A beginner's guide to GTD

What is GTD

Our brain easily comes up with new ideas, but remembering them all is much more difficult for it. For example, he remembers that you need to buy your mom's birthday present next week. Rather than reminding you of this when you walk past her favorite store, your brain will simply make you feel like you should have bought something.

GTD (Getting Things Done) is a technique that helps turn vague ideas, impulses, insights and nocturnal reflections into action. When you learn to rely on this system, your brain will not hold all the information. This will reduce stress, and you will have the strength for more productive activities.

How this technique works

GTD is based on a list system with which you organize whatever comes to your mind. To implement it in your life, you need to record and process the incoming information. In addition, you will need to create such lists: "Inbox", "Next Actions", "Waiting List", "Projects" and "Someday". Anything that requires your attention will first go to the "Inbox" and then go to one of the other lists.

1. Collection

Gather all the information that needs your attention, from the letters you need to answer to the brilliant ideas that come to your mind while you shower. The collection point can be a paper notebook, an attachment, or an email to which you will send letters to yourself.

When you first started using the GTD technique, try to free your head from all the accumulated information. Write down everything that you need or want to do, everything that has occupied you in the last few days or weeks, interfered with your concentration, or was remembered at the wrong moment.

2. Processing

Consider the accumulated information. This is the main rule of the entire system. Do this regularly so that you don't collect too much of it. To process information, ask yourself a series of questions.

Is it solvable? You are asking yourself if something can be done to remove this item from the list. If not, delete it or move it to the Someday list. Save useful information that you don't need to do anything with, such as a recipe or an interesting article, in a separate place. Things that you want to do in the distant future (learn Japanese, write a book), move them to the "Someday" list so that they do not rank among the "Next actions".
Is it possible to complete a case in one step? In GTD, anything that requires more than one step is called a project. If you have multiple related tasks in your Inbox, create a separate project for them. Add its name to your list of projects and select one action to add to "Next".
Will it take more than two minutes? If not, do it right away. It's faster than adding it to your next task list or delegating it to someone else. If it takes more time to complete the task, consider whether only you can do it, or you can delegate it to someone.
Can I delegate it to someone? If so, delegate. When you need to track progress, move the item to the "Waiting List". If you cannot delegate a task, add it to your calendar or to the "Next" list.
Is there a specific deadline? If so, add this to your calendar. Don't write down everything you want to do in a day. Enter only what must be done: a visit to the dentist, a meeting, a flight. If there is no specific deadline, move the case to Next Steps.

3. Organization

Sort everything into place: in one of five lists, in a folder with useful information for the future, in your calendar or in the trash.

Add to the Waiting List any cases that have stalled for some reason. For example, when you cannot proceed until you receive a response to your email, or when you are awaiting delivery. Remember to include the date next to each item.

The Next Steps should have tasks that need to be completed as quickly as possible. Formulate them as doable physical actions, so it will be easier to get down to business. For example, it is better to write down “call Lena and arrange for her to sit with the child on Thursday evening” than “arrange for someone to sit with the child”, although in essence it is the same thing.

Ideally, you should add a context tag to each item in "Next". He will tell you where you should be, with whom, what you need to take with you. For example, you can have tags "shopping", "at work", "with children", "phone", "computer". You can also indicate how much time you have for this case or what priority it has. Then, if necessary, you can quickly sort all cases by tags.

4. Overview

Be sure to check all the lists once a week. The longer you leave things in the Inbox, the more difficult it will be to deal with them later.

One next action must be defined for each project.
Each item on "Next" should be something you want to do in the coming week. Move all unnecessary things to the “Someday” list or delete them altogether.
From time to time, try to move something from the “Someday” list to “Next steps”.

5. Execution

Take action! If you've organized your system correctly, this will be the easiest step. By repeating the first four steps on a regular basis, you will be completely confident that all of the things on the list are necessary for you to make progress and get closer to your goals.