Getting Things Done A surprisingly interesting system for

Getting Things Done A surprisingly interesting system for managing your time effectively July 30, 2010

Who Is This Presentation For? § Are you in control of your time? § In your business and personal life, are you on top of your goals and commitments? § Do you know what you should be doing at any given point in time? § Are you completely relaxed about managing your time? If all of the above are true, congratulations! You don’t need to be here. 2

Work Is Losing Its Edges § GTD defines work as anything that you want or need to be different than it currently is § Work used to be self-evident; milk cows, plow fields, etc. § § You knew when you were done As farming and manufacturing jobs are replaced with knowledge work, edges are vanishing § When are the wireframe designs perfect and you can stop working on them? § Should you be studying a new technology in your spare time to advance your career? § Should you go to the gym on Sunday morning or make slides for a Lab 49 seminar? § Should you fix the kitchen faucet or update your personal web site? § The distinction is blurring between business and personal work § Jobs are constantly changing, and professionals are more free agents than ever before § Little seems clear for very long, in terms of what our work is, and how to do it well § We process huge amounts of information, and generate large volumes of ideas and commitments 3

The Problem and the Goal § The problem: § The amorphous blog of never-ending work fills up our brain and uses our CPU and RAM § Many professionals have low-grade, constant anxiety § § • Trying to remember everything that has to be done • Worrying about the things that are not getting done Too much distraction at the day-to-day level to undertake bigger projects and goals The goal: § Imagine if your personal management situation were totally under control § What if you could dedicate 100% of your attention to the task at hand without distraction? § Many of you know what that relaxed mental state is like • e. g. when you’re playing sports, or a musical instrument, or cooking, or whatever The goal is to bring that relaxed state of effectiveness to your work life. 4

The Reader’s Digest Version 1. Have an organized system for keeping track of all of your work, outside of your brain § Must be a comprehensive, trusted organizational system to capture everything you want to do § Keyword is everything; work and personal, high and low priority, short and long term, etc. 2. Have a well-defined system for choosing your next action § At any given time, what should you do next? § Consult the data in your organized system, choose the next action, and do it § Then update the organized system, and repeat Has anyone figured out the operating system analogy yet? 5

What’s Wrong With To-Do Lists? § § Typical problem is that it’s full of items that are not actionable § You haven’t clarified the desired outcome § You haven’t decided the next step § You haven’t put reminders into a system that you trust § Therefore they will contribute to your background stress, and not move forward Exercise 1: Are there any problems with this to-do list? § Buy milk § Create web site § Plan vacation § Clean house § Learn Silverlight 6

Understanding Projects versus Next Actions § Determine the next action for a project typically takes about two minutes § Exercise 2: Think about the project or situation that is most on your mind at this moment § § What bugs you, distracts you, interests you, or otherwise consumes CPU cycles? § Take two minutes right now to decide the exact next thing that needs to be done § e. g. if the project is “create web site” what would you do next? Pick a domain name? • Research hosting providers? Exercise 3: § § • Let’s pick the next actions for the other items on the previous slide • Plan vacation • Learn Silverlight The gist of the GTD system is: 1. Don’t confuse projects and next actions 2. Spend most of your time working on next actions 3. Periodically (every 1 -2 days) scan your projects to determine new next actions 4. Periodically (once/week) update your list of projects 7

The Big Picture Stuff +Inbox What is it? Trash Is it actionable? No Yes Someday/Maybe Reference Needs to be broken down Into actions What’s the next action? Projects • Plan • Capture • Review for next actions Is it < 2 minutes? Yes Do it No Delegate it Waiting Defer it Next Actions Calendar 8

Implementing the System § Implementing these ideas requires the ability to categorize tasks § § Outlook + Black. Berry works very well • Use Outlook task categories (not folders) • Ctrl-Shift-K is your friend For the Apple-inclined: • Omni. Focus • Toodledo • Things • The Hit List Wireless syncing with categories is a must Initial minimum list of categories: § +Inbox § Someday/Maybe § Reference § Projects § Waiting § Next Actions 9

Exercise Four § Initial state – let’s GTD! § Stuff +Inbox • Plan Lab 49 outing • Line up a speaking engagement • Set up system for tracking personal finances • Other ideas? § Someday/Maybe § Reference § Projects § Waiting § Next Actions +Inbox What is it? Trash Actionble? No Yes Next action? Someday/Maybe Reference Needs to be broken down Into actions Projects Is it < 2 minutes? Yes Do it No Delegate it Waiting • Plan • Capture • Review for next actions Defer it Next Actions Calendar 10

Next Action Contexts § If you are out doing errands, why should you be thinking about computer-related tasks? § If you are in the office, why should you be thinking about fixing a home plumbing problem? § Context-based categories (convention – precede with @): § Next Actions § @Errands • § @Home • § Review GTD presentation @Transit • § Customize settings on desk phone @Remote (office) • § Fix kitchen faucet @Lab • § Buy milk Skim HTML 5 book @Agendas • Parents – what are we doing for the family reunion this year? • Practice Head – ask for study recommendations 11

