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GTD (Getting Things Done) is a productivity system and book of the same name by business coach David Allen. The main goal is to have time to do what is necessary, but spend more time on what gives you pleasure.

Often, Getting Things Done is translated into Russian as “put things in order”, although it would be more accurate to “bring things to the end”. Agree, it is more important not to shove tasks on lists, but to complete them. Just for this you need to make lists, determine priorities and come up with a schedule.

And why is it needed?

Working on the principles of GTD, it will be easier for you to manage your affairs. After all, the main advantage of this technique is that information about all your tasks is concentrated in one place so that you can move from one thing to another without hesitation.

What is the difference between GTD and task list?

In the list, we usually fix only the most important things, and do not write down less significant, minor tasks. And in vain. They scroll in your head, distract from work, and your efficiency drops. One of the main principles of GTD is to capture absolutely everything. So you can unload your brain and use all its resources for work.

Is this system right for me?

GTD is relevant for people of different professions, age and social status. David Allen, who formulated the principles of the system, conducted courses for ISS astronauts, rock musicians, and leaders of large companies.

Like David Allen in an interview with Lifehacker, the system can be equally effective or equally useless for both a teenager and a CEO of a large company. You need to have a certain mindset, like to engage in systematization and planning.

Okay, so what exactly needs to be done?

There are no strict rules in the GTD system. But there are basic principles of work:

1. Gather information and record everything. Write down tasks, ideas, repetitive tasks in a notebook or application. At the same time, the list should always be at your fingertips so that you cannot say: "I will add this later." Even the smallest and most insignificant thing needs to be written down if you are not doing it right now.
2. Write explanations. There shouldn't be tasks like "Prepare for vacation". Break down big cases into specific, feasible actions (submit such and such documents to the visa center, buy a towel and sunglasses, download maps to your phone). With a regular to-do list, we spend more time transcribing than doing it. And yes, if you can delegate, delegate.
3. Set your priorities. For each item in the list, enter a specific date and time frame. Add reminders if needed. In fact, this is work with both the list and the calendar. At this stage, you should have confidence that you will definitely not forget anything.
4. Update lists. To-do lists quickly become outdated: something loses its relevance, something is transferred to the future. The system must work for you. So make sure that you always have a list of specific actions so that you can get to work without delay.
5. Take action. When everything is organized, you can begin to carry out your plan. Select a case from the right category, see what specific actions are required of you, and work. So you can realize big projects.

Do you need to put everything on one list?

No, it's better to make several, but keep them in one place. For example, keep multiple lists for each work project, household to-do lists, study lists, lists of ideas and possible projects in the future - as long as your imagination is enough.

Are there any special tools?

From applications and web services, Wunderlist, Trello, Any.do, MyLifeOrganized, any notepad or a regular file in Google Docs will do. If you are used to taking notes on paper, you can use it.

There are fans of the file system. One common folder is created on the desktop, it contains several thematic ones, and each contains the corresponding lists and necessary materials.

In general, choose what is convenient for you.

The main requirement: the tool should always be at your fingertips so that you can transfer the task from your head to paper or to the application. For example, when your boss comes up to you and assigns you a new task, while you are working on something else.

How to get more value from GTD?

Any productivity system will not work if applied blindly. To get the most out of it, customize it for yourself, and then everything will work out.

And yes, no system can do everything for you, so don't get too carried away with making lists, remember to act. GTD is a tool that helps you get rid of stress and never forget anything. But how you manage your time is up to you.

So what is this amazing technique/book? So amazing and rearranging everything upside down that many thousands of people, using it, got rid of the enduring stress associated with daily catastrophic time pressure, began to do everything and even found an abyss of free time in their lives? It sounds like a miracle or another ridiculous panacea for all ills, but unlike many time management techniques, Getting Things Done really works. There are several reasons for this, but the main one is that GTD allows you to organically and painlessly “introduce” yourself into the life of any person, without resorting to painful and unpleasant innovations like an iron schedule or a personal secretary. In fact, this is a set of mental techniques, each of which is aimed at ridding the brain of an overload of unnecessary information and concentrating on the current task. Surprisingly, this approach allows you to significantly increase the efficiency of work - the brains no longer work "idle", scrolling through the plan of upcoming actions for the millionth time.

