This is part one of a three-part series on the productivity method called Getting Things Done developed by David Allen. I’ll explain GTD in the first post, share my personal GTD workflow in post two, and the final post will explain the critical GTD component called the weekly review.

People who are into productivity love talking about productivity. [footnote]Just as every successful blogger also writes about becoming a successful blogger. Or how writers write about writing. Very meta.[/footnote] I’m one of those awful people.

I’m always on the lookout for new methods, apps and models for crossing stuff off my checklist. [footnote]And yes, I’m the kind of guy who writes things down I’ve already done just to cross them off the list.[/footnote]

I’m a huge fan of Matt Perman’s work in What’s Best Next, but the precursor to Matt’s book and methodology Getting Things Done (GTD) by David Allen.

I read the book last summer and I’ve been using the system in some capacity ever since.

GTD is a flexible system of productivity that essentially helps you get all you need to do out of your head and into a system (physical or digital) so you don’t miss anything. There are five basic steps in the system:

1. Collect
2. Process
3. Organize
4. Review
5. Do

Allen’s mantra is, “Mind like water.” You want your mind to respond exactly as water does to an input: a tiny splash when a pebble comes in, but a massive wave when a boulder drops. Nothing more, nothing less. Then, right back to stillness, ready for the next input.

He also notes that most people spend more time thinking of things instead of thinking about things. We’re constantly trying to rack our brain to make sure we’re not screwing something up instead of thinking about ideas, solving problems and communicating with clarity.

So how does someone get started with GTD? 

1. Commit to writing everything down and getting organized. Allen talks about going through executive’s offices, folders, filing cabinets, home offices and things as small as wallets to capture every single thing they need to do. You have to start by getting organized and getting all of your reference material organized (digitally or physically) and creating a list of every little thing you need to do and can think of in order to empty mind.

2. Find all of your inboxes. I never had a physical, real-world inbox until I started with GTD. Now I put all loose papers, bills and real world-items in there (even things like dead batteries and light bulbs as a reminder to get new ones!) so that I don’t miss anything. But I also have email, blog comments, Evernote and a myriad of other digital places I have things that need taken care of.

Take the time to write down everything that holds data or information that requires your response and process everything to start, then evaluate them on a weekly basis to capture everything as you move forward.

3. Understand the difference between projects and next actions. Allen says there are only two problems in life: 1. you know what you want and you don’t know how to get there. 2. you don’t know what you want.

That’s certainly an oversimplification, but we do need to take the time to sit down and think things through until we get to a point where we have a single action we can start with. “Write a book” is not a next action. It’s a project. “Choose a topic to write a book on” is a next action. Start there, then create the list of next actions from “choose a topic” to “send final draft to my editor” to complete your book project. In short, a next action is one item you can do, and a project is any task that requires more than one next action.

4. Write down next actions with clarity. A task that says “Dry cleaner” isn’t super helpful. Do you need to take things to the cleaner? Pick them up? Find a new cleaner? Write down the next action you need to take starting with a verb and write as much as it takes to clearly explain what you need to do and when. Take pants to the dry cleaner by the 5pm today.

5. Choose a main hub for collecting projects and next actions. You must have a main system–a piece of software (mine is Omnifocus, and I’ll share more in my next post), a folder, a notebook–whatever–where you keep everything organized with all of your projects and next actions. This is your hub for everything you’re organizing and collecting items into.

6. Rock the two minute rule. When you’re in the process of capturing items, if something takes less than two minutes, instead of writing it down or putting it into your organizational system, just do it. Make the call. Send the text. Whatever, but don’t waste time inputting it when you can finish it instead.

7. Do a weekly review. We’ll get into this in post three, but you must review what you did the following week, what you have going on with different projects and what is coming up.

8. Just stinking do it. When you get into the habit of writing everything (every. single. thing.) down with clarity into next actions, you have no more excuses for not doing things. Ambiguity is eliminated, and then your face to face with the beast of real work. Eat the elephant one bite at a time, and you’ll be amazed at what you accomplish.

Phew. That’s the process in a nutshell. Allen also incorporates thinking through life at different levels to make sure you’re accomplishing goals, shares all the tools he uses to get started, and suggests connecting next actions to contexts (where you’ll do each task). Those things are important, but they’re not worth getting into yet. If you really want to dive in, I highly recommend picking up his book at Amazon.

The book is a bit dated (even though it’s just over 10 years old!) and the smartphone-in-every-pocket world we live in has changed the landscape of tools, but not the underlying premise. The system is remarkable, and while the book content is a bit dry, I think it’s worth the read if you’re looking for a complete system to improving productivity, lowering your stress and becoming a superhero at accomplishing tasks and goals.

Do you use the GTD system? Why do you use it?