đź“• subnode [[@bbchase/getting things done]] in đź“š node [[getting-things-done]]
đź““ garden/bbchase/book notes/Getting Things Done.md by @bbchase
  • [[GTD]]
  • Author:: [[David Allen]]
  • Full Title:: Getting Things Done
  • Category:: [[books]]

  • Highlights first synced by [[readwise]] [[September 2nd, 2020]]

    • As to methods there may be a million and then some, but principles are few. The man who grasps principles can successfully select his own methods. The man who tries methods, ignoring principles, is sure to have trouble. (Location 310)
    • Anxiety is caused by a lack of control, organization, preparation, and action. (Location 323)
    • Healthy skepticism is often the best way to glean the value of what’s being presented—challenge it; prove it wrong, if you can. That creates engagement, which is the key to understanding. (Location 353)
    • Almost every project could be done better, and an infinite quantity of information is now available that could make that happen. (Location 424)
    • The winds and waves are always on the side of the ablest navigators. (Location 497)
    • Imagine throwing a pebble into a still pond. How does the water respond? The answer is, totally appropriately to the force and mass of the input; then it returns to calm. It doesn’t overreact or underreact. (Location 544)
    • Anything that causes you to overreact or underreact can control you, and often does. (Location 553)
    • First of all, if it’s on your mind, your mind isn’t clear. Anything you consider unfinished in any way must be captured in a trusted system outside your mind, or what I call a collection tool, that you know you’ll come back to regularly and sort through. (Location 582)
    • Second, you must clarify exactly what your commitment is and decide what you have to do, if anything, to make progress toward fulfilling it. (Location 584)
    • Third, once you’ve decided on all the actions you need to take, you must keep reminders of them organized in a system you review regularly. (Location 585)
    • describe, in a single written sentence, your intended successful outcome for this problem or situation. (Location 594)
    • write down the very next physical action required to move the situation forward. (Location 597)
    • Even if you’ve already decided on the next step you’ll take to resolve a problem, your mind can’t let go until and unless you park a reminder in a place it knows you will, without fail, look. (Location 639)
    • Here’s how I define “stuff”: anything you have allowed into your psychological or physical world that doesn’t belong where it is, but for which you haven’t yet determined what, exactly, it means to you, (Location 656)
    • Almost all of the to-do lists I have seen over the years (when people had them at all!) were merely listings of stuff, not inventories of the resultant real work that needed to be done. They were partial reminders of a lot of things that were unresolved and as yet untranslated into outcomes and actions—that is, the real outlines and details of what the list maker had to do. (Location 662)
    • if you do not have the energy or focus at the moment to think and decide, it will simply remind you that you are overwhelmed. (Location 667)
    • Instead, the key to managing all of your stuff is managing your actions. (Location 689)
    • Things rarely get stuck because of lack of time. They get stuck because what “doing” would look like, and where it happens, hasn’t been decided. (Location 701)
    • lack of time is not the major issue for them (though they may think it is); the real problem is a lack of clarity and definition about what a project really is, and what associated next-action steps are required. (Location 703)
    • Getting things done requires two basic components: defining (1) what “done” means (outcome) and (2) what “doing” looks like (action). (Location 706)
    • Many executives I have worked with during the day to clear the decks of their mundane stuff have spent the evening having a stream of ideas and visions about their company and their future lifestyle. (Location 722)
    • Most people have been in some version of this mental stress state so consistently, for so long, that they don’t even know they’re in it. Like gravity, it’s ever present—so much so that those who experience it usually aren’t even aware of the pressure. (Location 783)
    • We (1) capture what has our attention; (2) clarify what each item means and what to do about it; (3) organize the results, which presents the options we (4) reflect on, which we then choose to (5) engage with. (Location 801)
    • “When do I need to see what, in what form, to get it off my mind?” (Location 829)
    • Most decisions for action and focus are driven by the latest and loudest inputs, and are based on hope instead of trust. (Location 831)
    • one of the major reasons many people haven’t had a lot of success with getting organized is simply that they have tried to do all five steps at one time. (Location 839)
    • you have to know that you have truly captured everything that might represent something you have to do or at least decide about, and that at some point in the near future you will process and review all of it. (Location 847)
    • you need to capture it into “containers” that hold items in abeyance until you have a few moments to decide what they are and what, if anything, you’re going to do about them. Then you must empty these containers regularly to ensure that they remain viable capture tools. (Location 866)
    • You should have as many in-trays as you need and as few as you can get by with. (Location 908)
