Getting Things Done (GTD) is a useful toolbox of principles that can help change your attitude to work in general. Instead of thinking about objectives that you are not achieving, think about your next actions. It’s more productive to think about what you can do to get on track and achieve. The key principles of _Getting Things Done_ (GTD), a productivity framework by David Allen, emphasize shifting focus from unattainable objectives to actionable steps, with concepts like the "Trusted System," where tasks are stored and reviewed regularly. The "Inbox" collects inputs, while the "Next Action" method focuses on identifying the immediate steps toward goals. The idea of “Mind Like Water,” a state of calm achieved by managing tasks. The five GTD horizons help prioritize actions from daily tasks to long-term goals, supported by regular weekly reviews and task management tools. ![[gtd-logo.png|170]] ## Key concepts of GTD Some of the key concepts of GTD are [[#Next Action]], [[#The Inbox]], [[#The Trusted System]] and [[#Mind Like Water]]. ![[Getting Things Done.png]] getting things done ### The Trusted System For me, [[The Trusted System]] generally translates to a software system, but it can be paper based. It contains the set of lists and captured content, the areas that you are reflecting on, that you know you will come back to review on a regular basis. ### The Inbox Todoist inbox ![[todoist-inbox.png]] The image above is the inbox from Todoist, which provides an input buffer. Things don’t necessarily need to be done now, and the inbox is an opportunity to assess new inputs. ### Next Action Key to implementing the principles of “next action”, are the tools which capture and manage the tasks at hand. The simplest idea to implement in GTD is next action. If I want to achieve something, what is the next thing, the next action to move it forward? Not all the actions. Thinking about the difficulty of all the actions might discourage you. Rather, think next action. This means coming to terms with the fact that you cannot do everything today, tomorrow or even this year. Managing frustration helps to alleviate it. Doing things, and completing tasks, helps you understand that you can get some things done if not all. My advice is to ensure that the ten things on your to-do list are the most important (and most urgent). Rather than necessarily thinking about the objectives; here you might be working towards your objectives by doing things now. So next action is a way of saying right fair enough, I can see that objective far off but what do I need to do next? The ‘classic’ approach to project planning is to plan all necessary actions, at the beginning of a project. How to account, therefore, for the unplanned spontaneous things that come up during execution? Below: decision tree whether to do a task or not ![[decision do-task-or-not.png]] This idea of a next action is the embodiment of natural planning. While it is interesting to plan all the possible steps to your goal, the most important one is the very next thing that you do. It highlights the idea that you can often only really determine the next action once an action has been done. In practice, then you may spend a lot of time planning a series of steps, only to find that you need to replan. The idea of a next action does not excuse us from planning, it just emphasizes the very next thing you need to do. So it also helps to distinguish actions from objectives. It is too easy to set yourself objectives and then wonder why you’re not achieving them. This may be because you have not correctly or completely translated your objectives into actions. This screen lists actions based on area of focus, horizon, objective (desired outcomes) and an evaluation of the current situation. ![[gtd management report.png]] ### Mind Like Water Mind like water is a great idea from David Allen. It means that once you’ve planned things in your trusted system, your mind is calm, because you know that you’re managing. Even identifying next actions is doing. And if you’re considering the priority and importance of these things, then, all you need to do is capture your thinking and you should get to a point where you’re happy about your plan. At least not thinking about it. D.Allen says that [mind like water](https://gettingthingsdone.com/2017/09/going-the-distance-to-mind-like-water/) is a state of calm that people feel when they learn martial arts - meditation as much as strength. This is the calm feeling of knowing that you are taking action to manage your world. Instead of stressing about the future, you know that all you have to do (if you have reviewed your trusted system) is start at least one of your identified next action. ### Five GTD Planning Horizons Area of focus (GTD) Objectives on five GTD horizons: The idea is to focus effort conscious of the action's scope and context, whether on short-term tasks, or to advance medium or long-term objectives. ![[five-gtd-horizons.png]] The horizons are essentially five horizons of time. So there are the current priorities that we’re dealing with now, and our objectives in the future. The planned sequence of actions is useful to understand the path from the beginning to achieving the objective, even if just milestones to understand whether the project is feasible. D.Allen talks about 5 horizons, or areas of focus stretching out from today’s activities through to the furthest visible horizon. Current activities are within the context of a goal. Actions and next actions imply a future horizon. When discouraged, it may be useful to remind yourself why you are doing an action today. You might be more motivated if you recall that it is to meet a future objective. It is more difficult to plan the future than to think about the present. Establish a task to determine desired outcomes to which you can feel committed. Instead of just more of what you’re doing today. ### Weekly Review The weekly review is an opportunity to establish objectives in each area. Use it to evaluate whether actions are driving you towards your stated objectives. Establish next actions which either correct the trajectory or that simply continue the positive progress. Try to review subjects on each