Organize IT

When I sat down to develop my current GTD system I looked at why I stopped using my previous approaches. I asked myself a number of questions to try and make a system that totally fitted my personal needs. This got me thinking about what other questions a person could ask when coming up with their system:

It’s been a while since I talked about the productivity system I use so I thought I would bring everyone up to date as a lot has changed and I learnt a few things about developing a system that really fits your needs. You can read my previous posts on the topic here and here.

David Allen of GTD fame says that one of the key reasons we get bogged down with a project is because we don’t have our next actions worked out properly. In GTD a next action is literally the next step you need to take to move a project forward. Because next actions are so critical (I personally find them to be the top bit of advice I’ve gathered from GTD) and can be used in all aspects of your life, regardless of what systems you use, I thought I would collate the four key rules you should follow to make defining next actions a breeze.

The vertical map, otherwise known as the horizons of focus, is a key element of GTD yet it is very often neglected, probably because the GTD book does not go into any great detail about it. As such, much of it is open to interpretation and you will find people using it in different ways. Below I’ve tried to condense some of these interpretations with my own personal thoughts on the matter to hopefully give you all a more clear idea of how it can be used. It is quite possible that a lot of you may have alternative approaches to what I have described, so I would be interested in reading your comments on this.

Welcome to part two of my series explaining my GTD system. Be sure to check out the introduction and part one of the series to understand the background. When I last left you I was using a ring binder and individual sheets for next actions. For Christmas I was given a leather conference portfolio which I liked and really wanted to use but as it was not a binder it would have required quite a departure from my existing system. As over the holiday period I had rather neglected things I figured it was a good time to freshens things up with a new approach.