I try to make a non-negotiable appointment with myself to do my weekly review, but most weeks I push it off and push it off. I don’t know why I avoid the weekly review so much, or, more importantly, how I can make myself take the time to do it. Any suggestions?

Signed,
Review Neglector

Dear Review Neglector,

Welcome to the club. As powerful and effective as the Weekly Review is for stress-free productivity, most people avoid it. I wish I had the magic pill that would seduce everyone into doing it, but, alas, that’s not available yet.

First, let’s be clear that it may not be necessary to do every week. The purpose of a consistent review is to maintain trust in your “external brain”—that its contents are clear, current, and complete so your mind can let go of remembering and reminding (which it doesn’t do very well). Your mental energy is best utilized when available for creative and constructive thinking about your world, not of your world.

There have been times in my life when I daily needed to do something like a Weekly Review—things were in such rapid flux that I had to quickly and regularly review my lists to keep my head above water. And there have been times when I only needed that kind of reflection and recalibration every two or three weeks.

So, why do so many people resist this process? One reason is that we know it requires us to think and make decisions. This is more difficult than most people realize, and it’s the same reason people procrastinate many activities—they’re not sure how to engage appropriately with them. Thinking is hard work. Ask any writer.

So how do you get yourself to do something that seems daunting? The same way you get yourself to clean the bathroom, take out the garbage, walk the dog in the rain, or exercise. These may not be fun to do, but they are must-dos because of standards you hold. I do a Weekly Review because, if I don’t, I experience a creeping ambient anxiety about my commitments, and I can’t tolerate that.

Because most people are willing to live with that subtle but very real stress that results from trying to track commitments in the mind, they don’t do what it takes to eliminate it. What’s the cure? Learn to love a “mind like water.” Then you’ll notice when you’ve lost that presence of mind, and you’ll do what you need to do to get back to it.

How long will it take to change your standard so that it becomes a habit? I don’t know for sure, though I bet the skills taught in The Power of Habit can help. Here are some tips:

Establish a regular time and place. For some that might be at the local coffeeshop with a good internet connection and a morning brew. For others it could be an uninterrupted hour in their home office.

Give yourself a reward for doing it—a piece of chocolate, a glass of wine, time with your favorite Netflix series. Whatever floats your boat.

Arrange your environment. Make it conducive to doing the review. One way I do this is with sound. Maybe you choose noise-canceling headphones because you find music or outer sounds distracting. Or you might put on your favorite background tunes—heavy metal or quiet classical. I have a playlist called “Work Classical” with lots of Vivaldi and Bach.

Take it easy. Don’t make it a big deal. Get started, and then come back to some sort of review when you can. Simply reviewing the next three weeks on your calendar might get you into your groove.

At least you know what the game is. Just stick with it, and before you know it, you won’t need to “make yourself” do anything—it will come naturally. Like taking out the trash or walking the dog in the rain.

Good luck,
David

The post Tips for Holding a GTD® Weekly Review appeared first on Crucial Learning.

It seems to me that focus and productivity are different concepts that often get conflated. When people think of productivity, they seem to think of doing more, faster. When people think of focus, they seem to think of doing less, more deliberately. Doing more faster, in my view, simply means being more efficiently frenzied, and it appears a lot of people are chasing this ideal. Doing less with focus, however, seems to be truly valuable. It appears GTD as a theory and practice favors increased productivity—efficient frenzy. How do you see it? Where does focus fit in the GTD equation, and can GTD help with doing less, not more?

Signed,
Getting Philosophical

Dear Getting Philosophical,

I understand your question and the potential discrepancy between focus and productivity. In fact, they are not opposites but rather two sides of the same coin. If you observe someone that is highly productive, about anything, you’ll see that they’re highly focused on what they’re doing. The problem you mention arises from the unfortunate legacy of “productivity.”

It’s natural for people to think of that as busyness. In truth, being productive simply means achieving some desired result—an output or an experience. If you go to a party to have fun and you don’t have fun, that’s an unproductive experience. You might turn it into something productive if you decide you won’t go to that kind of party anymore.

