tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22323890901214950722024-03-14T09:00:28.847+00:00Practicing GTDA blog about my journey of using and implementing David Allen's productivity tools from "Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-free Productivity"Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08733402242083400846noreply@blogger.comBlogger29125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2232389090121495072.post-47003926359980242012015-04-20T21:02:00.001+01:002015-04-20T21:02:23.252+01:00Back to bloggingIt's been a long time since I last posted on my blog and I hope that I will be able to get back to posting regularly from now on. <br />
<br />
It has been a very busy and exciting 22 months for me. I gave birth to a little girl at the end of 2013 and my world was turned upsidedown in the nicest possible way! <br />
<br />
After returning to work toward the end of last year, I have been trying to get the best balance between work and home. GTD has been an integral part of ensuring that I can work as productively as possible, and then allowing me to forget about work while at home and be fully present when I spend time with my family. Our little girl is growing and changing so fast that I treasure every moment with her and am so grateful for my system that gives me the freedom to leave all my work behind.Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08733402242083400846noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2232389090121495072.post-4196441108236191332013-07-02T11:38:00.003+01:002013-07-02T11:38:48.394+01:00Managing deadlines and avoiding "last minute" workingI recently had a particularly productive week just before taking time off work for holiday. It got me thinking about how I can use GTD to try to get these productive times to happen more often, rather than just before some time off. <br />
<br />
I have heard David Allen say that many people experience that satisfying feeling of clearing the decks only once a year, before they leave for a holiday. GTD and the weekly review are a way of capturing that feeling every week by allowing you to take the time to clear the decks and gain perspective on your work by stepping back from the daily grind for an hour. It was interesting to compare how I feel at the end of each review to how I felt just before I left for holiday, and it was certainly a similar feeling of relief. <br />
<br />
However, the extra boost in productivity during the week is not something that I find easy to recreate without the "deadline" of taking a week of holiday. I think that many people find that they tend to be a last minute worker and need the pressure of a deadline to get things into gear. I certainly have a tendency to do this and am trying to use GTD to help me to be more willing to get things done earlier, and therefore reduce the stress of having that looming deadline. I use the weekly review to see deadlines ahead of time (often at least 4 weeks) and try to at least get started on items early, even if they are finished closer to the deadline. This approach has certainly reduced my stress levels and given me more thinking time for more complicated projects, something that can be lost if you only start when the deadline is close.<br />
<br />
The satisfaction of the productivity boost and being able to tick off a good number of actions from my lists is something that I hope to hold in my memory to give me the impetus to achieve this again, but without the deadline. It's not realistic to think that I can do this every day of every week - that would lead to burnout - but if I can find a way of entering this mode every so often that would be a great way to push things forward.Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08733402242083400846noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2232389090121495072.post-44665386143011565772013-06-23T21:33:00.000+01:002013-06-23T21:49:33.394+01:00Old and dusty actionsRecently a challenge was started on the GTD Connect forums surrounding "old and dusty" actions. I'm sure we all have these lurking in whatever system we are using to organise our lives - those items that have been sitting on the list for far too long and, for some reason, just haven't been done. The thread was a great nudge for me to get going on some items that had been going stale on my lists for longer than I would like to admit! Months in some cases! <br />
<br />
The silly thing was that once I sat down and just got on with it, the tasks actually didn't take that long and weren't as difficult as I had imagined. It's amazing how often an item can grow in your mind into a far bigger deal than it really is. Taking that step to "just do it" is often not easy but once finished it can give such relief. I was surprised how much some of those relatively innocuous items had been gently annoying me and it felt great to tick them off as done. <br />
<br />
