Getting Things Done with Google - Macadamian

In a nutshell, the GTD method involves taking everything you're keeping track of (action items, things you're waiting for, ideas) out of your ... GettingThingsDonewithGoogleAndreaCarbert|June27,2017|17MinReadIhadalwaysadmiredhoworganizedandefficientmybosswas,andsoIaskedhimhissecret.HetoldmeabouthowheusedGettingThingsDone(GTD)tostructurehisworkandIwasinspiredtofollowhislead.Asaworkingmotherofatoddler,Ialwayshavemoreworkthantime.I’mnolongerabletostaylateattheoffice,orworkoneveningsorweekends.Andyet,inthe40hoursaweekIwork,Inowfeelmoreproductiveandorganized;I’mnever(okay,rarely!)worriedthatI’veforgottentodosomething.HowdoIdoit?I’veimplementedtheprinciplesofDavidAllen’sGettingThingsDonewiththeGooglesuiteofproducts.Wanttoknowthedetails?Keepreading!BeforeIhadreturnedtoworkasaProjectManagerbackinthefallof2016IhadpurchasedanewAndroidphone.Withthatphone,Ihadaccesstoworkemailsand,asIsoondiscovered,apreloadedapp,GoogleKeep,acloud-basednotetakingappthat’ssimilartoEvernote.MacadamianusesGSuiteforourbusinesssystems,sowithmyphone,IalsohadaccesstomycalendarandallofthedocumentsstoredonourGoogleDrive.OnthedayIgotbackIreceivedabrandnewlaptopfromITandithadnoneofmyoldfiles;Ihadablankslate;itwasafreshstart!IrealizedthatIdidn’tneedtokeepanythingonmylocalmachine.LeveragingourDrive,Icouldkeepeverythinginthecloud,meaningthatIcouldaccessitfromanywhere.Thishastwobenefits:Idon’thavetobringmylaptophomewithmeeverynightincaseIneedtounexpectedlystayhomewithasickchild,etc.Icanuseanycomputertoaccessmywork.IcanaccesseverythingfrommyphonewhenI’moutandabout.Icanusemydowntimeduringmycommuteonthebus,orwaitinginlineatStarbucks,toreademails,schedulemeetings,noteactions,andreviewdocuments.ThissystembecameevenmorepowerfulwhenIlearnedaboutDavidAllen’sGettingThingsDone.Ihadalwaysadmiredhoworganizedandefficientmybosswas,andsoIaskedhimhissecret.HetoldmeabouthowheusedGettingThingsDone(GTD)tostructurehisworkandIwasinspiredtofollowhislead.Inanutshell,theGTDmethodinvolvestakingeverythingyou’rekeepingtrackof(actionitems,thingsyou’rewaitingfor,ideas)outofyourbrain,writingthemdown,andthenorganizingthemintoactionableitems(thecommonGTDrefrainis‘What’sthenextaction?’).Youthenputyourenergytowardsdoingwork,insteadofrememberingwhatyouneedtodo.Toworkwell,youmustfullycommittotheGTDmethod;youmustrecordeverything,nomatterhowbigorsmall,bothpersonalandprofessional.via:GettingThingsDone GmailClients:GmailinwebbrowseronMac,GmailappforAndroidLikemostpeople,themajorityofmyworkcomesviaemail.However,unlikemostpeople,IamnotafraidofanemailavalanchewhenIopenmyinbox!Here’showIdoit:Ipracticeinboxzero.Inanutshell,thismeansthatIreadeveryemaileachtimeIvisitmyinboxanddecidewhattodowithitrightaway;Idonotpostponecategorizingoractioningthem.Withinboxzero,Iknowthatanimportantandurgentemailfrommycustomerhasnotbecomelostinaseaofotheremails.IhavetakentheGTDstructureandappliedittomyinbox,throughtheuseoflabels.Emailsarethentaggedwiththeappropriatelabel(s)forfuturefollow-up.Therearethreebasiclabels:ActionAnyemailthatrequiresactiononmypartgetsputhere.Iftheactionhasadeadline,Iwouldinsteadplaceitonmycalendar.Formoredetails,seethesectiononusingyourcalendar.ThisisthefirstplaceIgowhenIhavetime,toseewhatworkIshoulddo.Icleanthisoutonadailybasistoensurethattheactionsarestillrelevant,etc.Ioftensendmyselfquickremindersviaemail,thatItagwiththeActionlabel.WaitingForEmailsthatarewaitingonsomeoneelse(foranaction,response,etc.)getthislabel.ThesecouldbeemailsI’vewrittenoremailsthatmyteamhassenttothecustomer.Idon’tneedtorememberthatI’vesentanemailtosomeoneandthatI’mwaitingonthemforanaction.Thislabeldoestherememberingforme.Ireviewthisbucketeverycoupleofdaystochaseforresponse,ortoremovethelabelifI’vereceivedtheresponseinadifferentway(eg.itwasansweredinameeting).Reference(ProjectLabels)InformationthatImightneedtoreferbacktolatergetsstoredawayintherelevantfolder.ItagbothitemsasIreceivethem,orsendthem.IfIreceivefilesthatIneedtosaveforfutureuse,ItransferthemintoGoogleDrive,intotheappropriateprojectfolder.IhaveasetupmylabelssothatitmirrorstheProjectDocumentLibrarythatweuseinGoogleDrive.Itmakesitveryeasytofindthingsineithersystem.Handily,ourfolderstructurefollowsDavidAllen’ssuggestedsystem.Thestructureisasfollows:A-EACustomer…F-KJCustomer…L-PMCustomer…Q-URCustomer…V-ZZCustomer…Project1…Project2CustomerDocumentationDeliverablesDevelopmentPMQAUXProjectManagementFinancialsChangeRequestsContractExpensesInvoicesStatusReportRetrospectivesForaddedspeed,Ialsouse:ShortcutsThebrowserclienthasanumberofkeyboardshortcuts.Switchonshortcutsinyoursettings,typeShift+?,learnsomeshortcuts,andwatchyourproductivityrise!Toreinforcelearningthekeyboardshortcuts,checkouttheKeyRocketextensionforChrome.IntheGmailappforAndroid,youcanusetheswipegesturetoarchiveordeletemessages.SetitupinSettings.CannedMessagesThesearetemplatesforfrequentlysentemails.Iusethisforthingslikestatusreportsoractionreminders.SetuptheLabforCannedResponsesthroughSettings.UsetheCannedResponseintheComposescreen,byaccessingtheMoreOptions(⌄)ThisisalsoknownasTemplatesinGoogleInbox.TryItSetupyourlabels:Action,WaitingFor,ReferenceTrystructuringyourReferencelabelsinthesamewaythatyourstructureyourGoogleDrive.Rememberthatyoucannestlabels.CleanoutyourinboxtogettozeroSetasidesometimetocatchuponyourbacklogofemails.Labelemailsasnecessary.Labelasmanyorasfewemailsasyouwant.Selectallemailsinyourinbox(label:inbox)andarchivethem.Thisremovesthemfromyourinbox,butdoesnotdeletethem;youcanstillsearch,orbrowsebylabel,andfindthem.Maintainyourinbox.Setasidetimeeachdaytoreviewyourinbox.Readeachemailanddecidewhattodowithit.Immediatelysendareply.PutitinyourActionfile.Fileitawayforfuturereference.Deleteit.Asyousendoutemails,ifyouexpectaresponse,labelitwith‘WaitingFor’sothatyoucaneasilyfollowuplater.Enjoyyourpeaceofmindandfreedomfromanavalancheofemails.KeepClients:KeepdesktopapponMac,KeepappforAndroidKeepismymemory!It’salwayswithme,eitheropenonmydesktopormyphone.It’sgotthepowerofGooglebehindit;usingyourphone,youcandictatenotes,takepicturesandquicklyaddittoanote,haveanoteactasareminder,orquicklycreateanotefromawidget.Onanyplatform,youcanalsoquicklysharenoteswithacolleague,orusethemasabasisforaGoogledoc.Here’safewwaysthatIuseit:NotetakingEveryprojectthatImanagehasamainnotethatIrecordallmeetings,etc.Iaddpicturesofwhiteboards,etc.usingmyphoneIfneeded,IcansharethenoteswithcolleaguesquicklyActionListsEachprojecthasitsownactionlist,withcheckboxesIrecordedactionsherethatcomeupinmeetingsorconversationwithcolleagues(i.e.workthatdidn’tcomefromanemail)AgendasIkeeprunninglistsofwhatIneedtotalktoagivenpersonabout,eg.mysalesguy,myboss,mycustomer,mydoctorThenexttimeI’mtalkingtothem,IcanquicklyseewhatIneedtocover.IneverworrythatI’mforgettingtocoveranimportanttopic!ChecklistsforrepeatedactionsIdon’tlikereinventingthewheel.IkeepgenericchecklistsforcommonthingsthatIdolikestartingaproject,orremovingsomeonefromaproject.Eachtimeoneoftheseactivitiesneedstobedone,Icopythelistandgettowork!Nomoremissedorforgottensteps.IperiodicallyupdatethelistwhenIrefinemyprocess.Icanalsoeasilydelegatetasks,becauseIalreadyknowwhatneedstobedone.IncubatorIhaveideasthatI’dliketopursuefurther,butthey’renotimmediatelyrelevant.IrecordtheseinvariouslistsinanIncubatorfile(DavidAllencallsthishis‘Tickler’file).ListsincludelocalrestaurantsI’dliketotry,webinarsI’dliketoreview,orblogpostsI’dliketowrite.ReferenceIkeepasectionforthingsthatI’dliketobeabletoreferbackto.Thesecouldbethingslikemymeetingbridgeconnectiondetails,orapictureofmyglassesprescription.HavingtheminKeepandtaggedasReferencemakesthemeasytofind.Tokeepthenotesorganized,Iuselabels.Eachnotecanhavemultiplelabels,andthereisagoodsearchfunctiontofindthings.Asanexample,thisismystructure:@Action@Incubator@ReferenceAgendaProjectspecificnotesChecklistsYoucanalso‘pin’notestokeepthematthetopofyourlistinanylabeledsection.TryItSetupyourlabelsinKeep,basedonyourneedsSetupyournotes:ActionlistsforeachprojectProjectnotestocollectmeetingnotes,etc.AgendanotesforimportantconversationsIncubatornotesforfutureinspirationPinImportantNotestofindthemeasilyineachsectionSetupprefilledChecklistsforcommonactivitiesThinkahead,orthenexttimeyoudoit,createagenericchecklistforthisactivityYourfutureselfwillthankyou!CalendarClients:CalendarinwebbrowseronMac,CalendarappforAndroidMycalendarensuresthatI’mworkingontherightthingattherighttime.Attheendofeachday,Ireviewthenextdaymycalendartoprepare,andensurethatIhaveeverythingIneedtobesuccessful.Ialsohavethecalendarpinnedasatabinmybrowser,andIlookatitfirstthinginthemorningtosetmeontherighttrack.Ithengetnotificationsinmybrowserandonmyphoneinadvanceofallscheduledmeetings.Iusemycalendartokeeptrackofallofmytimedependentactivitiesandinformation.Forittobeanaccuratereflectionofmytime,Iviewmypersonalandworkcalendartogether,sothatallofmycommitmentsareinoneplace.AnytimeIhavemadeplansforaspecificactivitywithsomeone,itgoesinmycalendar(yes,Ievensendmyfriendsinvitestothemovies!).Thesearethethingsthatfillmycalendar.AlldayremindersofthingsthatIhavetodothatday.MycalendaractsasmymemoryandpromptsmetodothingsthatIhavetodoonaregularbasis.Forexample:Oneoffreminders,eg.callacustomeronaparticulardayaboutarecentsituation.RegularremindersSendaweeklystatusreportonagivendayMonthlyinvoicingactivitiesMeetingsIhavescheduledwithotherpeople.Blocksofscheduledtimetocompleteagiventask.Iusethisveryrarely,andonlyifthereisaverytightdeadlineforsomething.Iprefertoprioritizemyworkaccordingtourgency,timeavailable,andmyenergylevels.IfindIoftengetsidetrackedwhenIcommitmyselftoworkingonaspecificthingataspecifictime.VacationsandHolidaysInotetheholidaysandvacationsformyselfandallmyteammembersasalldayreminders.Icanquicklyseeforagivenperiodwhowillbeworking.Tofurtherstructuremycalendar,Ihavesetupindividualcalendarsformyprojects.Thetwobenefitstodoingthisisthatyoucaneasilyisolatetheviewtowhat’shappeningforthatproject(eg.who’stakingvacationonProjectX),andsecondly,thatyoucantransferownershipifyourprojectgetsmovedtoanotherprojectmanager.Tofurtherdifferentiatebetweenprojects,Iselectdifferentcoloursforeachproject.Thesecalendarsaresharedwiththeteammembersviatheproject’sGoogleGroup.Twocalendarsaresetup:VacationCalendarAllteammembervacationsarerecordedasalldayactivitiesMeetingsCalendarAllmeetingsforagivenprojectarescheduledthroughtheprojectcalendarTheproject’sGoogleGroupisinvitedtothemeetingByinvitingthegroup,insteadofindividuals,ifyourprojectmembersleave/join,themeetingswillautomaticallydisappear/appearaccordingtotheirmembershipintheGoogleGroup.Tosetupadditionalcalendars,clickon⌄nexttoMyCalendarsontheleft-handside,andthenfollowtheinstructions.Whenyoucreatenewitemsinyourcalendar,youcaneasilychoosewhichcalendartoputiton.Foraddedbonus:ControlthemeetingOffertobetheonethatbooksthemeeting.Thatway,youcanscheduleitatatimethat’sconvenientforyou,andyoucanbetheonetomoveitifyouneedto.RemindpeopleofthemeetingIfyouuseSlack,trythe/remindfunctiontotellpeoplewhenyou’remeeting.YoucanevenincludethelinktoyourHangoutorotherremotemeetingclient.Createremotemeetingsdirectlyfromyourcalendarinoneclickandmeetfromanywhere!SetupaHangouteasilybyclicking‘AddaVideoCall’Ifyourcompanyusesotherremotemeetingsoftware,checkoutiftheyhaveachromeextensiontoschedulemeetings.WeuseGoToMeeting.Itmakessettingupmeetingspainless.Makesurethatyouhavetheappsforyourmeetingclientinstalledonyourphone.Theyshouldpromptyouwhenyouhaveameeting.TryItGetallyourcalendarsinoneviewAddyourpersonalandprofessionalcalendarsSetupcalendarsforeachofyourprojectsVacationandMeetingsasseparatecalendarsAssignauniquecolourtoeachprojectSharethecalendartoyourteam’sgooglegroupBookyourprojectmeetingsthroughtherelatedcalendarInvitetheteam’sgooglegroup,notindividualsSetupalldayeventremindersVacations(ontherelevantprojectcalendar)RepeatedtasksGdriveClients:GDriveinwebbrowseronMac,DriveappforAndroidGdriveisGoogle’sonlinecloudstoragethatisavailabletoallusers.Weuseittocreate,share,andstoreallofourprojectandcompanydocuments.YoucanuseGoogle’sofficesuitetocreateyourdocuments,oruploadyourownfilesforstorage.Googlecanalsosyncwithlocalstorage,allowingyoutohaveofflineaccesstoyourdocuments,orautomaticbackupsofyourlocalwork.Withthis,Icanaccessanyofmyprojectdocumentsonthego.Icanevencreate,edit,andcommentondocuments,evenoffline,usingGoogle’sDocs,Sheets,andSlidesappsonmyphone.PermissionstoourProjectDocumentLibraryarecontrolledbyGoogleGroups.ThebenefittousingGoogleGroupsisthatyouonlyhavetoaddorremovesomeoneinthegrouptohavethepermissionchanged,asopposedtogoingthroughallyourfolders/documents.Googlehaslotsofotheroptionsforsharing,thatprovidesforalotofflexibility:On–Publicontheweb:AnyonecansearchonGoogleandgetaccesstoyourfile,withoutsigningintotheirGoogleAccount.On–Anyonewiththelink:Anyonewhohasthelinkcanaccessyourfile,withoutsigningintotheirGoogleAccount.On–Yourdomain:IfyouuseaGoogleaccountthroughworkorschool,anyonesignedintoanaccountatyourworkorschoolcansearchforandaccessyourfile.On–Anyoneatyourdomainwiththelink:IfyouuseaGoogleaccountthroughworkorschool,anyonesignedintoanaccountatyourworkorschoolcanaccessyourfileiftheyhavethelink.Off–Specificpeople:Onlypeopleyousharethefilewithwillbeabletoaccessit.Note:youcanalsosharewithGoogleGroupsusingthismethod.ThroughGmail,ifyousendanemailwithalinktoaGdrivefile,itwillpromptyoutochangethesharingsettingsifnoteveryonehasaccess.ThedefaultistoprovideViewOnlyaccess.ThebenefitofsharingtheGooglefile,insteadofprovidingattachments,isthatyouonlyhaveonefile;youdon’thavetomanagemultipleversionsorcollatecommentsfrommultiplesources.Moreover,GoogleDocsallowsyoutocommentandreferencecertainpeopleinthedocument,andassigntaskstothem.Thisreviewfeaturecutsdownonemailnoise.Inshort,youhavereal-timecollaborationofdocuments.EveryprojectatMacadamianhasthesamefolderstructure,whichmakesiteasytofindwhatyou’relookingfor:A-EACustomer…F-KJCustomer…L-PMCustomer…Q-URCustomer…V-ZZCustomer…Project1…Project2CustomerDocumentationDeliverablesDevelopmentPMQAUXProjectManagementFinancialsChangeRequestsContractExpensesInvoicesStatusReportRetrospectivesGoogleDrivealsoallowsyoutokeepalocalcopyoffilesandsynctothecloud,thisallowsyoutoworkofflineinapinch.ForBonusPoints:TemplatesDriveallowsyouquicklyandeasilysubmitdocumentsastemplatesthatyoucansharewithyourteam.Youcouldhavetemplatesforstatusreports,risklogs,businesscases,etc.Ifinditusefultohaveagenericcompanybrandeddocumentthatcanbeusedforprojectdeliverables.Thismakesourworklookpolishedwithbarelyanyeffort,aboonfordeveloperswhodon’tknowmuchaboutformattingworddocuments.UseCloudSearchIfyourcompanyusesGoogleforBusiness,youhavemagicalsearchpowers,thankstoGoogleCloudSearch.ItisatoolthatallowsyoutosearchacrossallofyourpersonalandsharedGoogleproducts(gdrivedocs,emails,contacts,calendar,groups,etc.).ThinkofitlikeyourpersonalGoogle.Itevencanmakesuggestionsonwhatitemswillbeusefulforyoutolookat,basedonyourupcomingmeetings,orwhereyouspendalotoftime.AnAndroidAppisalsoavailable.TryItCreateafolderstructureforyourproject(s)thatmirrorsyouremaillabelstructure.Moveallyourdocumentstothecloudfromlocalstorage.SetupGoogleDriveonyourcomputertosyncdocuments.InstallGoogleDriveandtheassociatedprogramapplicationsforyourmobiledevice.Shareyourfoldersand/orfileswithyourteamusingaGoogleGroup.ShareGoogledocsinyouremailasembeddedlinks,insteadofattachments.Yourrecipientswillallworkonthesamedocumentinrealtime,savingyoutheneedtocombinetheirindividualcommentsintoanewversion.Createtemplatesforyourfrequentlyuseddocuments.HangoutsClients:HangoutsinwebbrowseronMac,HangoutsappforAndroidHangoutsisGoogle’smeetingtoolforenterpriseusers,availablebothinyourdesktopbrowserandonyourmobiledevice.Itoffersinstantmessaging,andfreevoiceandvideocalls,completewithscreensharing.Thisisagreatplacetorunyourmeetingswithyourteam,forfree,withlimitedsetupandcomplications.Hangoutscanbesetupthrough:Yourcalendar,as‘AddaVideoCall’Slack,withtheHangoutspluginforadhoccalls.https://hangouts.google.com/directly.TryItRunyournextmeetingusingaGoogleHangout.ChromeClients:Chromeaswebbrowser,ChromeappforAndroidIuseChromeasmygo-tobrowser.Forme,itmakessense:I’musingGoogle’sbrowsertouseGoogle’sproducts.IuseitonmyMacatwork,myAndroidphone,andmyChromebookathome.I’msignedinacrossallthree–itremembersmybookmarks,mypasswords,andmyhistory.Thisconsistencymakesmylifeeasy!Iusemybrowsertodothemajorityofmywork.SinceIuseaMac,Irarelyturnoffmycomputer;I’mabletosetChromeuponceandleaveitrunning.Here’showIstayorganized:PinnedTabsThewebsitesthatIusefrequently,Ipin.Thismeansthatitchangesintoasmallertab,withjustthesite’sicon,andthere’snobuttontocloseit.Ipin:GmailCalendarDriveJira(ourdevelopmenttaskmanagementsystem)Clarizen(ourprojectmanagementsystem)BookmarksForeachofmyprojects,IcreateafolderintheBookmarkBar.IthenbookmarkthespecificpagesforthatprojectinoursystemsthatIregularlyvisit:JiraBambooConfluenceGoogleDriveGoogleGroupsTestPadGerritIn-HousePermissionstoolEtcIneverhavetohuntaroundtofindstuff.IknowwhichsystemIneedtogoto,andmybookmarkdoestherest.Ialsohaveabookmarkfolderforalloftheothersystems,eg.HR,ExpensesTryItPinthewebsitesthatyoualwayshaveopen.Createbookmarkfoldersforeachofyourprojects,andbookmarktheprojectspecificpagesineachofyoursystems.GetEmailUpdatesGetupdatesandbethefirsttoknowwhenwepublishnewblogposts,whitepapers,guides,webinarsandmore!SuggestedStoriesProjectManagementintheHealthcareIndustry:ARiskBasedApproachOneinnovativeapproachtogovernanceandprojectmanagementistotailorthetypeandlevelofmanagementtotheriskassessedforeachproject,avoidingthecostsoftreatingallprojectsasthoughtheycarriedahighlevelofrisk.ReadMoreBrainstormingasaRiskIdentificationTechniqueforScrumUsingbrainstormingasariskidentificationtechniqueprovidesafreeandopenapproachthatencourageseveryoneonaprojectteamtoparticipate.Itcanresultinagreatersenseofprojectriskownership,andateamcommittedtomanagingriskforthedurationoftheproject.ReadMoreHealthcareTechnologyTrends2018:Macadamian’sExpertsWeighInWeaskedourexpertsinhealthcaresolutionsabouthowwecanexpecttechnologytotransformhealthcarein2018andwhatbusinessesinthehealthcareindustryshouldpayattentionto.ReadMoreMacadamianhasbeenacquiredbyemids🎉LearnmoreThisisdefaulttextfornotificationbarLearnmore