#robert kelsey

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''…it’s not motivation that’s lacking from the unproductive person, or the ability to order their lives (when motivated to do so). Often it’s simply a resistance to formalized – imposed – structure. To those with ADD characteristics, such impositions feel abnormal: like a mental imprisonment. In fact, many can be thrown (rather than helped) by organizational aids such as a to-do list or daily plan or appointment book. They become just another barrier – something else banging on their unconscious door as a reminder of their ‘deficit’. As we plot our path towards productivity, therefore, we need to remain acutely aware of this. Formal structures imposed upon us may simply build our resistance to organization. We have to ensure they’re our structures – suited to our needs – and aimed at securing our goals.''

-Robert Kelsey, Get Things Done

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''Unfortunately...the true reasons for cluttering are more to do with deep feelings of insecurity. Because we feel we deserve no better, we cling to the things we have – including relationships. Or we inwardly convince ourselves that these things are irreplaceable.''

– Robert Kelsey, Get Things Done

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''Indeed, many unproductive people are keen to be diagnosed, perhaps preferring a comforting label to explain their discomforting deficiencies. Yet, in my opinion, there’s one condition at the heart of many (but not all) of those diagnosed with conditions such as ADD: low self-esteem. It’s low self-esteem that destroys our motivation, with even small setbacks viewed as confirmation of our negative selfbeliefs – little wonder we’d rather hide behind some diagnosable condition.''

– Robert Kelsey, Get Things Done

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''Could it be, therefore, that those incapable of deferred gratification at four were revealing early signs of low selfesteem? Lacking the security of love, their impulses were immediate – even basic. And, unless this was actively tackled, such a disablement could stay with them into adulthood. This certainly had a resonance with me. Having developed low self-esteem as a child – mostly due to feelings of rejection from my father – I felt Maslow’s hierarchy explained my erratic tendencies, which lasted well into adulthood.''

-Robert Kelsey, Get Things Done

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''For whatever reason, those unable to defer gratification continued to flounder in the id’s ‘cauldron full of seething excitations’. A cauldron, moreover, that will only lose its appeal once its cost becomes apparent in adulthood: perhaps via wasteful hedonism, addictions, procrastination or an inability to organize for the future.''

-Robert Kelsey, Get Things Done

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''‘There is perhaps no psychological skill more fundamental than resisting impulse’, writes Daniel Goleman in Emotional Intelligence (1995), one of the many books to cite these famous experiments. ‘It is the root of all self-control, since all emotions, by their very nature, lead to one or another impulse to act.’ Delayed or deferred gratification is, therefore, a key trait in productive competence. Those lacking willpower or selfcontrol will seek instant gratification, states Goleman, whether through sought pleasure or avoided pain. While those with self-control will ignore short-term inconveniences and temptations in order to focus on future potential rewards.''

-Robert Kelsey, Get Things Done

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''Brought into a room and given a single marshmallow, a succession of four-year-old children were then offered a choice: eat the marshmallow now, or resist for 15 minutes and receive a second marshmallow as a reward. Unbeknown to them, this simple choice – dividing the children into those that managed to wait for the additional marshmallow and those that didn’t – revealed a fissure that would potentially run right through their lives, according to the psychologists at Stanford (led by Walter Mischel). This was between those able to defer gratification – and therefore develop productive, futureoriented organizational competence – and those preferring impulse-driven instant gratification, who were thus condemned to organizational incompetence and underachievement.''

-Robert Kelsey, Get Things Done

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''Yes, you’re talented…But it’s wasted. You’ll never cash it in because it’s directionless. You only know what you don’t want, which means you’re so busy fighting everybody – including yourself – you become someone others avoid. There’s so much noise going on inside your head – so many battles being fought – that you cannot hear or see anything else. … In the end, people will give up on you…Or you’ll spend your entire life running away from things – meaning you’ll have nothing to show for it but a series of lost battles and great excuses.''

-Robert Kelsey, Get Things Done