Do you have an item that has been silently nagging at you? Go for it, do it and get some relief!!Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08733402242083400846noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2232389090121495072.post-55401138676617248002013-05-12T11:35:00.000+01:002013-05-12T11:35:22.023+01:00Using incubation listsI am currently experimenting with an incubate list for items that I want to get to soon, but not right now. My lists for work had become too long and I realised a couple of weeks ago that some of the items just didn't have a high enough priority at the moment to be on my regular action lists. The question was where to put them so that I could be sure that they would be reviewed often enough. I had recently read a thread on the GTD Connect forums about incubating to "month X" and placing the list in the tickler to be reviewed at that point. This really made sense to me so I have given the idea a try from April to May. I made the "incubate" list in mid-April and placed it in my tickler for 1st May, with a reminder in outlook to check it on that day. <br />
The list worked really well - I had much tidier and more focused actions for April that really helped me to engage with my lists (see also my <a href="http://www.practicing-gtd.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/fun-with-coloured-paper.html" target="_blank">post on coloured paper</a>!) and could be certain that the items I had incubated would not be forgotten. When 1st May came round I brought out the list, scanned through it and put a couple of the items back onto my action lists. The rest stayed on the incubate list to be looked at in 3 weeks time and went back into the tickler (with the appropriate reminder).<br />
This list is obviously a version of Someday/Maybe, but feels more active. I have always struggled a bit with the Someday/Maybe list. I can see its value and wish that I could utilise it better, but somehow I always feel slightly nervous about it for items that need to done at some point, just not now. I'm very happy to use it for items that I'd like to do, but don't actually matter if I don't get to them.<br />
The incubate list is definitely the best route I have found so far to stay comfortable with that "not now but later" type of list.Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08733402242083400846noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2232389090121495072.post-86787259944113854662013-05-04T16:53:00.000+01:002013-05-04T16:53:41.182+01:00Fun with coloured paper!I often read about the amazing gadgets that people are using to run their GTD system but I'm an old-fashioned type and have been using paper to run my system for at least 2 years now. I find paper works brilliantly for me. A few years ago I had my lists
in excel and they just weren't particularly attractive. I found myself being reticent in wishing to look at them and use them. Paper and pen
is just more comfortable somehow.<br />
I have just reinvigorated my lists at
work by printing lines onto A4 coloured paper and using different
colours for different contexts. It's made them really enjoyable to work
with - a simply change that has made a bigger impact than I expected. I have surprised myself at how much more engaged I feel with the contents of the coloured lists compared to the "boring" white paper lists. The tasks haven't changed at all and yet I am convinced that I have been more interested and productive since the change. The brain works in strange ways! <br />
Aside from just enjoying the look of the colours, the change has a practical purpose which allows me to find my different contexts more quickly, as each has a different colour. I think this has definitely helped me to improve my processing speed. <br />
I guess that sometimes the old saying "a change is as good as a rest" really can ring true. So I would recommend that if your lists are feeling a little stale, then even a small change can help you reconnect and get back on track.Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08733402242083400846noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2232389090121495072.post-21910409688407816962013-04-27T20:40:00.000+01:002013-04-27T20:40:53.137+01:00Changing up contexts<div class="ecxMsoNormal">
While completing my weekly review last week I made a fairly radical change (for me) to the way my lists are managed. As I reviewed my @office list, which had extended to over four pages and was not pleasant to work from, I made the decision to change things up and split the contexts. It's not something I would normally do. The @office has been working well for me for a couple of years so this was a pretty big step, but it was worth it. My workload has been steadily increasing over the past 6 months and one office list just isn't quite cutting it anymore. So I now have 3:</div>
<div class="ecxMsoNormal">
- @office</div>
<div class="ecxMsoNormal">
- @websites</div>
<div class="ecxMsoNormal">
- @minutes</div>
<div class="ecxMsoNormal">
These are the contexts that make the most sense given what I have on my plate right now, but I am giving myself the freedom to change them up as things shift around, and return to just one list if things calm down. I already feel much more comfortable and more engaged with my lists and managed to get an action done yesterday afternoon that had been on the list for rather too long!</div>
<div class="ecxMsoNormal">
</div>
