I&#x27;ve spent years applying GTD, but at some point I realized that 1) I failed at implementing it more often than not, and 2) it seems optimized for management-type situations, and doesn&#x27;t work as well for, say, artists or even programmers.<p>If it works for you, of course that&#x27;s great! And I think there are tons of individual elements in GTD that are valuable even if the whole system is not applied. But for me it didn&#x27;t work as a whole, and it&#x27;s significantly less useful if not applied completely (but also significantly more powerful when it is).<p>What seems to work best for me is a combination of two approaches:<p>1. choosing up to three tasks to focus on per day, usually one major task, and two lesser tasks.
2. using a simpler list of (usually) smaller or less important tasks for all the stuff that I can&#x27;t dedicate a day or half-day to. I used Mark Forster&#x27;s AutoFocus system for this for a while, and now I settled on the &#x27;Final Version&#x27; that this evolved into: <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;markforster.squarespace.com&#x2F;blog&#x2F;2015&#x2F;5&#x2F;21&#x2F;the-final-version-perfected-fvp.html" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;markforster.squarespace.com&#x2F;blog&#x2F;2015&#x2F;5&#x2F;21&#x2F;the-final-...</a><p>I think a crucial part for me is that I need a certain fluidity in my approach. The more complex, &#x27;factory-checklist-like&#x27; the system is, the better. The lack of complexity keeps me from constantly fiddling with the system, and the lack of a &#x27;factory-like&#x27; approach keeps me from feeling like I&#x27;m a robot working through a checklist.