How to plan and solve all your affairs: Step by step instructions. David Allen

My story will be divided into 2 parts:

• About the GTD method, if someone does not know or managed to forget.
• About specific tools for working with GTD and private examples from my personal practice.

0. Preface

What does a project manager's day usually look like?

The customer is calling. The team asks in the chat why the API specification is at odds with the ToR. Air conditioning is blowing on Vasya. HR is worried: Misha has come in a clean, ironed shirt. Do not go into the forest - the scoundrel lathered himself for an interview. You need to fix the timeline. Check the tasks in the tracker. The customer calls again. Someone threw a funny picture into the chat. A colleague asked me to look after his affairs while he was on vacation. The customer calls again. I think it will be released soon. It would be nice not to forget to buy groceries at home in the evening, otherwise the wife will cut it. We are lagging behind on the front. It would be nice to read this article. Phew, it's already 7:00 pm. When is there a release?

Do you recognize yourself? Terrible? Then this article is for you.

If you don't know, you're in luck. Or maybe even more can be done?

1. Introduction

What is GTD?

GTD ( Getting Things Done ) - a technique for improving personal effectiveness, created by David Allen and described by him in the book of the same name. The name can be translated as "How to do things to the end."

The main idea is that in order to work effectively and grow on yourself, to achieve something more, you need a pure mind. Because:

• Difficult tasks cannot be done if it is not clear what to do. Constantly thinking about what to do and the fact that the task is not done - interferes with work.
• Daily routine (small tasks) distracts. It creates discomfort, tasks “hang in memory” and take away the sense of harmony.

GTD is about remembering nothing and forgetting nothing at the same time.

2. About GTD

How to understand what you need:

• You are sawing a complex timeline for a critical stage of the project. It is necessary to take into account a bunch of risks and correctly distribute tasks among resources. Someone sends a funny picture to VK. The next hour is spent watching second-rate publics.
• Tonight, by the evening, you need to review and agree on the TOR. At the end of next week - a presentation at the client. Make a presentation in PowerPoint or better in Google Slides? It would be nice to find out where their office is. Wear a suit or come as usual? (Agreement of TK moved out for 2 days.)
• After the morning planning, you should consider renovating the house in the bathroom. I'll set the tasks later, before going to bed. Yes, there is a rally in 2 hours. Why take on the job? I still can't do anything.

Here it is worth talking separately about human multitasking. The topic is debatable. For example, lookwikipedia.

Two important aspects:

• A large number of scientists believe that A) Multitasking does not exist; B) The time to quickly switch between tasks becomes a bottleneck.
• Multitasking increases the number of errors.

And this is where we need GTD.

Because here is what GTD offers to solve problems:

• Write down, don't memorize.
• Classify (into contexts and importance) and decompose (identify simple steps in complex tasks).
• Review the task list.

1. What should be recorded?

Anything that needs to be done. Incoming emails, open browser tabs, unsorted files on the desktop, an unfinished book, a drill that we did not return to a neighbor (reminding us to hang up a shelf).

2. How to record?

A) Divide into "contexts". For example, everything related to 1 project - in 1 folder. Make repairs - a separate list. Buy at the cottage - a separate list. "Contexts" are based on place/actions. Contexts are originally about places, but we are about projects.

B) decompose. That is, do not write “Join a new project”, but set smaller tasks: “Assemble a development team”, “View documentation”, “Meet the customer”, etc.

3. How to conduct a review?

Check your to-do list every day. Close completed tasks, set new ones. If the task is not done, then reformulate or decompose.

3. Tools

The conversation about the tools will go from the point of view of the project manager. But everything I'm talking about can be applied by anyone

Our tasks:

• Apply GTD to your daily workflow.
• Less distraction and more to do.
• Quickly get involved in tasks.

Progress has given us cloud computing and wearables, and this is the best thing that could happen to us for organizing our tasks.

What I personally use:

• iPhone/iPad/Macbook
• Gmail and other Google services
• wunderlist
• Evernote
• LastPass

1.iPhone/iPad/MacBook

Unified ecosystem. All devices have built-in capabilities for immersion in work. Disabling notifications and reminders, data synchronization, convenient search, available applications and services, and so on.

Tips & Tricks:

• Calls and messages
• Notes and Reminders
• Spotlight search
• Virtual desktops

2. Gmail and other Google services

Gmail is the most important tool in the work of the manager and one of the main "inboxes". This is what my box looks like. Gmail has, in fact, 3 killer features:

• Labels
• Automatic filtering
• Search

I filter all incoming emails by projects and main statuses: A) Requires action; b) You need to follow the answer. Automatic filtering allows you to save time and put everything into labels automatically.

You can also see a clean inbox. This is how it should look most of the time.

3.Wunderlist

wunderlist - Gmail Assistant. This is a todo service that is available on all desktop and mobile platforms. He can arrange tasks by categories and dates, send notifications, make checklists and write comments on tasks, you can attach files. There is a collaboration feature. In general, a simple tool that has everything you need.

Here are my tasks for today.

