A Primer on Getting Things Done
I’m a zealot, I admit it. As I looked back at my posts related to David Allen’s Getting Things Done (GTD), my writings were that of an “insider” and I was using insider jargon.
When it comes to GTD, the web seems to have two camps: those who follow it, and those who are sick of people talking about it. This article is for the ones who are in between… the ones that heard about it and are curious to know more about it (the article may be a good reminder for those who follow it as well!).
What You Can Get From GTD
The main reason why people are attracted to GTD because it offers them a chance to manage the information overflow. In today’s world, we are benefited with an abundance of choices. The bad news is, we are inundated with an abundance of choices. What to do?
The main benefits GTD offers are:
- Help become stress-free by removing the “to do” list from your head
- Be on top of the multitude of projects and activities you are involved in
- Have better control over your time and energy
If any of these things are missing in your life now, you should consider GTD.
The GTD Workflow
So, what exactly is GTD? In a nutshell, GTD is simply a workflow:
As you can see, there is an ordered flow when new things come into the inbox. It’s probably obvious why some of the early adopters of GTD were tech geeks, but GTD has proven to be so effective that it’s now mainstream. The workflow will make more sense after reading the next section.
The Five Stages of Mastering the Workflow
According to David Allen, there are five stages of managing the things that require our attention:
- Collect. The collection bucket. Whether it’s a folder in your filing system, your email inbox, or your PDA, the fundamental first step is to gather all the stuff that comes your way and to direct them to your “in” box. There are three requirements to make the collection stage work: (1) every open loop must be in your collection system and out of your head, (2) have as few collection buckets as needed, and (3) empty the collection buckets regularly.
- Process. The next stage is to empty the collection bucket. A commonly used sound bite from David Allen is that you can do actions but you can’t do projects. When deciding what to do with what’s in the collection bucket, it needs to be made actionable. Non-actionable things are either saved as reference, thrown away, or stashed way in what’s called the “tickler folder” (basically a holding bin for things you’re not sure if you should throw away or get involved in yet). If it is actionable, you then either do it, delegate it, or defer it.
- Organize. The outer boxes of the GTD workflow represents the end points where things will end up. If it can be done within 2 minutes, no need to mess around and just do it. If not, delegate it to someone else if possible. Otherwise, the action can be scheduled on the calendar or deferred to your “next actions” list.
- Review. The weekly review is a step that David Allen stresses. It’s a time to gather remaining stuff, to review your system, and to basically to cleaned up, updated, and completed. This is the maintenance stage of the system.
- Do. This stage is similar to one of the seven habits by Stephen Covey - namely, Habit 3: Put first things first. Here, David Allen espouses that we should have a method to prioritize and determine what to do. In his book, he presents three models for making action choices: (1) a criteria for choosing actions at the immediate moment, (2) criteria for choosing actions for the day, and (3) high-level criteria for long-term projects.
Popular Topics with GTD
Here are are a few topics that garner a lot of discussions.
The Tickler Folder: The detractors of GTD complain about its overbearing filing system, and particularly point to the tickler folder. If done “by the book,” the tickler folder comprises of 43 folders - 31 for the next 31 consecutive days, and 12 more for the next 12 months - which store things that should be revisited in the future to “tickle” the memory for reconsideration. Some find it to be very useful, while others do not see the need for using all 43 folders and have created their own version of a tickler folder that is less cumbersome.
Paper vs. Digital: With the advent of PDAs and smartphones, one would expect that the majority of people would implement GTD electronically. In practice, the majority use a paper version for their GTD system. I believe one of the main reasons is that we live in an analog world, and not everything that we get is digital - hence, an all-digital system will have holes in it. [I personally use an all-digital system, but I know I’m in the minority.]
By the book or a modified GTD system: I find that a large number of GTD practitioners do not apply GTD by the book. Instead, they take what they found as the most useful parts of the GTD system and adopt it to suit their own needs. Two popular modified GTD systems is Lifehacker’s Simplified GTD and Leo Babauta’s Zen to Done.
Summary
These are the main points of the GTD system:
- GTD is a workflow: It is a streamlined system that many found to be effective.
- Offload from your head and onto the GTD system: GTD can help to manage the information overflow that we experience today.
- Break things down into actions: As David Allen has said, you can do actions, but you cannot to projects.
