Last updated April 10, 2022

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• Getting Things Done is not just about getting things done, but also about being engaged in your work and life, eliminating distractions and stress from what you’re not doing, and making the best choice in each moment

• There is no specific technique to perfect organization and productivity, there are only things we can do to facilitate it

• Anxiety is caused by a lack of control, organization, preparation and actions

• Understanding comes from healthy skepticism

Part 1 - Overview

Being present in the moment is integral to getting things done. We can practice this by:

1. Capturing all things that should be done or could pose useful in a system outside our head and mind

2. Lead yourself to make choices about all the “inputs” in our life so we can have a wide disposal of “next actions” to implement or renegotiate in the moment

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

• The lack of clear boundaries for requirement result in more work, as we are unsure on when to stop and how to reach the desired outcome

• We can’t be fully prepared for things that are new; we must adjust, but every adjustment is a possible crisis where we have to prove ourselves. However, we are forced to adjust constantly due to organizations in morph mode, the frequency of career changes, and the constant shifts in our cultures.

Setting goals and scheduling our days helps, but it doesn’t accommodate for:

1. The countless distractions that pop up and prevent unbroken times of focus

2. A lack of personal organization that leads to the unwillingness to take on bigger projects

3. We may become overwhelmed by the amount of things we need to do

• Being in control is being able to adapt to your environment

• We tend to create “open loops” agreements that we unconsciously track

ex) “End world hunger”, “Set up christmas tree”

• To effectively deal with such things, clarify their meaning to you, and make a decision on how to go about with it

Managing Commitments

1. Make sure that other things aren’t on your mind, and if they are, give them a future date to work on it

2. Clarify what your commitment is and decide what you have to do to work towards it

3. Keep reminders of your organization in a system that you review regularly

4. We must use our mind to get things off our mind

• It is important to think about our work before doing it to truly understand what we’re doing

• Things can be on our mind because we want change regarding those things, so we should clarify what the intended outcome is

• We don’t do things not because of our lack of time, but because we are unsure of details on how we would do it. As a result, to do things, we must:

1. Define the outcome

2. What “doing” looks like

Vertical and Horizontal Management

• Horizontal management maintains coherence across all your activities that allow you to shift your focus from one thing to another due to your understanding on each task.

• Vertical management establishes the details of your activities

• Our mind may keep pushing a certain agenda into our consciousness despite not being able to do anything about it in the present moment

Five Steps to Get Control of Our Life

1. Capture what has our attention

2. Clarify what each item means and what to do about it

3. Organize the results

4. Reflect on the options

5. Engage with said options

• It is important to do each step one at a time and not do everything at once

Capturing

• Tasks left undone are undone in the actual location of the task and in our head, consuming our energy and attention

• To avoid this, we must manage this inventory of open loops into containers that hold the items until you have time to decide on what to do

ex) Paper/digital note-taking devices, anything that can be of easy access

• Try to mitigate the amount of containers to have everything organized in one place, and to empty them regularly

Clarifying

Organizing

• The positioning of things should be relative to their importance

• Projects are desired results that can be accomplished within a year, requiring more than one step

• Projects don’t need to be organized, but they should be on a master list so you can review it to act appropriately. We can’t do a project, we can only do things related to it.

• The list should solely be an index, and the steps for each action should be stored elsewhere

Prioritizing

• Easily done activities and already done activities should not be tracked. Instad, we should track specific things that are to be done on specific times (calendar), done ASAP (immediate todo list), or require extra information to proceed (waiting list)

• Calendars should have time-specific actions (appointments), day-specific actions (not bound to the hour, but to the day), and day-specific information (information handy for activities. Something you write on the calendar MUST be done on that day.

