GTD: The Art of Stress Free Productivity

I am on the GTD bandwagon. It is one of the most down-to-earth, simple productivity system (system is not quite the right word, but we will get into that later) to which that I have ever been introduced.

GTD is short of “Getting Things Done” the action management method created by David Allen, and described in a book of the same name. (David Allen's Site)

In a nutshell, his approach is based on the idea that each person has a finite amount of available active memory (think RAM in a computer) and that we often have it filled to capacity simply keeping track of what we have to get done. The implication here is that all the energy or psychic RAM that is focused on remembering what must be done is not being focused on getting things done. Close the 'open-loops' as he calls them by getting the info out of your head and into a trustworthy system and you can redirect energy towards 'doing.'


(Don't think you are keeping track of too much? I challenge you to set aside a half an hour and begin to make a list of all the commitments you are tracking with your brain. Write down everything. From the most mundane like going to morning quarters to yet unanswered message traffic or email to buying your wife a anniversary present or making it to your kid's soccer game. I think you will be surprised how long the list gets and how many things pop up that you weren't even consciously tracking but were nevertheless eating up some of your RAM.)

Allen's process for dealing with these open loops is simple. Collect everything in an inbox, sort through the inbox, one item at a time and make a decision about it:

1.Is it actionable? If yes, go to number 4. If no, continue.
2.Is it really important enough to save? If yes, file it. If not trash it.
3.Move on to the next item.
4.Determine the next physical concrete action.
5.Can it be done in 2 minutes or less? If yes, do it. If no, move on.
6.Are you the best person to do it? If no, delegate it and place in your tickler to track. If yes, move on.
7.Defer it. Based on the item, this can go on a todo list or if it needs to be hard-scheduled, on your calender.

This seems like common sense, but the most important part of the process is defining the next concrete action. For example, “Prepare for ULTRA” is not a concrete physical action. The next physical action would more likely be things like “Call ATG liaison about sample POAM” and then “Email Ops regarding scheduling meeting to discuss POAM.”

The other tip that is integral to his process is that of having todo lists that are context specific. “Call ATG liaison” goes on the @phone todo list. “Email Ops” on the @computer list. That way, you only concern yourself with tasks that can actually be completed in your current context. For example, it does you no good to mull over what email you have to send while waiting for your appointment at medical. But, if you have your cellphone on you, you can start banging out things on your @phone list. Seems self-evident but, I know that I have spent plenty of time thinking about all the stuff I had to do when I got back to my desk, my stateroom etc. If you get EVERYTHING into your trusted system, you don't have to expend any energy on things that cannot possibly get done where you are now. When you are in the proper context it will be right there waiting for you.

A brief word on systems:
Allen goes out of his way to point out that he does not endorse any particular system for putting his processes into action. If you are a Palm Pilot person, use that. If you are an Outlook fan, there is a very effective method for setting this up using its capabilities. Even if you are a technophobe, a little system called the Hipster PDA is a very popular method of implementing GTD. (I use a combination of a small Moleskine notebook and a program called Things which syncs between my Mac and my iPhone.)

GTD has been around for about seven years, so I may be behind the power curve just starting to tout it now. But, for those of you who haven't come across it yet, do yourself a favor and give it a try.

SWO.ductivity=5+

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Numbers Brief

10, 20 and 30....these are the numbers you must keep in mind when preparing that next brief. Based on a theory put forth by venture capitalist and author of one of the top-rated blogs in the world “How to Change the World,” Guy Kawasaki, the 10/20/30 formula is quite simple. When you brief, use a maximum of ten slides, finish in twenty minutes or less and never, ever use a font size of less than thirty.

Impossible, you scream! What about that embedded Excel spreadsheet detailing our next ITT drill? What about the fishbone chart depicting our path to INSURV success? Those things take time to brief and cannot be summed up in large font bullets!



Guess what, whether you think your information is too important not to include or not, when you attempt to show extremely granular detail or oodles of data, it will not be retained. And if it is not retained it is not worth spending the time to put it out.

