Getting Things Done

What if you could get more done? What if your plans could become a reality without having to wait for years? What if you could free up your mind for important things and store your worries/to-do’s etc, somewhere else? This is what Getting Things Done (GTD) is all about.

GTD is a book for the people that like to make lists, and who would want to get their lives more organised. The process aims to clear your mind, see what’s on your plate and make it easy to decide what to do next. The end goal is to make you work on the most important things (only).

GTD is an organisational system. It’s built on five pillars (or principles).

1. Capture everything – Write down (digitally) everything that comes up. From to-do’s to brain farts, get it on paper and out of your head.
2. Clarify the things you have to do – break everything down into SMART goals. Don’t say “I want to get bread”, better say “Tomorrow at noon I will get one whole grain bread at John’s Bakery”.
3. Organize your actionables by category and priority – put a date on things, reminders, calendar notes, etc.
4. Reflect on your to-do list – see what’s next, and periodically reflect if your priorities are still in the right order.
5. Engage and get to work – choose your next action, and do it.

 

These pillars are the basis of GTD. You are probably already doing (some of) these steps without having even heard of the GTD method. What GTD brings to the table is a reminder of working with a system and useful tips & tricks on how to best make use of such a system.

Getting Things Done is a useful way to get your life organized. The full system is not for everyone, but I do believe it has something to offer for everyone.