GTD is not about being busy—it’s about being appropriately engaged with whatever you’re doing, in life or work. That may look busy, because at times being actively involved in something is the thing you tell yourself you should be doing. If you encounter someone who has really incorporated the GTD principles and practices, however, you will probably notice that they’re more relaxed, they enjoy more quality reflective time, and, when they do engage with whatever they choose, it’s with undistracted focus. They’re more likely to experience “flow,” whether they’re meditating, cooking, or working on a tough business issue.

In a way, if you’re conscious (and maybe even when you’re not) you can’t not be busy. I’m busy when I take a nap, walk the dog, or craft this response to your question. The challenge is to ensure that you are busy about the right thing, at the right time. That’s GTD.

Sincerely,
David

Want to learn more? Enroll in the free GTD Miniseries: From Frenzied to Focused. And see what’s new in the updated GTD course.

The post Can GTD® Help You Focus? appeared first on Crucial Learning.

Since I started working from home, I can’t seem to separate work and home life. I have a home office and I do my best to stay off my computer after hours, and yet my nine-to-five now feels like it’s 24-7. I used to leave work at work. But now that my job is at my house, it never seems to go away. Any tips on how I might better separate the two?

Signed,
24/7

Dear 24/7,

Don’t feel like the lone stranger—this is now a familiar situation for many people. Though you may not need to go to the office, the structures and boundaries it provides are familiar and comfortable. This is also true of your home. You have ways of acting in each context—whether around the office coffee machine, at your office desk, or at home with the kids and the dog and dinner. But because your context has changed, your behavior has been affected.

Long before Covid, digital nomads and those accustomed to working from home (like me) created grooves and styles for navigating a work-from-home context. Here are some suggestions based on Getting Things Done® skills to help you do the same. They may not all be preferable or possible, but I hope you find something useful.

Have your own workspace. Don’t share it with anyone else. It doesn’t have to be big—just unique to you, so that when you enter that space you automatically step into “work mode.” When you leave it, you exit “work mode.” Even if you live alone, this can make a big difference. And even if you have a small living space, keep a desk and supplies where you work.

Make your workspace inviting. I have a comfortable desk and chair, my favorite artwork on the wall, a candle and incense (I know, I’m a ‘60s kind of guy), and I turn on music that I enjoy working to (I have a playlist called “Work Classical” with lots of Vivaldi and Bach). I keep my tools at hand so I can just sit down and hit the road running, enjoyably, like I’m doing now in writing this response to you.

Don’t hold yourself hostage to your workspace. Don’t hold others hostage to it either. If you find yourself wanting to work on your laptop in the living room in an easy chair, as I do sometimes, fine. But know that the environment will affect you. My small dog loves to get on my lap when I’m on my iPad in my easy chair, so I let her. I can also see into the kitchen from my chair, and if my wife happens to be doing stuff there, I’m available to interact with her. Some work, though not all, is conducive to this kind of environment. Roll with it.

Let others know when you’re in work mode. This is easier to do when you have your own space, which, by the way, is how let yourself know you’re in work mode.

Don’t make too many rules for what to do and when—unless you really like to live by rules (and some folks do). Having the freedom to do what you feel like doing when you feel like doing it is terrific. If self-imposed rules aren’t your thing, work on establishing the appropriate contexts, as I’ve described above.

Manage your meetings. Before you accept an invite, make sure you need to be or want to be in that meeting. Give yourself permission to turn off your camera if you need to do something while you listen. And if you share your calendar with a group, block out time for whatever else (even relaxing and reflecting) so people schedule around you.

Rest and recuperate daily. You need regular rest to function optimally. For example, research has shown that checking email an hour before bedtime hinders sleep rejuvenation. So use your discretionary time to take afternoon naps when you can. Leave your designated workspace and go somewhere else. Leave behind or shut down any devices that might tempt you into work. You might designate a space to recuperate. Perhaps another room, a patio, a nearby park, even a comfortable couch or chair next to a window. Better than coffee.

Finally, what’s wrong with 24/7? You might consider this a radical suggestion, but if you’re enjoying your work, why stop? I’ve met people who are so totally engaged in what they’re doing that there’s no reason for them to stop, other than to rest and recuperate appropriately. “Work/life balance” is something of a misnomer. It’s all work. It’s all life. How much of it you do, and when, is up to you.

Good luck,
David

The post Balancing Work and Life at Home appeared first on Crucial Learning.

