#personal-organization

idea

Getting things done is a process to organize one's tasks, be it at work, or at home.

It relies on several tenets:

• Create a system you can trust
• Unload your brain to restore focus^ref and reduce decision fatigue^ref
• Have one place for tracking (e.g. no tasks in email inbox).

To trust the system, review it regularly (every week) and make sure it's complete^ref.

The process includes:

• Have an inbox for stuff.
• Qualify^ref stuff into actions: what done means, what doing it requires - in particular, every item needs a "next action" in order not to be avoided/procrastinated, even if "next action" is "figure what to do with this".
• Categorize actions by how you'll determine which one to pick next. E.g. context, time available, energy available, and priority^refref.
• Keep a "waiting for" list for things you're expecting from other people^ref.
• Review the actions frequently, this is the key to trust the system.
• Sort projects by: current, or archived.
• When you're doing something, focus on it, be comfortable about what you're not doing^ref.
• Keep reference documentation in a separate folder, organized for retrieval^ref.
• Prioritize what's distracting or stressing you to return to a calm state^ref.

links

• One of GTD's tenets is to make work visible

• Increases signal, therefore fighting against entropy

references

Getting Things Done by David Allen

Use your mind to think about things, rather than think of them