Was C. Wright Mills a GTD pioneer?

I came across a great quote from sociologist C. Wright Mills today that immediately reminded me of the Getting Things Done system:

“To capture what you experience and sort it out…you must set up a file…. Whenever you feel strongly about events or ideas you must try not to let them pass from your mind, but instead to formulate them for your files and in so doing draw out their implications, show yourself how foolish these feelings or ideas are, or how they might be articulated into productive shape. The file also helps you build up the habit of writing. You cannot “keep your hand in” if you do not write something at least every week.”

Look at that! Psychic RAM…filing…weekly review…it’s all sketched out more than 40 years before David Allen’s book.

Some sociology students will recognize that the quote comes from The Sociological Imagination, but I actually saw it while flipping through a book by Robert Boice called How Writers Journey to Comfort and Fluency. This book expands a lot of Boice’s points in Professors as Writers (which I’ve written about here) by including anecdotes and snippets of dialogue from writers he has actually counseled. I’ve only just glanced at it, so I’m withholding a wholehearted recommendation, but anyone interested in overcoming writer’s block might want to check it out (and I mean that literally–you might want to see if a local library has this before investing almost $100).