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+