At the Annual Conference of the Society for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, Dr. Vladamir Sistek claimed that “Studies on attention span....shed light on why students have difficulty with the traditional lecture format. Adult learners can keep tuned into a lecture for no more than 15 to 20 minutes at a time, and this at the beginning of the class.”

Do we expect that sleep-deprived, port and starboard watchstanders are going to be able to functionally retain more than than the students in Sistek's studies?

Of course, I concur that we often deal with subjects which require quite a bit a granularity. But there is no reason that we cannot provide that detailed information to the key players as an email or a paper handout prior to the brief itself and then concentrate only on the key points while we are briefing. (Most of those attending any given brief only need a cursory understanding of the 'big picture' anyway.)

This method will also have a valuable side-effect. It will make us better briefers. How many time have you sat though a brief or presentation where the presenter was simply reading off the plethora of info he had jammed onto each slide. By including only ten slides of big font bullets, the briefer is forced to do the unthinkable, namely, really learn the material being presented and put it out in a succinct and understandable manner.

So the next time you are putting that brief together, just chant the new powerpoint mantra 10-20-30 to yourself as you type. And then stick with it!

SWO.ductivity=4+

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Down and Dirty Powerpoint Lesson

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Small-Business Executives Learn Leadership Under Fire from Navy SEALs

Four days with no sleep. Almost round-the-clock physical challenges. Mandatory push-ups (at least 10) for every meal, at exactly every six hours. And swimming 1,000 meters in the Pacific Ocean.

“I had never swam in my life before, in the ocean,” says Yacov Wrocherinsky, founder and chief executive of Infinity Info Systems Corp., a New York-based company that specializes in customized integration of customer service, marketing and sales management for other companies. (He’s also afraid of sharks.)

These are just the kinds of stresses that Mr. Wrocherinsky and 47 other business executives from around the world underwent as part of an unusual physically and mentally taxing leadership program from one of the elite commando forces in the world. Held in early October, the YPO/U.S. Navy SEALS Challenge: Leadership Under Fire Seminar is not for the faint of heart or the out-of-shape.

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Inbox Zero -- Merlin Mann Presentation at Googleplex

Merlin Mann is the creator of the fantastic website 43Folders.com. His productivity methods have gained such a great reputation that he was called into the Googleplex to present his notion of how getting your inbox down to zero shoots productivity through the roof.

This presentation is at least as valuable for it's style of presenting (Hey, a powerpoint that doesn't put you to sleep) as it is for the information presented.

Crummy briefers with overloaded inboxes should certainly pay attention.

SWO.ductivity=4

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Product Review: Jott.com

This weekend I gave the productivity program/system Jott (http://www.jott.com) a spin to see what it could do. I was interested in finding a simple voice recorder feature for my iPhone, but the lure of Jott's extra features (such as automatic transcription) sucked me in.

From their site:

Jott makes sure you stay on top of everything. With a simple phone call to 866-JOTT-123, you can capture notes, set reminders and calendar appointments, stay in touch with friends and family, and interact with your favorite web sites and services...all with your voice!

It was less than 24 hours after I downloaded and registered that I dumped the program and started looking for another voice recorder. The reasons were as follows:

1.The really cool stuff, voice-to-email and getting an email with the notes to yourself are only available in the premium accounts. (Subscription Fees...yikes!)

2.Without an internet connection, it is worthless. Meaning, of course, that it is difficult to use underway. (So, not SWO-friendly)

3.And this was the most annoying. Even with a 3G connection and then later with a Wi-Fi connection on my iPhone, my recorded notes did not upload. A system to leave yourself reminders that is only reliable sometimes is no system at all.

As I had very high hopes for this little app, I am sad to say that it rates only a 2 on the SWO-ductivity scale. Maybe if you are on shore duty with a constant internet connection and only use the phone number to record your notes, it could be of some use, but for the average SWO, this is something to not waste time on.

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