Where will you be and what will you be doing in 1-2 years, given the projects you are focused on now? You likely have 4-7 primary areas of responsibility in your life. By identifying and evaluating these, you can see if you are doing the right projects. Clutter is what you clear out of your mind in the first phase of GTD. Getting rid of it is the first step to feeling less overwhelmed and unable to focus on your current task.
In GTD, a project is different than what you are used to because it is simply anything you want to do that requires taking more than one action. It is a collection of tasks organized in a sequence toward a specific outcome. Context defines a place, person, time, situation, or tool you need to carry out a particular task.
How the GTD Method Works
This is a step most people who don’t follow GTD aren’t used to doing. It’s about asking yourself questions about all the “stuff” you captured that helps you define each thing and what, if anything, you want to do about it. Ideally, the outcome should align with your purpose and long-term vision for your life or a particular focus of attention. You can incubate these kinds of items by either putting them on a Someday/Maybe list, on a future date in your calendar, or in the Tickler File. Incubating’s purpose is to eliminate distractions and reduce stress.
When you follow the GTD system, the next action you take becomes intuitive because it’s informed by the defining, sorting, and organizing you have previously done. Your lists and the context of your current situation guide you. Clutter refers to the mental clutter of things that take up space and occupy your time unrelated to the task at hand throughout your day. You keep thinking of this stuff because you are afraid of forgetting them or they are unfinished. Task management tools that follow the GTD method will allow you to add custom task views with filters. These filters could be a priority, due date, assignee, keywords, creation date, etc.
Step Three: Organize
Reviewing GTD elements like calendar entries and to-do lists keeps your GTD system up to date. In the GTD method, you can practice weekly reviews for the best outcome. The review step enables you to refine your time management workflows and identify the next steps. Give these tips a try today to see how the GTD method works for you. You may find that weekly reviews and the other aspects of this method are exactly what you need to stay focused on your goals and cross items off your to-do list in a timely manner. You can also check out these GTD apps for yourself or your team.
In this way, context enables you to prioritize, given your current situation. It offers a systematic approach to handling all the “stuff” swirling in your brain all day (and sometimes at night!). It does this by providing a way to take it all out of your brain and organize it digitally or on paper.
What problem does GTD solve?
A brain dump is an organised way to get all the open loops out of your brain and into your productivity system. Whenever you set up a new productivity system, it’s recommended to do a brain dump to ensure that you really capture all your responsibilities in the new system. When you have a clear framework for getting
things out of your head and organizing your ideas, a natural side effect is
that you feel less stressed. If you fall into this category, it’s likely
you could benefit from a new way of doing things.
GTD doesn’t offer a specific framework to help you set better goals. The Waiting-for list is where you track actions you have delegated. You are waiting for others to complete them so you can take the next step or mark a task or project as completed.
Step Five: Review
Such apps also automate the GTD method through views like today, upcoming, view next, contexts via a label, etc. Hence, you need to immediately store events, ideas, appointments, to-dos, tasks, subtasks, project references, etc., in your inbox. This inbox could be a paper-based filing system or apps like Gmail, Yahoo Mail, Evernote, OneNote, etc.
Capturing them into an external tracking system frees space in your mind and allows you to concentrate better on each specific task. Not all tasks can be done at all times, in all situations and places. Identifying the proper context a task requires gtd methodology helps you identify what you should spend your time when. When you have time to do something, context can help you more quickly choose a task to complete without wasting time and mental energy considering those that need a different context.
What solution does GTD offer?
You’ll need to invest some productive hours in setting up the GTD method and its tools. However, such a small investment of energy and time will pay off for the rest of your life if you continually practice it. As you can see, there are a lot of benefits
that come from trying the GTD approach. Now that you have a better
understanding of the GTD meaning and how to start utilizing it, it’s time to
take action. It helps to add context to the things you’ve written down, too. For example, if something has to do with your home or personal life, designate it as “home”.
When you’re able to capture and organize all of this, you’ll feel more at peace and have confidence that everything is accounted for. Some items in your inbox may be in your email inbox, but they may also be in another application, a physical notebook, or a tray where you stash the thoughts you capture throughout the day. If you’re using an app for GTD, it’s crucial to set up an inbox that is separate from the actual to-do list.
Do you feel that you’re processing multiple tasks and projects in your head but not actually completing them? When you think a lot about tasks, projects, and goals, it becomes challenging for your mind to focus on productivity. Optionally, you may want to review your goals every month to ensure your lists and action items are supporting them and leading you where you want to go.
- Examples of action items are making a phone call, writing an outline, and scheduling a meeting.
- You keep thinking of this stuff because you are afraid of forgetting them or they are unfinished.
- To complete this step, find a capture method that works for you.