Getting Things Done

Our productivity is directly proportional to our ability to relax. Only when our minds are clear and our thoughts are organized can we achieve effective results and unleash our creative potential.

Suggestion: Read part 1, the art of getting things done, at least if you only have limited time.

• Part 1: The Art of Getting Things Done
  • The methods I present here are all based on three key objectives:
    • capturing all the things that might need to get done or have usefulness for you — now, later, someday, big, little, or in between — in a logical and trusted system outside your head and off your mind
    • directing yourself to make front-end decisions about all of the “inputs” you let into your life so that you will always have a workable inventory of “next actions” that you can implement or renegotiate in the moment
    • curating and coordinating all of that content, utilizing the recognition of the multiple levels of commitments with yourself and others you will have at play, at any point in time
  • Thinking in a concentrated manner to define desired outcomes and requisite next actions is something few people feel they have to do (until they have to). But in truth, it is the most effective means available for making wishes a reality.
  • It’s a waste of time and energy to keep thinking about something that you make no progress on. And it only adds to your anxiety about what you should be doing and aren’t.
  • The key to managing all of your stuff is managing your actions.
  • Getting things done requires two basic components: defining (1) what “done” means (outcome) and (2) what “doing” looks like (action).
  • The major challenge: getting it all out of your head
  • The five steps of mastering workflow: we (1) capture what has our attention; (2) clarify what each item means and what to do about it; (3) organize the results, which present the options we (4) reflect on, which we then choose to (5) engage with.
  • Capture
    • You have to know that you have truly captured everything that might represent something you have to do or at least decide about, and that at some point in the near future you will process and review all of it.
    • Make sure everything you need is collected somewhere other than in your head.
  • Clarify: Is it actionable? What’s the next action?
    • [see the center “trunk” of the workflow diagram, the square boxes]
  • Organize
    • [see the outer ring of the workflow diagram above, the round-corner boxes]
    • non-actionable items: trash, incubation, reference
    • actionable items: list of projects, storage or files for project plans and materials, a calendar, a list of reminders of next actions, a list of reminders of things you’re waiting for
    • Project: Any desired result that can be accomplished within a year that requires more than one action step
    • Calendar: time-specific actions, day-specific actions, day-specific information
    • Next action list: subdivide your list into categories (by context)
    • Incubation list: someday / maybe list
  • Reflect
    • Go for calendar first, the “hard landscape” for the day
    • Next is “Next Action” list
    • Finally are Project, Waiting For, and Someday/Maybe lists
    • Critical success factor: The weekly review
      • Gather and process all your stuff
      • Review your system
      • Update your lists
      • Get clean, clear, current, and complete
  • Engage
    • The four-criteria model for choosing actions in the moment (in the order): context, time available, energy available, priority
    • The threefold model for identifying daily work: doing predefined work, doing work as it shows up, defining your work
  • The five phases of project planning
    • Purpose: the why question. It provides the juice and the direction
    • Principle: the standards and values you hold. It defines the parameters of action and the criteria for excellence of conduct
    • Vision/Outcome: the what question. It provides the actual blueprint of the final result.
    • Brainstorming: the how question. Use mind-mapping.
    • Organizing: make good use of structuring tools
    • Next actions:
• Part 2: Practicing Stress-Free Productivity
  • Getting started
    • You must have a dedicated, individual, self-contained workspace – at home, at work, and even in transit.
    • The basic processing tools: paper-holding trays, plain paper, post-its, clips, stapler, labeler, file folder, calendar, wastebasket/recycling bins
    • Once you know how to process your stuff and what to organize, you really just need to create and manage list.
    • It should take you less than one minute to pick something up out of your in-tray or print it from e-mail, decide it needs no next action but has some potential future value, and finish storing it in a trusted system.
      • Keep your general-reference files immediately at hand
      • One alpha system
      • Make it easy to create a new folder
      • Make sure you have plenty of space for easy storage
      • Label your file folders with an auto labeler
      • Purge your files at least once a year
  • Capturing
    • Sear your physical environment for anything that doesn’t permanently belong where it is, the way it is, and put it into your in-tray.
    • What shouldn’t go in: supplies, reference material, decoration, equipment.
    • Once you feel you’ve collected all the physical things in your environment that need processing, you’ll want to collect anything else that may be residing in your mental RAM space.
  • Clarifying
