I Love Getting Things Done

I've been hunting for years for the right productivity method to work with my largely right-brained way of doing things. The one I spent the most time with was the Franklin-Covey method. Before I went to seminary, I had a ton of their stuff and had attended both their basic and their project planning training. I know Franklin Covey works well for a lot of people, but my experience is that it works best with those who already think in terms of rigid schedules and plans. I'm not one of those. FC only works if you follow their method exactly, and I simply lose interest after time.

I came across Getting Things Done on Nick Knisely's blog. What caught my eye first was that the method is very popular in the geek community, of which I am a proud member. If geeks like it, it must be adaptable. I ordered the book and flew through it in one night. The things that caught my eye:

1. Flexible - David Allen describes general practices and then gives examples of how people with different styles adopt these practices. It allows for the human differences we all have.
2. Platform agnostic - It does not require special "GTD branded" stuff. It can be used by a technophile or a luddite. You can use paper or electronic means or both. PDA or binder. There is software out there for every platform and some of it is open source. Other methods are web based. Some are based around e-mail clients. It's up to you.
3. It removes stress - the whole point is to set up a system that you can trust so that all information is captured, processed, and comes back when you need to know it, freeing your brain to work on the task at hand instead of worrying that you have forgotten something.
4. Fun - No "nose to the grindstone" philosophy here. If it's boring, you won't use it and it won't help you. He suggests buying an electronic labeler for your file folders not because you can't do it with a pen, but because it adds an element of fun.

The single best suggestion is the "tickler" file, which sounds a whole lot more kinky than it is. It's simply a series of 43 folders labeled for each month and 31 day folders in which you file things you want to look at later. Each day you open the days folder and put the contents in your "in" box. Ingenious and simple.

I have spent the last couple of weeks getting my workflow down. Here's what my setup looks like:

Capture devices:

Palm Tungsten T5 PDA - I use the Notepad function to scribble quick notes that I later process as part of my inbox. Maintains calendar, contact and to-do lists.
Notepad - I take a letter-sized notepad to meetings. Afterwards, the notes are torn off and put into my inbox for processing.
Inbox - Just a standard office box that all paper and snail mail goes into for processing.
Mail - Apple's mail.app customized with Mail Tags and Mail Act-On as described by Hawk Wing. I also use an Applescript to run an e-mail tickler file.

Processing:

Standard multi-color file folders - for my physical "tickler" file, project files, reference files and portable files. Multiple colors are more fun.
Brother PT-80 Personal Labeler - Keeps my files organized.
Omnigroup's Omnioutliner Pro with KGTD template - organizes my projects and to-do lists, integrates them with iCal and my Palm PDA.
Wenger briefcase - Keeps my traveling files organized and my laptop safe.

I will be perfecting this system for years, I would guess. But after two weeks, I find my stress level is down and my confidence that I am not "missing anything" has gone up. Everything is being captured and classified. I highly reccomend this system. If you don't like it all, there are probably elements that everyone can benefit from.

David+

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Further information:

"Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity" (David Allen)

Blogs: 43 Folders, Lifehacker, Hawkwings

Technorati Tags: GTD, Productivity

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