4. Evernote

Evernote is a cloud replacement for notepad. A very powerful tool that allows you to not only write, but also attach files. It is most convenient to use it for meetings and call reports and other important records. For example, yes.

The calendar takes over reminders of events. The most important thing is to connect it to your phone and other devices. Nothing special.

6.LastPass

LastPass is a cloud service for creating and storing passwords. I remember only 3 passwords: from Last Pass, personal Gmail and Steam. Everything else is stored in the cloud.

5. How to Get Started

Once at one of the conferences, I heard from a speaker, in my opinion, an excellent idea. He said that the reports are very interesting, but very useless if after the report you do not return home and start putting what you have heard into practice.

What to do right now? Look at your computer and be sad.

1. Tabs vs. windows in browser

Do you like to open a million tabs and leave them for later? It's disgusting. Admit it to yourself honestly - you will never get to most of it. But the browser will eat up the entire battery and RAM. It will take a couple of minutes to restart. And it will be impossible to find the right one quickly.

Don't keep too much. Use contexts. One task - one open window and the minimum number of tabs. Done, close the window.

2. Desktop the way it was meant to be

The desktop is not a place for shortcuts. Yes Yes!

Windows has a Start Menu, OSX has Spotlight Search. It is better to redirect the folder with downloads to the desktop. Work only with those files that are needed right now. The rest is in the trash.

3. Zero Inbox

In the "incoming" letters should not lie. Only those that have appeared there since the last mail check. Small things - immediately to work. Large ones - in the archive and under the label "Need to be done." As the saying goes, keep your inbox clean. You can also check your email every few hours. Nobody dies from this.

6. P.S.

For further enlightenment:

• The same article in a video retelling at a student conference:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwtpCB31fDg&list=PLsbmsv9XN4FiUUQpMZKa-zUpuIMlxe6HH channel "Tales from the project office"

“Clear your mind. It's healthier than emptying your stomach."
~Michel de Montel

Today I will talk about chips GTD technology which will allow you can do more, get tired less, increase the efficiency of your own work reduce stress and increase life satisfaction.

Do you know that your consciousness will constantly remind you of those deeds and tasks that you thought about doing, but left unattended?

Surely thousands of unfinished tasks, unprocessed processes that consume your internal resources, strength, energy are already hanging in your brain, and you are not even aware of it. All this creates stress and deprives you of strength. You perform worse on new tasks because your head is full of old ones.

About how to finally clear your head of all this information, improve your work and life, I talk in this article.

Most likely you have heard the abbreviation "GTD", which stands for Getting-Things-Done ("Bringing things to completion", "How to put things in order"). This philosophy or technology has become very popular due to media coverage as well. A journalist from the Guardian newspaper called David Allen, the author of the GTD philosophy, a man who is called upon to bring order to the universe.

GTD is more than just a time management system for busy top managers with no privacy. This is a system for optimizing and organizing not only labor, but also thinking, consciousness, giving instructions on how to “clear” the mind of unnecessary mental burden, open up space for creativity, new ideas and create psychological prerequisites for comfortable and organized work. This system is designed for a businessman with a million projects, and for a housewife who needs to take care of children, leaving time for reading fiction, and for a schoolboy who is preparing to go to college.

Despite the fact that this phenomenon is well known, not everyone knows what it is and how it can help you personally. Therefore, today I will literally tell you on the fingers about what it is. After reading this article, you will be able to bring order to your life and thinking today and almost immediately see a positive result from these life innovations.

What prompted me to start organizing my affairs?

Feelings of anxiety and guilt do not come from too much work. It appears automatically when you break agreements with yourself.
~David Allen

Not so long ago, I was faced with the need to organize my own work schedule, in which I found a lot of bottlenecks. About 10 years ago, because of my problems with concentration, it was generally extremely difficult for me to do any work for a long time. Over time, I began to work on improving my focus and discipline. I began to learn to relax and. This has borne fruit.

I was able to create my own project, promote it, quit my job and start working for myself, as I dreamed. I was in a sense of progress in terms of working on myself, which was enhanced by the striking contrast between my present and my past. Some time ago, I could not cope with my studies at the institute and simple hired work, and now I worked with discipline for the benefit of my own project and the people who benefit from it, working day after day, on my own, and not “under pressure” .

It was only later that I noticed that this was not the limit. The feeling of success temporarily hid from me the problems that had arisen in the organization of my work.

I have a wide variety of work: letters in the mail, articles on the site, comments, work with students of the course "NO PANIC", etc. etc. All this requires good organization. I realized about her absence by the fact that the mail had accumulated a lot of unread letters, but marked as "important". Word files with "plans for 2015", "tasks for February 2016" were scattered all over the hard drive. The drawers contained notebooks filled with notes, ideas, and, again, tasks I had to complete. Needless to say, I very rarely opened these files and consulted these lists. And this happened not so much because of my indiscipline, but because it all had some kind of uncomfortable appearance, causing an internal feeling of the futility of all these planning exercises.

I realized that I still do not have much time, although I could do more.

In general, attempts to make an organized list of tasks and, most importantly, to follow it, failed time after time.

