To be honest I’ve never gotten around to purchasing the book. I have, however, read hundreds of articles regarding GTD (Getting Things Done), popularized as a great tool to boost your productivity. You can purchase all kinds of nifty gadgets that help you stay more organized, keep a cleaner workspace, etc.
I’ve also come across a lot of feedback from people that just don’t get GTD. It gets complicated. That being said, there are some staggering insights that I’ve collected from the web (and use myself) to increase your productivity without initiating the specific GTD system.
Here are five essential GTD methods that, when applied on a daily basis, can help boost your productivity and efficiency levels significantly – keeping you ahead in the game.
“Some give up their designs when they have almost reached the goal; while others, on the contrary, obtain a victory by exerting, at the last moment, more vigorous efforts than ever before.” -Herodotus
1. The Two-Minute Rule
If you can police yourself with this rule you’ll be amazed at how much more you get done in your day. Basically, process things immediately. When something comes to mind that you know you need to get done – ask yourself, could I finish this in two-minutes ( if you have more free time, five-minutes) – or could I make significant progress on this in a short time frame? If you can, do it immediately – without question. You’ll be amazed at the menial tasks that can get done in this time frame and how much better you’ll feel for it.
2. Write everything down
Or use your favorite handheld device to do so. One of the best pieces advice my dad (tried) to instill in me at a young age was to keep a list of everything you need to do (see tip #5). Like anything else, this needs to become a habit. Creative ideas, tasks and reminders pop in and out of our head all day – it is vital to write them down to be able to recall later. You won’t remember everything on your own. Keep different lists for different categories, ex: things you want to do someday – things you need to get done today (see tip#5) – or even goals you want to achieve.
3. Schedule only mandatory things
I’ve had lists that go on for pages and I used to try to schedule every minute of my day around everything I wanted to do – overwhelming. Another great GTD insight is to only schedule that which you absolutely have to do. Lunch appointments, business meetings, homework assignments – leave everything else off of the calendar. Keep your schedule as simple as you can and you’ll feel much better for it.
4. See your problems as projects
Another amazing tool I came across is to train our brains to perceive our life ‘problems’ as ‘projects’ we can attack. So often we get stuck in the spinning wheel of problems that we forget we’re the ones not doing anything about it. Attack your problems as you would a project. Start thinking logically instead of emotionally. What can I do to remedy this? What steps am I going to need to take to finish this project? Write them down, and execute.
5. Change your to-do list to a ‘next action’ list
You may have 30 things you need to get done in the day and a arbitrary list to prove it. The next time you make your to-do list, think about it in terms of what your next physical action is going to be to get it done – and organize them in this fashion. Your day will become more logical. You’re not going to do laundry during lunch, so put it where it should logically be in your next action list. Things get done much more efficiently and you feel a general sense of more control over what can seem a daunting list.
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