I came across the book “Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity” by David Allen as a summary on Wikisummaries. So I suppose I am being super-productive by giving you the key concepts here.
Central to becoming more productive is the idea that you need to clear your head of all the “to do” things that you are trying to remember or prioritise and that are getting in the way of actually doing stuff. The comparison is drawn with RAM, the active memory of a computer. Overload the “RAM” and you’ll run sluggishly.
Another key idea is that of visualising the outcomes you want to achieve. Time and time again I have seen the linkage between a clear vision of what you want to achieve and your ability to make it happen; this “Law of Attraction” I’ll cover at a later date.
There are 5 stages of mastering your own productivity: collection, processing, organising, reviewing and doing.
1. COLLECT
Get it all down on paper in as few categories as possible.
2. PROCESS
The flowchart below neatly summarises how best to process. I particularly like Allen’s golden rule that if it will take less than 2 minutes to do, do it now; more than that you need to schedule it in.
3. ORGANISE
There are only 7 ways you really need to organise yourself:
1. Projects list
2. Project support material
3. Calendared actions and information
4. Next actions lists
5. Waiting for list
6. Reference material
7. Someday/maybe list
4. REVIEW
Go through your lists at least once a week.
5. DO
There are 3 ways to decide what to do at any point in time
Choosing actions in the moment – consider the context, time available, energy available, and priorities.
Evaluating daily work – in your day you will do 3 things: predefined work, work as it shows up, define your work. Knowing the time to do work as it shows up in preference to what you intended to do can give you an edge
Reviewing your own work – imagine you are on a plane and use these criteria:
50,000 + feet: Life
40,000 feet: Three- to five-year visions
30,000 feet: One-to two-year goals
20,000 feet: Areas of responsibility
10,000 feet: Current projects
Runway: Current actions
Although priorities are driven from the highest altitude, in order to achieve what you want you should take off from the runway and climb. However in deciding what to do in any given moment the most compelling way to choose is to trust your intuition.
This flowchart neatly summarises the 5 stage action process.
In his book Allen says that mastering your time enables you to live in the present moment. Anything that’s about getting more out of now gets my vote. What do you think?