Getting Things Done

Highlights

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The art of resting the mind and the power of dismissing from it all care and worry is probably one of the secrets of our great men. —Capt. J. A. Hatfield

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As to methods there may be a million and then some, but principles are few. The man who grasps principles can successfully select his own methods. The man who tries methods, ignoring principles, is sure to have trouble. —Ralph Waldo Emerson

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There is one thing we can do, and the happiest people are those who can do it to the limit of their ability. We can be completely present. We can be all here. We can give … our attention to the opportunity before us.

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The methods I present here are all based on three key objectives: (1) 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; (2) 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; and (3) 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.

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Anything that causes you to overreact or underreact can control you, and often does. Responding inappropriately to your e-mail, your thoughts about what you need to do, your children, or your boss will lead to less effective results than you’d like. Most people give either more or less attention to things than they deserve, simply because they don’t operate with a mind like water.

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Think like a man of action, act like a man of thought. —Henri Bergson

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Between the time you woke up today and now, did you think of anything you needed to do that you still haven’t done? Have you had that thought more than once? Why? 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.

Note: Just today I’ve bounced between various books I’ve been meaning to read because my brain kept context switching to something else.

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Research has now proven that a significant part of your psyche cannot help but keep track of your open loops, and not (as originally thought) as an intelligent, positive motivator, but as a detractor from anything else you need or want to think about, diminishing your capacity to perform.

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Almost all of the to-do lists I have seen over the years (when people had them at all!) were merely listings of stuff, not inventories of the resultant real work that needed to be done. They were partial reminders of a lot of things that were unresolved and as yet untranslated into outcomes and actions—that is, the real outlines and details of what the list maker had to do. Typical things you will see on a to-do list: “Mom” “Bank” “Doctor” “Baby-sitter” “VP Marketing” etc. Looking at these often creates more stress than relief, because, though it is a valuable trigger for something that you’ve committed to do or decide something about, it still calls out psychologically, “Decide about me!” And if you do not have the energy or focus at the moment to think and decide, it will simply remind you that you are overwhelmed.

Note: I had to-do items like ” operating systems book”. No small next step to take there -just read a book that might take 100 hours.

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Many actions require only a minute or two, in the appropriate context, to move a project forward.

Note: The latest actions I added are “read GTD part 1”. This to be night need me more granular.

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Things rarely get stuck because of lack of time. They get stuck because what “doing” would look like, and where it happens, hasn’t been decided. Getting things done requires two basic components: defining (1) what “done” means (outcome) and (2) what “doing” looks like (action). And these are far from self-evident for most people about most things that have their attention.

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There is usually an inverse relationship between how much something is on your mind and how much it’s getting done.

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There is no reason to ever have the same thought twice, unless you like having that thought.

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We (1) capture what has our attention; (2) clarify what each item means and what to do about it; (3) organize the results, which presents the options we (4) reflect on, which we then choose to (5) engage with. This constitutes the management of the horizontal aspect of our lives, incorporating everything that we need to consider at any time, as we move forward moment to moment.

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Most people have major weaknesses in their (1) capture process. Most of their commitments to do something are still in their head. The number of coulds, shoulds, might-want-tos, and ought-tos they generate in their minds are way out beyond what they have recorded anywhere else.

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Others make good decisions about stuff in the moment but lose the value of that thinking because they don’t efficiently (3) organize the results. They determined they should talk to their boss about something, but a reminder of that lies only in the dark recesses of their mind, unavailable in the appropriate context, in a trusted format, when they could use it. Ask yourself, “When do I need to see what, in what form, to get it off my mind?” You build a system for function, not just to have a system.

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Still others have good systems but don’t (4) reflect on the contents consistently enough to keep them functional. They may have lists, plans, and various checklists available to them (created by capturing, clarifying, and organizing), but they don’t keep them current or access them to their advantage. Many people don’t look ahead at their own calendars consistently enough to stay current about upcoming events and deadlines, and they consequently become victims of last-minute craziness.

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Finally, if any one of these previous links is weak, what someone is likely to choose to (5) engage in at any point in time may not be the best option. Most decisions for action and focus are driven by the latest and loudest inputs, and are based on hope instead of trust. People have a constant nagging sense that they’re not working on what they should be, that they “don’t have time” for potentially critical activities, and that they’re missing out on the timeless sense of meaningful doing that is the essence of stress-free productivity.

Note: “Based on hope instead of trust” -very true

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A task left undone remains undone in two places—at the actual location of the task, and inside your head. Incomplete tasks in your head consume the energy of your attention as they gnaw at your conscience. —Brahma Kumaris

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Keep everything in your head or out of your head. If it’s in between, you won’t trust either one.