<div class="ecxMsoNormal">
It took my review to get me thinking at that higher level for long enough to realise that I needed to make the change. The review is such an important part of my GTD journey; it gives me the chance to hold back the world for an hour every week and check that everything is on track. I often find I am my most productive in the hours after the review, secure in the knowledge that what I am doing is what I should be doing, and what I am not doing can wait.</div>
Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08733402242083400846noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2232389090121495072.post-33204636793299330032012-07-06T23:01:00.001+01:002012-07-06T23:01:14.995+01:00Working on Areas of FocusThe 20,000 ft level, which David Allen terms Areas of Focus, is a really interesting and useful area to engage with for many reasons. I was working with GTD for about 6 months before I turned my attention to this area, but I have maintained it fairly well ever since and try to review both my professional and personal Areas of Focus once a month. I keep them in a mindmap (using a free software called <a href="http://freemind.sourceforge.net/wiki/index.php/Main_Page" target="_blank">Freemind</a>) and find that they are much more comfortable to review and work with in this format. My Areas of Focus give me an overview of areas I want to maintain and reviewing them regularly allows me to keep a good balance of projects within my system and check that no area I deem important is neglected. This doesn't mean that I have a project for every area all of the time, but it does remind me to check in and make sure the area is reviewed for any projects or actions that I might need to add to the system. <br />
<br />
I recently embarked upon a project to write a statement about each of my Areas of Focus, personal and professional, following <a href="https://secure.davidco.com/connect/coaches_connection.php?id=116" target="_blank">a piece on the David Allen Company Forums by one of the coaches, Julie Ireland</a>. The idea is to envision success and write about how it would look and feel. I thought it would be good to share my first statement here. This is for one of my professional areas and it was great to go for wild success without any inhibitions:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
I am working efficiently and proactively for the department making my
scientists' lives easier. They feel confident that they can give me
tasks and know these will be completed without fuss. My office is tidy
but comfortable and an excellent workspace to complement my GTD system.
The office is welcoming and my colleagues feel comfortable in asking
for my help. The stationery area is tidy and items are well arranged
and easy to find. I enjoy my work and manage my hours and workload to
ensure that my health remains good and I have a good work/life balance.
<br />
</blockquote>
I felt really good after writing this and it has given me a feeling of greater purpose in my work. I am looking forward to taking the process forward with my other areas over the coming weeks and months.Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08733402242083400846noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2232389090121495072.post-19874876329192276662012-04-20T19:34:00.000+01:002012-04-20T19:34:10.172+01:00Capture toolsCollecting thoughts when you have them is a key part of the GTD process and there are many articles out there about capture tools. I recently read a blog post by Andrew Marvin on the subject on his website <a href="http://andrewmarvin.net/home/2012/4/12/ubiquitous-capture-roundup.html" target="_blank"> andrewmarvin.net</a>. It's a great round-up of apps for i-phone as well as "old school" pen and paper. <br />
<br />
I have just been lucky enough to win a David Allen Company Notetaker Wallet so will be testing this out as my capture tool for the next few weeks. The pen geek in me is already impressed with the pen which has a funky telescopic mechanism! I'll be sure to report back on how it performs...Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08733402242083400846noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2232389090121495072.post-27900934967368903802012-02-24T18:06:00.004+00:002012-03-31T13:09:53.396+01:00Finding the right day for the weekly review<div>I spent a number of weeks when I first tried to make my review a truly weekly habit working out which day was best for my routine. Many people review on a Friday - clearing the decks and cleaning the system in time to enjoy a weekend free of work distractions. I tried this as my day for reviewing, but it somehow did not gel with me. So I tried a Thursday instead and had immediate success - the timing just felt right. I have been wondering about the reason for this and how my experience might aid others who might be struggling to make the review a habit.