Getting Things Done explained in a few minutes
In about 6 minutes Roel Smelt explains with a clear slides the principle of Getting Things Done, the break-through time-management solution by David Allen.
Hacking GTD Equipment (Things + iCal + Anxiety = Win)
I’ll note I haven’t read the actual Getting Things Done book that has been the rage of lifehackers on the internet, but I’m not interested in adopting a complex system someone else invented, either. For me, if my system takes more than two pages to explain, it’s too complicated.
I stumbled upon a link over at ZenHabits comparing a couple Mac Getting Things Done (GTD)-type software, as well as Leo’s personal method. I haven’t seen my particular combination on a website before, so here’s what I use to track things as efficiently as possible.
Pen and Paper
I’ve rejected the use of pen and paper for tasking: the system isn’t indefinitely expandable and can quickly get clunky. The limitless power of paper makes it too easy to overcomplicate the system. This is different from notetaking or planning, where I do make use of pen and paper, which Tim Ferriss explains in far better terms than I can. But for hard tasks with few notes, I stick to technology. Read more
This article was originally published on sakizaki.com
Procrastination: Not a Problem!
I’m feeling guilty because I procrastinate too much”
A quick search on Twitter confirmed my hunch. There are a lot of people talking about procrastination, and the tweets I surveyed are filled with feelings of guilt, regret and remorse.
The word “procrastinate” is a heavy one, and I believe that people are trying to solve the problem the wrong way, leaving them with baggage that just won’t seem to go away no matter what they do.
Perhaps procrastination simply isn’t the problem we think it is. Webster’s Dictionary defines the word as follows:
procrastinate: To put off from day to day; to delay; to defer to a future time
Anyone who is skillful at managing their time will tell you that the act of “putting off from day to day,” “delaying” and “deferring to a future time” are required skills in today’s information age.
With technology has come an increased number of demands on our time, and a variety of ways in which we allow ourselves to be interrupted, reminded or prompted to make new commitments. The only smart tactic to take is to put things off until later.
Take the simple example of checking your email Inbox.
In fifteen minutes it’s possible to scan 100 new items, while making 30 instant decisions to take further action. It’s impossible to act on all 30 items immediately. Instead, it’s a much better idea to focus on a single item at a time, rather than trying to split one’s attention between multiple tasks.
I’m feeling guilty because I procrastinate too much”. A quick search on Twitter confirmed my hunch. There are a lot of people talking about procrastination, and the tweets I surveyed are filled with feelings of guilt, regret and remorse. The word “procrastinate” is a heavy one, and I believe that people are trying to solve the problem the wrong way, leaving them with baggage that just won’t seem to go away no matter what they do.
Perhaps procrastination simply isn’t the problem we think it is. Webster’s Dictionary defines the word as follows:
procrastinate: To put off from day to day; to delay; to defer to a future time
Anyone who is skillful at managing their time will tell you that the act of “putting off from day to day,” “delaying” and “deferring to a future time” are required skills in today’s information age. With technology has come an increased number of demands on our time, and a variety of ways in which we allow ourselves to be interrupted, reminded or prompted to make new commitments. The only smart tactic to take is to put things off until later.
Take the simple example of checking your email Inbox. In fifteen minutes it’s possible to scan 100 new items, while making 30 instant decisions to take further action. It’s impossible to act on all 30 items immediately. Instead, it’s a much better idea to focus on a single item at a time, rather than trying to split one’s attention between multiple tasks. Read more
This article was originally published on lifehack.org
Getting Things (Re-)Started: Dealing with Mental Blocks
In any significantly big project, there are bound to be times when you lose the track of what you’re doing, when for whatever reason you stop moving forward and, what’s worse, can’t seem to find the motivation to get going again. When we “fall off the wagon” like that, a kind of psychological wall starts building up, making getting back in the swing of things seem more and more daunting. An ugly cycle develops: as the wall gets higher, we get more anxious about climbing it, which makes the wall higher still.
The only real solution is to do something, anything, but that’s small consolation when a project is taunting you with its unfinishedness. So here are a few little tricks to help you take a running start at that wall – you may not clear it in a single bound, but if you can just sink your toes into its cracks you might well find that climbing it wasn’t quite the chore you thought it was. And when you discover that, the wall itself often comes crumbling down before you.
In any significantly big project, there are bound to be times when you lose the track of what you’re doing, when for whatever reason you stop moving forward and, what’s worse, can’t seem to find the motivation to get going again. When we “fall off the wagon” like that, a kind of psychological wall starts building up, making getting back in the swing of things seem more and more daunting. An ugly cycle develops: as the wall gets higher, we get more anxious about climbing it, which makes the wall higher still. Read more
This article was originally written by Dustin Wax and published on lifehack.org
The only real solution is to do something, anything, but that’s small consolation when a project is taunting you with its unfinishedness. So here are a few little tricks to help you take a running start at that wall – you may not clear it in a single bound, but if you can just sink your toes into its cracks you might well find that climbing it wasn’t quite the chore you thought it was. And when you discover that, the wall itself often comes crumbling down before you.