    • I define a project as any desired result that can be accomplished within a year that requires more than one action step. (Location 1005)
    • You don’t actually do a project; you can only do action steps related to it. (Location 1024)
    • Your Projects list will be merely an index. (Location 1031)
    • That action needs to be the next physical, visible behavior, without exception, on every open loop. (Location 1045)
    • Three things go on your calendar: time-specific actions; day-specific actions; and day-specific information (Location 1051)
    • constant new input and shifting tactical priorities reconfigure daily work so consistently that it’s virtually impossible to nail down to-do items ahead of time. (Location 1069)
    • if there’s something on a daily to-do list that (Location 1073)
    • doesn’t absolutely have to get done that day, it will dilute the emphasis on the things that truly do. (Location 1073)
    • The item you’ll probably review most frequently is your calendar, (Location 1162)
    • After checking your calendar, you’ll most often turn to your Next Action lists. (Location 1168)
    • Projects, Waiting For, and Someday/Maybe lists need to be reviewed only as often as you think they have to be in order to stop you from wondering about them. (Location 1170)
    • All of your Projects, active project plans, and Next Actions, Agendas, Waiting For, and even Someday/Maybe lists should be reviewed once a week. (Location 1179)
    • The Weekly Review is the time to: Gather and process all your stuff. Review your system. Update your lists. Get clean, clear, current, and complete. (Location 1185)
    • context, time available, energy available, and priority. (Location 1211)
    • most require a specific location (at home, at your office) or having some productivity tool at hand, such as a phone or a computer. (Location 1214)
      • Note: Maybe always having a smartphone at hand has eliminated the reprieve from not being able to do things that require one. There are times you can’t wash the car, clean the bathroom, or practice guitar, so you don’t have to think about them as options. With a smartphone, you can always call, email, write, research, read, text, browse, play...
    • Horizon 5: Purpose and principles Horizon 4: Vision Horizon 3: Goals Horizon 2: Areas of focus and accountabilities Horizon 1: Current projects Ground: Current actions (Location 1246)
    • health, family, finances, home environment, spirituality, recreation, etc. (Location 1261)
    • I’ve found the biggest gap to be the lack of a project-focusing model for the rest of us. (Location 1306)
    • 1  |  Defining purpose and principles 2  |  Outcome visioning 3  |  Brainstorming 4  |  Organizing 5  |  Identifying next actions (Location 1322)
    • Choose one project that is new or stuck or that could simply use some improvement. Think of your purpose. Think of what a successful outcome would look like: where would you be physically, financially, in terms of reputation, or whatever? Brainstorm potential steps. Organize your ideas. Decide on the next actions. (Location 1375)
    • Trying to approach any situation from a perspective that is not the natural way your mind operates will be difficult. People do it all the time, but it almost always engenders a lack of clarity and increased stress. (Location 1387)
    • It defines success. It creates decision-making criteria. It aligns resources. It motivates. It clarifies focus. It expands options. (Location 1428)
    • Just taking two minutes and writing out your primary reason for doing something invariably creates an increased sharpness of vision, much like bringing a telescope into focus. (Location 1452)
    • Simple, clear purpose and principles give rise to complex and intelligent behavior. Complex rules and regulations give rise to simple and stupid behavior. —Dee Hock (Location 1465)
    • A great way to think about what your principles are is to complete this sentence: “I would give others totally free rein to do this as long as they . . .” As long as they what? (Location 1470)
    • Identify the significant pieces Sort by (one or more): components sequences priorities Detail to the required degree (Location 1613)
    • Much of learning how to manage workflow in a masterful way is about laying out the gear and practicing the moves so that the requisite thinking happens more automatically and it’s a lot easier to get engaged in the game. (Location 1736)
    • recommend that you create a block of time to initialize this process and prepare a workstation with the appropriate space, furniture, and tools. (Location 1746)
    • The basics for a workspace are just a writing surface and room for an in-tray, and probably (for most people) space for core digital tools as well. (Location 1774)
    • Paper-holding trays (at least three) A stack of plain letter-size paper A pen/pencil Post-its (3Ă—3"s) Paper clips A stapler and staples Scotch tape Rubber bands An automatic labeler File folders A calendar Wastebasket/recycling bins Current tools being used for data capture, organizing, and to-do lists, including mobile devices, personal computers, and paper-based planners and notebooks (if any) (Location 1828)
    • the tool you use will not give you stress-free productivity. That is something you create by implementing the GTD method. The structure you incorporate will be extremely important in how you express and implement the process, but it is not a substitute for it. (Location 1894)
    • keep in mind that all you really need to do is manage lists. You’ve got to be able to create a list on the run and review it easily and as regularly as you need to. (Location 1898)