Next Action Lists

• Next action lists should be divided into categories of simple reminders

• Non actionable items should be organized into trash, incubation (things you want to do eventually, but not now)

Reference Systems

• Consist of topic/area-specific storage, and general-reference files

• It’s important to reflect on our systems

• We should first start with our calendars, then our next action lists, then review projects/waiting for/someday lists

• Weekly reviews are helpful and a good time to reflect

Reflection

• There’s a difference between writing down that you need to buy milk vs actually doing it at the grocery store

• Reflecting allows us to step back and look at the bigger picture, gather and process everything, review our system, update things, and overall get things off our mind

Criteria for Choosing Actions

1. Context

• Think of what things can be done in your current context

2. Time available

• The time allotted could not allow for longer tasks

3. Energy available

• When we’re low on energy we most likely can’t brainstorm new ideas

4. Priority

• Consider the priority of the tasks

Types of Daily Work

1. Doing predefined work

• Doing planned things from our action and todo lists

2. Doing work as it shows up

• Doing unplanned tasks that we must engage in as they show up

3. Defining work

• Establishing new projects, cleaning up emails

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Reviewing Our Work

There are 6 levels to reviewing our work:

1. Ground

• The lists of actions we need to do

2. Current Projects

• Short-term tasks we can do

3. Areas of focus and accountabilities

• Assessing our criterias and values help us prioritize what tasks need to be done

4. Goals

• Establishing goals for various areas in our life, 1-2 years from now

5. Vision

• Establishing visions for ourselves 3-5 years into the future

• May include lifestyle transitions, family, financial, qol aspirations, market trends

6. Purpose and principles

• The big picture view, our purpose of our efforts and our life, what matters to us most

5 Phases of Project Planning

1. Defining purpose and principles

• Trying to plan without the purpose in mind can be troublesome

• Asking why defines success, creates criteria, aligns resources, motivates, clarifies focus, and expands options

• Principles are clarified rules we must follow while achieving our purpose

2. Outcome visioning

• By imagining our desired results we can identify it and actually do it

3. Brainstorming

• Helps get lots of ideas

• Consider mind mapping

• Organizes thoughts, allows you to seek more details

• Engage in critical but not destructive thinking of the ideas proposed

• Quantity over quality allows for more ideas

4. Organizing

• Consists of identifying significant pieces, sorting by components and sequences and priorities, and including details to the appropriate degree

• Start off with tasks that can be done without the need for prerequisites

5. Identifying next actions

• Planning results in better results and stress relief

Part 2 - Instructions

• Efficient creativity and productivity revolves around the right focus in the right time

• We must have a sufficient, personal office for proper organization

Process for Complete Organization

1. Components

• An “in” tray of things that you can sort eventually

• Method of recording things (paper and pencil, google doc)

• Quick reminders (post-it notes)

• Dividers to organize (file folders)

• Make sure it’s easy to make new folders as needed that provide sufficient storage

• Purge files yearly

• Calendar

• Trash bin

2. Organizing

• Being organized ensures the fact that you know where things are when they are needed

1. Organize your physical environment

• Gadgets, reference materials, decorations, etc.

2. Organize your desktop

• Random stuff

3. Organize your thoughts

• Write down thoughts you have that are occupying your mind on separate sheets of paper

4. Organize your “in” ventory

• Put things in the appropriate categories

• Process one item at a time

• Never put anything back into “in”

• When unsure of whether to keep something or not, consider the current volume of your storage and your affordability in taking in potentially useful information

• If things are of possible need later, just incubate it until that time comes

5. Do things

• When confronting a task in our inbox, we can either do it (<2 minutes), delegate it, or defer it

• By the end, we should have trashed things, filed things, done 2 minute actions, and delegated things. We should be left with tasks that we need to do soon, someday, or on a specific date, and W/F reminders

3. Organization Buckets

There should be 7 lists we keep track of:

• A Projects list

• Project support material

• Calendar actions and information

• Next actions lists

• Waiting for list

• Reference material

• Someday/Maybe list

• It’s important to put each list in separate folders, and to put each remaining thing in our inbox into the appropriate list

Calendar Actions

• Tasks that must be done on a certain day/time

• We can also use calendars to postpone our assessment of certain things

ex) Triggers for projects, events you want to participate in, decision catalysts

Actionable Tasks

• It is recommended to label our action tasks based on the context required to perform it

