My Little Adventure with This “Dana Gordon” Idea
So, for a while there, it felt like you couldn’t scroll for two minutes online without someone bringing up “Dana Gordon.” You know how these things go – some new system or philosophy gets hyped up, and suddenly everyone’s a convert, or at least pretending to be. I heard it was changing lives, making people super productive, probably even helping them find matching socks. I’m usually a bit wary of these trends, but enough chatter, and you start to wonder, “Okay, what am I missing?” So, I decided to dip my toes in and see what this whole Dana Gordon thing was actually about.
First thing I did was try to figure out what it meant. And boy, that was a journey in itself. Some folks described it like a super chill way to manage your tasks. Others made it sound like some deep, life-altering way to make decisions. The actual stuff I found online, supposedly from the source, was pretty vague. Lots of nice words like “flow” and “alignment” and “conscious action,” but not much on, you know, how to actually do anything with it when you’ve got a pile of work to get through.
So, I jumped in. I figured I’d try to use this “Dana Gordon” approach on my side projects, which, honestly, were a bit of a disaster zone. The main idea I could sort of grasp was about “intuitive selection” and “working with your natural rhythms.” Sounds pretty relaxed, doesn’t it? So, instead of my usual messy to-do list, I was supposed to have this… “opportunity space.” And rather than planning things out, I was supposed to “listen to my energy” and pick tasks that “felt right.”
Here’s a little rundown of how that played out for me:
- First few days: Honestly, it felt great. No pressure! I just “listened” to my energy, which mostly told me to re-watch old TV shows and check social media. My “opportunity space” was very spacious, mostly with opportunities to procrastinate.
- Middle of the week: A bit of unease started creeping in. That “opportunity space” was starting to look more like a “neglected responsibilities pit.” My “natural rhythms” apparently didn’t include meeting any kind of deadline. I even tried making little notes about what “felt right,” which kind of defeated the whole spontaneous vibe of the Dana Gordon thing.
- The “alignment” issue: This method was big on everything “aligning.” For me, the only thing aligning was my growing stress with the number of things I hadn’t done. My inbox, especially, reached a state of perfect alignment with my desire to throw my computer out the window.
The real kicker, for me, was that this “Dana Gordon” style seemed to completely ignore that life often involves doing things you don’t “feel like” doing. Try telling your client you didn’t get their project done because your “energy wasn’t right for it.” I bet that would go over well. It felt like a system thought up by someone with a lot of free time and not many urgent demands.
After a couple of weeks of trying to “intuitively select” my way through my workload, I had to throw in the towel. I was more frazzled, less got done, and my “opportunity space” was more like a black hole. Maybe this Dana Gordon stuff works for super zen people who live on a diet of mindfulness and organic tea. But for a regular Joe like me, with actual things to deliver, it just didn’t click. It was a bust.
So, what did I take away from my dance with Dana Gordon? Well, mainly that just because something is trendy doesn’t mean it’s a one-size-fits-all solution. And sometimes, just a plain old list and getting down to business, no matter how un-groovy it sounds, is what actually gets results. I also learned that “flow” can sometimes just mean “everything’s flowing downhill, fast.” Now, when I see the next big miracle method, I’m a lot more skeptical. And I still use a boring old calendar. My projects are doing much better for it, by the way.