Of course, I did urgent daily tasks, but at the same time I felt how many “tasks” and “ideas” were in limbo. All this resulted in the fact that I began to feel less job satisfaction. There were days when I allowed myself to finish early. I went out, got on my bike, but instead of enjoying the free time that I would not have if I worked in the office, I was haunted by the feeling that I had not done something, something was not managed. Perfectionist attitudes began to be born in my thoughts: "I should be doing more", "I'm not working hard enough". But I understood that the problem was not in the amount of work, but in its organization.

So I decided to start organizing my entire workspace. I picked up David Allen's excellent book, How to Get Things in Order. I have heard about the GTD system for a long time, but only now I decided to get to know it better.

What is GTD?

“Unfinished business actually remains unfinished in two places: in reality and in your head. The unfinished business in your head consumes the energy of your attention, because it haunts your conscience.
~Brahma Kumaris

When I first got this book, I expected to read in it some of the banal time management tips that I met in other sources, like “divide things into important and unimportant”, “delegate what can be delegated”.

“Let’s say ten years ago you promised yourself to clean the closet, but to this day, you haven’t done it ... we can say that in this case you have been cleaning the closet 24 hours a day for the last 10 years!”

But the author speaks of such a standard approach of "Time Management" as limited and, in many respects, not effective. I liked that David Allen is no longer addressing considerations "effective labor", and to the possibilities and limitations of human consciousness. To organize our own affairs so that they do not conflict with the peculiarities of our thinking. The GTD approach is based entirely on the conclusions about how our brain works, how it accumulates information, how it processes unsolved problems.

The most basic psychological premise of this philosophy is the fact that any life tasks, whether it is the completion of an important project or a trip to a monastery for a meditation course, our brain perceives as unresolved, keeps in memory, causing mental stress, if we do not formalize these tasks in the form of specific next actions within the framework of an external information storage system.

Do not be afraid and do not re-read this paragraph! Now I will explain what all this means. A good example is given in the book Getting Things in Order itself. Let's say ten years ago you promised yourself to clean up the closet, but to this day, you haven't done it. How has your brain been storing and processing information about this task for all these ten years?

The fact is that psychologists are sure that our consciousness in the context of setting goals has no ideas about the past and the future. These representations exist only conceptually, but they are not in the very algorithms of information processing within consciousness.

If you make a promise to yourself to take the car to the service next week and at the same time try to keep this commitment in memory, then your consciousness will assume that you should do it right now, today, constantly reminding you of this. And tomorrow it will also count the same way.

The task will be in the status "immediate solution required" every day, until you go to the service.

Going back to the closet mess example, in this case, you've been cleaning the closet 24 hours a day for the last 10 years! Your mind regarded this task as unfinished, leaving a place for it in your memory space, creating tension and dissatisfaction due to unfinished work.

And in order to free your memory and free your mind from unfinished processes, reminders of which devour your mental resources (just like background processes on a computer consume processor and memory resources, making the machine slower), you need to perform two key actions.

1. Transfer a task from internal memory (your brain) to external memory (your computer, notebook, tablet, phone)
2. Decide what the next specific action will be in relation to the task at hand. For example, the global task "fix the car" can consist of many simple actions. The very first action can be: "find suitable spare parts on the Internet."

In this case, your consciousness will free up internal memory and stop constantly reminding you of what you have not done yet. After all, you have shifted all these tasks to an external system.

These are, in principle, the key points of GTD technology, on which everything relies. If you understand this principle, then you already have a general understanding of what GTD is. This is a system of effective case management, creation of ideas, which relies both on the external organization of tasks within the framework of notes, calendars, a reminder system, and on the internal optimization of the work of consciousness.

Moreover, these two levels are interconnected. The external order serves as a prerequisite and tool for an organized and "pure" consciousness. And a clear mind allows you to work more efficiently* and get less tired.

(*Although I use the word “work,” it does not refer exclusively to professional activities. In this context, work is about anything at all. Planning a vacation is also work. Just like thinking about the problem of relationships with your significant other).

Feature 1 - Decide what the next action will be

“When you plan your activity (execution intention) and decide what actions you will perform in what context, you almost automatically set yourself up for the desired behavior instead of gathering all your will into a fist and forcing yourself to do something.”
~D. Allen

If you read a book "How to Get Things Done", then you will understand that this is simply the most golden rule. The author keeps coming back to it. Moreover, he is obsessed with the idea of ​​teaching the whole world to think about the next action!

Yes, the rule is important, but it takes time and discipline for it to become a habit.

The fact is that we, as a rule, talk about tasks in a general and abstract way. “We need to make sure that the child learns better”, “I need to become calmer in order to participate less in conflicts”. Of course, you need to keep the big picture in mind, but in order to bring things to completion, you need to move to the next level of planning, namely, to think about the next action.

In our examples, this could be:

• “Find articles on the Internet about the development of willpower, discipline and the fight against laziness. Or find a book on the subject in a bookstore.
• "Read about what relaxation techniques are."
• "Schedule a time to talk with your son about his learning problems."