    • If it takes longer than a minute to file something in an easily retrievable format, you’ll likely stack it or stuff it somewhere instead. (Location 1941)
    • Keep Your General-Reference Files Immediately at Hand (Location 1952)
    • One Alpha System (Location 1957)
    • This magnifies geometrically the number of places something isn’t when you forget where you filed it. (Location 1959)
    • To find restaurants in London that I like, I go my current general-reference application, where I find “Locales,” then “London,” then “Restaurants”—all alphabetized within each level of abstraction. (Location 1973)
    • The biggest issue for digitally oriented people is that the ease of capturing and storing has generated a write-only syndrome: all they’re doing is capturing information—not actually accessing and using it intelligently. (Location 1974)
    • Make It Easy to Create a New Folder (Location 1982)
    • Label Your File Folders with an Auto Labeler (Location 1999)
    • Things you name, you own. Collected but unnamed stuff owns you. (Location 2003)
    • Wherever items of different character or meaning are piled into the same location, it’s too much work to continually think about the nature of the contents, so your brain will go numb to the pile. (Location 2025)
    • Until you’ve captured everything that has your attention, some part of you will still not totally trust that you’re working with the whole picture of your world. (Location 2056)
    • If you’re not sure what something is or whether it’s worth keeping, go ahead and put it into “in.” You’ll be able to decide about it later, (Location 2123)
    • Clarifying requires a very different mind-set than capturing; it’s best to do them separately. (Location 2125)
    • The objective for the capturing process is to get everything into “in” as quickly as possible so you’re appropriately retrenched and have “drawn the battle lines.” (Location 2127)
    • Process the top item first. Process one item at a time. Never put anything back into “in.” (Location 2437)
    • Process does not mean “spend time on.” (Location 2439)
    • When you’re in processing mode, you must get into the habit of starting at one end and just cranking through items one at a time, in order. As soon as you break that rule and process only what you feel like processing, in whatever order, you’ll invariably begin to leave things unprocessed. (Location 2449)
    • Thinking about the stuff you’ve accumulated usually does not happen naturally, of its own accord. You must apply conscious effort to get yourself to think, like getting yourself to exercise or clean house. (Location 2466)
    • I am rather like a mosquito in a nudist camp; I know what I want to do, but I don’t know where to begin. (Location 2487)
    • I have two ways of dealing with that: When in doubt, throw it out. When in doubt, keep it. Take your pick. I think either approach is fine. (Location 2503)
    • it’s just a matter of physical space and logistics. How big would you like your reference library and toolbox to be? (Location 2508)
    • Too much information creates the same result as too little: you don’t have what you need, when and in the way you need it. (Location 2509) [[managingRoam]]
    • Because digital storage, without much forethought, has become almost automatic, it is very possible to create an environment of constant input but no utilization. You are creating a library so big and overwhelming, you have limited your capacity to make it functional for the work that’s important for you to do. (Location 2518)
    • The key here is the regular reviewing and purging of outdated information, as I suggested in a previous chapter, as well as more conscious filtering on the front end, as you’re processing your input: (Location 2520)
    • What if you say to yourself, “Well, the next thing I need to do is decide what to do about this”? That’s a tricky one. Deciding isn’t really an action, because actions take time, and deciding doesn’t. There’s always some physical activity that can be done to facilitate your decision making. Ninety-nine percent of the time you just need more information before you can make a decision. (Location 2595)
    • The rationale for the two-minute rule is that it’s more or less the point where it starts taking longer to store and track an item than to deal with it the first time it’s in your hands—in (Location 2608)
    • There are seven primary types of things that you’ll want to keep track of and manage from an organizational and operational perspective: A Projects list Project support material Calendar actions and information Next Actions lists A Waiting For list Reference material A Someday/Maybe list (Location 2726)
    • The categories must be kept visually, physically, and psychologically separate, to promote clarity. (Location 2737)
    • All You Really Need Are Lists and Folders (Location 2745)
    • What many want to do, however, based on perhaps old habits of writing daily to-do lists, is put actions on the calendar that they think they’d really like to get done next Monday, say, but that actually might not, and that might then have to be moved to following days. Resist this impulse. (Location 2778)
    • There are three primary areas in which you are likely to have “hidden” projects: Current activities Higher-horizon interests and commitments Current problems, issues, and opportunities (Location 3038)