I recently went through the GTD® course and have started doing a weekly review. I learned in training that when I do a weekly review I should (1) Get Clear, (2) Get Current, and (3) Get Creative. Do you have any tips on this last point? I want to think about my to-do list more creatively, but not sure how to do so. Thanks.

Signed,
Craving Creativity

Dear Craving Creativity,

In my experience of doing weekly reviews for thirty-five years, the “Get Creative” piece seems to happen spontaneously as I’m cleaning up and getting current. Invariably, reviewing the things on my calendar will trigger a new thought or idea, some notion of what I should do or want to do. Checking off items on my action and project lists also frees up some space to think more clearly about what’s going on in my world. And the process of identifying new tasks and commitments that have emerged in recent days, and then clarifying those into next actions, is in itself quite a creative experience.

“Get Creative” can probably be interpreted as plain old good thinking and decision-making. And that good old thinking is going to happen in spite of yourself if you’re thoroughly reviewing and reflecting on the operational aspects of your life. To get yourself and your system current is to utilize your intelligence and intuition, quite creatively.

That said, your weekly review can also be a ripe opportunity to go into new and different spaces. Practically speaking, reflecting on your Someday/Maybe list can be a good start. Are you ready to activate any of those ideas? Have you really captured all your “somedays” on that list? Just making that list current and complete can be extremely fun and creative. In the last few weeks I have purged a number of things on my Someday/Maybe list. I also revisited an idea that’s been on the list for years—“take a balloon ride”—and made it an active project. My wife and a good friend and I are now going to float over the hills of Chianti in Italy soon!

But you don’t need to wait for your weekly review to catalyze your creative processes. Writing, drawing, dancing, thanking people you love and respect, shopping for yourself and others, cooking—my, my, the list is endless. So, make a list of possible creative things to do and add it to your weekly review. If you reflect on it with sincerity, and make it a point to capture and do a few things you normally wouldn’t—wow, how much more creative could you be?

The post Live More Creatively with a GTD Weekly Review® appeared first on Crucial Learning.

I’m impressed by people who let things roll off their shoulders. I can’t seem to let things go, sometimes to the point of losing sleep, getting distracted from my other tasks—the list goes on. I often get like this when someone is upset and they’re coming down on me, usually external customers. How can I make sure these types of interactions don’t ruin my day or week?

Signed,
It’s Bringing Me Down

Dear It’s Bringing Me Down,

I empathize, truly. When even one aspect of our life is uncomfortable or apparently out of control, it can discolor everything. I’ve experienced this more times than I can remember.

Here’s my tireless litany to myself (and anyone else who cares to listen): there are no problems, only projects. In other words (and this is the hard news), we only worry about things we wish were different but that we aren’t actively engaged in changing. We don’t complain about gravity, for example, even though it might contribute to a lot of challenges.

This is not to pretend that things are always easy or comfortable. It means that when we worry or complain, it’s because there’s a bell ringing (something bothering us) to which we haven’t yet responded. The world itself is fine—it’s not overwhelmed or stressed—just look out your window. The issue is how we are engaged with our world. That is the essence of GTD®.

For example, if something is bugging me and I want it to stop bugging me, I have to figure out why it bothers me, what I might be able to do about it, and then engage with my commitment to its resolution. If I learn there’s nothing I can do about it, I must accept it as part of the landscape in which I operate. That’s strategic thinking. In short, if there is something I can do to clarify, resolve, or eliminate the tension I feel, what’s my next action? That’s what I need to determine and then do.

Responding in this way may not create the world you want, but it will help alleviate the feelings you talk about.

One perhaps silly but sure way to reduce your stress is to lower your standards. So what if X or Y or Z happens, or doesn’t? Life’s like that; and I’ll survive. Your acquaintances who “let things roll off their shoulders” may be in that camp.

But since you’re probably not going to lower your standards, the best relief (at least symptomatically) will come from reviewing and reflecting on all your commitments and values, and the challenges you face. You need to look at your situation from a larger and higher perspective. And you’re not going to do that in your head. As you may have heard me say, your mind is a lousy office.

Reflect on these questions, and write your answers somewhere: Why are you on the planet? What’s your purpose? What really matters to you, in terms of your values? What’s your vision of a successful future? What must you do to realize that vision? What do you need to maintain? What projects do you need to define and complete? What are your next actions?

