Hi Everyone!
For many years, we've wanted to create a more detailed guide to walk people through the key steps in implementing GTD, much like part two of the Getting Things Done book does, but with even more detail on the steps and how much time you may expect it to take. I'm delighted to let you all know about the new GTD® Implementation Guide, now in our online store.
If you already have a good understanding of the GTD models, this will be a terrific guide to take a deeper dive and really get your systems set up. If you are new to GTD, it would be good to get familiar with all of those models first, so the implementation steps make more sense.
The essay I chose for this month is about the kinds of blended stacks many people find when they start to implement. Perhaps this will be good incentive to take a deeper cut at really getting your systems to a place where they work for you.
All the best,
DAVID'S FOOD FOR THOUGHT
The numbness of blended stacks
You will experience an unnecessary level of mental fatigue and numbness in your environments and organizational systems by simply mixing up things that represent different agreements with yourself.
The most obvious case is where there are stacks of things that include items that have actions associated with them and things that just need to be filed or tossed. Often this is true of piles of reading material—magazines, junk mail, email printouts, copies of articles, etc. Most people do not make a clean distinction, visibly or psychologically, between what they still tell themselves they should read, and what should be stored, routed, or just thrown away.
Similarly, thick project folders, tabletops and databases have often lost their value as operational tools in people's lives. The majority of what's inside project and client folders is reference and support material. But they also often include things that potentially have Next Actions and Waiting Fors associated with them, untracked in other control systems.
When your systems do not obviously distinguish between various actions required or desired with the contents, your brain will still feel obligated to make that sort every time it sees it. That's way too much trouble, especially when we're in the heat of daily battle, so the brain has to shut down rather than doing the detailed re-thinking required. Numbness ensues. Unfortunately, we don't seem to go selectively numb—it tends to cut off the source of inspiration and enthusiasm as well.
With a proper segmentation of the nature of our "stuff", it is amazing to notice the immediate change for the better in clarity and energy. This is the beauty of the GTD Workflow Diagram in helping you walk through that distinction. With a little effective categorizing, you can stop having to keep thinking about having to be doing so much work!
"Chaos isn't the problem; how long it takes to find coherence is the real game."
-Doc Childre and Bruce Crier
GTD PUBLIC SEMINARS
New summer and fall public seminars are being posted weekly. The first 15 people to email publics@davidco.com will receive a code for 50% off any upcoming public GTD seminar!* See the current schedule.
* Limit one seat per user. May not be combined with other discounts or applied retroactively.
UPCOMING WEBINARS ON GTD CONNECT
- Natural Planning Model Webinar - June 10
- Fundamental Processing Lab with David Allen - June 23
Login to GTDConnect.com to register. Free trial members are eligible for Webinars too.
Did you know? GTD Connect members also get a 10% discount on many products in our online store, including the new GTD Implementation Guide.
ON THE GTD TIMES BLOG
A mom shares how she implemented GTD
Reverend Chip Granthan's story of getting GTD off the ground
Also take advantage of some of the terrific free resources we offer to stay connected:
WHAT IS GTD®?
GTD® is the popular shorthand for "Getting Things Done®", the groundbreaking work-life management system and book by David Allen that transforms personal overwhelm and overload into an integrated system of stress-free productivity. Read more...
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