How David Allen Does It -
The Five Simple Secrets to Getting Things Done
David Allen, the creator and master of Getting Things Done, a best-selling book and the inspiration for a multimillion dollar corporation, thinks the recipe for personal productivity is fairly simple. A person in search of peace from chaos needs to empty his mind of a nagging task, place the task into a trusted system for processing and trust that the system he has set up will make sure that task gets done. The secrets revolve around tools as simple as post-it notes, personal productivity software, a reliable tickler file and a sturdy set of desktop baskets and file folders.
Looking for web based project tracking and other resources?
Allen's five-step program has led millions to the gospel of Getting Things Done, or GTD.
Step One: Collect. Allen coaches to collect everything you must do, want to do or dream of ever doing anything that is unfinished or undecided. This part of the process involves picking up every scrap of paper with a reminder in your house, emptying your mind of all the tasks that you keep obsessing over, going through every item in your inbox and writing out all the things that you're always going to do.
Step Two: Process. For each and every task, ask What's the next action? One of the cardinal rules, Allen warns: if it can be done in two minutes, do it now. Otherwise, delegate or defer it to a next action list. Make a list of all your projects, and file all your reference material.
Step Three: Organize. Use your own personal productivity software to put meetings and date-specific actions on your calendar. Other tasks can go on next action lists, dated tickler files or on a someday/maybe lists. The point is to leave no task unfiled
Step Four: Review. Look over your calendar and "next action" lists daily. Review your projects, delegated tasks and someday/maybe lists weekly to keep them up to date.
Step Five: Do. With the previous four steps, you have developed a much better sense of what to do when. Your mind will no longer be cluttered with all those unfinished tasks. You'll be able to consider the context, your time and energy and the urgency of each project. And whatever you don't work on right now will pop up in your regular reviews, so there's no need to worry.
David Allen's empire of best-selling books, software and seminars stay away from philosophies and theories and focus on clear and concrete tips to get things done. He is out to convince the world that with your own personal productivity software, a dedication to the GTD gospel and a real need to get things done, his system will help you too. |
