Organize IT

As previously promised here is the first part of my discussion regarding how I have implemented Getting Things Done over the last year and a half, and how my system has evolved into what it is today. Hopefully this will give you a few ideas for your own implementation of GTD and help show how to improve your system.

Black Belt Productivity recently posted about GTD and whether it is a flexible framework open to interpretation or something that is set in stone with strict rules that need to be followed to allow it to work. Given how so many people implement GTD I would have to say it’s the former. David Allen’s book (whether intentionally or not) gives you so much freedom on how to adopt GTD and more importantly what tools you wish to achieve it. Everyone works and lives differently. We all have different expectations and demands on our time and lives so it’s important to create an approach that fits around you.

If you have ever read Getting Things Done you will no doubt be aware of the idea of the trigger list, which is essentially a large selection of keywords that can be used to help trigger any thoughts, plans, ideas and projects that might be lingering at the back of your mind so that you can put them into your trusted system. While the list in the David Allen’s book is comprehensive, I recently came across another large list of extra questions to ask yourself. A very useful companion to the original, I suggest that you combine the two lists into one, print it out and pin it up in some prominent place for reference. It would be ideal for use in the weekly review.

The description of someday/maybe as taken from Wikipedia:

“Things that you want to do at some point, but not right now. Examples might be ‘learn Chinese’, or ‘take diving holiday’.”

I use someday/maybe as a list of those general tasks, which differ from my normal to do lists in that have no specific timescale or importance tied to them. One such example I have at the moment is to redesign this blog. I haven’t tied any priority to doing it. I may end up deciding to do it next week should I have time and basically feel like it, but I could also equally not consider doing it for the next six months. Either way, I keep it on my someday/maybe list as a sort of gentle reminder at the back of my mind to occasionally think about it. I like to refer and update the list every month or so and ask myself if the task is still relevant or not. I could decide that this current design is acceptable and scrap any ideas, however vague they may be, of redesigning it and remove it from the list.