It’s all about lists. Lists keep your brain organized. Ultimately everything is one big list anyway. We just have categories that allow us to group them.
In David Allen’s book: “Getting Things Done”, he changed the way people look at to-do lists. He put some rules around them, and made it work in such a way that the methodology could be used from a literal filing cabinet, using a notebook, or software.
He says to identify an “inbox”. In the days of paper it was a physical tray sitting on your desk. Today it can be any task oriented software, excel or even a txt file. It really doesn’t matter to start. Just get all “things you want done” into a list. These can be curated and sourced from your diary, email, chats, conversations, you name it; add it to your list.
Let’s say, to get most tasks done, we do those items that can be accomplished in 2 minutes, now. – Mark them off your list when you’re done.
If they’re longer tasks then you decide if they can be delegated. If so, do. The task goes into a waiting queue.
If the deadline for the task isn’t now, then when? – Schedule it. Identify the due date and estimate the time it takes to complete it, and count back that many days. You don’t need to concern yourself with these tasks until the time you need to work on them.
There are a number of apps and services out there today that are made for GTD users. It’s simplicity has saved so much stress for people.
Remember, this was just a summary. Check out a video or pick up the book for the full understanding. It’s literally a time saver!
Let us know if you want to have a discussion about it. We’re available!