How to clean up the affairs and everything to keep pace: Full guide GTD system
Productivity / / December 23, 2019
Alexander Tsyglin
Author of the project "productivity master».
What good GTD system?
productivity services The problem is that everyone is positioning itself as a place where you can solve all the problems, store information, to communicate. Most of the services you offer to set priorities and act in accordance with them.
But few can concentrate on performing important tasks and do not pay attention while on the little things: urgent task, the desire of colleagues, friends or acquaintances. When the task becomes many, it is difficult to understand. Therefore, in practice it is necessary to use several services for case management. When getting a lot of cases, we are starting to get confused in these services, and lists and eventually cease to use them.
Methods of Getting Things Done (GTD) provides a universal plan in place to build a single system, in which you can solve any problem. You will be able to relax and not to worry, as will be sure not to forget anything. At the right moment, the system will suggest what to do and what to focus on.
So why do so many unproductive work?
People are starting to work unproductive when projects and tasks becomes much. They find it difficult to keep it all in my head, let alone set priorities. So either do nothing, or to do what is easiest and things to do to procrastinate. There is another problem: when the urgent tasks to be solved yesterday.
In addition, the person starts to get tired quickly, becomes irritable. He was constantly running like a squirrel in a wheel routine, and really important, monetary and strategic projects remain on the sidelines.
With this situation will handle system Getting Things Done, David Allen described in book, Which was released in 2001 and became an international bestseller.
Tell me about the basic concepts of GTD, who need to know
Routine - these are the things, thoughts and concerns that disturb, distract and waste energy. While routine does not transferred to the problem, it is impossible to control. Thinking of the same problem a few times - it is an inefficient use of creative energy that gives rise to frustration and stress.
The purpose of GTD - to free his head from routine and remove the internal stress.
Operational human memory - area of the brain where there is a short-term memory. That's where we usually add up the current unfinished business, given to other people promises and other thoughts that worry us. Unfortunately, there is limit the amount of routine, you can keep the brain to function properly. If your memory is full, you are distracted by small things and forget about their goals, which leads to stress.
Tools for data collection - that, where the information enters and where you fix what needs to be done. For example:
- organizers;
- notebooks;
- Email;
- the calendar;
- Dictaphone.
Cart "Inbox" - a single repository for routine that you turn in the affairs and tasks. One of the most important rules with a basket of "Inbox" - is her regular cleaning.
simple actions - one-step actions that need to perform less than two minutes. In practice it is more convenient to take these things in five minutes.
Project - a task for which execution requires more than one step. You need to leave a reminder about the project and describe the first steps for its implementation. As a result, the project turns into a simple action that can be performed in the next five minutes and get the final result.
The project should be a link to the card or file, which describes the details: responsible, deadlines, category (for example, "Marketing", "Legal portion", "Development"), references to the smaller cards tasks. Such a structure is convenient to organize in Trello.
Context list - a list of things convenient to perform under certain conditions. For example, the shortcut list "Shopping" is a list of items and products that you need to buy in the store. In the "Calls" can be a list of calls that you need to do when you are free.
Convenient individual context lists for the people with whom you work and communicate. When meeting with a particular person, you can quickly open the list and decide the necessary questions.
How do I use the calendar?
IN the calendar it is necessary to enter:
- the actions to be perform at a certain time (meetings, business meetings, seminars);
- actions that must be done on a certain day (to complete the project by a specific date, to take part in the conference);
- information on specific dates (anniversaries, birthdays, holidays).
I use «Google Calendar", which I bring all of these things. This service is useful because:
- It is available as a phone and a computer;
- on one screen, you can display multiple calendars;
- there are reminders on your smartphone.
If you have something brought to your calendar, or do you follow, or will transfer to another date., No need to clutter up the calendar to-do list that is regularly transported every day. For such lists, there are some solutions.
If you regularly need a certain time to call customers, suppliers or contractors, it is better to use a CRM-system.
What lists should start?
Lists of priority actions
Create a report for the week, study the competition site, clear the "Inbox" folder in the mailbox, create terms of reference for designers - all these actions take more than two minutes, but they can not be anyone delegate. Such cases shall be entered in the list of priority actions and perform throughout the day.
