It doesn’t matter if you are looking for a GTD tool for personal, business use, or both, this software can handle anything you feed it with—ideas, to-do lists, contacts, projects, and everything in-between. Keep a list of your tasks (or “next actions”) in a separate place that you can reference as needed. Treat your calendar as “sacred territory,” a place for things that “must get done that day” (44). After your projects list and plans, the next horizon of focus is the 20,000 feet horizon, i.e the Areas of Focus.
Your brain isn’t built to store large bodies of organized information—but work management tools are. By externalizing this information into actionable items, you’re better set up for long-term success. To get started, import Todoist’s GTD Weekly Review template into your projects list. This template includes all of the steps you’ll need to complete your review each week. Customize the template by adding sub-tasks or task comments to hold the lists of all your inboxes, your current areas of focus, or to track reflections on your week. Here is where the time spent clarifying and organizing your tasks pays off.
One-off tasks
Second, the nature of work has changed from more industrial, assembly-line type work with clear, visible tasks to so-called knowledge work with much more ambiguously defined projects. Previously, you knew what your task was (for example, gtd system assemble these parts) and you knew when it was done. Now, one task can eat up a lot of your time because there’s no clear signal when you’re done. For example, Thanh uses OmniFocus for capture, project, and next actions.
You can set this up digitally in apps like Todoist or Trello or use physical folders if you prefer pen and paper. This step helps you confidently answer “What should I be working on? It helps you stay productive and in control and execute one task at a time without wasting all your time and energy. Being reliable means keeping your promises and being on top of your appointments. With GTD, you stop trying to remember everything in your head and rely on tools and habits to stay organized and on track. This makes it easier to be reliable, even when you have much on your plate.
To-Do List 101
Moreover, it fuels you to tackle some of the more complex tasks in your collect column. The workflow is called a Kanban board and consists of different columns. And the beauty of a GTD app such as Flow-e comes from its ability to integrate with your existing Gmail and Outlook account, so you don’t even have to move your workflow elsewhere.
- If you’d rather avoid living in your office 24/7, then it might be a good idea to start thinking about a business management software.
- With the Pomodoro technique, you learn focused single-tasking that significantly increases your productivity and improves the quality of your work.
- A calendar and a list of projects/next actions are technically all you need.
- Getting Things Done is for anyone who has a busy life and wants to manage it with less stress.