How are you managing your work and life?
What systems do you have in place to support you? Do you have a self-management productivity system that you trust? A system that can assist you to succeed in the everyday integration between work and life responsibilities and to reach your goals successfully? A system that can ground you, guide you in your decision making, and be a lifesaver when all hell breaks loose? A system that can act as some kind of “external brain”? In my experience, the most productive people are the ones that are using some kind of system like GTD or David Allen’s comprehensive system known as Getting Things Done.
David Allen: “GTD is about capturing things we collect and create …” In my experience, we usually collect and create more than we can handle and so we have to have a system to place these commitments, to manage them and put some of them on hold. “… deciding what (if anything) we want to do about them, organizing the results of that knowledge work into a trusted system we can review appropriately and making intuitive strategic and tactical choices about what to do at any point in time from our options.”
Why I use GTD?
I like to Get Things Done. I love being productive. The more I get done and especially across all my life areas in any week, the happier I feel. I worked out this morning before work, I wrote the reports I needed to and sent out those proposals, I managed to also buy the milk on the way home, took my daughter to ballet, planned to go out with friends over the weekend … It’s a great day when this happens. When I am able to feel fulfilled in my roles at work and home then I feel I am at my best.
GTD for me has evolved over the years. I have been using GTD since 2007 – so that’s 13 years already. I have changed the technology I use to support the methodology and continue to tweak my system. I like the freedom within the structure that it gives. Freedom, Flexibility, and Order are key values of mine. These can conflict and here with GTD they come together and allow me to use my strengths and live by my values.
Since I love being productive and love helping others – I have often suffered from being stressed, taking on too many commitments, and then feeling bad as most often I would break the commitments especially to myself first. For example, after meeting my work commitments I would then for example be doing something for my husband or children and cancel going to the gym if I didn’t have time.
What happens when we don’t meet a commitment?
A lot of us are juggling and struggling with the demands that not only come from others (our manager, spouse, parents, children, community) but also those we promise to ourselves. You may be great at work but how are you doing at home? On a good day, we may feel overwhelmed, guilty, or a multitude of negative emotions when we have made a promise (even to ourselves) that we have not kept.
I have found this to be true as most of us try to get more done than we have the capacity for. There are so many commitments and they are coming from all our life areas. We are managing multiple projects. Some of us manage anywhere between 50 – 100 projects (a project is anything that requires multiple steps to complete) and we have commitments that we have made to ourselves and to others from all of our life areas – Career, Home, Spouse/Partner, Children, Family, Friends, Community, Health/Sport …
In GTD there is a methodology for handling our lists, our calendar, our projects, our goals, and all the stuff we are taking on. When our commitments are visible in front of us. When we are clear on what we have in any one week, then we know that if something new comes in it’s a tradeoff. When we say yes to one thing we are saying no to another. We can see that something needs renegotiation and learn the art of doing so.
When we commit to something it’s like we have contracted to do something. When we break a contract it leaves us feeling bad. When we re-negotiate then we can come out feeling better, in control, and less stressed.
How to renegotiate a commitment?
GTD helps us to manage ourselves and our stuff so that we are able to identify in advance that we are in need of renegotiating a delivery of a task at work, we may need to postpone something or bump it up a week, freeze a certain project for a period, have a conversation with our boss to say – I can do this or that! Not both this week! Or I need some help to finish and deliver on time. I have found that when it’s clear that something needs to be renegotiated, it is easier to make those decisions and to discuss what the alternatives are.
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How to Get Started?
GTD is not something that can be written out in one article. It is a complete way of working that is flexible enough for you to integrate paper and digital processes and technology.
Some basic steps to getting started:
Decide how – what is your best way of learning?
There is so much information out there on GTD – Reading /Video/ Live Seminar/ Audio?
What would work for you at this time in your life?
What time would you have available for learning and when?
1) Read the book
Reading the book – also available on Audio (can run and listen to your favorite books) is a really good start
2) Listen to a podcast
“GTD Virtual Study Group podcasts”. One of my favorite podcasts.
3) Organize to attend a workshop
privately or suggest to your manager as something that could benefit your whole team (win-win)
4) Use a productivity coach that works with GTD
Schedule a time to learn
Set yourself some time aside for learning the methodology – Plan this in your calendar.
The way you have chosen to learn will influence where this will be in your calendar.
When I began learning GTD I used the time while walking to listen to the book and podcasts. I call this “multiple positives” as I was both doing sport and learning.
Track your progress
After you have chosen a way to learn and built this into your schedule, then track your progress by reflecting on where you are right now and checking in periodically on how you are doing. This can be especially rewarding especially when you think you are stuck and see how you have advanced.
GTD is quite robust. People are using it in countries across the globe, however, it’s something that takes patience, persistence, and discipline to learn and tweak. I would love to hear how you are doing.
Samantha Amit – Leadership Coach and Mindfulness Practitioner
Samantha helps managers be more present, more confident and to focus on what and who is important, to excel and thrive at work and life.
Inspiring managers to grow and together make a global impact.
Transforming people and companies for the future.
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