When I reflect on these questions myself, it helps me accept the things other people do that I don’t like. It’s easier for me to empathize, realizing everyone is trying to do their best with what they know and where they are. I’ve realized that about myself.

This response to your question is probably more daunting than you had hoped, and for that I apologize. If I had a simpler remedy, I would gladly give it. I don’t. Welcome to this classroom called life.

All the best,
David

The post Don’t Let it Bring You Down appeared first on Crucial Learning.

How does Getting Things Done relate to teams?

Sincerely,
Curious

Dear Curious,

I frequently get this question from people new to GTD and those interested in applying the skills within an organization. Because the GTD methodology focuses primarily on self-management principles and best practices for individuals, people struggle to connect the principles to team success.

Yet the best practices of GTD apply equally to teams, and even whole enterprises. The five steps—capture, clarify, organize, reflect, engage—are exactly what successful teams do to maintain control and focus.

Let me break it down further.

What do the most successful teams do?

First, they consistently identify what has their attention, what’s not on “cruise control” (capture). Second, they define the outcomes they want to achieve (clarify). Third, they keep a clear inventory of projects and tasks, sorted into categories, with specific team members accountable for them (organize). Fourth, they regularly review progress and challenges to keep the team focused and current (reflect). Fifth, they hold each other accountable for taking action on individual commitments (engage).

How does using GTD as a team differ from using it as an individual?

The team needs to have a leader. For an individual, it’s obvious who should implement the skills (they run their own show), but it’s not always obvious with a team. That needs to be decided.

The team also needs a clear purpose to fulfill. In fact, it’s purpose that brings a team together; it is the reason for a team. Whereas an individual might start with GTD by getting control of whatever has his or her attention and then clarifying purpose, a team begins with purpose.

A team does not necessarily need to define next actions related to its projects, as long as accountability has been appropriately assigned. Individuals, on the other hand, must define next actions for whatever has their attention, whether assigned to them by the team or not, to get clarity.

How can a team apply the GTD skills?

The work of a team is done by individuals. Just as you can’t “do a project,” but only actions related to an outcome, a team can’t “do” anything without the members involved taking individual actions. That’s why a team with people trained in GTD gets work done at an elevated level, especially when the team leader “gets” GTD, for they are better able to manage team projects in a way that optimizes their own effectiveness.

Think of it like this: Can you teach a team to read? No. But does the team need people who can read? Of course. Can you teach a team GTD? Well, a team as a group can learn about capturing, clarifying, organizing, etc., and implement those to some degree. But if any team member doesn’t integrate those practices, the whole team suffers. For example, organizations often do “team building” exercises to try to reduce failures caused by individuals who don’t follow self-management best practices.

Workplace communication is a good example of how this can play out. Too much email and too many meetings are often a bane to team morale and performance. Sub-optimal performance spurs more meetings and emails, neither of which solve the problem. The personal productivity habits of team members prevent the team from being effective. Conversely, a team of GTD-trained people stays focused on outcomes and actions, in both meetings and communications.

It’s no secret that through teamwork humans can create and achieve amazing things. And the clearer and more present everyone in the team is, the more the team can achieve. But the team, as such, doesn’t give people the ability to be clear and present. GTD does.

How does GTD work with well-known organizational workflow approaches?

It’s not surprising that the popularity of GTD has, to some degree, paralleled rising interest in Six Sigma, Kanban, Lean, Agile, Scrum, and similar project and workflow approaches. The influential Agile Manifesto was published one month after the first edition of Getting Things Done was published (February 2001).

While these methods have greatly improved workflow and output in enterprise productivity, GTD amplifies their effect by equipping individuals with optimal techniques for dealing with change, integrating new information, recalibrating activity, and staying focused.

Everyone I’ve spoken with who has significant experience with workflow models has suggested that GTD aligns with these models and even galvanizes their implementation. Interestingly, a senior researcher in these new approaches once described GTD as “Lean for the brain.” That is to say, no wasted thinking.

All the best,
David

The post How Getting Things Done® (GTD®) Works for Teams appeared first on Crucial Learning.

My company recently sent my team through GTD Training. Learning how to capture and clarify has been beneficial, but I’m struggling with the organizing, reflecting, and reviewing. That seems to require a lot of time, and because I value productivity, well, I tend to skip those steps and just capture, clarify, engage. I feel like I’d need a whole day to review everything. I’d like to clearly see the “big picture” of my life, but I struggle to set aside the time. Is there a shortcut you can share?

