “Just Do It” (an expression that adman Dan Weiden now says he thought up after reading Gary Gilmore’s last words as he faced a firing squad).
The phrase is more about the journey from having things to do to having done them. Part of that is doing the things, part of that is finding the time to do them, prioritising them, and breaking them into smaller things to do.
It’s semantics and both mean the same thing, but there is a different, and I think appropriate stress, between “making sure things get done” and “making sure things are done.”
by Stephen January 25th, 2008 | 9:51 amI don’t think ‘Getting Things Done’ is passive. Its the action of putting things into their done state. Plus ‘doing things’ sounds crap.
by felix January 25th, 2008 | 12:46 pmGood thing Grammar doesn’t need convincing. ;)
by Noah January 25th, 2008 | 6:22 pmYup! They should have named it “being done with it already… jeese!”
by Bigbry January 27th, 2008 | 5:38 amBut then I guess people like to know how to get to that state rather than just be in that state.
@felix: Well, in the technical/grammatical sense it is passive. But you’re right, “doing things” is crappy.
by Christopher Fahey January 30th, 2008 | 3:36 pm“Doing Things” does quite capture the meaning of “Getting Things Done”. I can do things without getting them done.
What about ‘Finishing Things’ or ‘Completing Tasks’
by Ken January 30th, 2008 | 4:48 pm