Getting things done - A narrative summary

GETTING THINGS DONE

By David Allen

A Narrative Summary

PRESENTED BY

Abhinav Aditya Arun

Dipak Niharika

WHY IS STRESS LEVEL RISING?

1. Work no longer has any clear boundaries

2. Our lives and our jobs are constantly changing

3. Old time management techniques do not accommodate the rigors of the modern day workplace

4. Too many day-to-day, hour-to-hour commitments distract us from the primary focus

What must this system do?

• Couple big picture thinking with the smallest of open details

• Manage multiple tiers of priorities

• Maintain control over hundreds of new inputs daily

• Save more time than time spent in maintenance

The system should make it easier to “GET THINGS DONE”

You must be shapeless, formless, like water. When you pour water in a cup, it becomes the cup. When you pour water in a bottle, it becomes the bottle. When you pour water in a teapot, it becomes the teapot. Water can drip and it can crash. Become like water my friend.

Bruce Lee

Basics for managing commitments

• Capture all open loops in a system outside your mind

• Clarify your commitment and what tasks you must do

• Keep reminders and review each task in a trustworthy system

TWO BASIC COMPONENTS OF GTD

Defining what “DONE” is-THE OUTCOME-

Defining what “DOING” is

-THE ACTION-

#1 #2

HENCE A BOTTOM-UP APPROACH IS MORE EFFECTIVE

Your mind is a focusing tool, not a storage space

5 stages of Getting Something Done• CAPTURE what has our attention

• CLARIFY what each item means

• ORGANIZE the results

• REFLECT on our options

• ENGAGE with the best suitable option

5 stages of handling a messy kitchen• Identify the stuff that doesn’t belong where it is

• Determine what to keep and what to throw away

• Put things where they need to go

• Check your recipe book, along with ingredients and utensils

• Select a recipe and start cooking

The biggest reason people are unable to stay organized is that they try to attempt all the 5

stages at once

Physical In-TrayWriting Paper and Pads

Digital and Voice Note takingE-mail and Texting

Technology integration

Tools for capture

Get it all out of your headMinimize Capture locations

Empty Capture tools regularly

Capturing incompletes

For actionable items….

• List all your projects

• Collect and categorize reference material

• Enter calendar reminders for things happening on a specific day

• Prepare a “Next Actions” list for all deferred items

…then group the non-actionable ones• Get rid of the “trash”

• Incubated items fall into two categories:1. Someday/Maybe- Projects not to be done now but later2. Tickler system – Projects that need to be done at a

specific point in future

• File reference material categorically

1. Calendar2. Next Action Lists

3. Projects Lists4. Waiting for lists

5. Someday/Maybe Lists

Priority of pending tasks

Process all your “stuff”Review your systems

Update your listsGet clear, current and

complete

Review your lists

THE FOUR CRITERIA MODEL

• Identify the context in which the task must be done

• Calculate the time available to you

• Calculate the energy available to you

• Engage with tasks on priority basis

This model helps you choose actions in the moment

THE THREEFOLD MODEL

• Doing pre-defined work

• Doing work as it shows up

• Defining your work

This model helps identify daily tasks

SIX LEVEL MODEL

• Ground level : Current actions• Horizon 1: Current projects• Horizon 2: Areas of focus and accountabilities• Horizon 3: Goals• Horizon 4: Vision• Horizon 5: Purpose and Principles

This model helps you determine priorities

Key ingredients of relaxed control

• Clearly defined outcomes and the next actions required to move them towards closure

• Reminders placed in a trusted system reviewed regularly

This is known as horizontal focus

Sometimes, you need greater rigor and focus to get a project or situation under control, to identify a solution

or to ensure that all the right steps have been determined.

This is where vertical focus comes into play

THE NATURAL PLANNING MODEL

1. Defining your purpose and principles2. Outcome visioning3. Brainstorming4. Organizing5. Identifying next actions

The unnatural planning model

This is attempting to come up with a good idea before defining your purpose, creating a vision and collecting

lots of initial bad ideas

This is likely to lead to creative constipation

The Reactive Planning model

This is resisting planning meetings, presentations and strategic operations till the last minute

As MBA students…we are all too familiar with this

Let us delve a little deeper into the five phases of the natural planning model

01 Defining purpose & principles

Purpose provides the juice and the direction while principles define the parameters of action and the criteria for excellence of conduct

02 Outcome Visioning

When we focus on something it generates ideas and thought patterns that were otherwise not possible

Something extraordinary happens in our minds when we create and focus a clear picture of what we want

03 Brainstorming

Always write down or capture these ideas in an external way. This helps boost productive output and thinking

