Getting Stuff Done

[cjsmith]

I recently borrowed David Allen's book Getting Stuff Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity from the library. I have some gripes about the book, but it had one true gem of an idea. If I can just get that one idea going my annoyance will be worth it.

Allen's first big point is that we spend way too much time thinking about, and stressing over, our "stuff we need to do". Our minds aren't good at reminding us that we need a new faucet when we're driving past the hardware store; they remind us when we're in front of the sink, when we can't do squat about it. Oh, and when we're falling asleep, too. And when we're in a long meeting.

Here's the gem: We can STOP this waste of energy. All we have to do is write down what we need to do -- all of it, there's challenge number one -- and train our reminder-obsessed brain to trust that we'll check the list, which is of course challenge number two.

After you spend an afternoon or so writing down an incredible amount of crap, the whole rest of the book focuses on the management of what you've written (challenge number two above).

So I'm trying it out. I wrote down everything. Each thing had its own sheet of paper. The stack was about three inches thick. That night, when I fell asleep, I had room in my head for an earworm... for the first time in ages. Whoa.

I know a couple of people on my friends list are looking at (or have been using for a while) this system also. *wave*


The two grumbles I have about Getting Things Done are:

1) The book is packed with jargon. What's this "horizontal" and "vertical" crap? Where does he define "open loop"? Why do we need to think about a "runway"? What's so wrong with the phrase "areas of responsibility" that it needs the code number "20,000 feet"? Yeesh! Fortunately, this doesn't have to stop me if I just get the book outta my house and don't read it again.

2) Way, WAY too complex a system downstream of the "in" box. Allen argues that every piece of this system is necessary, and that blurring the lines between them will undermine the effectiveness of the whole. I find it very hard to believe that it can't be managed more simply. He may be right, but I'm going to try first to see if I can use something easier to manage.


Right now I am working with a simplified system. My current needs are
- A calendar, keeping track of appointments that will happen at a specific time
- A Review Daily list/folder, with stuff that's high priority for me to do real soon
- A Review Weekly folder, with stuff that I'm okay with letting slip for a while
- A Someday/Maybe folder, which I review monthly, containing long-term projects that I may or may not choose to activate next time I see them

That is IT. I made a tickle file and it's mostly a pain in the ass.

Comments

[just-cyd.livejournal.com]

ooh, i'm glad you shared this. i have an out-of-control mental list of stuff to do to/around my house. everything from "replace burnt-out lightbulb" to "shop for new patio door" and "re-arrange living room"

i like the each-item-gets-its-own-sheet thing, too. then i could make notes to my little heart's desire, and not mess up other things on the to-do list.

finding a home for these lists would be a good thing, too. my lists keep turning up in odd places (the hallway - thanks kitties - or the laundry, for example).

[ambar.livejournal.com]

I didn't make a tickler file initially. I only made it when the pain of not being able to do something with the paper stuff that came in the mail, that I really wanted to tickle, outweighed the nuisance value of checking the tickler file daily. Although I still don't make a whole lot of use of it (my life is much more electronic than paper), I really rejoice in somewhere to drop the OSF pre-sale notice, a reminder to check out whether I want to pay for US Rider coverage, and plane tickets.

His jargon ... well, what bothers me about it is that it seems to be speaking management's language, which I reflexively associate with "fluffy" (with a strong implication of "useless"), while providing something that is the opposite of "fluffy" (because it damn well works).

One of my minor grumbles is how much his system is tuned for the "road warrior". Then again, I live in two places, manage work and school and ... yeah, contexts are useful. Even if you only need two.

There is an "advanced flow" PDF floating around (not one of the drawings in the book), which is as much of a one-page summary as is possible to get on a page. I have one copy posted at work and one at home.

Where I get predictably, horribly stuck is processing my inbox. Yes, an empty inbox is a glorious, freeing thing, but I find it a copper-plated bitch to maintain.

[ambar.livejournal.com]

In that last paragraph, I meant "email inbox". Paper inbox is no trouble (well, at home has been rough b/c I can only process on weekends, but normally not a problem if managed daily.)

Also, the one item on a sheet is intended to divorce the process of initial collection from decisions about how to organize your stuff. If it floats your boat, by all means keep it, but I think shuffling through all those papers so I can decide what to do next would make me go mad in white linen in 12 hours or less. Me for lists. (I like a href="http://www.llamagraphics.com/">Life Balance for list management. You may know one or more of the team at Llamagraphics, too.)

[layer.livejournal.com]

i have to say my weekly lists on LJ have made a huge difference in my ability to get things done and my ability to clear my head so i have space to do them.

the best thing for me about lj is that because i have my treo with unlimited wireless access i can check it from anywhere. and i do. because i'm totally addicted to LJ (bonus number two).

[lkeele.livejournal.com]

It's the second challenge I've never met.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

I too had an out-of-control mental list. I had no idea how much stuff was floating around in there, with my brain trying to take care of it, until I wrote it all down.

