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Getting Things Done (GTD) is a time management method created and described by David Allen in his book by the same title. I have a friend that bought the book, but never got around to reading it. Ironic? Yes. Uncommon? No. In the everyday hustle and bustle of modern computer oriented lifestyles, it isn’t easy to find time for things we enjoy. Here is where GTD comes in. GTD has really created a cult following for itself and is becoming more of a philosophy than a method. Many people take it and run with it, creating their own unique ways to organize their time more efficiently.

In the first part of this post, I will describe the basics of Getting Things Done. In the second part, I will explain my own implementation of it using a Hipster PDA.

The basic idea behind GTD is that we have too much to remember all the time and it slows us down – David Allen describes it as “Filling up our psychic RAM”. The solution? We should write down everything we need to remember. Instead of trying to remember to pay the bills by next Tuesday, write it down! And organize these thoughts in an efficient and meaningful manner.

Step 1 – Write down everything
When something comes up that you need to remember to do, write it down. Try to write notes on separate pieces of paper so you can organize them easier later. In order to write down everything, you must have pen and paper with you at all times! Anything will do, from a pad of post its to a moleskine. I will discuss this step in more detail in the next post.

Step 2 – Organize your notes
Once you get home, immediately take all these notes and put them into a central unorganized location, called the inbox. At least once a day (more=better) when you have a spare moment, go through your inbox and sort your notes into the following sections:

• 2 minute tasks – If something can be done in under 2 minutes (i.e. send Justin a file), DO IT NOW!
• Next Actions - Things that are next on the agenda and will need to be done soon. Your goal throughout the day is to finish everything in this section. Once something is done you can either archive it or throw it away.
• Projects – These are larger actions that will take a while to finish. These projects are in queue to be broken down into multiple Next Actions tasks.
• Waiting for – Tasks that go into this category cannot be completed because they are dependent on someone else. For example, you need to call Joe once Susan lets you know what time the meeting is.
• Someday/Maybe – These are things that you would like to accomplish some day. You write them down so they aren’t nagging at the back of your mind all the time. For example, learn French – it will happen some day, but it isn’t on the top of your priorities list.

Your priority is to first keep the inbox empty, then work on emptying your Next Actions section. Remember, if a task takes less than 2 minutes to do, DO IT NOW, do not hesitate, do not think twice, just do it.

Step 3 – Staying on top
Every once in a while (again, the more the better), go through all your tasks, breaking down projects and refiling tasks into different sections if necessary.
And most importantly, WRITE EVERYTHING DOWN no matter how trivial or small – in fact you’ll be more likely to forget small/trivial things.

Look for part 2, where I describe ways (including my own) to implement these steps.

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This entry was posted on Friday, March 2nd, 2007 at 1:29 pm and is filed under Efficiency. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.