How to Use the Calendar § § Your calendar is not a garbage can to store tasks that you think “should be done that day” § Many people are tempted to plan work by distributing tasks onto their calendar – don’t do that § Disagree with the Franklin Covey concept of putting tasks on your calendar and pushing them forward Your calendar should be used exclusively for hard constraints § Scheduled meetings § Scheduled conference calls § Items that must absolutely be done on a particular day § If the time is not constrained, don’t specify it (e. g. use Outlook “all day event” checkbox) This creates a clear discipline § If it’s on your calendar, it’s mandatory § If you have a free moment, go to your Next Actions list If you try to plan your day using the calendar, you’ll stop looking at the Next Actions list § You will stop trusting the system and it will fall apart 12

How to Use Email § Don’t use email as your to-do list § Try to clean out your email box, or at least tag everything as read § So that the unread messages count is meaningful § If the email implies a next action, create on the spot § e. g. for Outlook § § Ctrl-A, Ctrl-C, Ctrl-Shift-K , Ctrl-V § Or even better, draft the email to the Tasks header on the left For Mac people I’m sure there’s some mouse-oriented carpal-tunnel inducing equivalent 13

Managing Action § § Top down approach doesn’t really work § Intellectually you ought to work from the top down § Personal/corporate missions, then objectives, then implementation details § But this doesn’t fit with rapidly changing environments with constant distractions GTD approach is bottom up § At 3: 22 on Wednesday, how do you decide what to do? § Filter by context § • Are you on the subway? Reply to emails, review documents, etc. • Context-based task categories make this easier; filter your list, then pick a task Filter by time available • § Filter by energy available • § Do you have only 15 minutes before a meeting? Do something quick Are you mentally tired? Do your Clicktime sheets Filter by priority • If you have some open space, pick whatever is most important 14

Project Planning § Determining next actions for each project § GTD philosophy is to use “natural planning” § § § Which means in essence, don’t stress about it, just plan it like you would a dinner party Natural planning can be thought of in five steps 1. Define purpose and principles (Why are you doing this? What are you trying to accomplish? ) 2. Envision the outcome (Intimate dinner party? Or a big party with a DJ? )) 3. Brainstorm (What time should we go? What do we feel like eating? Any new places we want to try? ) 4. Organize (Let’s see if the restaurant is open. Let’s check in with some friends about dates. ) 5. Identify next actions (This part is easy by this stage. ) Unnatural planning (sound familiar? ) § “We need to have a dinner party! Who’s got some good ideas? ” § “Let’s start by writing an outline for our dinner party. ” § “Let’s agree on a mission for our dinner party. ” 15

Collecting § This is the most important part of GTD from the perspective of clearing your head § Gather 100% of the incompletes § § Physical in-basket § Paper-based note-taking devices § Electronic note-taking devices § Voice-recording devices § E-mail § +Inbox category Add freely to Projects and Someday/Maybe categories – use triggers to get ideas § Professional: Incomplete projects, commitments to others, financial, administration, supplies, office, etc. § Personal: Home, hobbies, skills, creative expression, clothes, gear, trips to take, organizations to join, etc. § Review loose papers, notes, calendar items, projects, etc. § Empty your head – try to think of everything § Be creative and courageous 16

Organizational Refinements § § Keep a list of priorities at different levels, and review quarterly or even annually § Priorities 1 – Life § Priorities 2 – 3 -5 year vision § Priorities 3 – 1 -2 year goals § Priorities 4 – areas of responsibility § Projects (conceptually equivalent to “Priorities 5”) Project subcategories (job-specific), e. g. § Projects – General § Projects – Client § Projects – Sales Reference subcategories § Reference – General § Reference – People § Reference – Recommendations § Reference – Study Ad hoc lists 17

Weekly Review § This is so critical that you must establish good habits, environments, and tools § Recommendation is to block out two hours a week for this (e. g. Friday from 4 -6 PM? ) § Review tasks § § Collect all new items (focus on completeness first) § Review projects for next actions and create those tasks § Tidy up the system (delete tasks that are completed or irrelevant, refactor as required) If you skip this, the system will break down very quickly § The failure mode is that you’ll start feeling stress again § You will realize that your brain is wasting cycles trying to keep track of what needs to be done § That’s a symptom that you’ve stopped trusting your GTD system and it’s time for a review 18

Timetable of Activities Frequency Activity Throughout the day Work on contextual next actions (use “managing action” to decide what to do) Every 1 -2 days Review projects, update next actions (use “natural project planning”) Once/week Complete collection, update projects and next actions, clean up system Quarterly Review areas of responsibility, 1 -2 year goals Annually Review higher level goals (3 -5 year vision, life) 19

Summary Questions? The bible: Getting Things Done The Art of Stress-Free Productivity David Allen http: //www. davidco. com/ The software: Doesn’t really matter, as long as you can categorize tasks. 20