Productivity

Context: “What could you possibly do where you are, with the tools you have?” Time available: “How much time do you have between now and the next time you need to do something else?” Energy available: “Which items do you have the mental and/or physical capacity to tackle right now?” Priority: If there’s more than one item left, use the “6 Horizon Model”––which I’ll touch on below in the section “Why bottom-up is better than top-down“

Level 5: Life––as in life purpose and life goals Level 4: Long term visions Level 3: 1-2 year goals Level 2: Areas of focus and responsibilities Level 1: Current projects Ground level: Current actions

David Allen argues the opposite. He posits that when the nitty-gritty, everyday, ground level stuff is out of control, trying to zoom out to big-picture stuff is pointless and futile––and I agree.

Next 2 Waiting 3 Scheduled 4 Someday/Maybe 5 Completed 6 In-Process Projects 7 Degree Project Support Files 8 Other Project Support Files 9 Checklists and Templates 10 Reference

Context: “What could you possibly do where you are, with the tools you have?” Time available: “How much time do you have between now and the next time you need to do something else?” Energy available: “Which items do you have the mental and/or physical capacity to tackle right now?” Priority: If there’s more than one item left, use the “6 Horizon Model”––which I’ll touch on below in the section “Why bottom-up is better than top-down“

David Allen is pretty consistent in his conviction that your intuition will guide you appropriately. Look at your list, and your mind already knows which is the best and most important, so listen to that. However, he recognizes that not everyone feels that they can do that––at least not yet––and so he provides three frameworks for looking at and determining priority.

Level 5: Life––as in life purpose and life goals Level 4: Long term visions Level 3: 1-2 year goals Level 2: Areas of focus and responsibilities Level 1: Current projects Ground level: Current actions

By imposing a degree of structure, by asking ourselves to behave in a slightly more focused way, we’re giving ourselves an opportunity to develop our creative muscles. It doesn’t always mean that what we create every single time every single day will be an act of great art and beauty, but if indeed the best way to have a good idea is to have a lot of ideas, then using GTD principles to create windows of opportunity to generate lots of ideas, sounds like a good approach.

Write, record, or gather any and everything that has your attention into a collection tool.

Is it actionable? If so, decide the next action and project (if more than one action is required). If not, decide if it is trash, reference, or something to put on hold.

Park reminders of your categorized content in appropriate places.

Update and review all pertinent system contents to regain control and focus.

Write down everything that grabs your attention when it shows up (supporting the idea that your mind is better used to have ideas, not hold them).

Create a game you can win with GTD. Instead of saying you’re going to get your inbox to zero every day, start with an easier goal of once a week. Instead of saying you’re going to do the GTD Weekly Review every week for the next 10 years, try scheduling just the next one. And when you’ve done that one, book the next one after that.

The Natural Planning Model is a productive way to think about projects, because it allows to get maximum value with minimum effort. This is an informal approach that does not require great elaboration. Although you don’t realize it, you usually do these five things to accomplish any task, no matter how simple it is:

You rarely think about your principles consciously, but they exist, and are of particular importance when there are more people involved. You don’t want to reach the result at any cost. If your personal values are violated, you will consider the project as a failure.

Tip #1 Learn to love your Weekly Reviews

Tip #2 Prioritize ruthlessly, then cut out some more

1. Just because you put it on your to-do list doesn’t mean you have to do it.

Just because someone asks you to do something doesn’t mean you have to say yes

Just because it sounds like a cool project or awesome opportunity, doesn’t mean you should take it on.

It’s ok to reschedule today’s tasks for tomorrow, or later in the week, or just someday/maybe.

However, at the first time—when you decide that enough is enough, that it’s time to start organizing your stuff—, you should perform a complete (or nearly complete) capture of everything that exists in your mind. This is called The Mind Sweep in GTD, i.e. a overall scan of everything holding your attention right now. It consists in identifying anything concerning your work or your personal life which you consider should be different, and put it all in one single place, which we can call the in-basket.

This is the “incompletion triggers” list that David Allen recommends you to review every time you need to do a mind sweep: Professional stuff: Projects started, not completed. Projects that need to be started. Commitments/promises to others (boss, partners, colleagues, subordinates, customers, organizations, professionals…) Communications to make/get (phone calls, e-mails, letters, memos, etc.) Writing to finish/submit (reports, proposals, articles, promotional materials, instructions, etc.) Meetings that need to be set. Decisions that have to be made. Who needs to know? Significant read/review. Financial stuff (budgets, forecasts, statistics, credit line, cash flow, etc.). Projects formal planning (goals, targets, objectives). Travel. Banks. Administration (legal issues, insurance, procedures, etc.) Customers. Marketing. Promotion. Sales. Systems (computers, phones, office equipment). Supplies. Waiting for… information, delegated tasks, replies, petty cash, ordered items, decisions of others, etc. Professional development (training, things to learn, skills to practice.) Research. Personal stuff: Projects started, not completed. Projects that need to be started. Commitments/promises to others (spouse, children, family, friends.) Communications to make/get with family and friends. Upcoming events (birthdays, anniversaries, weddings, travel, social events, cultural events, sporting events, etc.) Things to do (places to go, people to meet.) Administration (bills, banks, investments, loans, taxes, insurance, legal affairs.) Waiting for… orders, repair, loaned items, etc. Home/household (plumbing, electricity, decoration, furniture, etc.) Computers (software, hardware, connections, internet.) TV, VCR. Music, CDs. Cameras, film. Phones. Sports equipment. Closets/clothes. Garage/storage. Vehicle repair/maintenance. Pets. Health care. Hobbies (books, music, movies.) Errands (drugstore, market, bank, stationer, etc.) Community (neighborhood, schools, local government).

