GTD in 15 minutes – A Pragmatic Guide to Getting Things Done

GTD—or “Getting things done”—is a framework for organizing and tracking your ... you can often have a “smart” lists for each tag—yielding the same result. GTDin15minutes–APragmaticGuidetoGettingThingsDone Tableofcontents Whatis“GTD”? The“in”list Processingthe“in”list The“nextactions”list The“waitingfor”list Projects Contexts Agendacontexts The“someday/maybe”list Calendar Weeklyreview Triggerlists Gettingittowork Tools Read/reviewfolder Ticklerfile Aboutthisguide Whatis“GTD”? GTD—or“Gettingthingsdone”—isaframeworkfororganizingandtrackingyourtasksandprojects.Itsaimisabithigherthanjust“gettingthingsdone”,though.(Itshouldhavebeencalled“Gettingthingsdoneinamuchbetterwaythanjustlettingthingshappen,whichoftenturnsoutnottobeverycoolatall”.)Itsaimistomakeyouhave100%trustinasystemforcollectingtasks,ideas,andprojects—bothvaguethingslike“inventgreatestthingever”andconcretethingslike“callAda25 Augusttodiscussconferenceschedule”.Everything! Soundlikeallotherrun-of-the-millto-dolistsystems,yousay?Wellinmanywaysitis,butthereismoretoit,andit’sreallysimple.Promise!Sopleasereadon. OneofthebasicassumptionsofGTDisthatyouaredumb—or,rather,thatyoursubconsciousnessisquitedumbwhenitcomestothinkingaboutthingsyoushoulddo.Forexampleknowingyouneedtogetyourwatchrepaired,butinsteadofremindingyouwhenyouactuallybikepastthewatchstore,itimplantsanincessantfeelingof“Ineedtoremember…something”inyourbrain. JessicaKerrputitperfectly: Pretendyourbrainisawhiteboard.Isitcoveredwithto-dolistsand“DONOTERASE”?Istherespacefordrawingandcombiningideas? Agreatpartofthe“magic”istoconvertbothtasksandwhimsintophysicalandvisibleactionsasyousoonwillsee. WhatGTDgivesyou—whenunderstoodandimplementedproperly—isafoolproofsystemforkeepingtrackofwhatyouneedtodo,shoulddo,orshouldconsidertodo.Whenyoursystemandyourtrustinyoursystemisinplace,yoursubconsciousnesswillstopkeepingtrackofallthethingsyouneedtodoandstopconstantlyremindingyou.Thisreducesstressandfreesuppreciousbraintimetomoreproductivethinking—maybeitevensavesrealtimesothatyouhavemoretimeforballetlessons,paintingclasses,androller-blading.  Awesome!Sohowdoesitactuallywork?Itworksbyusingspecialyogatechniquesanddailymentalexercises.No,haha!Justkidding.Itworksbysimplymaintaininglists,whicheverykidwithpaperandapencilcando.Evencomputerscanmaintainliststhesedays! Youwillhavetomakethefollowinglists: In Nextactions(probablyseveral–moreonthatlater) Waitingfor Projects Someday/maybe TheselistswillbereviewedregularlyandformthebackboneoftheGTDsystem.Theirworkingsaredescribedbelow.Inadditiontothelistsyouwillneedacalendarwhichletsyouwritedowndateandtimesensitivetasksandevents. The“in”list