You need to delegate or defer the tasks that are now in your projects list. Putting the tasks in projects category implies that they need more than one step, or more time to successfully complete. If the actionable task can be done within the next 2 minutes, do not wait any further, and do it. Now comes all your tasks that are, indeed, actionable. Keep reviewing them over time to evaluate if any action needs to be done. If you’re not sure whether the task should be done right away or not, put them in someday/maybe list. ReferencesĪll the tasks that do not require any action at the moment, but might be needed at some time in the future should be put in this category. They don’t need your attention of any sorts. If they’re not, the decision gives birth to three types of lists where you can dump them: TrashĪs the name suggests, the tasks that are not worth dealing with should be immediately put in trash list. So, first things first, you need to decide if the tasks that lies ahead of you are actionable or not. You begin by categorizing and prioritizing your tasks and putting them in relevant lists, according to the nature of urgency.
Organizing is one of the most important (and elaborate, might I add) steps of the GTD technique. The clarifying step in turn leads to the third step, organize. This will greatly help you get rid of all the small things that were piling up to become big troubles later on.
If the underlying task can be completed within the next two minutes, do it immediately.
Break down all your to-dos to decide the next course of action.Īn interesting take on this can be to follow the two-minute rule. It’s highly likely you’ve written down those things too which do not require your attention at all. The second step recommends processing all that you’ve jotted down and identifying what exactly needs to be done out of that pile of tasks. This is the first step towards better productivity and it will set the basis for processing things faster. Immediately transfer whatever comes to your mind into an external system, which can be anything ranging from a simple notepad, to a more elaborate to-do list app.Ĭlear your mind of all the things you need to do and you’d be surprised how light you feel. So, the first step of implementing GTD is to brain dump. Now, if you know brains, they like playing this little game where all this happens for a brief moment only, and after a while you’re only thinking about potatoes. There are moments when your brain suddenly hits all the right chords and you’re swamped with creative ideas, or better yet, all the things you need to get done. Let’s start with explaining each step: 1. Now, you must be thinking this looks like a lot of work, and isn’t GTD method supposed to minimize the work effort? Patience, my beloved reader! It may seem intimidating at first glance, but once you get to understand it better, it’ll work like a charm. The technique comprises of 5 steps that bring you closer to getting your life together (well, almost). So, the whole concept of GTD revolves around systematic organization of your tasks and priorities in a way that they become more manageable and achievable. If you don’t have time to read the whole book (many of us don’t), I’ve broken down the method elaborately for you to understand why GTD works the way it does, and all the popular GTD apps that can help you implement it to master the skill of getting things done. What is the GTD Method? Image Source – GTD in 15 Minutes by Hamberg Besides being popular, it’s also one of the favorites among productivity enthusiasts, and it has all the right reasons to be so. If you’re not already aware of the phenomena, GTD is a popular productivity technique and the title of a best-seller by David Allen. It’s abbreviated GTD, and its a productivity method introduced that stands for Getting Things Done. But, there must be a way to help improve our productivity, if not skyrocket it, right? Even the most accomplished lot amongst us have their fair share of Monday blues, and it’s understandable too. Well, let’s just admit, we can’t stay productive all the time. Imagine accomplishing all this, along with a healthy body and mind. Successfully running errands like you’re a pro. Meeting deadlines without losing your sanity on the way.
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