Signed,
Mining for the OR in CCORE

Dear Mining,

Consider the following analogy. Your kitchen is a mess and you have friends coming over for dinner—soon. If you focused only on what’s “off” in the kitchen—items out of place, dirty dishes, etc.—and didn’t start fixing dinner, how effective would that be? If you want to have an enjoyable dinner with your guests, you’ll have to organize and reflect on the situation before you take the first step.

Is that any different than your work and life? Organizing, reflecting, and reviewing are about getting clear on what you really want and need to accomplish. If you don’t regularly do that, how can you be sure your “productivity” is actually, well, productive?

Here’s something else to consider. The GTD methodology isn’t an arbitrary formula. It’s grounded in principles that must be followed if you’re to achieve stability, control, and focus—whether in your kitchen, your company, or your consciousness. There’s a logic to this behavior.

And as you start to reflect and review regularly, it won’t take a whole day—maybe a couple of hours at most. Anyone who consistently does a weekly review will tell you it’s perhaps the most productive time of their week.

The way out is through. If there were a shortcut, I would use it, share it, and teach it. If you have one, let me know.

Good luck,
David

The post Get Clear with a GTD Weekly Review appeared first on Crucial Learning.

I read The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, as a teenager. I loved it. I purchased the FranklinCovey planner and for years I defined my roles and tried to execute on important-but-not-urgent matters related to those roles. I loved getting clear on my values and trying to keep them at the center of my life, even if I didn’t always succeed. Recently, I discovered the GTD system, and I’ve found that executing around context (rather than roles) works better for me. I actually get more done with less stress. Who knew!

That said, I feel I’m veering from my values. I’ve only just started with Getting Things Done so maybe I’m missing something, but I often find myself at the end of a week having accomplished a lot, though not everything I wanted to, and not what matters most to me. How can I better be productive at the things I value most?

Signed,
Rudderless Speedboat

Dear Rudderless,

It’s quite true that once you’ve gotten some experience with GTD, you might be seduced by the positive experience of getting lots of stuff done and, as a result, potentially lose sight of some of the “bigger things.”

Based on my experience over many years with many people, you are probably in a “swing” mode—you’ve discovered and implemented operational productivity that you may have been previously lacking, but are now realizing you need to focus again on your higher horizons and values. It’s quite a natural process. And I’ll bet when you do spend some time reflecting on your bigger game, it will be from a more grounded and confident place.

It’s like learning to drive a car. You begin by getting comfortable with the nitty-gritty details of controlling and managing such a large and complex moving machine. And then at some point you feel confident enough to focus on where you actually want to drive it.

If your higher purpose, goals, and values have come onto your inner radar, it’s as much “GTD” to engage with those appropriately as any of the more mundane aspects of your work and life. What makes you feel like you’re “veering from your values”? What has your attention about any of that? What’s the next action you need to take to move forward for resolution? What’s your desired outcome?

Now that you’ve begun to learn and incorporate the powerful GTD thinking process to manage your everyday workload, you can apply it equally to the more subtle but important levels of what you’re about, and to great effect.

Best of luck,
David

The post How to Get the <em>Right</em> Things Done appeared first on Crucial Learning.

GTD teaches that “your mind is for having ideas, not for holding them.” What does the science say? Does it support this statement?

Sincerely,
Curious GTD Student

Dear Curious,

Your head is a terrible office.

Your mind evolved to do incredible stuff—like stay alive in the desert or jungle. In fact, you’re benefitting from its evolved capacities right now: without effort, you recognize patterns and store and retrieve information to make sense of the myriad inputs coming at you twenty-four seven. You can look around and think, “That’s a chair, that’s a computer, that’s a person,” instead of perceiving each as simply multifarious vibrations of light and sound. Computers can hardly do that, even today. Yet you go to the store to get lemons, and you come back with six things and no lemons. What happened? You tried to use your head as your office.

Recent cognitive science research shows that the number of things you can mentally prioritize, manage, retain, and recall is . . . (hold on) . . . four! If you park any more than that in your head, you will sub-optimize your cognitive functioning. You will be driven by whatever is latest and loudest—rather than by strategy, intuition, or objective assessment.