- Modify GTD to suit your needs: My recommendation is to first read the book. Then see what fits best to your needs.
Further Readings
- Getting Things Done Guru David Allen and His Cult of Hyperefficiency: Wired Magazine’s in-depth review of GTD and David Allen.
- Getting Started in GTD: A popular article from 43 folders.
- Five Tips for the GTD Beginner: An article I wrote listing things I wish I knew before I started GTD.
- Huge List of GTD Sites: A very comprehensive list of blogs related to GTD and productivity.
Hi Al,
Excellent tips on GTD. I like the work flow chart.
Blessings
Gamy
Hi Gamy - thanks for the feedback! Yeah, I think it’s a cool flow chart as well. It’s one of those “either you like it or you don’t” kind of a diagram.
It’s something like mind mapping. This certainly will take loads off our mind to help enhance creativity.
Some mind mapping tools can be found here:
http://www.mindthinksuccess.com/helpfulresources/HelpfulResources.html
Blessings
Gamy
Mindmapping seems to be one of those classic productivity tools that’s getting rediscovered. I’ve heard nothing but good things about it. Definitely something to check out.
Hi Al,
Have you tried any of the free on-line mind mapping tools? I just pulled together in one place the details of all of the web-based ones, over at
http://www.mind-mapping.org/web-based-mindmappers/
This shows what’s free (and how much the subscriptions are for the others). They let you collaborate with others when making a mindmap, or just work alone.
Vic
http://www.mind-mapping.org
The master list of mind mapping &
information management software
Hey Al, thanks for the good introduction to GTD! There are a couple of diagrams I’ve seen on that and I must say yours’ pretty compact… good enough to be slipped into a wallet!
FYI, if your readers are interested in implementing GTD with a software, ThinkingRock is an excellent open source tool!
Cheers,
Ellesse
Hi VicGee - that’s a great link… I’m big fan of free!
I heard of bubbl.us and used it a couple of times to create some figures. The other sites I never heard of, so I really appreciate it.
Hi Ellesse - thanks for introducing me to ThinkingRock. I think I got more out of this article from the comments than what I put into the article itself
To me, GTD is a great system that would be ideal for a software program. ThinkingRock is the best stand-alone GTD software I ever came across.
Good summary.
GTD is a great system but realize it isn’t a life management system. See: Don’t Get Things Done
Hi Summy - agreed that GTD isn’t a life management system. It’s an effective system for the problem of managing an overflowing inbox, but it would be a mistake to apply it beyond that.
With so many sites dedicated to GTD, one might think it’s supposed be a life management system. Instead, it’s simply a personal productivity system, but even that can greatly improve the quality of life by reducing stress.
Thanks for mentioning my list of GTD sites, I’m going to be updating in in the next week or so… will see if can take it to over 150 sites
On the topic of using GTD as a system to manage your life… does any system actually do that? I think GTD can have useful life management applications if you view it as a series of habits and not as a “system.” For instance, viewing everything as a next action.
Hi Al
Thanks for this. Being a right brained person I have shyed away from even looking into GTD, but lately my workload and need for greater productivity has left me pondering about having a good system, so the timing is awesome.
In love, light and abundance x x x
http://www.lolafayemi.com
Al,
You’re right. Because GTD reduces stress people think of it as a life management system. The book does address some higher level issues but doesn’t go into detail.
James,
I’m trying to take the best of GTD and other systems and turn it into a life management system. You can see it at my site.
Hi Lola,
For right brain people, I would not recommend starting with GTD “as-is”, but instead try out a simplified version first such as Zen to Done. I’m sure you came across it - ZTD is popular because it’s pretty straightforward. There is an e-book you can buy from Leo’s site directly.
Hi James - describing it as a “habit” is a great way to view GTD. My choice of describing it was a “system”, which implies it would only be relevant when actively thinking about applying it, rather than instinctively applying it.
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Great work Al– very well written summary of something that can really seem overwhelming. I know sometimes I am a total stickler to my productivity system, and at other times I just want to let it all go and do what feels right in the moment.
I guess the best systems allow you to do both!
Todd
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Hi Todd - thanks for the feedback. Agreed about the need of flexibility with these systems… otherwise, it can be a yo-yo effect kinda like diet fads.
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GTD as outlined here, Al, is very helpful expecially for folks like me who have much to do every day!
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