    • identify each item and deciding what it is, what it means, and what you’re going to do with it.
    • Processing guidelines
      • Process the top item first
      • Process one item at a time
      • Never put anything back into “in”
    • Process in order, do not look for the most urgent, most fun, easiest, or most interesting stuff to deal with first.
    • Throw or keep: Too much information creates the same result as too little: you don’t have what you need, when and in the way you need it.
    • Next action: Until you know what the next physical action is, there’s still more thinking required before anything can happen – before you’re appropriately engaged.
    • If the next action can be done in two minutes or less, do it when you first pick the item up.
    • It’s important that you record the date on everything that you hand off to others.
  • Organizing
    • Being organized means nothing more or less than where something is matches what it means to you.
    • Your organization system will evolve as you process your stuff and test out whether you have put everything in the best pace for you.
    • The basic categories
      • A Projects list
      • Project support material
      • Calendar actions and information
      • Next Actions lists
      • A Waiting For list
      • Reference material
      • A Someday/Maybe list
    • Your calendar should reflect the exact hard edges of your day’s commitments. The only things in there are those that you absolutely have to get done, or know about, on that day.
    • Organize as-soon-as-possible actions by context — i.e. tool, location, situation.
      • E.g. calls, at computer, errands, at office (miscellaneous), at home, anywhere, agendas (for people and meetings), read/review
    • The primary reason for organizing is to reduce cognitive load – i.e. to eliminate the need to constantly be thinking, “What do I need to do about this?”
    • How you decide to group your projects is not nearly as critical as ensuring that your inventory is complete, current, and assessed sufficiently to get it off your mind.
  • Reflecting
    • A real review process lead to enhanced and proactive new thinking in key areas of your life and work.
    • Assuming that you’ve completely collected, processed, and organized your stuff, you’ll most likely take only a few brief moments here and there to access your system for day-to-day reminders.
    • Look at your calendar first, then your action lists.
    • The weekly review is whatever you need to do to get your head empty again and get oriented for the next couple of weeks.
    • Block out two hours early in the afternoon of your last workday for the review.
    • At some point you must clarify the larger outcomes, the long-term goals, the visions and principles that ultimately drive, test, and prioritize your decisions.
  • Engaging
    • The four-criteria model for choosing actions in the moment
      • context
      • time available
      • energy available
      • priority
    • The threefold model for evaluating daily work
      • doing predefined work
      • doing work as it shows up
      • defining your work
    • The six-level model for reviewing your own work
      • horizon 5: life
      • horizon 4: long-term vision
      • horizon 3: one- to two-year goals
      • horizon 2: areas of focus and accountability
      • horizon 1: current projects
      • ground: current actions
    • Getting things done, and feeling good about it, means being willing to recognize, acknowledge, and appropriately engage with all the things within the ecosystem of your consciousness.
    • Trying to manage from the top down when the bottom is out of control may be the least effective approach.
• Part 3: The power of the key principles
  • The power of the capturing habit
    • Maintaining an objective and complete inventory of your work, regularly reviewed, makes it much easier to say no with integrity.
    • If you’re holding something only internally, it will be a broken agreement if you’re not moving on it in the moment.
    • You’ll feel better collecting anything that you haven’t captured yet.
    • Doing the capturing process as fully as you can, and then incorporating the behavior of gathering all the new things as they emerge, will be more empowering and productive than you can imagine.
    • You can’t renegotiate an agreement with yourself that you can’t remember you made.
  • The power of the next-action decision
    • Defining what real doing looks like on the most basic level and organizing placeholder reminders that we can trust are master keys to productivity enhancement and creating a relaxed inner environment.
    • Without a next action, there remains a potentially infinite gap between current reality and what you need to do.
    • Avoiding action decisions until the pressure of the last minute creates huge inefficiencies and unnecessary stress.
    • Productivity will improve only when individuals increase their operational responsiveness. And in knowledge work, that means clarifying actions on the front end instead of the back.
    • Getting things going of your own accord, before you’re forced to by external pressure and internal stress, builds a firm foundation of self-worth that will spread to every aspect of your life.
  • The power of outcome focusing
    • The challenge will continually be to apply the two essential elements of this art: defining what done means and what doing looks like.
    • The challenge is to marry high-level idealistic focus to the mundane activity of life. In the end they require the same thinking.