Getting Things Done

There are four basic ways an idea can affect your Worldview:

It just Is

These are the ideas you grew up with. You don't remember learning them; they just are. These are also some of the beliefs that new perspectives may challenge and change over the course of your life.

Initial Resistance

Some new ideas are difficult to swallow. On first encounter, you resist. Yet slowly, over time, they infiltrate your thoughts until they become part of your Way.

Epiphany

Sometimes a new idea rocks your world. It comes at just the right moment and resonates with your entire being. It's perhaps a good thing these mind-altering moments aren't all that common.

It Just Makes Sense

Then there are the ideas that already contain bits and pieces you recognize. Those bits and pieces make you more open to the new parts. After all, if the person presenting the idea already agrees with you about A, B, and C, perhaps you should try X, Y, and Z.

For me, Getting Things Done—The Art of Stress-Free Productivity, by David Allen, just makes sense. The ideas are simple, yet profound. They're also very well presented. Before I had finished Chapter 2, I ordered five extra copies to lend to friends and co-workers.

What are some of those ideas? Here are twelve take-away lessons.

• What are you trying to accomplish? — This has long been a favorite question of mine. Reading it in GTD gave me a strong connection to the ideas being proposed!

  What are your underlying motivations? What is your purpose? Why are you undertaking this project? "What are you really trying to do here anyway?"

• Get it out of your head — Guess What? It's not a personal failing if you can't keep everything in memory! Make a list, write it down, put it in a place you trust and you'll feel calmer and more confident. It's OK to get everything out of your head. (Don't worry; your brain will soon start to fill itself up with other things. You can get them out of your head too. :-)

• Make a list — How do you get things out of your head? Write them down. Make a list. Make as many lists as you need. Don't throw anything away; you don't need to. Just write it down.

• Save your calendar for date/time-driven items — Don't put tasks into your calendar unless they are tied to a given date or time (e.g. the appointment to take the car for an oil change). Keeping "anytime" tasks out of the calendar will reduce calendar clutter. (I always wondered why I thought a calendar was the wrong place to put a to-do list :-)

• Collect, Process, Organize, Review, Do — GTD calls these the five stages of workflow for getting control of your life. They're repeated regularly, in a cycle.

• Empty your Inbox — Put new things into an "inbox". Avoid the temptation to stack things in piles (piles that will cover you in no time). Periodically review your inbox, using the "do it, delegate it, defer it, drop it" rule.

• Do it, Delegate it, Defer it, Drop it... — During the review stage, ask yourself "Is an action required for this 'thing' on my list?" If not, delete it or file it as reference material. If so, can you do it now? (in two minutes or less). Do you need to delegate the task? Should you defer it until you have adequate time to give it?

• You don't Do projects — Projects are made up of actions. You don't "do" projects; you do actions. This was another thing I realized I already understood. My reminder lists tend to use a lot of verbs for short, "doable" tasks..

  Think about your "Next Actions". I've started to ask, "What are the action items from this meeting? What are our 'next actions'?"

• Forget about "A", "B", "C", priority codes — "There are few people who can (or even should) expect to code everything an 'A', a 'B', or a 'C' priority, or who can maintain some predetermined list of to-dos that the first telephone call or interruption from their boss won't totally undo." (I've never liked priority codes; they keep changing. Now I know why they keep changing!)

• Choose actions based on Context, Time available, Energy available, Priority — Most time management systems talk about prioritizing tasks. They say "Do the high priority tasks and ignore the low priority tasks". They talk about Importance vs. Urgency. They don't take into consideration that sometimes you only have a little time, or you're in the "wrong" place, or your energy levels are low.

  I took one of those time management classes. I thought that considering Importance and Urgency made sense. Now I believe that considering Context, Time available, Energy available, and Priority makes even more sense!

• Feel fine about what you're Not doing! — You can't do everything. But if you have a list and you trust your list, then you know what you're not doing. More importantly, you know why you're not doing that particular task right now. When you know you can relax. You'll get to it. It's on your list.

• Focus on the Outcome — "When you start to make things happen, you really begin to believe that you can make things happen. And that makes things happen.

Here's something to add to your task list: Get a copy of Getting Things Done. Put it in your Inbox. Then take it out and read it. Do it (don't defer it). See if you agree with me.

Sophisticated without being confining, the subtle effectiveness of GTD has quickly gained hundreds of thousands of converts from among the best and the brightest around the world. “GTD” has become a household word for many people and in many organizations that have implemented David’s work.

Simple yet profoundly effective, it embodies the radically common sense notion that with a complete and current inventory of all your commitments organized and reviewed in a systematic way, you can focus clearly, view your world from optimal angles, and make trusted choices about what to do (and not do) at any moment.

Implementing GTD alleviates the feeling of overwhelm, instills confidence, and releases a flood of creative energy. It provides structure without constraint, managing details with maximum flexibility. The system rigorously adheres to the core principles of productivity, while allowing tremendous freedom in the “how.” The only “right” way to do GTD is getting meaningful things done with truly the least amount of invested attention and energy. ...

GTD’s simplicity, flexibility, and immediacy are its attraction. Its ability to enliven, enlighten, and empower is its magic.

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[What is GTD— The Definition of David Allen's Getting Things Done].

Will Getting Things Done change your life? It might. I recommend you pick up a copy and find out for yourself. Let me know what you think. Better yet, if you agree with me, tell someone else!

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Additional reading

GTD Q & A — my followup article
43 Folders — a weblog on the GTD Way
Getting Started with GTD at 43folders.com
Circus Ponies NoteBook and GTD — a discussion forum for using GTD with a great Mac OS X productivity app
InformationWeek essay
Ready For Anything, by David Allen — If you don't have time to read GTD, read this.
Subscribe to David Allen's Productivity Principles newsletter

More Articles

Time Bandits (American Way magazine)
A Method Out Of Madness interview with David Allen Office Zealot GTD blog

Comments

[Creed Erickson]

For the iPod audiobook enthusiast: http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAlbum?playlistId=2087142

[rick kantor]

I first took David Allen's workflow management seminar in 1986, and a couple of times since. As clear and impactful as his book is, his live seminar is even moreso--and hugely entertaining. It's a cliche to say, but David Allen's in person seminar changed my life profoundly--it singlehandedly started me achieving my big life goals.