Review:

• To examine with an eye to criticism or correction.
• Going over a subject again in study so as to fix it in the memory.

The weekly review in GTD is one of the most critical elements of the entire methodology, and also one of the hardest to implement regularly. While most aspects of GTD are open to individual interpretation, the weekly review is the one element that David Allen is clear and specific on. You need to do it weekly, you need to do it thoroughly and you certainly can’t cut any corners. Despite your best intentions, stuff always slips through holes in your system. Next actions go undefined, projects don’t get updated and loose ends pile up in your inbox. The review is the one clearly defined period in your week where your primary goal is to catch up on those leaks, get up to date and clear the decks of any loose ends.

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Stuff:

• Property, as personal belongings or equipment; things.
• Worthless things or matter: to clean the stuff out of a closet.

Stuff is often used as a catch-all term covering everything from thoughts bouncing around our heads to letters, voicemails, notes and a multitude of other things that potentially require you to do something with them, but which are currently unorganized or unprocessed. A pile of unopened letters in your in-tray might as well be just stuff because until they are opened and you decide what to do with them, they are meaningless. They are not formed into something actionable and the desired outcome from them is far from clear. One of those letters could be a bill, which would need paying, or a bank statement, which would need filing. However, until you make that distinction, it’s all just stuff as far as your mind is concerned. And stuff – physically or mentally – is just clutter.

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Organization:

• Something that has been made into an ordered whole.
• Conforming entirely to standards, rules, or demands.

Organization is a key aspect of being productive. An unorganized individual is not able to see what needs doing at a quick glance. If you have to waste time sorting through piles of paperwork or just generally trying to figure out what needs doing, then that is a massive drain on your energy. Many people assume this sort of planning and organization can be naturally figured out within the mind but this almost never possible. The mind is not an organizing tool, you can’t rely on it to remind you about things when you need it to (how many times have you been in a shop and completely forgotten to pick up items that you needed?). What’s more, your brain doesn’t put all your thoughts into neat little compartments for easy access. If you have lots of things going on in your head it will just be like a jumbled mess, leading to confusion and lack of focus.

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Productivity:

• Having the power of producing; generative; creative.
• Producing readily or abundantly; fertile: a productive vineyard.

Productivity is what GTD is all about, creating the necessary tools and attitudes to increase your productivity so as to create and achieve more without a discernible increase in the stress and pressure that would otherwise be associated with such actions. It involves knowing why you are doing a project, seeing where you need to go next with it by having next actions, and having the final result in mind at all times. Having this sort of information off your mind and in a system you can trust allows you to move your work forward efficiently without procrastination or lack of focus being an issue.

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