Getting Things Done

Photo Credit: Ben Husmann

I’m in the middle of reading an excellent book called Getting Things Done by David Allen. This is a must-read for anyone, and I mean anyone working in an information industry. And you guessed it, engineering is a perfect example. I was planning on finishing it before I wrote this post, but I’m too excited to wait. I’ve already started implementing his system and seeing results in for personal productivity. It’s awesome.

Today, I’ll share what I’ve read/ implemented so far. Once I’m done the book, I’ll share what else I’ve learned and how it’s changed my way of working.

The Getting Things Done System

Allen argues that people get bogged down by all the stuff they have to deal with because their minds are constantly reminding them of what they have to do, even if it’s not a good opportunity to do anything about it. Ever get a great idea on your drive to work and forgotten it by the time you could write it down? Have you ever remembered to take the garbage out during your morning shower only to have the thought disappear by the time you’re out? Allen thinks most of our day is like that, so he developed a system for capturing, organizing, and executing the actionable stuff in our lives.

Allen’s system is simple, which is a big part of why it works. It basically amounts to this:

1. Collect all the “stuff” in your life into one place. “Stuff” is any kind of input into your life. Papers, loose parts, schematics, to-do lists, business cards, spare parts, etc.
2. Once you’ve done that, take each item one by one and decide if it’s actionable. If yes, decide what the action is. If that action takes under 2 minutes, do it now. Otherwise, add it to your calendar, on a list of “do as soon as I can” items, or delegate it to someone else. If the item isn’t actionable, but might be useful some day, file it. Otherwise, throw it out.
3. Then, take all your actions and group them into appropriate “bins”. Allen suggests that each bin be representative of the physical location or facilities required to do what you need to do. For example, have a “Calls” bin for the next time you’re near a phone, and an “Errands” list for everything you need to do when you’re out and about.
4. Review your lists regularly, and,
5. Do stuff!

I’ve massively oversimplified here, but I think you get the idea. Allen’s genius is in the way he suggests physically organizing your collection and filing systems, and in how he recommends you make decisions about how to chose the next action associated with some kind of input.

Where Things Stand for Me

I’ve decided I wanted to implement Allen’s system immediately. My wife has officially gotten tired of hearing me talk about how excited I am to be organized at work. Yep. I’m a strange one. In any case, things are going well so far, and if they work out well, I’ll implement the same system at home.

To date, I’ve collected all the random notes, lists, spec sheets, post-its, etc into one place – my physical “in” box. I’ve started sorting that box to decide what the next actions are, file things, and trash things. I’m about 90% through that. Once I’m done, I’ll do the same thing for my digital work life (i.e. e-mail inbox and desktop… yikes.)

Further Reading

I’ll keep you posted on how things go for me once I get the system fully implemented – I’m not quite done the book yet, but I’m close. In the meantime, I highly recommend you visit David Allen’s Blog and check out the free resources he has on his site.