</div><ul><li>Friday, for me, felt too late in the week perhaps because the nature of my work throws a large number of small tasks my way (as well as larger more involved projects). If I picked up on items during the review, I wanted to have the time and option of doing them before the end of the week. A review on Friday gave insufficient time for this</li><li>My energy levels often feel depleted by the end of the week - I wanted to give my review a good chance of being done properly and thoroughly</li><li>Urgent items to be completed before the weekend had a habit of shunting my review so that I either didn't do it at all, or only managed a part of it. I didn't get the full benefit of a complete review and the weekly clean and current feeling.</li></ul><p>I can really recommend trying out different days and times (morning is best for me) to find something that really fits with your routine and energy.<br /></p><p>With my review on a Thursday, I have ingrained the habit and am reaping real rewards. My system is more comfortable and complete and my intuition on what actions to choose is really keen. This is one habit that I intend to hold onto!<br /></p><p> </p>Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08733402242083400846noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2232389090121495072.post-67625369942753736562012-02-19T22:20:00.002+00:002012-02-19T22:23:23.141+00:00The Power of the Weekly Review HabitThis week's review made me realise, once again, just how important and powerful the weekly review habit is. I had thought that I was keeping fairly well on top of things this week - all my lists were up to date, inboxes clear - but as I moved through the review I picked up on quite a number of items that were important but hadn't got into my system. I also spotted some important Waiting For items that weren't on my lists. If I hadn't stopped the world for an hour and reviewed my system I think a lot of these items might well have slipped through the cracks.<br /><br />I have a reasonably solid system, which I trust, but a part of that trust is most certainly down to the weekly review and the uncanny ability that the process has to pick up on loose threads. If my reviews were more sporadic, I feel that the element of trust would be eroded and the safety net that the regular review provides would be rather holey. Building the habit each and every week has helped me to trust my system and fully take control of every area of my work with confidence.Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08733402242083400846noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2232389090121495072.post-40128989892144243422011-10-21T20:54:00.003+01:002011-10-21T20:59:10.774+01:00The freedom that GTD givesI had an amusing moment when I walked into the office this morning. I looked at my inbox and found a note from the previous evening. Someone had called just before I was about to leave the office and asked me to do something for them - obviously I grabbed my notepad, took the details down, and tossed it in my inbox to be processed first thing this morning. But just for a second my brain was surprised to see the note in my inbox! <br /><br />I trust my system so well now that I was able to entirely forget about that call, knowing that it had been captured and would be processed in the morning. Pre-GTD I guarantee that a part of my brain would have held onto something, just in case I forgot the following morning.<br /><br />GTD gives me so much freedom to enjoy life away from my responsibilities, knowing that I have captured what needs to be done and can go back to tasks without the worry of things slipping through the cracks and being missed.Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08733402242083400846noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2232389090121495072.post-54551290172634470302011-10-08T22:09:00.002+01:002011-10-08T22:12:29.707+01:00David's article in the recent GTD newsletter, <a href="http://www.davidco.com/individuals/productive-living-newsletter">Productive Living</a>, about "listless lists" really resonated with me.<br /><br />I had suddenly found that my @office list was repelling me last week and used a strategy that I think was discussed in the newsletter (and has certainly been mentioned in various posts around the GTD forums) to create an attractive list again: I moved quite a few items to Someday/Maybe.<br /><br />I realised that my problem was that I didn't have a Someday/Maybe list that I fully trusted for items that I wouldn't get to this week, but want to get to within 2-3 weeks. I have remedied this by creating a short term Someday/Maybe that I will always check at the weekly review. I don't want to review my longer term items every WR and this was subtly preventing me from using the list to relieve the pressure on my everyday context lists.<br /><br />I use paper and prefer to work from just one A4 page, so when I reach the bottom of the page I re-write my actions that are still to be completed on a new sheet and toss the old one. My work is such that this works quite well, as I have a lot of short actions that are longer than 2 mins but can be completed in 10-20mins and I can therefore normally cross off quite a number of actions over the course of a couple of days and don't need to re-write a long list when reaching the bottom of the page. However, my workload has been heavier than usual for the last couple of weeks and this has forced me to rethink where I keep a few of the NAs that are not as important. Moving them to the short term Someday/Maybe has been really liberating!