Why is ‘Getting Things Done’ your next must-read?

GTD is a productivity system created by David Allen, productivity consultant and best-selling author of “Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity.” This method is designed to help you manage all your responsibilities and tasks effectively, allowing you to maintain a clear focus and a relaxed state of mind. In short, GTD is a methodology that promises to help you achieve more, with less stress.

A unique perspective on productivity

What sets GTD apart from other productivity systems is its focus on the ‘how’ rather than the ‘what’. While other methods focus on getting tasks done and achieving goals, GTD focuses on the process of getting things done. In other words, GTD doesn’t tell you what to do, but how to organize all the things you need to do.

Five steps to freeing your mind

GTD is based on five workflow stages: Capture, Clarify, Organize, Reflect and Commit.

• 1. Capture: Make a list of all the tasks, ideas, projects and responsibilities you have in mind. The goal is to free your mind from remembering all these things and place them in a system you trust.
• 2. Clarify: Review each item on your list and decide what action is required. If it is not actionable, discard it, file it away or put it on a someday/next day list.
• 3. Organize: Group tasks by categories and assign deadlines and contexts This will help you decide what to do at any given time.
• 4. Reflect: Regularly review your system to make sure you are doing the most important things and to keep everything up to date.
• 5. Commit: Finally, get things done. With everything clear and organized, you can focus on what you need to do right now.

Examples

Here’s an example of how to apply the Getting Things Done method: Imagine you are a filmmaker working on your latest movie. You’re faced with a morass of tasks, from directing and producing to editing and distribution. Instead of feeling overwhelmed by all the things you have to do, you decide to implement GTD to help you manage it all.

Capture: You start by making a list of all the tasks and responsibilities you have in mind. You may be thinking of things like ‘I need to revise the script’, ‘I need to hire a cinematographer’, ‘I need to book locations for the shoot’, ‘I need to schedule meetings with the actors’ and ‘I need to find distributors for the film’.

Clarify: Next, you review each item on your list and decide what action is required. ‘I need to revise the script’ becomes a task in itself. ‘I need to hire a cinematographer’ becomes a series of actions: researching potential candidates, scheduling interviews, conducting the interviews, deciding on the ideal candidate, and finally hiring the cinematographer.

Organize: You then organize your tasks by categories, such as ‘pre-production’, ‘shooting’ and ‘post-production’. You can also assign deadlines and contexts. For example, the task of revising the script could have a deadline of one week and the task of hiring a cinematographer could have a context of ‘online’, since most of the actions can be done online.

Reflect: Each week you review your system. You may find that some tasks are not as important as you thought, or maybe new tasks come up that you need to add to your list. This review makes sure you’re working on the most important things.

Committing: Finally, with everything clear and organized, you get to work. You feel much less stressed because you have a system you trust to handle all your tasks. Instead of trying to remember everything, you can focus on getting things done.

This is just one example of how the Getting Things Done method could be applied in practice. As you can see, GTD provides a structure that can be adapted to any type of work or lifestyle.

Fields of application

The Getting Things Done (GTD) method is extremely versatile and can be applied in a wide variety of fields and contexts. Here are some examples:

1. Business and Entrepreneurship: From project planning to resource management, GTD can be useful for organizing and prioritizing the tasks needed to grow a business. It can help entrepreneurs focus on the most important actions, reducing the burden of having to remember every little detail.
2. Education and Academia: Students and academics can use GTD to organize their study tasks, research projects and deadlines. GTD can be particularly useful for managing workload during periods of high intensity, such as exams or thesis writing.
3. Project and Team Task Management: Project leaders can use GTD to organize team tasks, assign responsibilities and prioritize the work that needs to be done. This can improve team efficiency and ensure that everyone is working toward the same goals.
4. Health and Wellness: GTD can be applied to personal health and wellness goals, such as following an exercise plan, maintaining a healthy diet or practicing mindfulness. By planning and organizing these activities, you can increase the likelihood of meeting your goals.
5. Personal Life and Home: From organizing household chores to planning vacations, GTD can help you manage your personal life responsibilities and projects.

In short, GTD is a method that can be applied to almost any field or situation that involves managing tasks and responsibilities. Its versatility is one of the reasons why it is so popular and effective.