In the past I’ve asked you about your favorite ubiquitous capture tool and about the biggest leak in your GTD implementation.
Today I would like to ask you a more general question:
I’m asking GTD newbies and GTD experts alike - please share your ultimate GTD tip with us!
Read on for my best GTD tip!
My Best GTD Tip
My tip is two-fold: Simplify your GTD system and focus on doing!
Simplify your GTD system as much as possible. I have encountered so many people (including myself) with really complicated GTD setups. Remember that truly installing the good habit of applying GTD consistently in your personal and professional life is hard enough as it is. Any GTD system should be fast, easy and fun to use otherwise you won’t be able to keep using it consistently. Go back to basics whenever possible. At its core, GTD is basically creating and tracking lists after all. Remember that even the combination of a simple pen and paper forms an excellent list manager.
Ironically, actually doing things by practicing Getting Things Done still requires focus and discipline. It’s all too easy to get stuck in the first 4 phases of the GTD workflow (Collect, Process, Organize and Review) and to forget about the fifth phase (Doing). It’s equally easy to keep tweaking and tuning your GTD system, trying new tools, resorting and reviewing your lists, creating more projects and so on, instead of actually executing the actions on your lists! Simplifying your GTD system as much as possible should help you fight the urge to “play” with your setup. Always remember that getting more things done more effectively was the reason you’re using GTD in the first place!
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I am going to cheat give two best tips…
1. Embrace the Weekly Review. Once you have mastered processing your inbox, you start to feel more productive, and the idea of the Weekly Review may not seem necessary. Banish that thought. The real leverage of GTD is taking that time once a week, and align all the projects and tasks in your life. When you get into a regular habit of the Weekly Review your GTD system becomes exponentially stronger.
2. GTD is not about doing things. The name of the system is a bit of a misnomer. The real goal of the GTD system is to free your mind to do better stuff. The day-to-day tasks and slips of paper, and notes, are what prevent us from doing the “big thinking”, being creative, pushing the envelope in our lives. GTD was designed to create a system to capture all that noise, and organize it so that your mind would be come clear and free to think of bigger things.
Using GTD just to make sure you pick up some bread on the way home, and so that you don’t forget your presentation is due next week is like getting a Quad Processor, 4 Gb RAM, 800 Mb Video Card, just so you can check your email.
Use the system to free your mind, and use your mind to make something great.
My best tip:
The tools you use to “do” GTD are not relevant. It’s the discipline of the practice that makes the difference, using whatever tool you happen to use.
A close second: embrace the weekly review. Thanks, DNAphil!
Don’t have too many projects going on at the same time. It’s easy to get overwhelmed with scores of projects and hundreds of next actions all sitting on your list. Be honest during the weekly review - decide what really is a project you should be doing during the coming few weeks and what is a someday / maybe or a tickler item.
[…] on freedom from stress can encourage people to use GTD as a way to avoid getting things done (see this excellent tip). I experience a lot of stress actually working through my inbox but no stress surfing Merlin […]
My advice is that DNAphil is 180 degrees wrong on point 2.
GTD is about doing things.
The name means exactly what it says it means. It is NOT a system of clearing your head so you can concentrate on the bigger stuff - that’s covered elsewhere in life. It’s a system of approaching the task in front of you - no matter the task.
Just say no - remember that each thing you say you will do becomes a psychic drag on your system. The most useful thing for me about getting it all out was realizing just how much of it there was and that it was OK to say “no” some of the time.
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