    • A review of the accountabilities you’re invested in professionally—the things you need to be doing well in your roles at work—and the areas of your life you need to keep up to certain standards will likely trigger some reminders of things that may have been taking some of your attention, for which defining a project about them will be valuable. (Location 3053)
    • Problems Process improvements Creative and capacity-building opportunities (Location 3064)
    • one of the most creative ways to utilize the calendar function is to enter things that you want to take off your mind and reassess at some later date. Here are a few of the myriad things you should consider inserting: Triggers for activating projects Events you might want to participate in Decision catalysts (Location 3346)
    • Events You Might Want to Participate (Location 3356)
    • “Chamber of Commerce breakfast tomorrow?” “Lions football tickets go on sale today” “BBC special on climate change at 8:00 p.m.” “Garden Club tea next Saturday” (Location 3359)
    • It’s OK to decide not to decide—as long as you have a decide-not-to-decide system. (Location 3363)
    • in order to move to a level of OK-ness about not deciding, you’d better put out a safety net that you can trust to get you to focus on the issue appropriately in the future. A calendar reminder can serve that purpose.* (Location 3368)
    • To spark your creative thinking, here’s a list of some of the topics of checklists I’ve seen and used over the years: Job Areas of Responsibility (key responsibility areas) Exercise Regimens (muscle resistance training programs) Travel Checklist (everything to take on or do before a trip) Weekly Review (everything to review and/or update on a weekly basis) Training Program Components (all the things to handle when putting on an event, front to back) Key Clients People to Stay in Touch With (all the people you might want to connect with in your network) Year-end Activities (all the actions for closing up for the time period) Personal Development (things to evaluate regularly to ensure personal balance and progress) Jokes (Location 3477)
    • The people who find it hardest to make time for this review are those who have constantly on-demand work and home environments, with zero built-in time or space for regrouping. (Location 3644)
    • Context Time available Energy available Priority (Location 3721)
    • I recommend that you always keep an inventory of things that need to be done that require very little mental or creative horsepower. When you’re in one of those low-energy states, do those things. (Location 3778)
    • Horizon 5: Life Horizon 4: Long-term visions Horizon 3: One- to two-year goals Horizon 2: Areas of focus and accountability Horizon 1: Current projects Ground: Current actions (Location 3890)
  • Author:: [[David Allen]]
  • Full Title:: Getting Things Done
  • Category:: [[books]]

  • Highlights first synced by [[readwise]] [[September 2nd, 2020]]

    • What are the expected results from this work
      1. | Every open loop must be in your collection system and out of your head.
  1. | You must have as few collection buckets as you can get by with.
  2. | You must empty them regularly.
    • You have to think about your stuff more than you realize but not as much as you’re afraid you might
    • there is no single, once-and-for-all solution
    • once you’ve decided on all the actions you need to take, you must keep reminders of them organized in a system you review regularly
    • you must clarify exactly what your commitment is and decide what you have to do, if anything, to make progress toward fulfilling it.
    • disciplining yourself to make front-end decisions about all of the “inputs” you let into your life so that you will always have a plan for “next actions” that you can implement or renegotiate at any moment
    • You’ve probably made many more agreements with yourself than you realize, and every single one of them—big or little—is being tracked by a less-than-conscious part of you. These are the “incompletes,” or “open loops,” which I define as anything pulling at your attention that doesn’t belong where it is, the way it is
    • Time is the quality of nature that keeps events from happening all at once. Lately it doesn’t seem to be working.
    • Almost every project could be done better, and an infinite quantity of information is now available that could make that happen
    • Imagine throwing a pebble into a still pond. How does the water respond? The answer is, totally appropriately to the force and mass of the input; then it returns to calm. It doesn’t overreact or underreact
    • capturing all the things that need to get done—now, later, someday, big, little, or in between—into a logical and trusted system outside of your head and off your
    • most of the stress people experience comes from inappropriately managed commitments they make or accept
    • getting things done and doing them well
    • the high levels of training in the martial arts teach and demand balance and relaxation as much as anything else. Clearing the mind and being flexible are key
    • Anxiety is caused by a lack of control, organization, preparation, and action. —David Kekich
    • if it’s on your mind, your mind isn’t clear. Anything you consider unfinished in any way must be captured in a trusted system outside your mind, or what I call a collection bucket, that you know you’ll come back to regularly and sort through.
    • No software, seminar, cool personal planner, or personal mission statement will simplify your workday or make your choices for you as you move through your day, week, and life
đź“– stoas
⥱ context
To see links, go up to full node [[getting-things-done]].