It’s so messed up it’s both sad or comical or both depending on your state of inebriation. It’s like a Heisenberg state of Emotional Uncertainty when you’re talking about this office. Mind you, to get into this state of satori-like messiness, it takes years of practice, grasshopper. We’re talking about the accumulated detritus of numerous attempts to “fix” my mess. I was reading lifehacker and ran across this article . It’s an article on how implementing the productivity lessons taught in the book Getting Things Done ultimately relieved the need for a Treo. I was shocked. How could a low-tech productivity regime replace a Treo?

So I bought the book. I had been reading hints about Getting Things Done over at the 37signals site and was curious about how personal productivity issues impact other software developers. As bad as my desk is, I’ve actually seen far worse but in the guise of a network operations center. I really, really, really recommend this book. I have drunk the Kool-Aid. I am a Getting Things Done fanboy. How can I not love a productivity regime that includes an easily-repeatable workflow diagram for the piles of stuff on my desk and in my office?

So I make this commitment to you my dear readers: This IT Director will implement the GTD paradigm and clean up the office by May 31st of this year. I’ll try to present updates every week on the state of the office so you too can see how GTD can work for the sorriest IT slob.