Today I would like to talk about the approach to the organization of my work, which is called by its creator David Pierce "Abbreviated GTD". This method interested me for its simplicity and, as a result, low maintenance costs.
The idea came to David's mind due to the fact that although GTD is able to organize everything, it requires quite a lot of time and effort to maintain itself. I think everyone understands this, and David came up with three rules, which I will describe with pleasure below.
Write down all. This is the first step of GTD, and, frankly, any other system, too. In order not to overload the brain, which is still unable to remember more than seven things at the same time, put everything that comes to your mind into a system that you fully trust. It is important. David uses Evernote (which I also love), but you can also use a regular notebook, a handheld, or any program on your computer.
Don't trust either your brain or your memory — they fail, and you already know it. Write it down and you will win.
«Postponing» — is the action in GTD that urges you not to forget about the case, to postpone it. And David finds it very useful, and most of the time does not do anything at all at once, except absolutely necessary. If the world doesn't disappear, if you don't do this thing right away, you can postpone it without blaming yourself. Many of the things we do only seem to be useful, but in fact serve only the purpose of keeping us occupied and giving us a sense of purpose.
Analyzing done and undone is important for anyone who wants to achieve more. Review everything and regularly. Someone does it every day, and someone has enough and once a week. Take a look at the calendar, what is waiting for you there? View all your inbox messages, including the text message folder and the answering machine on your mobile phone. Take a look at the to-do list — what do you have enough time for in the near future?
Take a look at the period since your last review, — what took you the most time and what prevented you from succeeding? What should I remember, and what should I give up?
But everything starts – with records. Record everything in any of the ways known to you and us. Share your ideas on this, how do you keep records?
Stripped GTD: 3 Habits That Make You More Productive [David Pierce]
