Book Review – Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity - MBC REI

I am an avid reader of non-fiction. I believe in continuous education and find that books provide an incredible wealth of information. Reading a good book provides both inspiration and insight, opening the mind to new possibilities.

While many of the books I have been reading lately are focused on the specifics of the business of syndication (e.g. [1]) and the specifics of self-storage (e.g. [2] and [3]), I occasionally read books that have a broader appeal and want to share some of my key takeaways from those books.

I recently finished reading Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity by David Allen [4] and believe it is worth sharing.

The fundamental premise of the book is that when you clearly understand everything that you have to do, and have mechanisms in place that give you confidence you aren’t forgetting anything, you can fully focus on what you are doing and not worry that you should be doing something else. By focusing only on the task at hand you are able to get more accomplished and ensure that the most important projects are taken care of.

The book outlines a three step process:

First, capture all of your commitments. This means all of them, every little thing that you have to do, no matter the priority. Everything goes into a single “in” pile that you can use as the starting point to organize your tasks. Large projects will eventually need to be broken down into smaller tasks, but to start with, it is ok for the entire project to be put into the pile in its entirety.

Second, you need to determine the next action for each task. This is the most complicated step.

One of the key ideas in the book, that is often overlooked, is that you can simply decide that the task doesn’t need to be done. In this case, you can decide to throw it away and never deal with it. By making a decision, you are consciously eliminating the task from your to do list and freeing yourself to focus on other things. You accept that the task will never be completed and move onward.

Assuming you have decided that a task needs to be done, you need to decide what “done” means – what does it look like when the task is complete? This requires actively thinking through the task and understanding the desired result. Once you have that clarity, if you can complete the task in under 2 minutes, the next action is clear and you just do it. That means that you never have to think about it again. The 2-minute rule is one of the most popular takeaways from the book as it is a clear and easy-to-follow process that helps almost everyone facing a large set of tasks work through them effectively. The thinking behind the rule is that if you postpone the task, you will spend almost as much time filing it now as it takes to complete, and you will still have to deal with it later.

A lot of things that end up as part of your in pile are things that you need to file for reference at some point in the future. The next action for these items is to file the information in a location that you will be able to find it easily when needed. That can mean scanning a receipt and putting it on your computer, putting a book on a shelf, or taking a handout and putting it in a file cabinet with related materials. As long as you can easily find the information when you need it, you no longer need to think about it.

If something needs to be done to complete the task (beyond filing it) and it will take longer than 2 minutes, it gets added to a list.

If the task is something you can delegate, then you pass it to the appropriate person and add it to a “waiting for” list, that allows you to keep track of the tasks that you are waiting for someone else to complete, as well as the date that you gave it to them and the date you expect to hear back

For tasks that need to be done on a certain date, or for ones where you want to revisit the topic on a certain date, you add them to your calendar.

For other tasks, you create an “action list” or set of action lists, that outline the exact step that you can take to complete the task. Organizing your tasks based on the set of resources required to complete them allows you to be able to quickly scan a list and pick an appropriate task when you have time. For example, a list of things that you can do in your office (where you have your files and computer) and a list of calls you can make (from anywhere you have a phone), errands you need to run (while out of the house), etc.

A project is defined as any result that requires multiple steps to complete. As you might expect, you keep track of your projects on a “project list”. However, as these are more complicated activities, you need to outline a basic roadmap of milestones that need to be completed, determine which milestones can be worked on right now, and then the specific next actions for each of those milestones. These actions get placed on the calendar or relevant action list for easy reference, while the roadmap and milestones are kept in separate project files along with any required reference material.

At this point, you have identified the things that are not worth doing and removed them from your in pile, you have filed all of your reference material where you can easily get it when needed, you have scheduled the time specific tasks on your calendar, and you have lists of things that you need to day broken out by the appropriate context.

The third step is to put the system you have developed into action.

As you go through your day, when you have time available, look at the action list or lists that fit within the context that you are currently in (at your desk, commuting, running errands, etc.) and identify a task that fits the context, the time that you have available, and the energy level you are at. Select one that interests you and do it, then cross it off the list. The book doesn’t offer any concrete suggestions for how to pick the best task at this point, just whichever one resonates with you at the time.

Finally, once a week, review your current list of actions. You will add new tasks based on what has happened during the week, and possibly delete some tasks that no longer need to be done. This includes reviewing all of the projects and updating the milestones and next actions required for each of them.

To me, one of the markers of a good book is that it inspires me to take action and make a change in my life. While I have already been loosely following many of the recommendations outlined in the book, after reading it and seeing how the processes work together, I have updated some of my workflows for handling the things that I need to keep on top of.

I have been using my email inbox to track my waiting for, reminder, reference, and action items. As a result, every time I looked at it, I had to re-evaluate each task to see what needed attention now. Following the book’s recommendations, I have taken steps to make my inbox just my action list.

I have increased my use of my calendar for things that I need to take care of at a specific point in the future (such as renewing a lease) and removed redundant email reminders from my inbox. I have filed the email, which may contain additional details I need when completing the task, in a place that I can easily find it when needed (usually both in a reference folder and on the calendar event).
For tasks where I am waiting on input from someone else, instead of having to make the decision about whether or not I need to follow up today, I have started to use the reminder feature associated with my email client to remove those tasks from my view and bring them back when I know I need to follow up. If I get the information before the due date, then I just delete the reminder when it comes up. Otherwise, all of the information required to do the follow up presents itself at the right time and is hidden until then.
I kept a lot of reference material in my inbox for lack of a better location. I have created the appropriate folders for those items and moved the reference material there.

Taking these small steps means that I am not reminded of these tasks every time that I look at my inbox, and thus not distracted by tasks that I have no current actions on. Overall, I have seen a small, but noticeable, improvement in my overall effectiveness as I don’t need to make as many small decisions when I am looking for the next thing I need to do. I expect the benefits of this will increase as I learn to trust the process more (for example, when I am sure the reminders will reappear when I need to take the next step).

If you have any questions or comment about this post, please email them to me at blog@mbc-rei.com, I will reply to the questions that are straightforward and will turn the questions requiring more detailed answers into future blog posts.

For additional reading:

This article is my opinion only, it is not legal, tax, or financial advice. Always do your own research and due diligence. Always consult your lawyer for legal advice, CPA for tax advice, and financial advisor for financial advice.