I got a bit of wisdom from Ann a while back. Don't remember where she said she was quoting from. "It is too easy to add something to the To Do list." She's right. All you have to do is say "oh, wouldn't it be nice if", and we humans excel at that! One nice thing about this system is that once you've written it down, you then have to make a decision: do this now? put it in a "someday/maybe" pile? look at it next week? Once a thing is in my Look At It Next Month pile, I've agreed with myself that I don't have to do squat about it THIS month. Stress source gone for thirty days! :-)

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure whether I'm meeting it yet either. This is the closest I've come.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

That Treo sounds like a nifty thing. Rob has one and loves it. I'm verrrry tempted.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

My personal email inbox is aaaaawwwwwful. At work I'm doing pretty well right now -- this morning I have twenty messages, a recent high-water mark, and it's usually something like four -- but wow, at home, forget it. :-/

Thanks for the recommendation of Life Balance. That's the second one I've gotten. (The first was one, maybe two years ago, but I remember.) I don't know that I know anyone on the team, but you may be right that I do know them. If that parses. :-)

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Mmm, yeah, maybe I just have to wait on that tickler concept. I suppose right now it'd be easy to implement a modified one: one folder per month. Once a thing arrives on the within-a-month horizon it can go in a Review Daily or Review Weekly category.

I think the thing that bothers me most about jargon is that it obscures the message. Say what you MEAN, people! I know it's hard but it's worth it! Gah, I'm a literalist geek. :-)

Is this ("Advanced Workflow") the PDF you mean? I like its icons. I wish I could easily edit it to match my feeble attempts at implementation.

[ambar.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that's the one.

[ambar.livejournal.com]

samalone, wmeeks, and I forget Caroline's Athena ID but I think she was another.

[ambar.livejournal.com]

I started by training myself to check my calendar (on my PDA) morning and evening. I also have a list of things I want to do every morning and evening, and those are in LB. Checking the lists in between those times follows fairly naturally.

[sunnydale47.livejournal.com]

Our minds aren't good at reminding us that we need a new faucet when we're driving past the hardware store; they remind us when we're in front of the sink, when we can't do squat about it.

Ohhh, this is me, big time. I only remember to do things when I can't do them. It's very frustrating. But I don't remember to look at the long, largely outdated list in my PDA, either. It's more like walking around in a (fibro)fog than simply forgetting. And unwillingness to face the more unpleasant tasks, like fighting with the car dealer about the windshield and the door lock (which I still haven't done =sigh= ).

But you're always giving me inspiration. I'm on freecycle (and I'm the owner of a group!), I've gotten rid of a few things and know how to get rid of more when I get that round tuit, and now I think I'll try again with the to-do list instead of trying to keep it all in my head and writing random notes to myself so I can get to sleep and then not finding them in the morning!

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

So far I have "review-daily" lists (one thing per sheet, still -- I may change that) at home and at work. Since I am only in one place at a time, I don't mind having separate systems. If I think of a home-item while at work, I write it down and put it in the to-bring-home corner with my purse and suchlike. So far it feels a little clunky, but manageable. Having the lists in LB on my PDA might make it a lot less clunky.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Huh - those names don't seem familiar. I wonder if I'm losing memories of that time or whether I simply didn't get to know those people.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

But I don't remember to look at the long, largely outdated list in my PDA, either.

Yeah, I think the big problem with having eeeeeeverything in one list is that it's so unwieldy you have to avoid it. Maybe if you had a list called "Next Couple Of Days", one called "This Month Or So", one called "Someday", and one called "Errands", they'd all be smaller (except Someday) and you could get at 'em easier? I think that's the idea in Getting Things Done, anyway. I guess I'll find out!

But you're always giving me inspiration.

Wow, that is the coolest thing I've heard in ages! Yay! Hey, I didn't know you were the owner of a freecycle group. Way cool. I've so far avoided any position of responsibility. ;-)

[ambar.livejournal.com]

Having the lists on my PDA means that I have them anywhere, and this is good and useful, if not made of chocolate. But when I'm doing heavy thinking, or am at a computer anyway, I much prefer using the LB desktop program. The tiny PDA screen is awkward for viewing the "big picture" and moving things around.

[ambar.livejournal.com]

They weren't SIPB core, but ISTR -- maybe from Assassin's Guild.

[redgrrl.livejournal.com]

Finally got to this post -- I don't know how I missed in the first place (but I'm doing my weekly sweep of the e-mail inbox, so here you are! :).

I hate the jargon too, and skipped most of that part of the book anyway. I don't need the pep talk, thanks! :)

I like the idea of "hard edges" and having a folder near the computer for that stuff, one in the car for errands, one near the phone for calls. Maybe I won't need that as I go further along, but it does insure that less things slip through the cracks. I like the workflow diagram -- it gets as much info on a page as possible. If you have Acrobat, you can probably tweak it...

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

I do have one in the car for errands - that's an idea that works for me. Anywhere I am I'm near a phone or a computer :-)

Maybe I'll print the workflow diagram...