of the following horizons. - Horizon 0: Short-term tasks - Horizon 1: Areas of focus - Horizon 2: Current projects - Horizon 3: Leadership - Horizon 4: Identify specific strategic objectives And funnel them down so that you can [[Turn Ideas into Action]] D.Allen says that the weekly review is an essential component of GTD. I have found this to be the case. I operate a weekly review which is specific to my business, and looks at key quantitative and qualitative indicators. It is an opportunity to reflect on the week and plan next actions. Below: Trello objectives kanban ![[trello-objectives-kanban.png]] [Getting Things Done](https://gettingthingsdone.com/) GTD is a fantastic framework for managing a business, written and developed by David Allen. I use it selectively, retaining the bits that are of practical use to me, the parts that can be integrated into my habits and everyday working. As an underlying principle, I cherish the idea of natural planning. So while I believe in and use tools to plan, I recognize their limits and the limits of planning itself. I would like to describe each of the areas which I think are the most relevant and easily applicable. David Allen said that if there was just one principle to retain, it is that of Next Action, but without doing weekly reviews, you’re not fully utilizing Getting Things Done GTD. Everyone needs to develop their own weekly review to remind themselves of the desire to achieve, and what has been achieved. It invites me to establish next actions and to focus on the direction I want to go (desired outcome). ![[gtd-review-grid.png]] So above is my central Getting Things Done GTD review grid. I have tried to keep it succinct, rather like a dashboard. It is divided into three main areas: productivity, sales, finance and strategy. This is a rough mix between areas of current focus, key measures and horizon 4 / 5: long-term/life goals. Everyone’s Getting Things Done GTD review will be different because every situation is different. Everyone has specific areas that they want to monitor on a regular basis. ### Desired Outcomes Desired outcomes are the key. A desired outcome also equates nicely to the idea of purpose, the long-term vision to which all actions should eventually lead. Keep them in mind when you wonder where you are going and what you want to achieve. If the desired outcome does not feel right, change it. But before you do, determine whether you think it is unachievable, or whether you simply need a series of actions to get on track. Keep in mind your commitment to your desired outcomes, and determine how you would feel if you let them go. ### Lists - Next Actions list - Projects list (all) - Someday Maybe list (Incubation) Trello is an excellent capture system and task manager because it is presented as lists (in kanban or list presentation). Each list can be separated, so you can set up items with next action fields, a list of projects, and a list of actions that you're not committed yet to doing (someday maybe). ### Context Each task can be annotated with the context in which it should be done. This context includes factors such as: - Where does the action happen? Not all tasks are a computer obviously they can also be in the real world. The important thing is to identify this as it you can schedule things for when the time is right and you have the appropriate resources. - What resources do you need? Do you need a computer, pens, paper? The context is therefore useful annotation to say this task can only be done in an environment where you have those resources available. So if you're travelling, and you need a Wi-Fi connection perhaps it's not the right time to search the internet. Wi-Fi is a good example and might promote you to use off-line tools like obsidian. - How much energy do have to complete the task? Some tasks are much more involved and in-depth and may need significantly more energy than others. Capturing all the tasks that you need to do, is that if you only have a small amount of energy or time available, you can choose an easy task to do from what you have already established needs doing. - How much time is available to you before your next commitment? If you only have a short amount of time available before your next event on your calendar. You may not necessarily want to start a long in-depth task. Although you might opt just to start, you may not be able to finish. And you may not have enough time to get into the flow. ## The key stages of GTD The standard process: 1. Capturing what is on your mind is achieved by mind mapping and [[The Trusted System]] 2. Clarify what it means, annotating the captured material 3. Organize: Put it where it belongs and is included in [[Task Management]] 4. Reflect: Review content in [[The Trusted System]] frequently. 5. Engage. Simply do, but monitoring through [[Project Management]] using tools such as Trello. Consider using a suite of [[The Trusted System]] applications which fit together at each level of the process. ### Capture What is capture? It’s making lists of things that have your attention you can make lists anywhere but the software that feels most like a sensible list is Trello. ### Clarify Name things. It is vital to express tasks, things you want to do, objectives and actions to get things done. You won't be able to do an action without being able to express it, even informally. Spending time expressing what needs to get done is half the battle because of the clarity it brings. Clarification is something that you do within the software. For instance, in Trello add custom fields such as next action or comment. The objective is to clarify what the thing means. So the title could be the desired outcome, it could be the task, but in any case the next action is there to specify how to move that thing forward. You can also use the description field in Trello to clarify. How do you clarify in Todoist or in Ayoa or anywhere else? I think it’s about thinking, describing, formulating words, pictures, whatever it takes to get to the point where you feel that the task, the objective, the thing is clear in your mind. And it’s clear when you know what you need to do to get that thing moving. Sometimes clarification needs