Rules for dealing with such lists:
- Lists should not be much, just two or three. For example, "Personal", "Work", "Family". If you have a task list for the day, put a reminder in your calendar.
- In the tasks in this list can be done easily label the context: "On the road", "at the computer", "Read", "Buy", "Promises". Tasks can have one or more labels. For example, the problem of "walk the dog" will refer to the project "Private" and a label "Promises."
- Before adding to the list of tasks, think about whether you need to do it at all. If the answer is 'yes', decide whether or not you personally carry out this business. After all, you can send a voice message subordinate and delegate to him. For tasks that are assigned to you, will mark "Committed." It will be business as from the list of "work" and from the "Personal".
- Browse lists regularly. Do this when there was a spare minute. Move up things that need to be done first.
- Clean the lists at least once a month.
List "Someday"
In this list are things that do not require action. It can be:
- books, records, video training, who want to buy;
- helpful skillsWho wants to learn;
- places I want to visit;
- things that I want to buy.
In this list you should periodically look, taking records and turn them into targets, on which work will be done.
How to store reference information, which is useful in the future?
This information does not require action. The main criteria for the storage of these data:
- Easily search for titles, tags and a brief description.
- Ease of placing the information in the repository.
- Intuitive storage structure information. When new data, you need to quickly select a category and subcategory, where to put them.
- storage accessible from any device.
Is there a mandatory rituals GTD?
Yes, several.
Gathering all the information to cart "Inbox"
Tools to collect a lot of information. But all this should flock to a place with which you and will continue to work.
Empty recycle bin "Inbox"
Once or twice a week will have to revise the list of "Inbox" and sort accumulated by folders or labels. This ritual has to become a habit, which is formed from intuitive algorithm of actions and their systematic repetition.
You should be a simple step by step plan of how you spend weekly cleaning in your affairs system. Get Calendars, which will mark the days when to know it. Assign yourself a prize if, for example, at least 20, you'll be within 30 days to clear the folder "Inbox" and expunged days in the calendar.
Revision of the list of priority actions and the list of "Someday", prioritization
The revision of the lists is important to prioritize and realistically calculate the forces. This is necessary so as not to load yourself impossibly high goals and do not suffer from realizing its inefficiency.
Destruction of extra baskets
Often during communication with colleagues and partners, new mailboxes, documents, lists.
Your task - as much as possible to automate all that data flocked to the "Inbox" folder.
This can be a mailbox, and electronic planner. To automate and referral information services fit IFTTT and Zapier. Baskets for collecting information should be small.
How to work with a basket of "Inbox" and sort accumulated in her case?
First, remove the problem, deal, or information from the folder "Inbox" and answer the question: "What is this? Do I really need to do something? "
If you do not need anything else, you have two options. If it's rubbish, that is no longer useful to you his calf. If this is useful information, put it in the archive. It should be structured in categories and tags make it easy to find the necessary.
If the information you need something to do, there are three options:
1. Run required. If the action is important and should not take more than 2-5 minutes.
2. Delegate to someone. If the action takes more than two minutes, think about whether it is possible to charge someone.
When delegiruesh someone should be registered:
- final result;
- work plan (path to the goal);
- deadline for completing tasks;
- control date and result to be ready for it (intermediate or final).
3. Postpone for the future. In this case, enter:
- desired result;
- shortly following the action you want to perform. Remember: it is impossible to carry out the project as a whole, can only take concrete simple steps that will bring you closer to the final result;
- deadline. If there is no exact date, store the action in the list of "Someday".
You can send messages to yourself to get them on the appointed day. For this suitable as a «Google Calendar," a reminder to the desired date, and an application for a post BoomerangWhich will send you an email at a certain time.
How to plan your work?
All the work can be divided into three steps:
- Performing pre-planned. It can be as strategically important things that you closer to the goal, and the routine that simply needs to be done.
- Go to work as her unexpected appearance. This is when during the day arrive tasks from colleagues, supervisors, letters from clients.
- Planning for future work: drafting and revision of the lists of priorities. This item should not take you too much time, so you do not engage in planning for planning.