Your brain utilizes something like a “cognitive muscle,” which has limited capabilities and with overuse or misuse can get exhausted and enervated, just like your physical muscles. Storing tasks in your mind instead of within a trusted system—an “external brain”—forces it to do work it’s not designed to do well and keeps it spinning about. That’s why you wake up at 3:00am thinking, “I need cat food,” or, “What about our order that hasn’t come?”

Thirty-five years ago, I discovered the value and impact of unloading the mind of all tasks, to-dos, projects, and plans when a mentor had me do a complete “Mind Sweep.” I’ve since spent many thousands of hours, one-on-one, with some of the best and brightest people you’d ever meet, walking them through a similar process. Without exception, they achieved through that process greater control and focus, and experienced a great reduction in stress. Without exception.

In the last decade, scientists in the relatively new field of cognitive science have published research that validates this process. In early years, this practice was called “distributed cognition,” which basically means get stuff out of your head. Distribute your cognitive load not only to relieve yourself of all that stressful remembering and recalling, but also so you can experience the joy of thinking creatively and solving problems, as your brain is optimized to do.

If you are interested in digging deeper into what science has concluded in this arena, here are four of my favorite recently published books, written by folks more expert than me in the field. (They all happen to be fans of GTD, by the way.)

Willpower: Rediscovering the Greatest Human Strength by Dr. Roy Baumeister and John Tierney

Brain Chains: Your Thinking Brain Explained in Simple Terms by Dr. Theo Compernolle

The Organized Mind: Thinking Straight in the Age of Information Overload by Dr. Daniel Levitin

The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right by Dr. Atul Gawande

But, Curious, whether or not you believe what science says about the value of emptying the contents of your mind into some trusted bucket, try it out. I invite you to prove it wrong, as soon as you can, so you can at least get this off your mind!

Best,
David

Want to master these crucial skills? Attend one of our public training workshops in a city near you. Learn more at www.vitalsmarts.com/events.

The post What Science Says About Stress, Cognition, and Clarity appeared first on Crucial Learning.

Do you ever feel that technology gets in the way of productivity? That tools slow things down? I agree that some communication and project- and time-management tools are invaluable. But often they get in the way of getting things done. For example, the number of apps and tools I must use to complete tasks at work function more like speed bumps than conveyor belts. And they certainly don’t contribute to peace or sanity. How should I handle this?

Signed,
Hopeful Luddite

Dear Hopeful,

Let me start by saying that despite my thirty-five years of consulting, coaching, and training in hundreds of organizations, I don’t have an easy answer for you. I’ll just commiserate with you!

I agree wholeheartedly that the digital tools we need and like require more intensive labor than they should. It would be great to have a digital dashboard that integrated all apps, allowed you to manipulate information in a single location, then sent the revised data back to its original location. And all upgrades would happen automatically! Doubtful, in my lifetime.

In the meantime, we have to make the tools we have work as best we can. Imagine your workspace is like your kitchen, with tons of different gadgets and tools that serve different purposes. You can gain a lot of clarity just by making sure you regularly clean and organize your kitchen (and digital ecosystem). You can go a step further by discarding out-of-date hardware (and software)—to keep your “cockpit” streamlined.

The digital revolution didn’t necessarily make work simpler; it just speeded up processes and introduced a zillion creative options. And its tools require constant upgrading.

Keeping all that straight in your own life is challenging enough. But when you add to that the technologies that teams and organizations incorporate to try to become more productive, which you may be required to use, frustration can dramatically increase.

Problems with shared technology usually arise because (1) the formulas and protocols about how to use the applications are not well defined, and/or (2) not everyone plays appropriately, so the data is incomplete or unreliable. This is particularly true with shared software for project status tracking. And if the system is not 100% trustworthy, it doesn’t serve you well or save you time. Same goes for the team and the organization.

To stay on top of this game you need to integrate the GTD methodology so you appropriately engage with all potentially meaningful inputs in your life, and learn how to use your digital implements like a master chef. And find some savvy twelve-year-old to be your digital consultant! If you can get all that on “cruise control,” you’ll recognize it’s a great time to be alive.

Good Luck,
David

Want to learn more? See how our courses help tech organizations.

The post How to Harness Technology So it Doesn’t Harness You appeared first on Crucial Learning.