Getting Things Done

REFLECTION SERIES

As you grow into leadership roles, one of the key abilities that is needed is to be able to switch context multiple times during the day and take effective decisions.

One of the tools that I have found extremely effective that aids me in this process is the method of "Getting things done" (GTD) By David Allen. The essence of GTD lies in capturing all tasks and ideas in an external system thereby allowing the mind and brain to be free to focus on the current task. This article is not a review of the book but an overview of how I use the tool, how I have adapted it for things I need and why I find it effective.

I really liked this aspect of capturing everything into an external system, as I am now not worried about forgetting to write that mail or do that followup when the context is switched.? As it's written down in an external system that I go back to multiple times during the day. My external system is a simple Google spreadsheet which captures everything that I need to do - an action, a thought, a task or even an idea.

The next most important aspect is to act on this list. I do this everyday first thing when I start my day. The idea is to go over the entire list and decide the next action - it can be to draft an email, set up a meeting, read about something or even take a decision. But identifying the next action is critical. This helps in knowing and being reassured that all things are taken care of with the best possible next thing to do and the mind is free to focus on current workload

Most of the time I have realised that the next action is not a single one but a series of activities needed to be done over a period of days/weeks and GTD calls them projects.? With projects, it is important to give some dedicated time to complete the tasks of the project. I do two things for every project - one is create a separate sheet in my spreadsheet for every project and then block dedicated time in my calendar to work on it.? What project to work on during the blocked time is a point in time decision.

One aspect of my role is dependency that I have on other people.? Which means for me to be effective, I need a lot of things to be done by others. One way to do that is to follow up with people. Although GTD does not specifically address this, I have adapted? the system to support my needs. I treat follow ups as a separate activity maintaining a dedicated sheet to track them. This allows me to look at all follow ups I need to do at the same time and sometimes group them together as well. I review them regularly. Is this needed to be reviewed daily, weekly or in some other frequency purely dependent on the nature of the job. For me it ranges from daily to even once a week based on the role that I am playing.

Lastly, apart from what I do as GTD, there are two other things that I do that helps me in being effective. One is the system of capturing notes and the second is the review of the calendar every six months.?

• Capturing notes not only helps in having a document to go back to but also helps to identify any actions that are missed and to capture them in GTD.?
• Reviewing the calendar is effective in having free time in the calendar and I will cover that in a separate article.

Overall GTD is an extremely effective tool if used consistently. The first time you decide to use GTD,? time is needed to put everything in its place and organize. The book says you need around 2 full days to get your things together. When I started a few years back, it took me around a day and half on a weekend. Post that it has become part of my life. There have been times when there has been a break to GTD but I have got back quite quickly and I have not needed more than a few hours to set up everything back again.

My reflections on this,

• The concept of GTD of capturing all tasks and ideas in an external system is super effective in allowing the mind and brain to be free to focus on the task at hand.
• This is extremely effective if your role/job involves switching context multiple times during the course of the day
• The system of Projects and follow-ups have been effective mechanisms that have helped me a lot
• The key to GTD is doing it consistently over a period of time and refining to suit your needs