by Gina Marie Cronin
Many people struggle with achieving the ultimate work-life balance. Oftentimes, people will compromise in one area of life or another in order to complete all personal and professional tasks. Getting Things Done (GTD) is a five-step path for transforming a chaotic and stressful life into a focused, creative and strategic journey to holistic fulfillment. The basics of the system were uncovered and developed by author and productivity consultant David Allen in the 1980s, with multiple refinements since. “I didn’t really set out to create a ‘method,’” says Allen. “I was simply discovering various techniques that helped me reduce my distractions and stay focused on the most meaningful things, without wasted effort.”
As he tested and applied the process to the clients of his business consulting practice, he discovered that they worked for everyone—producing more clarity, control and focus—no matter what their business, industry or level of engagement was. The methodology behind Allen’s GTD philosophy is comprised of five simple steps.
The first is for a person to capture and collect all and everything that holds his or her attention with the help of notepads, digital lists, planners, software apps and voice recorders. Whichever outlet is chosen should be easy, familiar and fun to use. Note all to-do lists, projects, ideas and anything else that’s meaningful and upcoming in one’s personal and professional life.
The second step is to clarify and process the practicality of each task or idea. If the project is actionable, it should be pursued immediately if it will take less than two minutes, or scheduled if it’s a larger scale task. Anything that is out of the current realm of possibility should be trashed or filed for a more appropriate time.
The third step is to organize and categorize each upcoming action. Categories can include calls to make, errands to run and emails to send. These visuals help clarify each plan of action.
The fourth and fifth steps include reflecting, looking over lists often and conducting weekly reviews of self-progress, and ultimately engaging and utilizing the system to take appropriate actions with confidence. There is no one step more pertinent than the next, since it is a holistic model and, as such, all pillars are required to optimize the benefits.
The development of this method began in 1983, when a major corporation asked Allen to develop a training program around the principles and methods he was uncovering, and it was highly successful. “However, it took me the next 25 years and thousands of hours both coaching and training some of the busiest and brightest people in the world, to realize that what I had come up with as a methodology was unique and ‘bullet-proof,’” says Allen. That’s when he decided to write Getting Things Done to reflect what he had discovered and developed over all that time. The success of GTD as a book and a concept began in 2001, and the message has since spread worldwide.
A core goal of GTD is to inspire people to be more present and in the moment. Allen describes that each person’s brain is developed to have ideas but not to hold on to them, and anything that a person is trying manage or keep track of in their head will take more of their attention than it deserves. “Your most optimally productive state is to be fully present with whatever is at hand; whether that is cooking spaghetti, negotiating a contract or tucking your kids into bed,” he says. “But you can’t be fully present with any of that if there are any aspects of your work and life that are not appropriately managed.”
The GTD system is clear-cut, but at the same time quite vague in order to provide flexibility, so that each person can utilize the five pillars of productivity within his or her own organization system. “We teach and implement this method with 8-year-olds and CEOs, and everyone in-between, including artists, the clergy, physicians and homemakers,” says Allen. While everyone will have their own best tools and procedures to implement GTD, the principles and practices are universal. “The 8-year-old will have to empty her backpack daily with the stuff she got at school, and the CEO will need to deal with the notes she took at the board meeting. Different content, different tools—but same best practices.”
Anyone can benefit from managing his or her life in a positive and productive way. People that adopt the GTD methodology into their daily ritual have an opportunity to minimize stress while fulfilling immediate goals and lifelong dreams.
For more information, visit GettingThingsDone.com.
Gina Marie Cronin is a contributing writer for Natural Awakenings of Long Island, as well as a meditation guide and yoga teacher currently residing in Colorado Springs, CO.