• The details of these categories are based on the total actions we have to track, and our different contexts

ex) Calls, Computer, Errands, Office, Home, Anywhere, Agendas/Relationships, Read/Review

• Consider whether you should use the original item as an action reminder, or if you can discard it after making a note

Emails

• Create folders for your emails

ex) >2 minute emails you need to act on, waiting for (sent mail)

Projects

• We can’t do a project- we can only do the task associated with it

• Projects are used to establish a comprehensive index of our open loops

• Projects are critical for control and focus, alleviates subtle tensions, becomes the core of our weekly review, and facilitates relationship management

• Projects can be found in our current activities, long-term interests and commitments, and current problems, issues, or opportunities

1. Current activities

• Tasks we do may open up the opportunity for projects

2. Long-term interests and commitments

• Accountability, roles, areas in our lives with standards, exploring

3. Current Problems, Issues, and Opportunities

4. Problems

• Helps us systematically forge solutions

2. Process Improvements

3. Creative and Capacity-building Opportunities

• Turns someday/maybe into projects

Project Sorting

• Personal vs Professional

• Areas in Our Lives

• Consider keeping subprojects and the project plan in project support material

Project Support Material

• Resources to support our actions and thinking about our projects

• If it needs a reminder, it isn’t material

ex) Labelled folders in emails, google docs, and bookmarks

Reference Materials

Potentially useful information that isn’t actionable:

1. General reference filing

• Tidbits of resources and information

• If there are >50 r.m. related to a certain section, add a folder for it

2. Contact managers

• Numbers, emails, birthdays

3. Libraries and archives

• Overall, a good organization of reference material is dependent on separating actionable vs non actionable, potential categories, and our preferred method of storage

Someday/Maybe

• This list allows us to imagine cool things without having to worry about commitment

ex) Hobbies, skills to learn, creative expressions, consumerism, travelling, experiences

• Consider whether some projects should be transferred to someday/maybe

Tickler

• Reminders to help us remember what we need to do

• Similar to a calendar, allows us to decide not to decide until day x

Innate Tasks

• Innate tasks include abstract concepts that we wish to follow

ex) Exercise more regularly, stay motivated

• We can include these things into daily checklists, habits, or projects, depending on our intentions

ex) Career goals, family, relationships, community, health, finances, creativity

• Then, these topics can be further explored

ex) Team morale, processes, timelines, staff issues, workload, comms, technology

Checklists

• We can have various checklists

ex) Core Life Values, Morning Routine, Exercise Regimens, Leaving the House, Year-end Activities

• The skill of being able to efficiently create checklists is important

Reflection

• By now we should have captured every opened loop in our life and appropriately identified it, as well as organized it. Now, we need to be assured that what we are doing is what we should be doing, and that it’s okay to not be doing what we’re doing.

Daily

• We should spend as much time as we need looking at our system until we are comfortable with what we are doing for the day

Steps

1. Check calendar for mandatory things to do today

2. Check next actions list for possible things to fill up time slots

Weekly

• The weekly review helps us empty our mind and prime us for the next week

Weekly Review Steps

1. Get Clear

• Dump all the new tasks you need to do into your inbox and empty your head

2. Get Current

• Review Next Actions

• Review Reminders

• Review Previous Calendar Data to remind you of tasks to be done

• Review Waiting For

• Review Projects

• Evaluate progress, and ensure that a reminder is included in your system

• Review Relevant Checklists

3. Get Creative

• Review Someday/Maybe List

The last work-day of the week is the best time for the weekly review since:

1. The events of the week are still fresh in your mind

2. You can communicate with coworkers before they leave for the weekend

3. You can leave all mental baggage behind to enjoy the weekend

• “If you’re not consciously aware of putting forth the effort to exert self-guided integrated thinking… then you’re giving in to laziness and no longer control your life”

Bigger Picture Reviews

• Probably monthly

• Think about long-term objectives and goals

• Think about the principles that drive our decisions

• Being able to reflect on our long-term goals helps us with flexibility and the maintenance of our life satisfaction