<br /><br />Once again David is spot on - re-negotiating your commitments as your priorities shift is vital to stay in control and ensure that you are confident that you are doing what you should be, when you should be.Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08733402242083400846noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2232389090121495072.post-38493082591522416662011-04-30T11:03:00.003+01:002011-04-30T11:48:29.813+01:00Keeping fresh and avoiding burn-outI've been reading an interesting article in the<a href="http://hbr.org/2011/05/being-more-productive/ar/2"> Harvard Business Review</a> - an interview with David Allen and Tony Schwarz. One particular answer from Schwarz regarding work and energy struck me:<br /><br />"There’s a fundamental misunderstanding about how human beings operate at their best. Most of us mistakenly assume we’re meant to run like computers—at high speeds, continuously, for long periods of time, running multiple programs simultaneously. It’s just not true. Human beings are designed to be rhythmic. The heart pulses; muscles contract and relax. We’re at our best when we’re moving rhythmically between spending energy and renewing it."<br /><br />This is an interesting concept and one that I have noticed in my own work, but haven't applied the lesson as diligently as perhaps I should. It is very easy to fall into the busy trap and think that you can't afford the time to take a break. But I often feel more energised and productive after a break. <br /><br />The habit of pushing your body, telling yourself to get on with it and keep going, is one that is hard to break. It is also something that is embedded in many work cultures - if you are not seen to be at your desk, you are not working hard enough.<br /><br />One way of including breaks, but still accomplishing something, could be to run errands. I work on a fairly large site and delivering or collecting items from others allows me to take a break from my computer and still tick a job off my list.Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08733402242083400846noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2232389090121495072.post-63135363433885188642011-04-20T18:10:00.003+01:002011-04-20T18:14:33.602+01:00GTD on cruise controlDavid Allen writes an interesting article, in his recent Productive Living newsletter, about getting GTD on cruise control and staying there: <a href="http://www.davidco.com/newsletters/archive/0411.html">http://www.davidco.com/newsletters/archive/0411.html</a><br /><br />Persistence and practice is so important when trying to learn anything new, riding a bike, driving a car, implementing a new method of working. I always find it so surprising when colleagues don’t give themselves enough of a chance to learn these new methods in the same way that they might with, for example, learning to drive. It is fairly unusual to be able to learn to drive in just a few hours and then pass your test. Yet so many people expect the behaviours of GTD to stick really quickly and then become disillusioned with themselves when they don’t. Persistence is key, as well as acceptance that you can’t change things overnight. Some of the practices, such as the two-minute rule, can make an instant difference. But for the real “mind like water” experience, practicing, learning and refining your system to fit around your needs takes time and effort – and is well worth every moment.<br /><br />I have been using GTD for nearly two years and would not yet consider my system to be on cruise control. However, I have had glimpses of the mind like water experience and the more comfortable I become with my processes, the closer I feel to gaining this more of the time. I can feel my persistence paying off every time my inbox is at zero and with every completed action.Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08733402242083400846noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2232389090121495072.post-2246689469787519452011-04-14T15:27:00.001+01:002011-04-14T15:40:06.351+01:00Getting back into GTD – rebooting the systemDue to a long term illness, I have found myself having to almost restart my GTD system over the past couple of weeks, after nearly 3 months of inactivity. It has been a very interesting journey and one that has forced me to refine and simplify how I do things while I get back into my routine. The foundations of my system were still there, but much was out of date.<br /><br />My biggest challenge was to tackle my email inbox, which had bulged to many hundreds of items during my absence: the 2-minute rule, a pen and paper and my @Action Support folder allowed me to deal with these without being frighteningly overwhelmed. Getting my inbox back to a manageable level really helped me to feel more in control and to have a better understanding of how much I could manage to take on as I slowly regained my feet.