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It does not take much strength to do things, but it requires a great deal of strength to decide what to do. —Elbert Hubbard

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I define a project as any desired result that can be accomplished within a year that requires more than one action step. This means that some rather small things you might not normally call projects are going to be on your Projects list, as well as some big ones.

Note: This is a charge is mindset for me. Earlier I was defaulting to one-off tasks. Now I’ll try to make everything into a 2 do project. Break the next steps into tiny tastes

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Blessed are the flexible, for they shall not be bent out of shape.

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Everything should be made as simple as possible, but no simpler. —Albert Einstein

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The lack of a good general-reference file can be one of the biggest bottlenecks in implementing an efficient personal management system. If filing and storing isn’t easy and fast (and even fun!), you’ll tend to stack, pile, or digitally accumulate things instead of putting them away appropriately. If your reference material doesn’t have nice clean edges to it, the line between actionable and nonactionable items will blur, visually and psychologically, and your mind will go numb to the whole business. Establishing a good working system for this category of material is critical to ensuring stress-free productivity; we will explore it in detail in

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All of your Projects, active project plans, and Next Actions, Agendas, Waiting For, and even Someday/Maybe lists should be reviewed once a week. This also gives you an opportunity to ensure that your brain is clear and that all the loose strands of the past few days have been captured, clarified, and organized.

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Most people don’t have a really complete system, and they get no real payoff from reviewing things for just that reason: their overview isn’t total. They still have a vague sense that something may be missing. That’s why the rewards to be gained from implementing this whole process are exponential: the more complete the system is, the more you’ll trust it. And the more you trust it, the more complete you’ll be motivated to keep it. The Weekly Review is a master key to maintaining that standard. Most people feel best about their work the week before they go on vacation, but it’s not because of the vacation itself. What do you do the last week before you leave on a big trip? You clean up, close up, clarify, organize, and renegotiate all your agreements with yourself and others. You do this so you can relax and be present on the beach, on the golf course, or on the slopes, with nothing else on your mind. I suggest you do this weekly instead of yearly, so you can bring this kind of “being present” to your everyday life.

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1. The Four-Criteria Model for Choosing Actions in the Moment

Note: Context where you are, what you have with you) Time available Energy available Priority (ie, importance)

This is kinda obvious

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2. The Threefold Model for Identifying Daily Work

Note: Obvious stuff. Do work as it shows up, or do work that you defined previously. Or define work that you’ll do later.

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3. The Six-Level Model for Reviewing Your Own Work

Note: This is interesting, because I only think in terms of the first 3 levels. Maybe I should be thinking about the higher levels too.

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Minute-to-minute and day-to-day you don’t have time to think. You need to have already thought.

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You’ve got to think about the big things while you’re doing small things, so that all the small things go in the right direction.

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At some point they realize that just redrawing boxes isn’t really doing much to solve the problem. Now someone (much more sophisticated) suggests that more creativity is needed. “Let’s brainstorm!” With everyone in the room, the boss asks, “So, who’s got a good idea here?” When not much happens, the boss may surmise that his staff has used up most of its internal creativity. Time to hire a consultant! Of course, if the consultant is worth his salt, at some point he is probably going to ask the big question: “So, what are you really trying to do here, anyway?” (vision, purpose).

Note: Haha

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Fanaticism consists of redoubling your efforts when you have forgotten your aim. —George Santayana

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I know, based upon thousands of hours spent in many offices with many sophisticated people, that the why question cannot be ignored. When people complain to me about having too many meetings, I have to ask, “What is the purpose of the meetings?” When they ask, “Who should I invite to the planning session?” I have to ask, “What’s the purpose of the planning session?” When the dilemma is whether to stay connected with work and e-mail on a vacation or not, I have to ask, “What’s the primary purpose of the vacation?” Until we have the answer to my questions, there’s no possible way to come up with an appropriate response to theirs.

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Often the only way to make a hard decision is to come back to the purpose of what you’re doing.

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Many of us hold ourselves back from imagining a desired outcome unless someone can show us how to get there. Unfortunately, that’s backward in terms of how our minds work to generate and recognize solutions and methods. I always wanted to be somebody. I should have been more specific. —Lily Tomlin One of the most powerful life skills, and one of the most important to hone and develop for both professional and personal success, is creating clear outcomes. This is not as self-evident as it may sound. We need to constantly define (and redefine) what we’re trying to accomplish on many different levels, and consistently reallocate resources toward getting these tasks complete as effectively and efficiently as possible.

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Nothing is more dangerous than an idea when it is the only one you have. —Emile Chartier

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This is what most people are referring to when they talk about organizing a project. Organizing usually happens when you identify components and subcomponents, sequences of events, and/or priorities. What are the things that must occur to create the final result? In what order must they occur? What is the most important element to ensure the success of the project?

