15 Big learnings from Getting Things Done Book

15 Big learnings from Getting Things Done Book

David Allen’s Perspective

David Allen is an author and consultant, as well as an international lecturer and the co-founder of the David Allen Company. Forbes has recognized David Allen as one of the most effective five coaches for executive leadership in the United States. Leadership Magazine quoted him as one of the “Top 100 thought leaders.” Then, Fast Company hailed David Allen, “One of the most influential thinkers in the world” in the field of personal productivity.

Introduction

In order to finish things, it is important to know what you mean by accomplishing something. A majority of people have a long list of tasks that don’t have a clear idea of what a successful task will look like. This method is not in line with your natural instincts. The brain is designed to solve problems when you are aware of what the final destination is. That’s why you must always try to establish an exact stopping point. If you’re having trouble achieving your goals, ensure that you’re conscious of what progress will look like.

Collecting

Processing

Organizing

“Doing” is the act of executing the plans you’ve already made. Therefore, “doing” is doing the work you’re able to accomplish today.

Because of the differing timelines for tasks and projects and projects, you must track these in a different way. For instance, you could use post-it notes to track tasks and an account of your tasks.

• A list of your current tasks that you’ve committed to completing within the next few days.
• A list of current projects between 4 to 20 projects you’ve set your sights on completing over the next few weeks.
• A calendar with commitments to get together with other people in the near future.
• A list of someday or maybe ideas you’d like to think about, however, not now.
• Reference files: Information or documents you’ll need a reference for in the future.
• A capture device is a method to record thoughts or the next steps at the moment you consider them.
• Sort and sort everything you’ve gathered, but you haven’t dealt with until now.
• Check the current tasks that you can include in or delegate to, or remove.
• Examine your current projects and think about whether there are some to be added, delegated or deferred.
• Examine your calendar and decide the meetings you need which you should add, assign, postpone or even delete.
• A section called Someday/Maybe covers any other items you might want to include or add to an ongoing project.
• Reference Files may contain anything you’ll require in the near future or items you want to update or add.
• The goals you’ve set. These goals indicate whether you’re heading toward the direction you want to go, or adjustments are required.

The importance of your tasks will help you determine the first thing to accomplish. Allen lists the six levels of prioritization you must consider when planning your tasks:

1. Your 3-year vision
2. Your 1-year vision
3. Current obligations
4. Current projects
5. Current actions that are defined
6. The actions of these levels directly impact the other five levels.

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Originally published at https://prashantaggarwal.com on November 2, 2021.