Posted in Family life
A friend turned me on to the book "Getting Things Done" by David Allen. I am organizationally challenged
so at first I had a hard time wrapping my brain around the concepts. Actually, I put the book back on the shelf to read when I could think more clearly. Last week I pulled it out and skipped the first chapter, as I had a hard time getting it. From chapter 2 forward, I have finally "got it"! I have started applying some of the concepts introduced in the book and my email inbox is - are you ready for this? - empty! Having my own business, leading a support group, being involved in church, etc., means HUNDREDS of emails everyday. I set up some folders and began processing emails in a similar way that Allen lays out in GTD, and it is so freeing! I'm working through my desk today and tomorrow. My kids can't believe they can actually "see" the top of it
So what is so great about GTD? Well, I think the thing I related to the most is the idea of all of the many projects and things we know we need to do that we keep in our head as "open loops". These open loops stay with us and interrupt our workflow. This is true for the executive (who GTD is targeted to) as well as a homeschool mom. By getting every project (that is anything that requires more than one action step) down on paper, and setting up a reliable system to check over our "next actions", we free our mind to be more productive. He does not recommend making a daily To Do list, but rather organizing all the "next actions" by whether that task can be done when running errands, at the computer, phone calls, etc.
Maybe this isn't news to the naturally organized, but for me the idea of having everything written down, files set up to take in every piece of paper so I don't worry about anything getting lost is revolutionary to me! I find myself really trusting my calendar, as I know if I put something on it, that thing will get done - as it isn't a To Do list, but rather, the items on my calendar are "must do" THAT day, or they wouldn't be on there!
I'm not sure I've done GTD justice in my little rambling here, so I'll point you to some other sites that have done a great job summarizing what GTD is all about:
http://www.coloradocollege.edu/library/Instruction/gtd.html Great summary with other useful links
http://www.minezone.org/wiki/MVance/GettingThingsDone Summary of GTD in outline form
Now back to clearing my desk! When I'm done, I get to do taxes - ugh!
Productively yours,
Cindy :-)