an action. A diagram is a good example. You may need to do a flow chart or a mind map, write an essay or look up something on the internet. Clarification can take effort. It can be a stage, a process, a task depending on the size of the challenge. ### Organize What does organize mean? Obviously, it’s a very general term. I like to think of Organize in terms of sequencing, thinking about the order in which to do things is part of organizing. Organizing could also be protecting the plan, scheduling the resources that you need, trying to ensure that the people that you need are available at the right time. So that’s scheduling, and it’s part of organizing. In terms of software, I would turn either to Ayoa or to Trello to organize. Use the Gantt chart or the calendar if you’re scheduling or the work breakdown if you’re sequencing. You might want to establish dependencies to denote whether you have to do one thing before another. If you’re starting to schedule, you might set the due date for the end of the project and then retro plan from there. So that’s something about organizing. ### Reflect Certainly mind-mapping and Ayoa help with reflection. In the horizontal view of a mind map, you might ask: have I represented all the stuff that I want to achieve and that I know I will need to focus on at some point? ### Engage What tool is going to guide you in your daily actions? I think here it is Todoist. It is the most lightweight and flexible of all. Consider Trello and Ayoa to be preparation on a slightly higher horizon, while Todoist is an order to yourself to do. Trello and Ayoa can both do this but Todoist is the most flexible. It synchronizes with the calendar instantly. While Ayoa also synchronizes with the calendar very quickly, the interface is slower to use in highly dynamic situations. ## Buckets to review 1. Calendar 2. Next actions 3. Pending 4. Projects and support material 5. Non actionable items ## Software tools to get things done - Use Trello to embody actions and next actions. - Use Evernote to hold Getting Things Done GTD reviews. - Feed the review with statistics from Trello Plus. - Store, manage and report on orders and invoices (Odoo). These tools help with the reporting review and in the end help move forward on a daily basis. Ultimately, they create that production capacity that keeps the wheels turning. Arranging the pieces in the best configuration is rather like a game. But there is important psychological stuff going on here. To model the real world enables us to stand back from it, to be objective and at least, in theory, to manipulate it as efficiently as possible. It’s obviously not sufficient just to move the pieces around the board, I also have to get real things done. But the board is still there as a representation. Sometimes I even repaint the board in different colours. It is for you to determine how to get to the other side of the board, stalemate or checkmate. For more information on Getting Things Done GTD, see the book, site and podcasts by the [original author David Allen](https://gettingthingsdone.com/) See [[Software for GTD]] for a description of Trello, Ayoa, Todoist as [[The Trusted System]] ## Tasks should be doable The key is writing it down. Distinguish between goals (desired outcomes) and (next) actions. So if the goal is to ‘get into college’, the next action might be either ‘complete the application form’, or 'simply find and read the college prospectus'. Your brain will understand this better if it’s clear, and be able to direct your actions, leading to satisfaction and motivation to continue. Instead of ‘solve the technical problem on my PC’, write, ‘search for information about accessing network drives’. You need to invest a proportion of your time defining what needs to be done before doing it. If you cannot express the requirement, it is undoable. ## Over-Planning The project planning exercise can be pushed beyond its limits. If a project plan goes into too much detail, it may need to be updated extremely regularly without much added value. Planning provides structure but over-planning removes spontaneity and the creative spark from the individuals doing the job. ## Manage the everyday first [[David Allen]] says that it is better to manage the everyday first than to build major goals because otherwise maj I'm still here or goals are just more things we are not achieving. The alternative is to focus on goals. But the danger is that far away goals may seem intangible. Actions are doable and take you forward. The experience of doing might help you to confirm or modify your goals. If we get our world under control, we can then move on to loftier objectives with the trust / hope that we can achieve them… Although it is good to have goals. Clayton Christiansen essentially says that tasks stem from the higher purpose. Purpose inspires people when they are undecided in what to do next. ## Key Measures Key measures may include turnover, cost and profit average price, number of orders, average order value, turnover and costs, hourly rate, monthly salary. These things all seem relevant to measure as a self-employed person. I measure the effort required to achieve these results. Continuous improvement is designed to spend less effort to achieve the same or better results. Next actions then focus ideally on improvements. A cashflow report can summarize income and cost. You could measure the number of hours worked, the number of tasks done and the number of orders completed. Maintain quantitative measures on the websites you manage, and establish next actions to improve them. Some examples below: ![[measures.PNG]] ## Mind sweep Rather like a mind dump, a mind sweep is an internal check of things that are on your mind before stop to some degree if they are on your mind they are concerns and they probably need to be documented, written down, expressed, named. An ideal way to do this is by mindmapping. ## Measuring trajectory Measuring the distance from your trajectory is about assessment as part of [[Plan Do Check Assess PDCA]]. Here we’re looking at where we are now, where we intend to go, our future position and correcting our trajectory through checkpoints. ![[measuring-your-trajectory.png]]