The practice Interior planning and objectives (commemorative book) is described in the book by David Allen.
David Allen
Consultant on personal effectiveness and time management, productivity methodology GTD author
For commemorative book need 43 folders: 31, labeled with numbers from 1 to 31, 12 more months with the name. Daily folders are put in the front, starting with tomorrow's date. For a folder with the number 31 is the folder for the next month, followed by the folder with the rest of the months.
The contents of the folder for the next day every day transferred to the basket, then the folder is put in the last of the daily folders (as it is transferred to the next month). When you release the folder 31 for the current month, it will be a folder with the name of the month, followed by the folder with the days of the new month. Similarly, a folder with the current month is transferred to the following year, when he passed.
In a particular folder it is necessary to store documents that require specific actions (form to be filled, a letter to be sent).
For the system to work, it needs to be updated daily. If you forget to update the location of the day tomorrow, you can not trust the system. They will be missing important information, which is necessary to understand in other ways.
If you are going away for a few days, before departure, you need to check the folder for the days during which you will be absent.
How to organize it in practice in view of modern planning systems:
- Instead of a commemorative book to use organizer with lists of cases every day and put them in his tasks for the day. Meetings and proceedings linked to the time necessary to write in the first place, and set reminders to the system about them in advance.
- Create a file with a list of cases a month. This is a list of what you want to get done during that time. You add to it the case for the entire month. Revision of tasks should occur once a week. During planning, the most important things to scatter for weeks to understand their priorities. Their you will perform in the first place, otherwise all the time will go to small and urgent matters.
- Create a file with the plans for the year. It should be reviewed once a month. Cases of this file are transferred to the plans for the month.
- Plans for the year, based on the long-term goals for 3-5 years. These cases are better to register either at the end of the year or during holiday time, when the head is loaded daily tasks.
These four points, David Allen calls the natural planning system. This system allows you to move toward important goals for you and not waste time on routine.
Is there a universal plan by which you can plan any project?
Oh sure. David Allen calls it a model of the natural planning. It consists of several steps.
Step 1. The purpose and the picture perfect results
Determine target or the perfect end result, imagine that you have reached it.
Describe it with all the success criteria (money, people, recognition). The more you write out the final result, the stronger the motivation, especially in times when you need to perform specific actions, as long it is not.
Step 2. principles
Describe the principles that you will stick with the achievement of goals. For example: "I will give free rein to people if they... (to remain within budget, to fulfill a specific term project)." Ask yourself: "What actions can hinder my activities? How can I prevent them? "
The principles have clarity and are a reliable guide in the management process.
Step 3. Brainstorm
Brainstorm, during which record all sorts of ideas that come to mind.
Key principles of brainstorming:
- do not judge;
- is not disputed;
- do not estimate;
- do not criticize;
- Think about the quantity, rather than quality;
- move the analysis and organization of the second plan.
Step 4. The project plan as a list
Organize brainstorming results in a list of cases. Start planning from the end and go through the steps backwards. So you can easily make a plan and determine the first step towards the goal. An example of planning from the end:
Target (ideal outcome): I can speak Spanish and understand people.
why is: I want to communicate without an interpreter during business meetings with Spanish partners, and to communicate freely with others while on holiday in Spain.
Stages of the goal:
- One step to achieve the goal: I have found the support of the Spanish language and talk to him twice a week.
- One step away from this, I passed the exam on the B1 level of language proficiency.
- One step away from this, I passed the exam for level A1 language skills.
- One step away from this: I eight times in the past month workout Spanish and fulfilled all the homework.
- One step away from this, I enrolled in Spanish courses and paid for a month of training.
- One step away from this, I gathered information about the courses Spanish and made a comparison table.
- First step: I scheduled time in the calendar when I will gather information about the Spanish courses.
When the team is working on a task and need to organize the entire plan in one place, convenient to use Gantt chart. The first column in it - these are stages on the way to the goal, the second column - responsible. Will continue to columns with a period of time. The cells will be the status of a particular stage, such as "planned", "In the process," "Done," "Pending."
GTD system and natural planning can seem difficult. But when you configure it for themselves, and begin to use regularly, you will feel that everything is much easier than it seemed at first glance.