External brainstorming not only helps capture original ideas but helps generate new ones as well

Look I’m going to give you as many ideas as you feel you can effectively use. If you are not collecting them in some trusted way, I wont give you that many. But if you are actually doing something with the ideas- even if it’s just recording them for later evaluation- then here, have a bunch! And oh wow! That reminds me of another one and another…

SincerelyYour Brain

04 Organizing

• Identify significant pieces

• Sort by sequences/priorities

• Detail to the required degree

05 Identifying next actions

• Decide on the next actions for each of the “moving parts”

• Decide on the next action in the planning process (if any)

If you need more clarity at any stage, shift your thinking up the

scale

If more action is needed at any stage, move down the model

Navigating the model

Time

Create a block of time to organize everything

Set aside two consecutive days to get startedPreferably weekends

Space

• Set up space at workplace, home and in transit that are identical• Don’t share your space• Eg:- Use cloud computing

Tools 3 paper holding trays Stack of letter size paper Pen/Pencil Paper clips Binder clips Stapler Staples Scotch tape Rubber bands Automatic labeler File folders Calendar Wastebasket Recycling bin A-Z filing system

Collection: Corralling your Stuff

• Gather all things before ‘processing’ and ‘organizing’• Paperwork, business cards, notes …• Mental ‘mind sweep’ to detect anything in ‘psychic RAM’• Don’t worry and focus on quantity• Don’t leave items in the in box’ for too long• Move on to the next step

Focus on the Next Action required to move forward

Big projects have many steps.

Just focus on the very next physical action you need to do to move the project forward

The key is not to focus on everything that has to be done (that’s a great way to freak yourself out)

It may be looking up a piece of information, making a phone call, or accomplishing the smallest of the task.

Whatever it is, it’ll move you closer to completing the project.

Focus only on what you can do right now.

After collecting everything, you need to process it.

You should:• Trash what you don’t need.• Complete any less-than 2 minute actions.• Delegate stuff you can’t complete to others.• Sort into your own organizing system reminders for actions that will take more

than two minutes.• Identify any larger commitments, or projects, that you have.• Identify things to save for later and use as reference material only.

How to do it ??

Here are the rules of processing:

• Process one item at a time• If it takes less than two minutes,

do it now• Never put anything back into 'in'

For every item, one of the following must be done:

Identify the next action to be doneThe action must be the absolute next physical thing to do

No next action? Then: trash, incubate or file it in your 'reference system'

Once the action has been decided, do one of the following

Do it

(if requires less than 2 minutes)

Delegate itDefer it (do it later, schedule when & put it in a trusted calendar system)

The Reference System

Having a good reference system is crucialNeed to be within arm's reach

Needs to be quick to file an item (<< 60 seconds) and to find an item

IncubatePut into a calendar that will remind to do the item when appropriate.

Can also use a 'someday/maybe' list if there is no specific time to start the task

Misc Tips• Learn to touch type

• Learn keyboard shortcuts to your programs

IncubatePut into a calendar that will remind to do the item when appropriate.

Can also use a 'someday/maybe' list if there is no specific time to start the task

Misc Tips• Learn to touch type

• Learn keyboard shortcuts to your programs

Allen identifies 7 basic categories of things you have processed and will want to keep track of:

A projects listProject support material Calendared actions Next actions A “waiting for” list Reference materials Someday/Maybe list

The obvious danger in setting a lot of separate

buckets is not review them often enough

(which obviously needs to be done in order for

the system to work)

Project List

List of the ongoing projects.

Unlike other lists, it may be OK to review only once a week.

When concrete steps need to be taken in order to progress, the steps should be copied to the 'next actions list'.

The projects can be organized in different sections (ex: personal, professional).

Project Support Materials

Resources to support project's actions.

Do not use as reminders (use 'next actions', calendar or 'waiting for' instead).

Calendar

Things to be reminded of in the future (such as events, deadlines and periodic reminders)

Putting an item in the calendar does not mean it has to be done;

It is just that attention must be brought on the item at a specific time.

Next Actions List

Organized by context (at home, at work, errands, in person meeting, with boss)

Keep a 'read/review' list, need to have useful things to read at hand whenever there is a little bit of free time

Waiting For

Next actions that are waiting for a trigger (ex: waiting for someone else to complete something).

If there is a known date put in calendar instead.

Reference Material

Items that have no action required

If an action is required, it belongs in an 'action' list that will be reviewed frequently.

It means that it contain important information.

Someday/Maybes

Items that do not need to be done now,

They do not have a specific deadline in the future (if they do, they belong on the Calendar)

but would be nice to get around to do at some point.