Theinlistiswhereyoucaptureideasandtasksastheyoccurtoyou.Thiscanbeyourbosstellingyoutobakeheracarrotcake,orseeingaposterforacircusyouwanttosee.Thebarrierforaddingsomethingtoyourinlistshouldbeaslowaspossible—jotitdowninanotebookorpresstherightbuttonsonyoursmartphone.WhileIhavecalledittheinlist,itisnoproblemtohavemorethanone.Maybeanappforwhenyouareinfrontofacomputerandanotebookforwhenyouloiteroutsidethemall?Theimportantthingisthatyouareabletowritedownthingsastheyoccurtoyou.Wewanttooffloadworkfromthebrain,remember? WhenyoufirststarttouseGTDyoushouldtakeanhourtowritedownallthingsyouwantto—orhaveto—do.Theseso-calledopenloopsincludeallthingsthataren’tastheyshouldbe,wheretheyshouldbe,andsoon.Doyouneedtoreplaceyourtoothbrush?Returntheteacupyouborrowedfromyouraunt?Shouldyourepaintyourbedinanothercolour?Allthesethingsshouldgoonyourinlist. Processingthe“in”list IfyouhavejuststartedtouseGTDandcollectedtonnesofitemsinyourinlistduringtheinitial“brain-emptying”,processingcantakeawhile.Fromnowontheinlistwillbeprocessedcontinuously. Theitemsonyourinlistshouldbeprocessedonebyoneintheordertheyappearonyourlist.Whenprocessinganiteminyourinlistthefirstquestionyouneedtoaskis:isitactionable?—inotherwords,doyouneedtodosomething?IftheanswerisNO,youeitherthrowitawayifyounolongerneedit,keepitasreferencematerial(“Iwillprobablyneedthisarticleagainsomeday…”),addittoasomeday/maybelist(forthingslike“learnIndonesian”),orincubateit.Wait,what‽Sitonit?Yes,sortof.Ifit’ssomethingthatyouwanttoremindyourselfaboutlater(“Ireallydidn’tunderstandthisarticle,Ishouldhavealookatitagainintwoweeks”)itshouldgointoyourcalendaroryourticklerfilewhichwillsoonbeexplained.(Yes,eventheweirdname.) Now,iftheitemyou’recurrentlyprocessingisactionable—inotherwords:somethingshouldbedoneaboutit—youshouldaskthequestion“whatisthenextaction?”Thenextactionneedstobeaphysicalandvisibleaction.Inotherwords,not“plancakelottery”,but“e-mailArthurandCamilleandremindthemtobaketheircakes”. Thisverything—thatanextactionshouldbethenextphysical,visibleactiontomovetheprojectclosertoitsgoal—isperhapsthemostimportant“rule”inGTD.Byusingafewextrasecondstocomeupwithwhatphysicallyneedstobedone,youmakesurethatyour“nextaction”listswillonlycontainthethingsyoucanchoosetodoatanymoment.The“pre-processing”hasalreadybeendone(theactionsthemselvesmayverywellbeplanningtasks,though)andthisgreatlylowerstheresistancetodothethings. Whenyouhavedeterminedthenextaction,youshouldconsiderifittakeslessthantwominutestodoit.Ifthisisthecase:doit.Rightaway.(Thingslike“e-mailfunnycatvideotograndma”.)Thereasonforthisissimple:iftheactiontakestwominutesorless,theoverheadoftrackingitwillbelargecomparedtohowlongittakestojustdoit.Ifitdoestakemorethantwominutesyoushoulddelegateitifappropriate—notingwhatwasdelegated,andwhen,onawaitingforlist—oraddittoyourownnextactionslistofthingsyouwanttodoassoonasyouhavethetimeandenergy.Unlessyoursecretsuperpowerisdelegation,nextactionsisprobablywheremostthingswillendup.Iftheopenloopwilltakemorethanoneactiontoclose,theoverallgoalshouldalsobenotedonaprojectslistwhichwillbeexplainedinafewsections. Tosummarize,whenprocessingyourinlist(s),youshouldfollowthisprocedure: TheGTDworkflow:openloopsarecollectedintheinlist,processed,and—ifit’sanaction—it’sdoneimmediately,deferred,ordelegated.Iftheitembeingprocessedrequiremorethanoneactionit’srecordedintheprojectslistaswell. The“nextactions”list