GTD

This is part three of a three-part series on the productivity method called Getting Things Done developed by David Allen. I explained GTD in the first post. In the second post I shared my personal GTD tools and workflow. In this final post will explain the critical GTD component called the weekly review I’m bad at taking time to reflect. I enjoy the process, and I know it’s good for me, but blocking out large chunks of time to look around instead of moving forward is tough. But David Allen insists that those who use GTD to its full potential are faithful weekly reviewers. The weekly review is the time for you to get caught up, process everything, and prepare for the week ahead. Go into your office, shut the door, turn off your phone and close off communication to the rest of the world. Make sure you’re on the right path and that you’re not just grinding things out without knowing why you’re doing your work. Some people do it Friday afternoon. I walk through my weekly review on Sunday evening. The time isn’t important–making it a regular appointment with yourself is the key. ...

This is part two of a three-part series on the productivity method called Getting Things Done developed by David Allen. I explained GTD in the first post. In this post I’ll share my personal GTD workflow, and the final post explains the critical GTD component called the weekly review. I’ve used nearly every type of tool to organize my workflow and manage my tasks. I’ve used Moleskine journals of every size, Clear, Reminders, Evernote, my email inbox–you name it. But I’ve landed on the big daddy of Apple GTD systems to get things done–Omnifocus. ...

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: Collect Process Organize Review 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? ...