The next action does not have to be a physical action. “Think about whether I need to go to college at all” is also an action. You can just think about the task, it is not necessary to start. But by designating just this step, you will already free up part of your brain.

We can't solve every problem in our life. Therefore, it is important to understand that the decision to "do nothing" is also a decision.

This event allows not only to unload consciousness, but also to recharge motivation. Many tasks, when we imagine them in our minds, seem impossible or very difficult. “My God, I will have to dismantle my entire summer cottage, this is work without end!” But it will be much easier for us to start it if we outline a plan in the form of the following actions: "Find the right tools on the Internet". It's already easier, isn't it? And when we do this, we will feel satisfied that we are one step closer to the final goal.

Feature 2- Transfer to an external system

As you may remember from this article, relying on memory is not only unreliable, but also inefficient in terms of using your brain's resources. Therefore, David Allen strongly recommends moving all tasks to an external system in order to free up memory.

An external system can be a tablet, phone, notepad, computer, notebook. Any convenient medium that you can work with.

By the way, this is what my to-do list looks like after pre-processing. I removed a lot of unnecessary things from there, things that I had already done or decided not to do at all. That is, at the very first stage and before the application of the “two-minute rule” (about it below), it was much larger.

It would not be superfluous to say that the list of tasks should be organized, convenient, accessible from anywhere at any time. Need it constantly keep up to date and refine as necessary. Need to contact him to check with him about the progress of your projects.

(That is, not in the way that I (or maybe you) did: piles of sheets and notebooks in different places of my workspace that I never accessed.)

And of course!!! Each task should be written as the following action!

Feature 3 - Organize tasks by context

“It doesn’t take much effort to do something. Much more effort is required to decide what to do.”
~ David Allen

I didn't notice the book giving direct advice on how to prioritize tasks. David Allen is sure that the importance of various tasks for our consciousness is not so critical, since both large and small concerns occupy a place in our consciousness and we need to do them all (or decide not to do it). A trifling matter not done, information about which is stored in the mind, can distract you from more “important” matters. However, it provides an excellent method of organizing tasks by context or energy level.

I used to come to this method somewhat intuitively myself, but then I forgot about it because I did not formalize it and did not make it a habit. For example, there is a large list of tasks. Some tasks require a lot of energy.

For me, these are “Answers to comments and support for students”, “Articles”.

For some, it is not enough, for example, “payment for hosting”, “work with electronic accounts”. I can do this easily when I don't have time for articles.

The decisions about "What should I do now" took away from me, firstly, a lot of energy, and, secondly, had a negative impact on motivation. I could not choose an activity that was optimal for my energy level and because of this I quit work, finishing the work day with the proverbial feeling that I did not do something. Now, if I have little strength and a lot of time, I can just do the work that does not require a lot of energy. I can just look at the list with the title "low energy" and make something out of it. Everything ingenious is simple!

You can also organize the list of tasks by context, for example, "at the computer", "in the store" etc. Many other ways of organizing are presented in the book.

Feature 4 - "Two Minute Rule"

Pretty simple, but extremely effective rule. If we organize our to-do information into a reminder list, we may be horrified by the size of the list. Fortunately, there is a good and easy way to thoroughly clean it up.

You don't need to write down: "reply to a friend's letter when you have free time" if this answer takes you less than 2 minutes!

Just answer right now and free your head and to-do list from this case. When, after reading D. Allen's book, I began to sort out my mailbox, I found many unanswered letters there. Of course, once upon a time, I marked them with ticks as important tasks, but then I forgot about them.

In the end, after doing the review, I answered a lot of old letters, and it did not take me much time. Some of my readers received a response from me a year later! Do not be offended, please, with me, this is the result of an overcrowded mailbox and poor organization of affairs. Now I try to answer right away if I understand that the process of reading and processing a letter will take at least 5 minutes. 2 minutes is not strict, let everyone determine the maximum time period for themselves.

In general, the “two-minute rule” is formulated as follows. If, while processing your to-do list, you find a task that will take less than 2 minutes to complete, just do it.

Feature 5 - Write down ideas

Surely you have noticed that the best ideas about your work come to you when you are not working! Therefore, D. Allen advises to always have something on hand that will help you save ideas: a notebook, an electronic tablet, etc. The point here is not only that it will help you not to forget valuable ideas and free your memory from information. Yes, that's important too.

Allen is sure that "the form determines the principles." According to him, a person “There may be a subconscious reluctance to think about anything because you have nowhere to write down the ideas that arise.”

I tested it myself. When I traveled in India, I always carried either a notebook or a phone with me where I could write down my thoughts and ideas. And my mind just gushed with them. I wrote down my thoughts while shaking on the seats of Indian trains, on the tops of picturesque hills, in the ruins of ancient temples, lying under the Sun or under a fan in a hotel room.

I was calm, firstly, because I had somewhere to fix the ideas that arose, and, secondly, due to the fact that I didn’t have to keep the ideas in my memory with all my might, I knew that I could always return to them .

Of course, it's important not only to form the habit of writing down your ideas, but to review this list regularly.

Quotes, valuable rules from other people, by the way, I now also write down, and do not try to keep in memory.