Sowhat’sthenextactionslist?Well,uh…alistofyournextactions,obviously.Anothernamefortheseactionsis“as-soon-as-possibleactions”—itissimplythosethingsfromwhichyouwillpickwhattoworkonwhenyouarenotwatchingfunnycatvideosonYouTubeorplayingCandyCrushSaga. The“waitingfor”list Whenyoudelegateworktoothers,sendane-mailyouexpect(orneed)areplyto,ordersomething,orhaveataskthatis“blocked”becauseyouarewaitingforsomeoneelsetodosomething,itshouldbewrittendownonyourwaitingforlist.Theseitemsshouldalwaysbemarkedwiththecurrentdatesothatyou’llbeabletoe-mailyourco-workerMarvinandsay“I’mstillwaitingfortheWTFreportyousaidyou’dfinishwithinamonth.Thatwas32daysago!”. Projects Ifyou’restillwithmeyoumightbeworriedaboutthefactthata“researchartificialintelligencetextbooks”actiononyournextactionslistisallthatiswrittendownaboutyourplantotakeovertheworld.Wouldn’titbeeasytolosetrackoncethatactionisdoneanderasedfromyourlist?Yes,itkindawould.That’swheretheprojectslistcomesin. GTD’sdefinitionofaprojectisverybroad.Itdefinesanyobjectivethatrequiresmorethanoneactiontocompleteasaproject.Theseprojectsshouldgoonyourprojectslist.Thislistissimplyalistofprojecttitlesand—ifyoulike—descriptionsandintendedoutcomesoftheprojects.Whenreviewingtheprojectslist,youwillmakesurethatthereisalwaysatleastoneactiononyournextactionslistforeachproject,thusmakingsurethatyourprojectsmakeprogressandaren’tforgotten. Contexts Contextsare“tags”youputontheitemsonyournextactionslistssayingwheretheactioncanbedone,orwhatequipmentyouneedtoperformit.Anactioncanbe“tagged”withacontextinseveralways;theeasiestisprobablytosimplyhavedifferentnextactionslists—oneforeachcontext.Ifyouuseanewfangledelectroniclistmanageryoucanoftenhavea“smart”listsforeachtag—yieldingthesameresult.(Withso-calledsmartphonesit’sprobablyevenpossibletouseitslocationawarenesstoonlypresentactionswhosecontextmatchyourcurrentlocation.Ifso:thatisamazing!Weliveinthefuture!) Itiscommontoprefixcontextswithan‘@’whichmakessensewhenthecontextisalocation,butshouldjustbethoughtofasanotationinothercases.Examplesofcontextsare@ home,@ computer,and@ office. Examplesofactionsandtheircontexts Action Context Buymorerainbow-coloureddogfood @ cityor@ store Browsecuteoverload.com @ computeror@theworldwidewebs Smiletoastranger @ everywhere Howmanycontextsyouneeddependonhowmanynextactionsyouwillhaveandhowyourworkdaylookslike.Theimportantthingistobeabletoassess—ataglance—whatyourpossibleactionsaredependingonwhereyouphysicallyareandwhatequipmentyouhaveavailable.Itcanalsobeagoodideatomakean“everywhere”contextforthingsyoucandonomatterwhereyouare(“CallmumtodiscussIcelandtrip”). Agendacontexts Ifyouhaveregularmeetingswithpeople,itcanbebeneficialtohave“agendacontexts”—oneforeachperson—whereyounotedownthethingsyouwanttotalkaboutduringthenextmeetingasyouthinkofthem.Forexample,ifyouhaveaweeklymeetingwithFoobert,youmightconsiderhavinga“@ Foobert Agenda”context.Thesecontextswillofcoursechangeasyourteam/managers/supervisors,etc.change. The“someday/maybe”list Youdon’twanttoloseyourmillion-dollarideaofmakinga“jumptoconclusions”mat,butsincethisisaprojectyouwanttorealizewhenyouhavemoretime,youdon’twanttohaveit“pollute”yournextactionslistsoryourlistofprojectseither.