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November 20, 2006

Now what?

I got this great letter that I wanted to share. For those of you who are wondering how to bring GTD to others, especially your kids, I thought it was a wonderful demonstration of the power of asking, "What's the next action?"

Kelly, I was in your Getting Things Done class. I found it very useful and inspiring - I actually did get my email Inbox from 378 down to 4 the next day! But later in the week, I used it at home in a rather unexpected way. My daughter, who is a Senior in high school this year, was feeling pretty overwhelmed with projects due, college applications due, frustration with a difficult friendship, the ACT approaching, etc. It had all washed over her, and she was in tears, asking me what she should do. I thought about "next steps," and, as it was getting late and she owed someone a phone call, I told her she had to do that right away. She did that, and came back. I asked her what homework she had, and found that one thing was just part of a worksheet for Spanish, so I said, "Go and finish that." She did, then came back and said, "Now what?" We kept that up until I went to bed (not being a teenager myself, I tend to go to bed earlier than my kids these days). It really helped her, taking just one step at a time, and it gave me a good practical example of how this can work. She was much calmer the next day. And I hope she remembers this in college! (We'll practice it some more at home, I'm sure.) Thank you so much for your inspiration in class! Susan

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Posted by Kelly at November 20, 2006 08:26 AM