It seems that we have gone a little into specifics, let's return to the general plan. David Allen's book was the result of a compilation of his many years of experience in the field of time management and instantly became popular all over the world. The electronic version can be downloaded, there is also a draft Russian translation.

The main thing

• Gather all the things you want to do into one secure system out of your head and mind.
• Train yourself to always have a current action plan that you can implement immediately or revisit at any time if you wish.

Results and actions

• Describe in one sentence the intended successful resolution of the problem or situation.

• Write down every, even the smallest, physical action necessary to move the situation forward.

Horizontal and vertical control (We drive things out of the brain and put them in order)

• Horizontal control maintains coherence and interconnection of all tasks in which you are involved.

• Vertical control is necessary to keep track of projects and individual tasks

Five Stages of Progress (Horizontal Inspection)

• Collect tasks that command your attention (any tasks, personal or professional, large or small - anything that needs to be in a different state than the current one and anything you want to change even a little)
  • Get it all out of your head
  • Minimize the number of storages.
    • paper container
    • Notepads
    • Electronic records
    • Voice recordings
    • Email
• Empty these vaults regularly
• Process tasks - understand what they mean and what needs to be done with them
  • What is this task?
  • Can anything be done with her? (Yes or no)
    • Not
      • Throw away.
      • Delegate
      • Postpone
      • To the "Someday-Maybe" list
      • To calendar or 43 folders (31 folders for days, 12 folders for months, tomorrow's date in front)
      • Link (The link should be information that can be easily accessed when needed)
  • Yes
    • What should be the next action?
    • Take action
    • Transfer to another
    • Postpone
    • Project (anything that requires more than one step to complete)
    • Tracking Available Actions
    • List of projects
    • A repository or folder for a list of projects and related materials
    • Calendar (for time-based activities)
    • List of reminders for next steps
    • List of reminders of things you are waiting for
• Shape Results
• Reconsider the alternatives
• Do
  • Choice of actions to take
    • Context
    • Available time
    • Available Energy
    • A priority

Weekly Review

• Weekly review
  • loose papers
    • Business cards, recipes, etc. - in a processing container
  • Process your notes
  • Calendar for the past week
    • Overview of remaining actions, links, etc.
  • Calendar of future events
  • Free your head
    • Record all new projects, activities, etc.
  • Overview of the list of projects and important deliverables
    • Make sure there is at least one key action for each element
  • Overview of the list of next steps
    • Strikethrough completed and review list of reminders for next steps
  • Overview of the "Waiting" list
    • We write down the actions necessary to display events from this list. Delete what you have already received.
  • Overview of the remaining significant lists
  • Overview of the "Someday-Perhaps" List

    * Checking all projects for the ability to become active with the subsequent transfer of such to "Projects". Removing irrelevant elements.

  • Overview of Unfinished and Related Materials
    • View all related materials in order to notice all the new actions, outcomes and "congestion".

The Six-Level Self-Review Model

1. Current activities

2. Current projects

3. Areas of responsibility

4. Goals 1-2 years

5. Vision 3-5 years

6. The Big Picture - Lifetime Goals

Projects - well-defined outcomes and consistent actions that bring it closer to completion Horizontal focus - a reliable system of "reminders" with regular "shaking" of it Vertical focus - planning "on a piece of paper".

Five Steps to Complete Any Task or Project Planning.

1. Determination of goals and foundations

2. Vision of the outcome

3. Brainstorm

4. Organization

5. Finding next steps

The Five Phases of Natural Planning Technique

1. Goals/Fundamental Principles (Why are we doing this?)

2. Mission / image / goals / successful outcome (what will unconditional, crazy success look like? What will it look like?)

3. Brainstorm (How do we do this?)

• View the project from the point of completion
• Draw an image of crazy success (get rid of any "Yes, but"
• Gather together all the attributes, aspects, and qualities you can think of.

4. Organization (Find components, sub-components, sequences, events and / or priorities. What should happen and in what order? When will we do these things?)

5. Next steps (Where do we start?) “If the project is out of my head, the planning was effective. If it is still hanging out there - continue to apply this model until it is completely cleansed.