(Rememberthatthenextactionsonlycontainsthethingsthatshouldbedoneassoonaspossibleandthatyourprojectslistwillbereviewedregularlytomakesurethatallprojectshaveatleastonenextaction.) Thisiswherethesomeday/maybelistcomesit.Thislistsimplycontainsideasandprojectsyoumightwanttorealizeatsometimeinthefuture.Thisiswhereboth“replaceuglypaintinginbedroom”and“startacult”shouldgo.(Assuming—ofcourse—thatyoudon’twanttodoeitherofthosethingsrightnow.)Thislistshouldbereviewedweeklyalongwiththerestofthesystemasdescribedintheweeklyreviewsectionbelow. Calendar  Thecalendarisforthingsyouhavetodoonacertaindateoratacertaintime—andnothingelse!That’sright;noputting“installBonzibudddy”onyourcalendarfornextWednesdayifyoujustthinkyouwanttohaveitdonethen. But…why‽ Byonlyhavingitemsthatreallyaretimeanddatesensitiveonyourcalendaritwillbemoreuseful,sinceitwillactuallytellyouthethingsyouhavetodoacertaindaywithoutbeing“diluted”withotheritems.Thethingyouwanttodo,butthatdoesn’tneedtobedoneatacertaintimewillbeonyournextactionslistanyway,soyouwillberemindedaboutitandhavethechancetodoit. Weeklyreview DavidAllen’sbookonGTDcallstheweeklyreviewa“criticalfactorforsuccess”andheisnotjoking.IfyoustartusingtheGTDframeworkandyouarenotarobot,thingswillstarttoslip.Youwillcompletethenextactionofaprojectandforgettoaddanew“nextaction”forthatproject.Youwillforgettoremovenextactionsthatyou—ifyoureallythoughtaboutit—knowthatyouwon’tdointhenearfutureafterall,andsoon. Theweeklyreviewshouldbedone—youguessedit—onceperweek.Itwilltakeawhile,soyoushouldideallysetoffsometime(probablyatleast30minutes)inadvance,forexampleFridayorSundayafternoons.Whendoingtheweeklyreviewyoushouldatleastdothefollowing: Makesureeachprojecthasatleastonenextaction. Makesurethateachactiononyournextactionslistisactuallysomethingyouwantorneedtodoifyouhavethetimeduringthecomingweek.Ifnot,moveit(and/ortheprojectitbelongsto)toyoursomeday/maybelistor—ifyoudon’tthinkyouwilleverdoit—removeitcompletely.(Behonestwithyourself.) Lookthroughyoursomeday/maybelistandseeifsomeprojects/actionsshouldbemovedtothelistofcurrentprojects/thenextactionslist.(Ifyou’readdinganewprojectonyourprojectslist,makesuretofigureoutitsnextphysical,visibleactionandputitonthenextactionslistaswell.) Triggerlists Whendoingtheweeklyreviewitcanbeagoodideatoworkthrougha“triggerlist”.Atriggerlistissimplyalistofkeywordsto“trigger”yourbraintorememberanyopenloopsyoustillhaven’tcapturedinyoursystem.Atriggerlistcouldlooklikethefollowing: Boss Co-workers Projectsstarted,notcompleted Projectsthatneedtobestarted PeopleIneedtogetbackto … Whenworkingthroughyourtriggerlist,putanythingthatyourememberinyourinlisttobeprocessedafterwards. AnexampleofatriggerlistcanbeseenatLifehacker’striggerlistforstudents.Youprobablywanttocustomizeyourownlistasyougetmoreexperienceandlearnwhatworksbestforyou. Gettingittowork