Chip 6 - Do not separate life and work

"Uncollected open-ended questions are equalized in terms of the tension they cause and the attention they demand."
~David Allen

As I already wrote, for our brain there is not much difference between tasks: "finish a project at work", "discuss the problem with your wife". Both tasks occupy our memory and consume mental resources, no matter where we are, in the office, at home or on vacation.

And the practical conclusion from this principle was a great discovery for me. I used to put off thinking about personal and life problems until later when I got to work. “After all, now I’m working! I am busy!" I thought.

But in fact, the fact that these tasks “hang” in my mind can interfere with my concentration and effective work (here I mean work in the usual sense, as a professional activity). And the worst thing we can do is leave them hanging. Therefore, sometimes it makes sense to solve some urgent family matters, routine tasks, even think about “philosophical questions” that bother you a lot before you sit down to work.

It is clear that there are problems here. You can sink into this thinking for so long that you never get to work. Therefore, it is necessary to approach this principle carefully and consciously. Another good solution would be to add to your to-do list: "think about the meaning of life" and free your head from the reminders of it.

Chip 7 - Benefits for psychotherapy

“The fruitless and endless scrolling of a thought in the head reduces the ability to analyze and act.”
~David Allen

I could not help but think about the application of this technology to the field of psychology and psychotherapy, the prevention of neuroses, obsessive-compulsive states, destructive attitudes.

There are different methods of getting rid of obsessive, negative thoughts. Some psychologists recommend subjecting such thoughts to careful logical analysis. Others use calming and realistic affirmations.

However, although I use these approaches in my practice of helping people with panic attacks, I understand that the possibilities of our logic in a state of anxiety and panic are very limited, and there is always a chance that such an analysis will be turned against the one who uses it. So I basically recommend just patiently not reacting to intrusive thoughts.

But I also think that the principles of "mark next action" and "concentrate on the goal" can be used very well with obsessive thoughts and negative attitudes.

Let's say you suffer from hypochondria.

You think: "I have a terrible and fatal disease."
Okay, now think: "What's the next action?"
“Maybe I should go check it out. But I've already been to the doctors this week, the tests did not show anything terrible!
Everything fell into place, right?

Or do you have social anxiety?

“People do not accept me, I am a worthless person”

What is the next action?

“I will work to improve my social qualities and I will start with….” or/and “I will learn to accept myself as I am and I will start with…”. Most often, both the first one and the second skill are required in combination to solve problems of self-doubt, social phobia, etc. The formulation of the next action will not only set you up for the goal, but also show that achieving the goal is possible!

And even if it is not possible, then the next action will be: “I will not do anything about this problem. Because it can't be fixed. If so, why think about it?

This approach will help you think not about the problem, but about its solution! Anxious, suspicious, restless people are often very fixated on problems. “I have few friends”, “fear does not leave me”, “everyone thinks badly of me”, etc. They ask more “why” questions than “what to do about it”, which only creates new anxiety and a sense of helplessness.

But the question is: "What's the next action?" immediately sets you on the path to solving the problem (or deciding to do nothing), which can free your head from a whole bunch of negative, meaningless thoughts about the problem. In general, try it!

What can be achieved with GTD?

“The problem is not lack of creativity, but rather removing barriers to the natural flow of creative energy.”
~David Allen

The application of the GTD methodology goes far beyond improving labor efficiency. Therefore, by implementing at least some aspects of this approach in practice, you will feel not only an increase in productivity, but also a greater clarity of consciousness. The purpose of this system is not only to make you work better, but to free your head from unnecessary thoughts about work, unfinished tasks. So that you can easily let go of thoughts about what you cannot change or have a solution ready for what needs your action.

Have you been thinking about reading a book about productivity for a long time, competently planning your time?The book, which will be discussed today, will enrich you not only with new information, but also give a real impetus to action. Author David Allen. Stress-free productivity is possible with the GTD SYSTEM claims the author. This book is GOOD FOR EVERYONE who needs to get their affairs in order, both at work and in their personal lives.

David Allen, in his book Getting Things in Order: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity, offers a unique system for organizing things.

This is not a classic time management, but a system for bringing all cases to completion - Getting Things Done (GTD).

• What to do if you don’t have time to do anything, your nerves are at the limit, you clutch at one thing or another, but you always miss something important?
• How to be more efficient in business, but at the same time be able to relax?
• How to "curb" the routine?
• How to learn to separate minor things from important ones and set goals correctly, distribute priorities?
• How to work with incoming information and tasks?

Find answers to all these questions and more in David Allen's book Getting Things in Order: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity.

A new version of the book (2015), revised taking into account today's realities of the world of information technology.

The simple tools outlined in this book not only help you achieve efficiency, but also teach you how not to overload your brain with various distractions and thoughts.

A lot has been said about habits here, too, because in order to implement the GTD system in practice, you need to

David Allen. Stress-free productivity for everyone

The main idea of ​​the book:

Unload your brain. Clarity of consciousness and orderliness of thoughts - that's what is important for full concentration and productivity.

