Getting things done
Part 1: the art of getting things done
- Why? Old habits and techniques (calendar, todo lists) no longer work.
- New practice means new reality.
- Vision, goals related approach also do not work.
- Thinking lots of things can be overwhelming.
- Too much distraction with those tasks.
- Day-to-day already have too much distraction.
- A productive state ~ in the zone ~ mind like water.
- We are constantly in a semi-stressful state because of commitments we accept and/or make.
- Basic way of dealing with commitment:
- If it fits in your mind, capture them off your mind in a collection bin.
- Check all the things that need to be done.
- Have reminders & review them regularly.
- Get your current goal / project:
- Think about the next physical action you need to do → makes you less overwhelm and makes you be more in control.
- Write in a single sentence the successful outcome.
- Why is some things are still in our mind?
- It may be because its successful outcome is not clarified enough.
- You may not think about the next physical action.
- There’s no reminder in your system you trust.
GTD requires 2 components:
- Defining what “done” is (outcome).
- Defining what “doing” looks like (action).
Bottom-up approach may be more effective than vision / goal approaches as you are more in control of what’s happening at ground level.
There are 5 steps of mastering workflow:
- Capture what has our attention.
- Clarify each item and what to do with each of them.
- Organize the results.
- Reflect on the options.
- Choose which one we engage with.
Capture
- Gather every incomplete things and put them in a “container”.
- Revisit those containers regularly and decide what to do with them.
- The things not done are not done in 2 places: your container and in your head, the latter will stress you out.
- Every open loop must be in your capture system and out of your head.
- You must have a few capturing buckets as you can get by.
- You must empty them regularly.
- Minimize the number of in-tray / capture location.
- Organize: not what’s incoming but the action to do about them.
Decision-tree
4 criteria for choosing action:
- context
- time available
- energy available
- priority
6 levels of horizons
- purposes & principles
- vision
- goals
- areas of focus & accountabilities
- current projects
- current actions
Natural planning
- Defining purposes and principles
- Ask why!
- Value of the why: it defines success, it creates decision-making criteria, it aligns resources, it motivates, it clarifies focus, it expands options.
- Outcome visioning
- Brainstorming
- Organizing
- Identifying next actions
Part 2: Practicing stress-free productivity
Use tickets, like:
- putting in front of the door: it makes remind you first things in the morning;
- look at calendar, you might be reminded about an event and thing to do;
- write all the things for a project.
Bottom-up approach more effective because if you are more in control of ground / horizon 1, you can think about the above horizons.
What project should you be planning?
- Projects that need next action about planning.
- Steps: brainstorm, organize, setting up meetings, gather information.
- Random project thinking: note and put to your in-tray.
Tools and structures that support project thinking:
- Great tools can trigger good thinking.
- pen and paper to where you’re likely to take notes;
- whiteboards;
- larger additional computer screen.
Part 3: The power of the key principles
3 ways to deal with negative feelings when you capture things:
- don’t make the agreement
- complete the agreement
- re-negociate the agreement
The power of getting ahead is getting started.
Ask what’s the next action.
- That will trigger thinking and maybe some action / motivation to do it.
- Forces clarity, accountability, empowerment and productivity.