ToactuallygetyourGTDsystemtoworktherearesomeimportant“bestpractices”youareadvisedtofollow.AsyoustartgettingcomfortablewithusingGTDyoucanbeabitmorelenientifyoubelievethatitwouldbebetter. Itisimportantthatyouhavehardedgesbetweenyourlists.Ifyouoftenfindyourselfwonderingwhichcontextanextactionbelongstoyoumightwanttoreconsideryourcontexts. Yourtoolsshouldbefuntouse—butnottoofun(!).Ifyouhaveaslowandcomplicatedtoolformanagingyourlistsyouwillsubconsciouslyresistcollectingsmalltasks,andifyourtoolistoofuntouseyouwillendupover-usingitandspendtimeplayingwithitsamazingfeatures.Findsomethingthatworksforyou. Tools Theread/reviewfolderandticklerfilearetwotoolswhich—whiletheyaren’tdirectlypartoftheGTDmethod—maybebeneficialtousetogetherwithGTD. Read/reviewfolder Youwillprobablyhavequiteafew“read[somedocument]”actionsonyournextactionslist.Aread/reviewfolderissimplyafolder(physicalordigital)thatcontainsthepapers,documents,andanythingelseyouwanttoread.Theideaistohavethismaterialavailablewheneveryouhaveafewminutestokill.Inthedentist’swaitingroom?Waitingforyourfoodatacafé?BothareperfectopportunitiestoperusethepaperonPeriophthalmusmodestusphylogenyorpretendtoreadthememofromyourboss! Itisreallyimportanttohave“sharpedges”here,too.Onlythethingsyouactuallywanttoreadwhenyouhavethetimeshouldbeputinthisfoldersothatyouactuallywillpickitupduringthoselittlewindowsoffreetimethatshowupduringtheday. Ticklerfile  Thisstrangely-namedconceptissimplyacollectionof43(physical)filefolders.Why43?Becausethatmeansthatyoucanhaveoneforeachofthe31daysofamonthplusoneforeachofthe12monthsoftheyear.Ifyou’rereachingforyourcalculatornow—justtrustmeonthenumber43. Sowhatarethesefoldersusedfor?Theideaisthatyoucanplacephysicalitemsyouwillneedonaspecificday(ticketsfortheconcert),remindersofthingsyoupossiblywantdoonaspecificdate(remember,thecalendarisonlyforthingsthathavetobedoneonaspecificdate/time),orthenotesfromthelectureyoudidn’treallyunderstand(“Iwillwanttoreviewtheseinaweekwhenmysubconsciousnesshaschewedonitforawhile”). Everydaywhenyougetup,youopenthefolderwiththecurrentdate.Youthenpocketyourconcerttickets,decidethatyoudowanttotakethedogtothedoghairdressertoday,butpushthelecturenotesbackthreedayssinceyoudon’thavetimerightnow.Havingemptiedthefolder,youplaceitintheback,bringingtomorrow’sfoldertothefront.Attheendofeachmonth,youopenthefolderforthenewmonthanddealwithitscontents—likeputtingitemsinthecorrectdayfolders. Theticklerfilethusprovidesawaytosendyourselfremindersinthefuture—ticklingyourmemory.A-ha! Aboutthisguide Thisguidewaswrittentoserveasasimple,pragmaticguidetothe“gettingthingsdone”method.Thisrun-throughoftheGTDmethodismeanttobebrief.It’swrittenfromoneperson’sperspectiveandotherpeoplewouldprobablyassesstheimportanceofdifferentaspectsofGTDdifferently. IfyouwantacompleteoverviewofGTDyouwouldbewisetoreadDavidAllen’sbookwhichformalizedthemethodhedeveloped:“GettingThingsDone:TheArtofStress-FreeProductivity”(Amazon,KindleStore,Bookdepository,GoogleBooks,Wikipedia). Theguide’svisualstylewasinspiredbyMiranLipovača’sexcellentguidetotheHaskellprogramminglanguage“LearnYouaHaskellforGreatGood!”. TheguideiswritteninMarkdownandIusepandoctogenerateHTML.Togetintouchwithme,sendmeanemailtoerlendαhamberg.no.