In 2001, David Allen published a book called “Getting Things Done” (link to the book). It has sold over 1.5 million copies and is considered the Bible of Productivity. Getting Things Done (GTD) is a system to complete your tasks more efficiently. In this article, we will take a look at the system and figure out how we can implement this in our lives!
There are 5 steps to the GTD System:
Capturing
Clarifying Meanings
Do, Delegate, and Defer
Organizing Where Things Belong
Reflecting on Your Tasks
Engaging with Tasks.
1. Capturing
Capturing is the process of getting all your tasks together. It’s when you’re collecting everything that has your attention (i.e. what doesn’t belong at your desk). David uses 3 terms for capturing:
Open Loop - Something that is not completed
Mind Sweep - Removing things from your head that have your attention
Trusted Bucket - A place to put all your tasks
First is the open loop which is all the tasks that are not completed. Mind Sweep is getting all the things that you need to do into your trusted bucket, which is a place that you won’t lose.
A famous quote that came from the book is “Your brain is for having ideas, not for storing them”, and I find this to be true from what I’ve experienced. What you should take away from this is, as soon as something comes into your head, write it down!
2. Clarifying
David says that we shouldn’t just be writing things down plainly. We need to put more attention to those tasks. When writing them, we should ask ourselves questions like, “What do these things on my todo-list mean?” and “What do I need to do with them”.
So when writing tasks, the process should look something like this:
Put it in your Trusted Bucket
Is it actionable - Yes/No - If yes, what is the next thing to do
Number 2 is an example of a project, which he defines as “an outcome from resulting actions”.
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3. The 3 D’s
Doing, Delegating, and Deferring are the three methods by which you can complete a task. The first method is Do. This is when you are in a situation where you can get it done there and then. You may have heard of something called the 2-minute rule [which came from the book]. The rule goes like this: if the task takes less than 2 minutes, you should do it then. This is a great way of completing tasks because if you keep procrastinating, (link to that article here) you will end up with a long list of tasks.
The second method is Delegating. Delegating is where you take the task, and send it to someone else to complete it for you. Taking this approach will save you time and be the most convenient for you.
Lastly, we have Defer. Deferring is when you aren’t able to do the task immediately. In that case, you need to set up some time when you can do the task.
All tasks that you have will be able to fit into one of these categories, and with these, you will be able to get it done efficiently. Also when doing the task, make sure that you are putting your best effort into it, instead of multitasking or wandering. The more focus you’re putting into the task, the faster you’ll get it done.
4. Organizing
After you’ve done the past 3 steps, you need to organize the tasks. Batching is another great way to save time, and it can be done by creating sub-tasks or creating new lists for tasks that are related. Maybe you just need to return a couple of things at Amazon or run some errands. It saves you the hassle of trying to go through your to-do list and finding the tasks.
5. Reflecting
The last step in GTD is reflecting. It’s a great way of keeping up with your tasks. A common reflection for GTD is a weekly review. When reflecting, you will catch up with all the things that aren’t done, and find some time to complete them in the next week.
How Can I Implement GTD?
You may be thinking, “Why should I use GTD instead some other methods”. Good Question. I think it’s for one reason: the system allows people to start where they are, and they don’t need to be at a specific place in their life. On top of this, once you learn GTD it will become a habit for you. You will know how to execute your system, and you will then focus on the bigger, better things ahead.
GTD can be implemented by anyone, at any stage of their life, and in less than 2 minutes (give or take). All you need is something to organize your tasks. You can use a notebook or something digital (any todo-list app is great). To get your GTD system implemented you need to write down all the tasks that you have to do with all the qualities listed above.
GTD is not particularly hard to get back on track when falling behind. You just need to regroup and get back on track with all the tasks that you need to do.
Thanks for reading this week’s article, and I hope you found it useful in helping you manage your tasks more efficiently and precisely. Talk to you next week!
- Luke Rapaka
Very useful article! My observation is that truly successful, productive people have developed the HABIT of doing what you’ve described.