<br /><br />Interestingly, I have found that I have stuck with pen and paper since that first day of sorting emails, rather than returning to the electronic system that I was running before I became ill. Returning to the basics, including to pen and paper, has simply felt more comfortable.<br /><br />I was relieved to find that the habits I had developed hadn’t vanished due to lack of use and they were a lifeline for me in trying to get my work in order. “What is it? What’s the next action?” – this methodical approach gave me hope that the seemingly never-ending backlog of work could be managed. Thanks to GTD, when I was able to come back to work, I could set out my tasks meaningfully and trust my judgement regarding importance and urgency.<br /><br /><span><span>If you haven't felt able to engage with your system recently, don't beat yourself up about it. Take one step at a time and try to implement the areas that might make the biggest difference for you. My experience has taught me that a system can lie fallow for months and still be resurrected to help you get back to more productive ways.</span></span>Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08733402242083400846noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2232389090121495072.post-64160880142256234782010-10-21T13:51:00.002+01:002010-10-21T13:58:10.153+01:00FilingI have been really struggling over the past few months with implementing GTD at home. I keep trying to make it work as well as it does in my work office, but somehow I never quite manage to get far enough to make it as comfortable as it needs to be to keep the habit going. Then yesterday I realised that some of my resistance to this was due to my inadequate filing system at home. I think the realisation may have been building since I listened to the "Digging out from the backlog" series on GTD Connect. The drag that this lack of effectiveness had on my implementation only became crystal clear when I finally got round to doing something about it!<br />These are the basic changes I made yesterday:<br /><ul><li>Changed to an alphabetical filing system (why on earth was it not like this before?!)</li><li>Allowed myself to file one piece of paper in one folder and label it, if that was the best place to file it</li><li>Made some proper decisions about some of the stuff in the “filing” pile</li></ul>It is very difficult to explain how much the pressure lifted when I had finally got rid of that horrible filing pile and I appreciate more than ever the importance that David Allen places on the ease of filing. If you have to add it to a pile because you don’t want to have the bother of filing it, you need to change your filing system.<br />Here’s to no more filing piles!Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08733402242083400846noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2232389090121495072.post-15565940264569198102010-09-19T18:15:00.003+01:002010-09-19T18:34:53.351+01:00Interruptions and a very long weekly reviewI set out to do my weekly review last Friday at 10am (as usual for most weeks). The review normally takes just over an hour, depending on how busy my inboxes have become and whether I have been able to triage during the week. Little did I know that my review would not be as straightforward as I had hoped at the start. Five hours later, at 3.10pm, I finally managed to finish the review! <br />It felt like the whole world was trying to distract me from completing my review and getting clean and current. I had interruption, followed by interruption and all were the important "drop everything and sort it out now" kind of problems. But despite these, I still managed to complete my review, although considerably later than planned. Each time I had an interruption, I would put a placeholder in my inbox and knew that I could come back to it after I had dealt with the person or phone call. <br />My job rarely has such a flurry of urgent activity for such a length of time as it did that day. However, I do have at lot of interruptions throughout the day. Through my implementation of GTD, some of these have been reduced and handled better to allow me not to lose concentration on the task at hand. I have been able to manage the expectations of those that I work for and consequently handle my work considerably better, rather than always dealing with the "latest and loudest." My first question when asked to do something is "when do you need this to be done by?" - this knowledge ensures that I can prioritise it fairly with the other work on my lists. <br />Interruptions will always be a part of work, but GTD allows me to take control when they happen, rather than allowing them to control me.Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08733402242083400846noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2232389090121495072.post-61161326734093498152010-07-16T12:07:00.003+01:002010-07-16T12:17:38.396+01:00Back on the WagonMany GTDers will have heard David Allen talking about falling off the GTD wagon, and most importantly, getting back on again. In the past month or so I would say that I was teetering on the brink of this wagon, barely able to keep a hold on my system and working in reactive mode.