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It is easier to act yourself into a better way of feeling than to feel yourself into a better way of action. —O. H. Mowrer

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Don’t be afraid to take a big step if one is indicated. You can’t cross a chasm in two small jumps. —David L. George

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If you have a trusted secretary or assistant who maintains that system for you, so you can put a “File as X” Post-it on the document and send it out to him or her, great. But ask yourself if you have some potentially interesting, confidential, or useful support material that should be accessible at any moment, even when your assistant isn’t around. If so, you’ll still need your own system in your desk or somewhere near it.

Note: This author is such a boomer. Talking about personal assistants like its a normal thing.,

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After the new tables were completed, the units were responsible for managing the concrete reductions within their units, selecting who was to be retained and who was to be discharged.21 As always when dealing with controversial issues, Deng not only issued directives but also presented his rationale: he explained that with a limited national budget, the only way China could find money to invest in modern weapon systems was to cut personnel costs. Even those who worried that they themselves might be retired found it difficult to disagree with Deng’s logic.

Note: always give the rationale. it gets people on board

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Incompletion Triggers

Note: I think this list is actually useful. I should use this during review time to see if there’s anything I’ve missed. Maybe there’s a useful subset of items that I car use to make a smaller list.

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I am rather like a mosquito in a nudist camp; I know what I want to do, but I don’t know where to begin. —Stephen Bayne

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the young Bonaparte also found time for intensive reading, using the comparatively well-stocked library of the school as the basic nourishment for his voracious mental appetites. In the words of General Camon, he was “a devourer of books.” Volume after volume was taken up, ruthlessly analyzed, then discarded for another. Idea after idea was extracted and ruthlessly examined, before being either abandoned as worthless or stored away in that amazing memory.

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Remember, you can’t do a project; you can only do the action steps it requires.

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Facilitates Relationship Management Whether you are in conversation with your boss, your staff, your partner, or your family, having a sense of control and overview of all of your commitments that may have relevance in your relationships with them is extremely valuable. Invariably there are challenges with allocating limited resources—your time, your money, your attention. And when others are involved with you in ways that pull on those resources, being able to negotiate (and frequently renegotiate) those explicit and implicit agreements is the only way to effectively relieve those inherent pressures. Once executives and spouses and staff people get the picture of the commitments of their work and life, it triggers extremely important and constructive conversations with those involved. But it doesn’t happen without that complete list.

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Again, 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. No matter how you organize it now, you will very likely change your structure as you get more experience using your system and as the nature of your focus shifts in work and life.

Note: Don’t stress that the current organisation isn’t optimal.

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You will definitely hone your reference libraries into a larger, more sensible framework as time goes on, but that will best be built from upgrading how you’re managing your day-to-day realities. Tolerate some ambiguity here, in terms of figuring out the best way to do it all. The key will be some regular overviewing and reassessment of your system, and dynamically course-correcting as needed.

Note: Don’t get frustrated. Take your time and figure it out.

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Music to download

Note: Ok boomer.

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Web sites to explore

Note: Haha, I love this guy.

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Checklists:

Note: I think 2do was made to be in service of this system. it has tasks, projects, checklists and ways to remind. That’s pretty much all you need.

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Be open to creating any kind of checklist as the urge strikes you. The possibilities are endless—from “Core Life Values” to “Things to Take Camping” to “Potential Holiday Gifts.” Making lists, ad hoc, as they occur to you, is one of the most powerful yet subtlest and simplest procedures that you can install in your life.

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People to Stay in Touch With

Note: This one is important. I tried maintaining a list but t didn’t work that well. I think calendar reminders for important birthdays works a bit better. That, combined with my WhatsApp list of chats.

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From a practical standpoint, here is the three-part drill that can get you there: get clear, get current, and get creative. Getting clear will ensure that all your collected stuff is processed. Getting current will ensure that all your orienting “maps” or lists are reviewed and up-to-date. The creative part happens to some degree automatically, as you get clear and current—you will naturally be generating ideas and perspectives that will be adding value to your thinking about work and life.

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Review Previous Calendar Data Review the past two to three weeks of calendar entries in detail for remaining or emergent action items, reference information, and so on, and transfer that data into the active system. Grab every “Oh! That reminds me …!” with its associated actions. You will likely notice meetings and events that you attended, which trigger thoughts of what to do next about the content. Be able to archive your past calendar with nothing left uncaptured.

Note: Useful. I don’t do this enough

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Trying to create goals before you have confidence that you can keep your everyday world under control will often undermine your motivation and energy rather than enhance them.

Note: My #1 mistake.

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