Stop layering thoughts on top of each other, chewing them up, constantly returning to them and, as a result, not making any decision.

What to do?

To do this, you need to "transfer" the lists from your head to an external medium. When the brain stops holding on to this data, it will stop worrying and can concentrate on the immediate execution of tasks.

Thoughts will constantly swarm in your head like restless bees until they find their hive. When the head is full of different thoughts, what kind of productivity can we talk about?

The main rule from David Allen - any thought should be written down, placed on the inbox shelf.

"Inbox" is all incoming ideas, receipts, reminders, meeting notes, etc.

The book contains a clear algorithm for working with this information.

Following.

This is a model of the natural method of planning.

Making some decision

What to do?

1. Think of a solution, following the diagram:

• why do I need it;
• what result do I need (what should happen);
• imagine your success.

2. Further brainstorming, generation of ideas focused on the desired result. Ideas need to be written down, not immediately assessed for suitability, namely, write down everything that comes to mind. Quantity matters here, not quality.

3. Then we choose the best ideas, group them and organize them into one scheme. It is possible in a handwritten version simply on paper or in a service, such as Xmind.

4. Determine the next specific action for each idea.

5. We do.

Your mind goes through five steps to complete almost any task: defining a goal and how to achieve it, visualizing the result, brainstorming, organizing the decisions received, and determining the next actions. — David Allen

GTD methodology and David Allen - productivity and meaningfulness in everything!

GTD Methodology - Real Instruction for those, This is not just organizing and planning things, increasing productivity and productivity, but also a fundamental decision on how to perform all tasks meaningfully, while maintaining (and this is important!) psychological well-being. Moreover, this applies not only to work, but also to personal life.

Anyone can apply this technique.

The book itself consists of three parts.

First part is a brief overview of the system, as well as an explanation of its uniqueness and relevance.

In the second part- the principles of the system, as well as their step-by-step application in everyday life.

The third part- these are the results that can be achieved if you implement this system in your personal life and work.

The GTD system is closely related to . And they, as already proven by scientists, can be trained and improved.

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Cognitive (cognitive) functions include: memory, thinking, attention, perception, intellect, speech.

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David Allen - productivity through personal inference

The remarkableness of the book also lies in the fact that there are not just dry conclusions and formulations presented by the author, but also a lot of "live" examples.

What is meant?

The essence of its GTD methodologyDavid Allen reveals and demonstrates as an example, situations, meetings and consultations with their clients.

Shows the problems of people, companies, exposes their mistakes and radically changes the situation for the better, showing how the time management technique really works Getting Things Done (GTD) helps and learn to live without stress.

Getting Things Done, GTD(translated from English- “getting things done”, but more often and incorrectly - “how to get things in order”) - a technique for improving personal efficiency created by David Allen and described by him in the book of the same name, the first edition of which was published in 2001 and has been translated into 23 languages .

GTD is based on the principle that a person should free his mind from remembering current tasks (there are exceptions in cases where several tasks for different projects are interconnected), transferring the tasks themselves and reminders of them to an external medium. Thus, the human mind, freed from the memory of what needs to be done, can concentrate on performing the tasks themselves, which must be clearly defined and formulated in advance (“what is the next action to take?”). Contrary to popular belief, GTD does not refer to time management, criticizing it for its narrow focus and limited effectiveness.

Encyclopedic YouTube

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✪ Getting Things Done (GTD) by David Allen - Animated Book Summary And Review

✪ DAVID ALLEN - HOW TO GET THINGS DONE - Part 1/2 | London Real

✪ Getting Things Done Summary David Allen (get Book Summary PDF in link below)

✪ Getting Things Done by David Allen (Study Notes)

✪ GET ORGANIZED IN 3 WEEKS WITH GTD - STEP 1!

Subtitles

Prevalence

1. collection;
2. treatment;
3. organization;
4. review;
5. actions.

Allen uses the "flying altitude" analogy to illustrate his second major model - six-level work review model, to see the perspective of tasks and assignments. Ascending line:

1. current affairs;
2. current projects;
3. range of duties;
4. coming years (1-2 years);
5. five-year perspective (3-5 years);
6. life.

Rising to a bird's eye view, everyone can consider the "big picture" of their affairs.

Allen recommends a weekly review of the various levels. The insight gained from these reviews allows you to manage personal priorities, which in turn prioritize whether and when to complete specific tasks and assignments collected during the workflow management process. During the weekly review, a person analyzes task contexts and puts them into appropriate lists. Examples of grouping similar tasks are making a list of necessary phone calls or a list of errands that need to be completed at the Center. The rules for the formation of contextual lists can be determined by the presence of a tool or the presence of a person / group with whom something needs to be discussed or introduced.

Allen emphasizes that the first two models are sufficient to gain control and vision in most tasks and projects. However, there are some cases that require more thought and reflection. For this, the third main model is used - natural method of planning. While in workflow management is done " horizontal focus» on the performance of individual tasks, in the natural method of planning is done « vertical focus» on project planning and theme thinking. The planning model consists of 5 stages:

1. definition of purpose and principles;
2. vision of the desired results;
3. organization;
4. determination of the next specific action.

