Blog, Inspired By

After a short time in my new job as a software developer my boss called me in for a talk concerning my backlog of work. The problem was not the backlog itself. It was the fact that he felt like he had to keep my to-do list up to date.

From his point of view I did not do the things in the order the business demanded. Together we set up a new Excel based list with the columns task, urgency, importance and done. Thus, I could reorder the tasks to concentrate on the most important task with the highest urgency. I used the list for two weeks.

The next meeting was scheduled. I was prepared and had an up to date to-do list. He complained: The tasks did not have the right urgency and importance. His guideline for getting better: Focus on the customer!? Guess what, we had a couple of meetings concerning importance and urgency.
Finally I talked to some colleagues concerning it - I wanted to know if I was stupid. They had the same problem: Our boss complained about productivity without giving guidance of practical use. (By the way, the boss was the same guy who wanted to turn me into a sales person.)
Bottom line: My former boss wasn’t wrong - I could be more productive if I got more organized. I had to find a practical method.

This time I did not read ten helpless books. I got it right the first time. At a bookstore they recommended the German version of GETTING THINGS DONE: The art of stress free productivity by David Allen.

GTD distilled

Here’s a brush-up of David Allen’s stress-free productivity method GETTING THINGS DONE.

All to-dos in a simple and reliable system
To reap maximum benefits from GTD, your system must be reliable and simple.
To ensure reliability, make sure to enter all to-dos in your system. Don’t keep anything in the back of your mind or elsewhere. If you do, your mind will still hold all of the open ends together, which, in turn, triggers stress. To ensure simplicity, your system must be easy-to-handle and fast.
Everything that you initially get is New Stuff. Collect this new stuff in inboxes, and then process it.

Next steps to move forward
This is how you can either transfer the new stuff from the inboxes into your system or get it out of your way.

1. Start at the top of every inbox and only deal with one item at a time. Never put anything back into an inbox.

2. Decide whether the item requires further action. If so, define the next physical action and …

3. If the item does not require any action …

4. Do it!

And don’t forget: Anything that you can get done in two minutes, do it right away! Do not defer or delegate it because that would take longer than doing it immediately. To my surprise: I can get a lot more done in just two minutes then I originally thought.

Weekly housekeeping
You’ve just finished a week of hard work. New stuff still remains unprocessed in your inboxes and not every completed to-do has been marked as done.

GTD housekeeping: First off, process all new stuff from the inboxes. Then mark any completed to-do as done. What a great feeling it is to see how much you have accomplished just a few days before. Finally, make sure to schedule the day or time for specific actions for the next week.
Your system’s reliability will be ensured by keeping it up-to-date and by scheduling core activities for the coming week.

Inspiration:

GETTING THINGS DONE (GTD) teaches me that productivity is not an art it is an easy-to-follow process.
Today I am by far not a productivity master. I found a method that fits my needs getting things done. I get better in setting priorities. Only day and time specific to-dos are in my calendar. These are the things that have to be done at a certain day or time. I do not even take a look at my other to-do list until they are done. After completing the day specifics I look at my other to-do list and decide what to do.
I no longer struggle on how to be more productive. Most of the time, I am struggling with my procrastination (In German “Innerer Schweinehund” - Do you know an English translation for it).
To be honest: To a certain degree I see it as human. What do you think?

GETTING THINGS DONE Biography:

David Allen walks the talk. Throughout his company people are living GTD. He and his partners are coaching and teaching GTD worldwide.
On David Allen: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Allen_(author)

For more information:
Homepage: http://www.davidco.com/
The Book: GETTING THINGS DONE: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity
The Book in German: Wie ich die Dinge geregelt kriege: Selbstmanagement für den Alltag
His latest book: Making It All Work: Winning at the Game of Work and Business of Life

Software implementing GTD that I use and recommend:
A smart GTD software: Pluto menubar (Mac only)
A productivity suite: Daylite (Mac only)

Blogs on productivity:
http://www.gtdtimes.com/
http://zenhabits.net/
http://www.43folders.com/

Read the rest of this entry »