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This article is about the book by David Allen. For other uses, see Getting Things Done (disambiguation).
Getting Things Done (commonly abbreviated as GTD) is an action management method of The David Allen Company, registered trademarks of The David Allen Company, and the title of the book which describes the method by David Allen.[1]
GTD rests on the principle that a person needs to move tasks out of the mind by recording them somewhere. That way, the mind is freed from the job of remembering everything that needs to be done, and can concentrate on actually performing those tasks. What distinguishes GTD from other time- or action-management systems is the idea of grouping tasks by the context (defined as a place or set of available resources) in which they are to be performed.
How does GTD work?
GTD is strictly defined by David Allen on his website [1]. Unlike other time management experts, Allen does not begin by emphasizing setting priorities. Instead, he promotes two key elements in time management — control and perspective. Allen advocates three major models for gaining control and perspective:
1. A workflow process
2. A framework with 6 levels of focus
3. A natural planning method
The first major model is the workflow process, which is used to gain control over all the tasks and commitments which one needs or wants to get done.[2]:20 The workflow process consists of five distinct phases:
1. Collect
2. Process
3. Organize
4. Review
5. Do
While one is processing tasks, Allen suggests that any new task which can be completed in less than two minutes should be done immediately.
Allen uses an airplane analogy to illustrate his second major model, 6 different levels of focus, and give perspective on tasks and commitments. These 6 levels of focus, from the bottom up, are [2]:51 :
1. Current actions
2. Current projects
3. Areas of responsibility
4. Yearly goals
5. 5 year vision
6. Life goals
The bottom level — your current to do list — is at "runway" height, and the top level — Life Goals — is at 50,000 feet, with the other 4 areas of focus at various heights between the two. Considering projects, actions, open loops, and other "input" from a variety of "heights" gives one varying perspective.
Allen strongly advocates doing a weekly review process which utilizes the different levels of focus. The perspective gained from utilizing these different levels of focus should drive one's priorities, which in turn determines the priority of when and if one is to do the particular individual tasks and commitments gathered during the workflow process. During this weekly review, the user also determines the context for the tasks and places them on the appropriate lists. Examples of grouping together similar tasks include making a list of telephone calls to make or errands to do while downtown. Context lists can be defined by the set of tools available or by the presence of individuals or groups for whom one has items to discuss or present.
Allen expects that the first two models are sufficient most of the time to gain control and perspective on the majority of tasks and projects. However, there are some cases in which more involved planning and thinking are necessary.[2]:54 This leads to the third major model, which is the natural planning method. While the workflow model has a "horizontal" focus on doing individual tasks, the natural planning method has a "vertical" focus on planning projects and thinking through topics.
The planning model consists of 5 stages which are:
1. Defining the purpose
2. Envisioning the outcome
3. Brainstorming
4. Organizing
5. Identifying next actions
The psychology of GTD is based on making it easy to store, track and retrieve all the information related to the things you need to get done. Allen suggests that many of the mental blocks we encounter in regard to doing certain activities are caused by insufficient 'front-end' planning (i.e., for any project we need to clarify what is to be achieved and what specific actions are needed to achieve it). It is most practical, according to Allen, to do this thinking in advance, generating a series of actions which we can later undertake without any further planning.
Allen also contends that our mental "reminder system" is rather inefficient and seldom reminds us of what we need to do at the time and place that we can do it. Consequently, the "next actions" stored by context in the "trusted system" act as an external support which ensures that we are presented with the right reminders at the right time. There are many associated personal management tips and tricks detailed in Getting Things Done which can be useful for implementing the workflow described by Allen.
A capsule description of GTD from Allen's book Ready for Anything:
“Get everything out of your head. Make decisions about actions required on stuff when it shows up — not when it blows up. Organize reminders of your projects and the next actions on them in appropriate categories. Keep your system current, complete, and reviewed sufficiently to trust your intuitive choices about what you're doing (and not doing) at any time.”
Principles
The core principles of GTD are:
Collect
Capture everything that is necessary to track, remember, or act on in what Allen calls a bucket: a physical inbox, an email inbox, a tape recorder, a notebook, a PDA, or any combination of these. The idea here is to get everything out of one's head and into a collection device, ready for processing. All buckets should be emptied (processed) at least once per week.
Allen doesn't advocate any preferred collection method, leaving the choice to the individual. He only insists upon the importance of emptying the "buckets" regularly. Any storage space (physical inbox, email inbox, tape recorder, notebook, PDA, etc) that is inspected regularly by the individual is acceptable.
Process
When processing an inbox, a strict workflow is followed:
- Start at the top.
- Deal with one item at a time.
- Never put anything back into 'in'.
- If an item requires action:
- Do it (if it takes less than two minutes), OR
- Delegate it, OR
- Defer it.
- If an item does not require action:
- File it for reference, OR
- Throw it away, OR
- Incubate it for possible action later.
If it would take less than 2 minutes to do something, just do it immediately. Two minutes is a guideline, roughly the time it would take to defer the action formally.
Allen describes a suggested set of lists which can be used to keep track of items awaiting attention:
- Next actions — For every item requiring attention, decide what is the next action that can be physically taken on that item. For example, if the item is, "Write project report," the next action might be, "Email Fred for meeting minutes," or, "Call Mary to ask about report requirements." Though there may be many steps and actions required to complete the item, there will always be something that needs to be done first, and this step should be recorded in the next actions list. Preferably, these steps are organized by the context in which they can be done, such as "in the office," "by the phone," or "at the store."