Schedule your weekly review in your calendar. Allow yourself at least an hour, preferably two. Finish all your work before the review starts. Get comfortable. You might want to go somewhere you don’t associate with work. Take 5-10 minutes of quiet time. Meditate, doodle, or just stare at the head – whatever it takes to put a “buffer” between you and your everyday stuff. Have something to write in/on. Make sure you won’t be disturbed. This is your time!

Collect all your loose papers and put them into your inbox for processing. Process your notes to glean any action items, appointments, new projects, etc. Review your previous calendar data to remind you of any ideas, tasks, etc. that you might not have captured at the time. Review your upcoming calendar to see if there are any new actions you need to add to your lists. Empty your head. Write down anything that’s currently on your mind or capturing your attention. Review your project lists to determine each project’s status and if there are any actions you need to take to move each of them forward. Review your next action lists. Bring them up to date by marking off any actions you’ve already completed. Use completed actions as triggers to remind you of any further steps you need to take not that an action is done. Review waiting for lists. Add appropriate follow-ups to your action lists. Check off anything that you’ve already received. Review any relevant checklists. Review your someday/maybe list and decide if there is anything you’re ready to move onto your active projects list. Review your project support files to make sure you haven’t missed any new actions you need to take. Be creative and courageous. This is the hardest and most poorly described part of the process in Allen’s books, which is too bad, since this is where the magic happens. Having cleared your mind of everything you need to do at the moment, take time to dream up new ideas — risky ones, creative ones, etc. Essentially a free-form brainstorming session around the topic of “what could I be doing?”

What do I have to work on the next few days? What deadlines do I have coming up? Are there any new projects I have time to start working on?

What do I have to work on the next few days? What deadlines do I have coming up? Are there any new projects I have time to start working on? What went wrong over the past week? What lessons can I learn from that? What went right over the past week? How can I make sure more of that happens? How well am I keeping up with all my duties and obligations? What is coming up that I need to be prepared for? What kind of help do I need? Is everything I’m doing contributing to my advancement towards my goals? What can I do about the stuff that isn’t? Am I happy with where I’m at? What would I like to change? What are my goals for the next week? Month? 90 days?

What did I get done this week versus what I planned to get done? What unexpectedly arose this week that blocked my productivity? Why was I so efficient this week as compared to the last one?

Collect loose papers and materials — Capture and sort items like receipts and business cards you’ve collected over the week. Get “in” to empty — Process all your notes, emails, texts, and any other “incoming” items. Empty your head — Write down anything that’s taken up mind space recently but hasn’t been captured in your system.

Review “Next Actions” lists — Take inventory of the tasks and reminders you have coming up. Review previous calendar data — Flip through the last 2-3 weeks of calendar items to look for any outstanding items of things that may require follow-up. Review upcoming calendar — Zoom in on the future by looking ahead at your calendar items. Ensure that anything you need to prepare for is captured on your task list. Review “Waiting For” list — Reflect on outstanding items you need from others and make a note of what requires follow-up or impacts your own work. Review “Projects” (and “Larger Outcome”) Lists — Look through any and all project lists to assess their progress and make additional action items to drive initiatives forward.

Review any relevant checklists — Assess any other lists that are relevant to work and life that may need your attention.

break them into smaller, more manageable actions to clear the clutter and get a clear picture of what lies ahead in operations processes.

convert all these muddled ideas into viable actions, you need to distinguish the actionable and non-actionable tasks to get rid of the ones that cannot be done, thus clearing up some brain memory.

Waiting for List: all the tasks that you have delegated to other people for execution Next Action List: actions that need to be done, but are without any due date Calendar: actions that are to be completed on a specific date or time

This is one of the places where the GTD system truly shines. As David Allen explains several times in the book, to-do lists are often full of items that we can’t actually do. So they sit there, mocking us. We allow ourselves to feel overwhelmed, never realizing that the reason it all feels impossible to tackle is because it is. In its current form, anyway.

Alright, so you’ve determined that you want or need to take action on this item—awesome! Now it’s time to get clear on what the item will look like when it’s finished. What circumstances need to be met in order for you to check it off your list?

Executives need the numbers Saying “everyone who’s important is leaving the company,” (the drama) creates negative contraction and “Beth Smith said she was thinking of another career” (the data) allows a productive direction Good relationships start with curiosity (about what’s true) instead of control (about what should be true) Keeping team spirit going in times of change requires frequent updates of what’s really going on Capturing, tracking, and reviewing all your commitments, projects, and actions transform a sense of overwhelm into an experience of relaxed control Acknowledging that you’re scared

begins to transcend the fear Acceptance (vs. resistance) is the first action of spiritual growth