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June 25, 2007
Getting Things Going
Someone asked me recently in a seminar, "I have this big list of things to do, but how do I get myself to actually DO it?" Wouldn't it be nice if this were all about just organizing stuff? There does come a time when you want to do it. Here are a few tips for getting things moving, especially for the ones that have seemed stuck:
1. Define what done looks like. A clear outcome does wonders for getting motivated to get going.
2. Define what doing looks like. Pick a clear next action that you physically, visibly see yourself doing.
3. Pick an easier next action. Often things can get stuck when the next action is too big. Pick a smaller step to get the ball rolling.
4. Ask yourself if you have all the information you need to take the next action you chose. If not, the action you chose might not be the very next action. Back yourself up until you get to the very next step. That will help.
5. Does this still need to be done? Have you reviewed this lately against some of your other priority levels lately? Just because you capture something on a list doesn't mean you end up doing it. Priorities, interests, standards and resources shift and so will the things on your list. It's OK to renegotiate the agreement.
6. Can it be delegated? Can someone else do this for you?
7. Can any of the things on next actions move to Someday/Maybe? Does it all need to be done now?
8. Carve out time for yourself on your calendar to take action. Sometimes seeing it as a "hard landscape" meeting with yourself to work on something helps.
The beginning is the half of every action.- Greek ProverbWhat's worked for you to get things moving?
Posted by Kelly at June 25, 2007 08:27 AM
Comments
Kelly - may I add a 9th point? Number 9 is you need DOING time as well as SORTING time. Do not try to mix the two. In my view, GTD's is absolutely fantastic at getting the sorting done, but it doesn't give enough emphasis to actually doing what it is you've sorted out! All too often, I find that it's really easy to get distracted by the sorting side, and can't get going with the doing side. It's like students preparing for exams at home, somehow sorting your CDs into alphabetical order just seems massively more attractive than actually writing your assignment, or doing whatever it is you should really be doing right now. I've seen several friends staring with GTD get stuck about what to do next, so instead they fall for sorting out their lists a bit more instead of getting on with the job in hand.
That's why I say again: are you sorting or are you doing (you can't do both simultaneously).
Will
Posted by: Will at June 25, 2007 03:38 PM
Will - Thanks for your comments. I have seen people get tangled up in the organizing at the expense of the doing, myself included. There's a great David Allen essay about that in Ready For Anything. I play the audio of it at the end of my GTD seminars to remind people that "it's not about the lists..."
But oh, how seductive the organizing piece can be. Especially when the doing is not what I feel like doing!
Posted by: Kelly at June 25, 2007 06:14 PM
That's why GTD is difficult to absorb. It takes time. First, we (the common mortals like me) try to find the right tools, or, the ilusion of a perfect tool that doesn't exist. Then, we get trapped with organizing much more than doing.
Later we discover that these points (list or good archives) are not the most important. The good thing is that from the very first moment we feel and do things more productively.
Thanks,
Silvia
Posted by: Silvia at June 25, 2007 10:23 PM
