The Cliff Notes version of Getting Things Done (GTD) is all tasks and files go through a process: Collect, Process, Organize, Review, Do. GTD works for people, no doubt about it. It has a near cult-following, and I can’t knock it. I rely heavily on it’s concepts when I organize my Evernote, and had half-heartedly applied it to my to do list. So this system was one I looked forward to, actually. After all, since it works so well within Evernote and filing, using it for tasks had to be good, right? For the most part, yes. Collect works wonders. If I have a thought, put it on the list. Todoist makes this easy, as do most other task managers. You can even create a recipe for Siri or Alexa or whatever robot you use to add tasks into Todoist. From there, it’s “just” a matter of determining what’s necessary and when, followed by a review process. It sounds simple enough, but in all honesty, there can be a lot of different options for each item. As such, GTD can feel like more to do. Take a look at this flowchart to put your tasks through: Yikes. Putting every task through this flowchart moved faster as I kept using GTD, but initially it’s a little annoying. The initial capture works awesome, but after the initial “do I need to do this?” I don’t want to think too much. I just want to get it on the list and get it done or scheduled without wondering if this is a project, etc. I may be alone in the “work” aspect of the flowchart, but in regards to the review, the biggest facet of GTD I notice people struggling with is the review. Let me be clear - I’m a big fan of evaluating things. At the end of projects, I like to ask what worked and what didn’t and make lists for future reference. But doing it every day can be a chore, and doing a big review every week can be daunting. I’m fine with my monthly “move everything to archives and dole out new month’s files into correct notebook” system/review. The review is SUPER helpful, and a key component of GTD, but it’s easy to put off and then the whole system can be jeopardized. All of that being said, of the systems I’ve used in this series, GTD is my favorite so far. The things I didn’t like are far from deal-breakers and both things I can get over. AND, because it is so popular, there’s no shortage of blog posts and references for how to use your favorite task app with GTD. The series continues, so stay tuned. We’ve got one more system to review before moving on to, drumroll please…calendars! You can subscribe to my mailing list here. You can also follow me on Twitter or Pinterest. If you’re in need of a virtual operations manager, check out my FAQs or available services, then head over to my consultation page so we can connect.
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