With the encouragement and anecdotes of a few friends I’ve decided to pick my copy of Getting Things Done (GTD) by David Allen off the bookshelf and give his program another go-round. My first reading of the book was half hearted; I only read Part One, which covers the general theory and some helpful tips. This time I’ve continued through Part Two, which goes into the details of each step of the theory. I really like the GTD theory, and this time I’m determined to give it a fair shake.
Despite the lackluster effort I gave Getting Things Done take 1, I was able to retain some knowledge from the book. The basic idea as I understand it is to get everything you have to do cataloged in a trusted system so that it’s off your mind, and you’re not stressing over it. Also, that system doesn’t hold just the nebulous titles of your projects, but rather the next physical action required to move that project forward, even if just a little bit. This translates into reduces your stress about projects, and keeping that stress low by having confidence in yourself and your system. I haven’t done the recommended full scale assault on my open projects (i.e. write down everything, then determine next actions for each item), but for the open projects I know about, I’ve been careful to deconstruct the project into next steps. This has been a big improvement so far.
Another tool that has become invaluable has been access to a voice recording device to quickly and convenient record thoughts or to-dos. This is related to having a trusted system; in this case, my recorder (which is actually my new cellphone) isn’t my trusted system, but it’s a trusted temporary storage device for 1) assuring myself that I have recorded the thought and don’t have to dwell on it, and 2) recording an item without me having to divert attention to my core system, thus distracting me from what I’m currently working on.
I’ll note progress here from time to time. In the very near future I’m also posting in entry about how to beat deadlines if you’re a procrastinator, a topic dear to my heart. I expect that entry will show some influence from Getting This Done and other lifehack-related material. Wish me luck. In the meantime feel free to comment and share your experience with Getting Things Done or similar systems.
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