- Projects — Every open loop in one's life or work which requires more than one physical action to achieve becomes a project. These projects are tracked and periodically reviewed to make sure that every project has a next action associated with it, and thus can be moved forward.
- Waiting for — When an action has been delegated to someone else, or when one is waiting for some external event before a project can be moved forward, this is tracked in the system and periodically checked to see if action is due, or a reminder needs to be sent.
- Someday/Maybe — Things to be done at some point, but not right now. Examples might be "learn Chinese," or, "take diving holiday."
A calendar is important for keeping track of appointments and commitments; however, Allen specifically recommends that the calendar be reserved for the hard landscape: things which absolutely have to be done by a particular deadline, or meetings and appointments which are fixed in time and place. To-do items should be reserved for the next action lists.
A final key organizing component of GTD is the filing system. A filing system must be easy, simple and fun. Even a single piece of paper, if needed for reference, should get its own file if it doesn't belong in an existing folder. Allen suggests a single, alphabetically organized filing system, in order to make it as quick and easy as possible to store and retrieve the needed information.
Review
The lists of actions and reminders will be of little use if not reviewed at least daily, or whenever possible. Given the time, energy and resources available at that particular moment, decide what is the most important thing to be doing right now, and do it. If one is inclined to procrastinate, one may end up always doing the easy tasks and avoiding the difficult ones. To solve this, one can decide to do the actions of the list one by one, following their order, just like processing an inbox.
At least weekly, the discipline of GTD requires that all your outstanding actions, projects and 'waiting for' items are reviewed, making sure that any new tasks or forthcoming events are entered into your system, and that everything is up to date. Allen suggests the creation of a "tickler file" in order to help refresh one's memory each week with the outstanding tasks and projects.
Do
Any organizational system is no good if all the time is spent organizing tasks instead of actually doing them. David Allen's contention is that if one can make it simple, easy, and fun to take the necessary actions, one will be less inclined to procrastinate or become overwhelmed with too many 'open loops'.
Tools and techniques
Tickler file
One device that Allen suggests is the tickler file for organizing your paperwork (also known as the '43 folders'). Twelve folders are used to represent each month and an additional 31 folders are used to represent each day. The folders are arranged to help remind you of activities to be done that day. Each day you open to the numbered folder representing today's date. You take all the items out of the folder and put the empty folder into the next month. This sort of management allows you to file hardcopy reminders to yourself. For instance, if you had a concert on the 12th of the month, you would store the tickets in the 12th folder, and when the 12th came around, they would be there waiting for you.
Software tools for GTD
Software tools were specifically suggested by Allen as helpful and important for implementing GTD, including digital outlining, brainstorming, and project planning applications. However, in 2001, Allen bemoaned the general lack of "good 'project management' tools," concluding:
... less structured and more functional applications will emerge in the coming years, based on the ways we naturally think and plan.[3]
Since then there has been a virtual explosion of GTD-supporting software, fulfilling that prediction and underscoring the influence of GTD on the world of time management. Much of this software specifically supports Getting Things Done methodology by simplifying or automating the collecting, processing, organizing, reviewing, and doing of tasks and projects. In fact, as of December 2007, at least 69 software tools for a wide range of platforms and devices are noted as directly supporting GTD to one extent or another. (See Comparison of GTD Software.) These software tools range from simple list managers for individuals to web-based applications for teams, both free and commercial, for nearly all popular platforms and devices, with features ranging from keyboard shortcuts to computer-assisted prioritization of tasks and projects.
Reception
In 2005 Wired Magazine called GTD "A new cult for the info age," describing the enthusiasm for this methodology among Information Technology and knowledge workers as a kind of cult following. Allen's ideas have also been popularized through the internet, especially via blogs.
Some followers of GTD advocate a 'back-to-basics' approach to personal management, and a rejection of over-engineered, high-tech solutions in favor of simple, inexpensive tools such as the Hipster PDA, NextActionCards, or even the Moleskine paper pad. However, David Allen himself is a happy user of a Palm PDA. In his FAQ he says he uses the software it came with and records "events of the day" on paper to be processed later.
In 2005, Ben Hammersley interviewed David Allen for The Guardian, with an article called Meet the man who can bring order to your universe, saying "For me, as with the hundreds of thousands around the world who press the book into their friends' hands with fire in their eyes, Allen's ideas are nothing short of life-changing."
In 2007 Time Magazine called Getting Things Done the self-help business book of its time, a contrast to the notion that GTD has only a niche following of zealous enthusiasts.
In 2007 Wired ran a long article about GTD and Allen, quoting him as saying "the workings of an automatic transmission are more complicated than a manual transmission, [t]o simplify a complex event, you need a complex system." The author, Gary Wolf dug into the roots of GTD, covering Allen's stay in a mental hospital and his encounter with several New Age gurus, including Sri John-Roger who created the Movement of Spiritual Inner Awareness, a church of which Allen is still a minister.
References
^ Getting Things Done and GTD are registered trademarks of the David Allen Company.
^ a b c Allen, David (2001). Getting things done : the art of stress-free productivity. New York: Viking. ISBN 9780670889068.
^ GTD (2001) p. 219-221.
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