Increasing Personal Productivity with Getting Things Done(r)
1. Increasing Personal Productivity
With Getting Things Done®
James E. Martin
IT Training Center (ITTC) ■ Trident Technical College
TTC Professional Development Day, 2012
2. Disclaimer(s)
I’m a huge fan of Getting Things Done® (GTD®)
I am not in any way officially affiliated with DavidCo
(davidco.com).
3.
4. “Your mind is for having ideas,
not for holding them.”
-- David Allen
5. Traditional To Do Lists
To Do
Cat to vet
tires for car
milk
presentation
6. Prioritized To Do Lists
To Do
Cat to vet (1)
tires for car(3)
milk(2)
presentation(1)
7. The Basic Ideas
Modern work/life is complicated.
Priorities change constantly.
Managing multiple projects and tasks
requires “a logical and trusted system outside of your head
and off your mind.”
Commitments and projects
require clarification, to identify required next actions.
Reminders need to be managed
and regularly reviewed.
8. Pros
Is “system-neutral”:
Can be implemented many different ways.
Can be low- or high-tech.
Core concepts are simple.
If you stick to it, it works.
9. Cons
Requires overhead, especially at first.
Planning is work.
Requires practice & vigilance.
You can fall off the wagon.
You can overdo it.
List fiddling can become an end in itself.
12. An Exercise
What project or issue
is most on your mind right now?
In one sentence,
what would count as its successful completion?
What is the next action
required to move it forward, toward completion?
15. The Five Steps
Collect - capture potential tasks & projects
Process - sort actionable, reference, trash
Organize - group into contexts & projects
Review - weekly (re)assignments
Do - context, time, energy, priority
16. Stuff
Actionable? Is Reference? Is Trash
Is Project? Is Single Action File it! Trash it!
Create Plans Doable in < 2? Add NA
Identify NA Do it now!
Add NA
22. Project:
Any goal that takes more than one
action to achieve.
Describable in one sentence, in terms
of desired outcome(s).
Might/Might not have a due date.
26. NAs
@Communications
To Do Call Rick re: saw
Fix fence @computer
Call Rick Research hard drives
Learn French @Home
New hard drive Measure fence
@Shopping
Lowe’s: fence boards
@Someday/Maybe
Learn French
27. NAs
@Communications
Call Rick re: saw
@computer
Projects
Fix fence Research hard drives
Upgrade Computer @Home
Measure fence
@Shopping/Errands
Buy fence boards
@Someday/Maybe
Learn French
28. NAs
@Communications
Call Rick re: saw
@computer
Projects
Fix fence Research hard drives
Upgrade Computer @Home
Measure fence
@Shopping/Errands
Buy fence boards
@Someday/Maybe
Learn French
29. Project
GTD For Leadership Cabinet
NAs
@computer
Find/test new implementations
Make/Upload Final Changes
@Home
Iron clothes
@Heading to Work
Bring Laptop + charger + VGA adapter
@Communications
Email Jerry re media needs
30. Actionable? Is Reference? Is Trash
Is Project? Is Single Action File it! Trash it!
Create Plans Doable in < 2? Add NA
Identify NA Do it now!
Add NA
49. Increasing Personal Productivity
With Getting Things Done®
James E. Martin
IT Training Center (ITTC) ■ Trident Technical College
TTC Professional Development Day, 2012
james.martin@tridenttech.edu ☎ 6732
Hinweis der Redaktion
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Contrast the work of knowledge workers with that of, say, factory workers. \n~fuzzy borders and frequent interruptions vs. clear divisions and objectives on a rigid schedule.\n~problems to be solved aren&#x2019;t self evident, objectives shift rapidly, work is project based.\n\nA quotation to consider:\n&#x201C;Our present society is characterized by quickly growing complexity and change: opportunities, constraints, and objectives are in a constant flux. Managing the situation requires gathering and processing an incessant stream of potentially relevant information&#x201D; (Francis Heylighen and Cl&#xE9;ment Vidal, &#x201C;Getting Things Done: \nThe Science behind Stress-Free Productivity.&#x201D; Long Range Planning, 41.6 [Dec. 2008], 585-605). \n\n&#x201C;. . . if it&#x2019;s on your mind, your mind isn&#x2019;t clear&#x201D; (13)\n\n\n
~One thing I really like about GTD is that it is a set of ideas, how you implement those ideas is up to you. \n~It&#x2019;s as friendly to paper & pencil folks as it is to smartphone folks. \n~Two popular methods of implementation are Moleskine notebooks and the &#x201C;Hipster PDA,&#x201D; which is a stack of index cards and a binder clip. \n\n
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~Congratulations, you&#x2019;ve just defined a project and its next action. \n\n
Things arrive as &#x201C;stuff&#x201D; \nIf it can&#x2019;t be immediately done or delegated (in 2 minutes or less):\nStuff needs to be transformed into:\nProjects (with defined outcome)\nNext Actions (NAs)\nReference Materials (filed away)\nEverything else goes in the trash\nCapture the results in a &#x201C;trusted system&#x201D;\n\n\n
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Traditional to do lists tend to lack any sort of order.\nThink about the last to do list you wrote. Was there any structure to it?\nIf they are ordered, they are often ordered by priority. \nBut priorities change constantly. \nGTD next action lists are organized by context. \nThis is probably the single biggest difference between GTD and other systems. \nIt takes time to figure out just what your own list of contexts should include. \nYour contexts will evolve over time. \n\n
What would you do if you had the time an energy?\nPart of the noise in your head that GTD seeks to eliminate are the things you&#x2019;re considering but haven&#x2019;t allowed yourself to write down yet. \n\n
What would you do if you had the time an energy?\nPart of the noise in your head that GTD seeks to eliminate are the things you&#x2019;re considering but haven&#x2019;t allowed yourself to write down yet. \n\n
What would you do if you had the time an energy?\nPart of the noise in your head that GTD seeks to eliminate are the things you&#x2019;re considering but haven&#x2019;t allowed yourself to write down yet. \n\n
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Assign tasks to contexts. \n
Create projects list. Assign tasks to projects. \n
Create projects list. Assign tasks to projects. \n
Create projects list. Assign tasks to projects. \n
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Moleskine notebook with sticky tabs for project list and contexts. \n
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Do you have any new NAs as a result of this presentation?\nAre any projects top of mind?\nFeel free to take a second to write them down, as I take any remaining questions. \n
