On methodologies

I’ve been thinking a bit about people and some popular techniques that they use to try to improve the quality of their lives.

Specifically, I wonder if successful application of GTD, YNAB’s rules, or KonMari—essentially, the curation of stuff (life, money, possessions)—might be self-selecting.

Curation is maybe a bit of a weak description. These are methodologies for the processing of inputs with the goal of (typically measurable) progress towards a desired state.

“Mind like water” and “roll with the punches” may sound hand-wavy and zen-like, but it’s the result of discipline and rigour. I’m a pretty methodical person who does well with ritual and routine, so weekly reviews and giving every dollar a job “makes sense” to me.

I wonder, though, if some people just aren’t naturally wired to ease into methodologies like these. In the same way that some people get comfortable faster with programming or geometry concepts than others, maybe there’s something to the way we’ve gotten used to parsing the world that makes it easier for methodical types to successfully apply methodologies.

I don’t believe that programming or geometry is beyond the grasp of some subset of people because of their personality type or what-have-you. For some, the learning process needs to be adapted to better suit their understanding of things. For others, maybe practice makes perfect.

I think the same is true of methodologies.

When I’m struggling to understand or apply a concept, I look for one of two things: a re-framed explanation of some principle, or some kind of community support. YNAB does a great job of this, with their free classes, their community forums, and their blog. GTD does this with personal coaching and communities that build off of the system’s flexibility.

That’s probably why they have staying power, rather than just being some fad life-hack.