Since deactivating my Facebook account (for reasons I will not go into here), I have found the need for an outlet to pontificate on a wide variety of subjects that arouse my interests but few others. Hence, this blog. One such topic of personal interest is the use of technology to increase productivity. But of course, such technology does diddly squat for us without the perspective and context for how to use it. Haven't we all had the experience of downloading some new productivity software and seeing a bunch of cool example pictures showing it populated with user content only to draw a blank when actually trying to put that software to personal use.
That is where, in my humble opinion, David Allen's GTD system can make all the difference. For those of you not in the know, GTD stands for "Getting Things Done" (pretty catchy and to the point, huh?). And Mr. Allen's seminal work elucidating this system of task management is "Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity," which can be found at http://amzn.com/B000WH7PKY
It would be a waste of time for me to go into a lengthy discussion of the GTD system, as several have done this and the book itself is quite an easy read. Instead, I want to discuss how the GTD system has personally affected my mindset for work and life.
I think that one of the things that I never thought about before reading the book is the simple fact of how what Allen (quoting Peter Drucker) calls "knowledge work" is inherently different from the industrialized assembly line factory work most prevalent in the 20th century. Simply put, unlike the assembly line worker whose work consists of performing a series of repetitive tasks, the knowledge worker has the sometimes overwhelming job of having to determine and define just what is his or her job in the first place. We are usually given an overarching objective, but not given a step-by-step account of how to achieve that objective. That is partly due to the fact that in the world of knowledge work there is rarely a "one best way" in any case and opinions often differ. Of course, this gives knowledge workers a great deal of empowerment, independence and opportunities for creative thinking, which is precisely why knowledge workers are often passionate about their professional lives and are willing to invest much time and effort to achieve their professional goals. But all of this is for naught if the knowledge worker can't answer one simple question that is the mantra of the GTD system, "What's the next action?"
It is around this one query that Allen developed an entire system for answering it. As Allen so aptly puts it, many of us only do work "when it shows up or when it blows up." The major goal of the GTD system is to prevent the latter so that we aren't constantly finding ourselves in crisis mode, but instead have the ability to do tasks when we are in our best mindset for doing them. In a nutshell, the key is to corral all those little things we need to do, which persistently nag our psyches, into a system that we can regularly review. This way, you are always current on what has to get done now as opposed to what you may wish to put off to another day. This allows you to do tasks when you are in the best possible mindset for them and without being worried that you're letting something get by you. This is important because some days you may just not have the mental strength or desire to make that difficult phone call, deal with that difficult person or sort through a complex task. But if you've broken down all your big tasks, into smaller bites, you might find a few low energy or busy work type of tasks to get you through the end of the day. This is what true productivity is all about, getting the most out every minute while doing so on your terms. But you can only do this with a clear conscience if you know that that thing that you're putting off today isn't a ticking time bomb that's going to blow up on you when you walk through the door tomorrow morning.
This all may seem to be obvious, but, of course, there's a big difference between knowing that you need to do something and putting it into practice (just ask all those people who make New Year's resolutions how it's coming along on January 31st). I've gotten pretty good at recording tasks as they come to me, but I still struggle with the essential weekly review that keeps you current. Without them, your lists grow stale, lose their meaning and, perhaps most importantly, you can easily lose track of those ticking time bombs.
But I have also noticed some fundamental differences in my approach to work and thinking about work. One such difference is that I don't like wasting time on having the same thought twice, which is my primary motivation for recording all tasks from the mundane to the consequential. Of course, there's the risk that you might not have the thought again and lose out on a great idea. But another reason is that it's just a great waste of mental energy to have to keep reminding myself about things when I can put them in a trusted system that I regularly review instead. This probably, more than anything else, keeps me going forward in trying to master the GTD principles in my work and personal life.
My goal is to get myself to the point that I never find myself pondering over the question, "what's the next action," but instead am able to smoothly transition from one task to another with the firm knowledge that what I'm doing in the moment is what I should be doing, especially when that thing is taking a well deserved lunch break.
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