David Allen's "Getting Things Done" in Terms of Being More Focused

Who have been bombarded with so many thoughts in their mind? Raise your hand!

We’ll not going to go through what kind of thoughts these are don’t worry. But I want to pinpoint that sometimes most of these “extra” thoughts that enter into our minds even when we’re in the middle of doing something are good thoughts. They are ideas that you had last week, or last month, or have been lurking at the back of your minds for months now. They are good ideas. We want to start this project, we want to travel the world and blog about it, we want to buy a new car, we want to write this book and so on and so forth.

That’s why I love David Allen’s methodology so much. One of David Allen’s methodologies is the Someday/Maybe category. In this category we list down all of our aspirations/goals/projects etc. Then we forget about it.

Forget about it? What?! are you crazy?! I want to do those things! They’re my passion!

Wait!

These things are future things. And you are in the present. 

You should focus on your present to be able to fully focus. Because focus will make you follow through. So if at present you have this project, for example, a stocks trading application that you want to create, since you’ve already determined in yourself that this is the most important and what you most love to do right now then set aside all other aspirations/goals/projects (I’m sure you have more than one aside from the stocks trading application) into the Someday/Maybe category. Then forget about it at this moment. This will help you be more focused on the present moment with actions that correspond to your current goal.

In David Allen’s Getting Things Done book I want to focus my review of why his methodology will help you get more focused and be in the “zone”.

(taken from David Allen's book "Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity". No copyright infringement intended.)

This chart is, in a nutshell, David Allen’s methodology of Stress-Free Productivity.

Two main factors that had me personally experience being more focused is, first, in being able to contain thoughts in my mind and categorize them and put them down on a paper and get them out of my mind. Second, in the way of effectively doing this process.

The chart above tells you how to do this process. The process of getting “stuff” out of your mind and putting them on paper (or digital application) and categorizing them (this goes the same for “stuff” that will come into your mind).

This was my original pen and paper Getting Things Done Planner 7 years ago.

The Process

1.The In-Basket

This is where you put all the “stuff” that comes to you (or is already existing in your mind). They can be actionable or non-actionable items. They can also be physical items. What you do is you gather all of them. List them down on a piece of paper or in a software application. If they are physical put them in a physical basket (e.g. stapler lying around your home office, etc.)

When I started Getting Things Done 7 years ago I was surprised at the amount of “stuff” that had been in my mind. Doing the process helped me clear my mind.

Right now I have many sub-categories inside my Someday/Maybe. Some of them are:· Books to read – which are further categorized into different kind of books. All in all I have 63 books in my Someday/Maybe.
·  Trips I want to go to
· Projects I want to do – I have 97 of them!
· Projects that I want to do (but not as much as the above 97 projects) – I have 27 of them
· Skills I want to acquire – 14 skills
· And other sub-categories
The surprising thing about this experience for me is that by getting them out of my head and putting them in a list and not just a list but doing the process and organizing them the GTD way they don’t bug me anymore. I don’t get distracted because of these “stuff” anymore. I just get to review them from time to time and pick one that I will do next.
Personally this clearing of the mind comes from knowing that you have these “stuff” and you have already listed them down and categorized them. But we’re getting ahead of ourselves right now. Before we talk about organizing these “stuff” let’s put all of them in the In-Basket first.

2. What is it?

This is the start of processing a “stuff” and determining what to do with it. This leads us to number 3 question.

3. Is it Actionable?

Do you need to do something about this “stuff”?

a.     If No, you either trash it (because you no longer need it), you put it in Someday/Maybe category (so that you can refer to it at a later date but it also will help you not get distracted by it.), or you put it in Reference category. Someday/Maybe category can be action items as well but you define them as non-actionable in the present because they are not yet possible to do or you’re not sure yet if you’ll do them (e.g. “have a cruise ship tour” but you don’t have the budget yet or you’re still too busy with work and you won’t be able to do it yet, not even in the coming months).

From time to time I review my lists including my Someday/Maybe category. In David Allen’s book he’ll teach you the importance of regularly reviewing your lists and how to do it effectively. I have moved several Someday/Maybe actionable items to my Next Actions list and have accomplished them. Some Someday/Maybe items I have also deleted already upon reviewing and decided I don’t want to do them anymore.
Having a clear mind is like taking a bath. You have to do it regularly or else you’ll smell. In GTD case, you’ll be messy and disorganized. 

b.    If Yes, you go to the next process

4. What’s the Next Action?

a.     If the “stuff” is a big undertaking and consists of several actions to accomplish you can put them in Projects category. Here you can create project plans which in turn will also be actionable items until you are in the level of detail where you have listed down all the physical actions that you need to take to accomplish the project.

b.    Will it take less than 2 minutes? If yes, then you Do It. Right now.

                                               i.     If no,

1.   You either Delegate It (put it in Waiting For category)

2.   Defer It (either put it in Calendar if it’s date/time specific or put it in Next Actions category)

This process is explained further in David Allen’s book “Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity”. This just scratches the surface and just serves as an introduction and a personal review of the methodology that I have been using for 7 years now. The book also comes with very effective tips and methodologies for planning, for mastering your workflow, for effectively making action choices, successfully accomplishing projects, and many more.

GTD enables me to be efficient because:

- It puts away stuff that should be in someday/maybe out of my mind and lets me focus on the important tasks at hand in the present.

- It helps me feel more confident and assured that what I am doing right now is what I have determined to be doing and it’s important.

- It helps me eliminate FOMO

- It helps me identify effectively what I can do at the moment - based on my energy, time available, place, and priority

- It helps me to be in the “zone”

- It helps me not to be overwhelmed by “stuff” I need/want to do

“work” in GTD doesn’t simply mean work in the strictest sense where you are in the office for example, but “work” also applies to your personal life (like, fetching the kids from school or having your room renovated). Thus, GTD enables you to organize your work life and your personal life as a whole.