shards mvr

  • GTD - my intro

    GTD: Getting Things Done

    GTD - High-Level

    Five steps of GTD

    1. CAPTURE - Collect what has your attention
    2. CLARIFY - Process what it means
    3. ORGANIZE - Put it where it belongs
    4. REFLECT - Review frequently
    5. ENGAGE - Simply do

    Horizons of Focus

    • Horizon 5 (AKA 50k ft level): Life; Purpose, principles, and values
    • Horizon 4: Long-term visions
    • Horizon 3: 1-2 year goals
    • Horizon 2: Areas of focus and accountability
    • Horizon 1: Current projects
    • Ground: Current actions

    GTD Concepts that have been useful / important to me

    There is no carved-in-stone method or set of tools / technologies

    • and it will not work until you make it your own, and actually use what works, for YOU
    • start SIMPLE; suggestion:
      • paper & pen
      • OR plain text file
    • if you move to an electronic tool, ToodleDo can be a useful place to start
      • there’s a highly-functional free level, to try it out
        • via browser, and app (ex: iOS)
      • it supports both import and export

    Capture is critical

    • make it quick
      • capture the essence only, and keep moving
    • LATER, in a Weekly Review: Clarify & Organize the InBox, to get items to the appropriate “place”
    • BOTH of these are critical, to a trusted system
      • and if it’s not trusted, it won’t be used

    Weekly Review

    Context is key

    • act, in the CONTEXT you’re in right now
      • no sense paging through Tasks that can’t be done in the current context
    • what is a context?
      • the capacity to do some things (and not others)
      • not simply a physical location
      • can be:
        • the resources available (or not), in different situations; ex:
          • have internet?
          • can make a private phone call?
          • have the physical objects needed for a task?
        • your energy level
          • different tasks, require different types of energy
      • for many of us, Computer is far too general a context; probably want to slice more finely; ex:
        • screen (any device)
        • internet / broadband (when more bandwidth is required)
        • $SPECIFIC_DEVICE_X
          • when tasks require THAT device
          • AND there’s enough for this to be a separate context

    Next Action:

    • The very next thing to do, in a project or Area of Focus
      • MUST be an ACTION
      • MUST be small enough, to pick up and complete (if not: split)

    Treat time as the limited resource that it IS

    • if you don’t explicitly ALLOCATE time for something, it will likely not get it

    Area of Focus (OR Responsibility, OR accountability)

    • something continual; to be maintained (ex: health)
    • without a finished state

    Project

    • has a start, and finish; can be checked off / completed
    • (if it repeats, maybe a checklist?)

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