GTD facilitates this process based on the storage, tracking and use of detailed information related to the task being performed. Allen suggested that many of the failures we encounter were caused by insufficient "initial" planning (that is, when it was yet clear what needed to be achieved and what specific actions were needed to achieve it). It is important to think ahead, creating a sequence of actions that can be completed without going back to planning. Allen argues that our mind's "reminder system" is inefficient and rarely reminds us of what we should and can do at this moment and in this place. Therefore, information about "next specific actions" that are contextually related to this moment and place can serve as external support that ensures that we give ourselves the right reminders at the right time. Since GTD is based on the maintenance of additional records, it can be considered as an implementation of the scientific theories of distributed cognition and extended mind.

Brief description of GTD from Allen's book, Ready for Anything:

Get everything out of your head. Make decisions about required actions when a case comes up - not when it needs to be aborted. Organize reminder notes about your projects and planned activities according to the appropriate categories. Maintain this system, add to it, and review it often enough to trust even your intuitive choice of action (or no action) in the future.

Principles

Basic principles of GTD:

Collection

Productivity without stress begins with the process of unloading the mind, which consists in fixing everything more or less important on paper or other medium - in what Allen calls basket: physical mailbox, e-mail box, voice recorder, laptop, PDA, or a combination of both. The bottom line is to get everything more or less important out of your head onto a convenient medium for further processing. All carts must be emptied (processed) at least once a week. Allen does not insist on any specific collection method, but emphasizes the importance of regularly emptying the trash. Any storage location (physical, email, tape recorder, laptop, PDA, etc.) is acceptable as long as it is handled regularly.

Treatment

The basket is processed strictly according to the following algorithm.

1. Let's start with the top item of the cart.
2. Making one element at a time (and never returning anything back)
   • If the element requires an action:
     • Do this (if it takes less than two to five minutes), OR
     • Delegate it to someone, OR
     • We put it off.
   • If the element does not require an action:
     • Leave it in the background, OR
     • Throw it away, OR
     • On the "someday maybe" list.

If the action takes less than two to five minutes, it should be done immediately. The two-minute rule is based on the approximate time it takes to formally postpone an action.

Organization

To keep track of items waiting for attention, Allen recommends using a set of lists.

• The following actions- For each item requiring attention, decide what is the next action that can be physically taken. For example, if there is a "Write a project report" element, the next action might be: "Write a letter to Mikhail with a meeting proposal" or: "Call Marina to find out the requirements for the report." While an element may require quite a few steps and actions, there will always be something that needs to be done first, and that step should be described in the next steps list. Preferably, these steps are organized by the context in which they can be taken (eg, "at the office", "on the phone", or "in the store").
• Projects- Every open loop in life or work that requires more than one physical action to achieve a goal becomes a project. Projects need to be monitored and reviewed periodically to make sure that the next action is associated with each project and thus the project will move forward.
• deferred- When an action has been delegated to someone or when some external event is expected before the project can be moved forward, this is tracked in the system and periodically ascertained if an action is required or a reminder needs to be sent.
• someday/maybe- Things that will be done at some point, but not right now. For example, "learn Chinese" or "throw a pool party."

The calendar is important for keeping track of appointments and assignments; however, Allen recommends that the calendar be reserved only for things that must be done on a specific date, or for appointments and errands with a set time and place. And things should be recorded in the lists of the next actions, and not in the calendar.

The last key organizing component of GTD is the document system. The document system should be light, simple and interesting. Even a single piece of paper, if it is needed for reference, should get its own folder if the available folders are not suitable for it. Allen offers a one-dimensional, alphabetically organized document storage system to quickly and easily retrieve the information you need.

Review

To-do lists and reminders will be of little use unless you review at least daily, or as often as possible. Given the time, energy and resources available at the moment, find the most important task that can be done immediately and get it done. If you have a habit of procrastinating, you will end up doing easy tasks and avoiding difficult ones. To solve this problem, you can do actions from the list one by one, similar to how the basket is processed. GTD requires that there be at least a weekly review of all activities, projects, and "deferred" items to ensure that any new tasks or upcoming events are entered into the system and that everything is up to date.

Actions

Any organizational system is worthless if it spends too much time organizing tasks instead of physically completing them. As David Allen argues, if such a system is made simple to perform the necessary actions, then the person will be less likely to delay them or "overload" with too many "open loops".

Means and techniques

43 folders

Allen suggests organizing his documents in a system called "43 folders". Twelve folders are used, one for each month, and an additional 31 folders are used for each day of the next 31 days. The folders are organized to help remind the user of the activities that need to be done that day.

Folders and folders

Allen mentions in his book that it is better to use folders for easy search and structuring of information, so that all documents related to one project will be in one place. This allows you to quickly find the documents you need. Even if only one document belongs to the project, it is still better to put it in a folder, as new documents on this topic may appear.

Looking for ways to work less and accomplish more? Have you taken on two dozen projects, lost control of the situation? Maybe fatigue has simply accumulated: work, home, fitness, healthy lifestyle, friends, parents, family, children?

In this case, David Allen and his GTD method will help you. This is an anti-stress inoculation that will teach you how to manage time and consciousness.

The essence of the GTD method

David Allen developed and tested a personal effectiveness strategy aimed at getting the maximum benefit with the minimum effort. He described a way to effectively allocate time between important and necessary things. The name of his method - Getting Things Done (GTD) - is translated as "bringing things to completion", although the meaning is more suitable "how to put things in order." The principles are simple:

1. All unfinished business is transferred from the head to an external drive. Information is collected and recorded in a list. Everything is brought in: even the smallest thing. The list should be available at any time, you need to constantly look into it.

2. Explanations are recorded so that in the future you do not waste time thinking about the problem.

3. A list reminder system is being created. They need to be regularly (daily, weekly) updated: cross out completed tasks, enter new ones. Control is carried out: horizontal - over the entire list of cases; vertical - for each specific case (what has been done and what are the prospects).

To optimize work, set a specific time and date for the task to be completed. Use a planner or calendar. Listen to what David Allen advises. Perform all actions sequentially.

Shall we practice?

1. Transfer. Highlight in your mind and write down on paper in one sentence the first situation / task / project that pops up in your head. It doesn't matter whether the aspiration concerns professional activity, family or personality. This should look like a successful work result. For example:

Go on vacation to the Maldives together / with the whole family;

· Launch a factory/chain of stores in Chelyabinsk;

· Bake a cake/pancakes according to Grandma's recipe.

2. Explanations. Write down the specific physical action that needs to be taken to move forward with this project. What can be done right now? Where to go? Who to call? What to write? With whom to talk?

· Call the travel agency to pick up options for routes;

· Send a prepared request by e-mail;

· Buy flour, butter, eggs at the ABV store.

3. Think about how it recommends doing
David Allen. What has changed after a moment's reflection? As a rule, highlighting a specific task not only increases control over it, but also allows you to relax. Because a specific image of the desired result has been formed, the first steps towards its achievement have been outlined, and the necessary resources have been determined.

Don't think about the problem, think about how to solve it

Thinking and defining tasks is your intellectual work. The productivity of intellectual labor is determined by the answer to the question: "What are the expected results of work?" The more clearly defined the result, the higher your intellectual productivity.

The problem turns into a specific task that needs to be solved. The process is broken down into simple steps, the nearest of which is executed immediately. A person does not sort through tasks one after another: I want to learn how to sing someday, I need to urgently make a project, pick up a child from kindergarten. It takes a list and walks along the path of performing specific actions:

· To learn how to sing, you need to call a tutor - it will take 2 minutes. I'm calling right now;

· For the project, you need to go to the store to buy materials according to the list in order to make a model tomorrow, and pick up the child on the way.

Thanks to the GTD system, the head is not filled with feverish thoughts about unfinished projects. The list is already in front of you. You can relax and move on to the next step.

It's like a supermarket

You can walk around and keep in mind the products that you need to buy. It takes all the strength, but still something, let it be forgotten, or you will gain a bunch of extra.

Or you can come to the store with a list written on paper (smartphone): in this case, brain resources are spent only on optimizing the process. Looking at the list and seeing milk there, go and buy it, paying attention to the variety, manufacturer, date of manufacture, price. This brings more benefits to health and family budget.

When the result is determined, the person moves in the right direction, constantly asking himself the question: “What is the next step to take in order to get closer to the goal?”

Turn intangible thoughts into physical actions

David Allen offers a set of auxiliary tools that allow you to free your brain from routine to work on global projects. The list of tasks can be stored using for example:

• diary;

• trays for paper sheets;

• folders with stickers;

• electronic organizers or gliders;
• task managers (see ours).

Many huge projects consist of a collection of small actions, each of which takes 1-2 minutes. In this case, you just need to do and forget. This is the principle of two minutes - one of the key in GTD. Turn it into a habit - with a simple tracker (we wrote about such).

The electronic version of David Allen's book "Getting Things in Order" can be downloaded from the links: bookscafe.net, Book Search, FB2LIT.

At the same time, if most electronic libraries offer an introductory fragment with a link at the end, where you can download the entire book after payment (price from 170 to 400 rubles), then bookscafe.net offers two of David Allen's 7 books for free.

You can learn modern life hacks in time management in ours.

An excellent selection of free self-improvement tools: planners, organizers, diaries, checklists - at the link " 40 + lists to help put your life in order".

You can buy a paper version of the book "How to put things in order" in online stores: Ozone, Labyrinth, book24.

Conclusion

Have you dreamed for many years of learning how to manage your life? The time has come. Make a breakthrough: increase your own efficiency, make it easier for yourself to do any job. Free your mind from routine, become a creative person.

Start today. Don't just read a book, use GTD techniques. Personal practical experience is more useful than dozens of books read. Set yourself a goal: 40 days to apply GTD. Why 40? Because it is during this time that a person manages to master, get involved, evaluate a new activity. The GTD method optimizes intellectual work in the professional and personal fields. There will be order in business, there will be order in the head and in life.

So. What is your next step?