<br />But today I did my weekly review and felt my workload come back under my control. The review is a strange beast - so easy to put to one side and think that it is not as important as all of the other tasks on that list! But it really and truly is the bedrock of the system that keeps all tasks in perspective. Without it (as I have recently experienced), a 'mind like water' is impossible and the weight of the workload starts to wear you down.<br />Having done my review today, I feel uplifted and more free than I have for a number of weeks.Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08733402242083400846noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2232389090121495072.post-89897169327803574772010-05-27T08:16:00.001+01:002010-05-27T08:18:03.859+01:00Making the most of your energyYesterday I was incredibly productive and managed to clear over 20 items from my list in a surprisingly short space of time. I found myself in “flow” with my work, taking small task after small task and getting it done, then satisfyingly crossing it off from my list. This has not happened for some time, as my head has been occupied with personal matters that I found hard to dismiss.<br /><br />In the evening I looked back on what I had achieved with a sense of relief that my @Office list has decreased in size, and a sense of satisfaction. 20 items sounds like a lot, but I had a very large number of 5-10minute tasks that had shot my list up in size. I was lucky enough to feel an energy burst and be able to channel it to clear the list by nearly a third.<br /><br />Had I tried to do this last week when my energy was very low it would have been impossible. My GTD system gave me a purpose and direction for my heightened energy state. Last week my system reassured me that nothing was urgent enough to be forced into doing it with little or no energy.<br /><br />I love the fact that GTD addresses the issue of energy and does not expect you to be on top form every minute of every day. David Allen’s four-criteria model of context, time available, energy available, then priority takes account of the human factor and is sympathetic to our energy levels ahead of priority. Although there will be some days where despite energy levels, hard work has to be done, GTD helps me to get the maximum done that I can with the energy that I have. By using the weekly review, I try not to let deadlines creep up on me to the extent that I have no choice but to do them at low energy times.Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08733402242083400846noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2232389090121495072.post-23092282229636460952010-05-22T08:15:00.004+01:002010-05-22T09:29:40.138+01:00Leading an informal GTD session<div><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family:georgia;">I led my first informal session on Monday this week with a group of 10 people. I was delighted that there was so much interest in the session and ended up with 16 people on the waiting list so I hope to run it again in due course, if the funds for books are available.<br /><br />I was nervous, and I think I may have spoken a little too quickly, but surprised myself rather and really enjoyed the session. A number of things became clear while teaching:<br /><br />- I still have a lot to learn! Given that I only been practicing GTD for about 10 months this is a bit of a given. However, it was good to really focus on the both the basics and the nitty-gritty as people who were seeing this for the first time asked questions about it.<br /><br />- GTD is something that a lot of us do already to a greater or lesser extent. A good number of the people in the group were nodding their heads at certain points. I could see that some of the things that we talked about were already being done, but were not part of the full system, or were perhaps more erratically used. Much of GTD is common sense put into a system that reminds you to keep using those tools.<br /><br />I hope that I am able to continue to introduce people to the concept and that we may be able to form a group to support our local GTDers.</span><p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><br /><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p></div>Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08733402242083400846noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2232389090121495072.post-19395724949790905752010-05-16T18:35:00.002+01:002010-05-16T18:40:36.915+01:00Getting back to basicsIt's been an incredibly interesting process preparing for the informal workshop that I will be leading tomorrow. I have gone back through the basic concepts and almost rediscovered them for myself, as well as for the people that will be attending. I have often seen people remark on how helpful it can be to re-read David's book and I can now see why. Not only that, coming at the concepts from a different perspective, that of a tutor, has prompted me to look for different ways of explaining things and explore the concepts even more deeply to be ready with answers, suggestions or places to go for further information.<br /><br />I feel nervous, but also quite excited at the prospect of taking the workshop and inviting my colleagues into the world of GTD!Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08733402242083400846noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2232389090121495072.post-77683317076206453182010-05-05T21:30:00.003+01:002010-05-05T21:34:35.229+01:00Spreading the wordI’ve volunteered to run an informal workshop on GTD for colleagues at work. I must be crazy! I’ve never really done anything of this nature before but, despite that, I feel that I will enjoy trying to explain GTD and the key concepts to people that know little or nothing about it. I keep thinking back to the interest and excitement that I had when I first read the book, implemented the ideas and started to reap the benefits. I feel that if I could pass on even a small amount of the enthusiasm and interest that I have and help even one person to feel more in control then it will be very worthwhile.<br /><br />I have been thinking about what points I should put into the 1-1½ hour session and have come up with the following so far:<br />• Two minute rule<br />• The four Ds: Do, Defer, Delegate, Delete<br />• @Waiting-For<br />• The zero inbox<br /><br />These are the items that spring to mind most readily when I consider what could be covered in a short space of time, with maximum benefit to the participants. In an ideal world, I would want all of the group to implement everything the book suggests(!), but when this isn’t possible getting started with a few concepts may well get them to look deeper further along the line. I’ll be developing my ideas on how to handle the session over the next couple of weeks and hope to put thoughts here as I go.Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08733402242083400846noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2232389090121495072.post-58099292159800940352010-04-20T20:54:00.002+01:002010-04-20T21:13:14.521+01:00Organising my personal lifeI just read a really great article by <a href="http://www.gtdtimes.com/2010/04/20/when-you-feel-like-you-are-losing-control-lacking-perspective/">Augusto Pinaud on GTD Times</a>, entitled "When you feel like you are losing control & lacking perspective." <br /><br />It resonated with me particularly as I have really struggled with implementing my GTD system at home. At work I have found implementation has fitted well into my professional life and made an enormous difference to the way I organise myself and keep track of my commitments. However, I have found rather a barrier in my home implementation. I have tried to bring my ideas home and in some areas it has worked (for example, I no longer have an large pile of paperwork cascading across the dining table), but the sense of ease that I have with my professional work (most of the time) has been hard to come by at home. <br /><br />The fact that Augusto also found it difficult to bring GTD into his personal life has allowed me to be less hard on myself and given me a spur to work at it more. Let the journey continue!Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08733402242083400846noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2232389090121495072.post-35247863273296398852010-04-16T12:11:00.000+01:002010-04-16T12:12:17.012+01:00The joy of being able to ignore your listsI spent a very enjoyable Easter break ignoring my lists and enjoying the freedom that this gives. This may sound strange to those who are less familiar with GTD, but the lists are not a “task-master”. They are a way to make sure that you know what is on your plate and therefore what you are choosing to ignore at a given time. It is liberating to know that everything is there when you are ready to look at it, allowing your mind to concentrate entirely on enjoying a break, rather than having a niggling feeling that there is something that you’ve forgotten.Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08733402242083400846noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2232389090121495072.post-86901357884454065492010-04-09T22:02:00.002+01:002010-04-09T22:06:06.384+01:00Learning to trust your systemThere’s a really interesting yo-yo effect as you try to master GTD skills. As a new GTDer, when I first implemented the tools there was a feeling of real elation knowing what I had to do was catalogued and ready to tackle. No more worrying that something incredibly important has slipped through the cracks, or worse, is waiting to blow up when it is most inconvenient. To quote David Allen “organise your work when it shows up, rather than when it blows up”. But it really takes time to learn to trust your system. I find it really hard not to hold onto things in my head, even though I know that I have written them down in a place that I check everyday. I think it may be my brain that is resisting delegating the task of remembering to the system (despite the fact that the system does a much better job!) It is often said that people don’t like delegating tasks as they are worried that it won’t be done well enough, or it will be done better… in this case it may well be the latter.<br /><br />Trusting the system is something I am working almost as hard on as working the tools.Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08733402242083400846noreply@blogger.com0