Planning

Remember the four-criteria model:

• Context

• Time available

• Energy available

• Priority

• Consider organizing your tasks in creative ways

ex) “No brain power”, “<5 mins”

• Keep a list of tasks that require little energy and creativity

• Most of our life and work unexpectedly appears, and most of the time, it’s important

• By having a strong sense of priority, you won’t have to worry about changing up your schedule since you understand the importance of the new task vs your planned tasks

• “To ignore the unexpected (even if it were possible) would be to live without opportunity, spontaneity, and the rich moments of which “life” is made

Refer to the 6-Level Model:

Horizon 5: Life

Horizon 4: Long-term visions

Horizon 3: 1-2 year goals

Horizon 2: Areas of focus and accountability

Horizon 1: Current projects

Ground: Current actions

• Each level is a piece of the puzzle for the one above it!

ex) A phone call (action) could be related to a deal (project) to increase sales (accountability). This gives you the opportunity for promotion (job goal) because of the company’s interest in a new market (organization vision). As a result, we become more wealthy and powerful (life)

• It’s important we clarify all levels, starting from the top, but then manage from the ground up

Here’s a quick checklist:

1. Ground- Do you have everything listed?

2. Horizon 1- Do you have all your projects listed?

3. Horizon 2- What roles do you have?

4. Make a list called areas of focus (categories for weekly goals)

5. Horizons 3, 4, 5- Self-reflection, more abstract

Informal Planning

There are two types of projects that require planning activity:

1. Projects that require attention even after planning

• Use purpose and principles, vision/outcome, brainstorming, organizing

2. Projects with the potential for beneficial ideas

Part 3 - Key Principles/Motivation

Organization helps get rid of negative feelings and gives us the ability to understand and deal with them

• Procrastination leads to less self-trust

• To prevent making broken agreements, just don’t make the agreement in the first place, negotiate it, or complete it

• We know we have nothing on our mind when we are truly present in the now

• Think about things instead of thinking of them

• When you start thinking of things, divert back to your previous train of thought or  acknowledge it and think about them

• Always think of what the next action is

• Smart people tend to procrastinate the most because of their sheer workload

• Sensitivity and creativity allows for them to produce the scenarios of being involved in such projects, and the negative consequences of not doing it correctly

• Ceasing negative imaging allows for more energy

• Knowing what the next action is forces clarity, accountability, productivity, and empowerment

• Complaining about something means that there is room for improvement

• Productivity thrives off of the definition of specific objects and next actions

• The only two problems in life are knowing what you want and not knowing how to achieve it, or not knowing what you want. As a result, we can only make it happen or make it up

• We should make it a habit to challenge the purpose of anything we do

• Remember to uphold self-efficacy, optimism, hope, and resilience

• The GTD mantra is life-long

There are three tiers of GTD Maturity:

1. Employing the fundamentals of managing workflow

2. Implementing a more elevated and integrated total life management system

3. Leveraging skills to create clear space and get things done for an ever-expansive expression and manifestation

• GTD mastery includes being able to explore opportunities without the fear of failure or uncertainty

• GTD mastery includes possibly creating your own system different from the GTD structure

• GTD mastery includes utilizing our free focus for exploring the more elevated aspects of our commitments and values, as well as leveraging our external mind to produce novel value

Suggested Application

1. Set up a personal organization environment

2. Organize your organization system

3. Get in-trays

4. Get a personal reference system for work and home

5. Get a good list-management organizer that you can get creative with

6. Support your fresh start by making some little changes in your environment

7. Set aside time to go through the GTD process

8. Share what you’ve learned with someone else

9. Review GTD with someone else in 3-6 months

10. Stay in touch with people who are broadcasting and reflecting these behaviors and standards

11. Have a great rest of your life!

Application

• Use the GTD principle as my main form of organization

• Have Sunday as my weekly review

• Reflect on progress, possible improvements, or changes of my system

• Plan for the next week

• Have the new year as my annual review

• Start thinking about the purpose of things more, as well as the “next action”

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