Accounting system

• Accounting should be instant and easy
  • one system
    • Consider alphabetical ordering if you don't need a special accounting method
    • Reduce the number of places where you can find the information you need it is forbidden(There should be a maximum of five or six places where you can find what you want. No more)
    • Sort by topic, project, person or company
• Get quality gear. Avoid hanging folders
• In the case of hanging folders:
  • Tag folders, not brackets
  • One folder - one bracket
  • Your system should always have free brackets empty folder at the very beginning of the shelf.
  • Clean out folders annually
  • Encourage the organization of Cleanup Days

Dealing with “Unacceptable Agreements”

1. Lower the bar

2. Do it

3. Review the agreement.

Results

• Keep all information out of your head
• Plan actions and outcomes as soon as events appear on the horizon, not later.
• Regularly review and update your list of unfinished business and life.

Any incomprehensible trifle should be processed according to the following algorithm:

• I don't need it = add to cart!
• I want to find out what this means to me = to the inbox container
• This information may be useful to me = link
• I am using this = equipment or resource
• When I can move this, I want to see how = a reminder for the next action
• I need to remind myself of this subtotal = list of projects reviewed weekly
• I need this when I refer to the project = related materials
• I want to do sometime in the future = "someday-maybe" list
• I want to do it in the future, at a specific time = calendar note.
• I want to achieve this "Serious" outcome = a target rarely seen enough
• Someone else is doing something I'm worried about = item on the 'waiting' list, weekly review
• One should consider this when doing some periodic activities - an item on the checklist.

That's all. Incomprehensible, cloudy, confusing? To be honest, it seems so to me too :) But this is only because this whole long confusing list is just a brief squeeze of Allen's book, which contains the explanation of all these "checklists", "someday-maybe" and others " links". However, it is absolutely not worth it to be sad and put an end to the methodology just because you: a) hate reading from the screen or b) hate reading in English.

GTD is based on very sound principles and really helps to lead a more balanced, whole and productive life. Of course, mastering GTD requires quite serious efforts and a willingness to change a lot in your life. Still, the beneficial effect far outweighs the time and effort spent. In Moscow, RTD regularly organizes face-to-face two-day trainings "How to get things done" using the Getting Things Done methodology.

Current page: 1 (total book has 17 pages)

David Allen

Getting Things Done

How to deal with things

Introduction

Welcome to the gold mines of strategies to learn how to get more energy, learn how to relax and get more done with less effort. If you, like me, love to get things done and do them well, but also want to not lose your zest for life, which seems completely implausible and even completely impossible with such a volume of work. No need to give an ultimatum "either-or". It's really possible to do a great job and enjoy your life in your ordinary, everyday world.

I believe efficiency is good. Perhaps what you are doing is important, interesting, or useful, or perhaps it just needs to be done one way or another. In the first case, you want to get the maximum possible return for the time and effort invested. In the second, you want to move on to other things as soon as possible, without leaving annoying tails.

And whatever you do, you would most likely be more comfortable being in a relaxed state, confident that whatever you are doing at the moment is exactly what is worth doing. Whether you're drinking beer with colleagues after work, or getting up in the middle of the night to admire your sleeping child, answering a letter, or exchanging a few words about life with a potential client after a business meeting - this is that's it what you should do.

The main goal of writing this book is to teach you how to be as efficient and relaxed as possible, whether you want it or need it.

For a long time, as perhaps you, I have been looking for answers to the questions of what to do, when to do it and how to do it. And after more than twenty years of research and application of new and new methods of personal and organizational effectiveness, after years of research and experience on myself, I can say that there is no single universal solution to the problem. There is no software, super personal planner or personal task and goal maker that organizes your day, your week and your whole life. Moreover, as soon as you raise your efficiency to a new level, a new horizon of creative goals will open up for you, for which it will no longer be possible to use some simple formula.

If there are no clear recipes for improving personal organization and efficiency, then there are recipes for improving this improvement. Year after year, in the course of working on myself, I found more and more significant things to focus on, things to be afraid of and things to do. I also discovered simple processes that each of us could learn to use that would greatly improve our ability to actively and constructively use the realities of today.

The result is a compilation of more than two decades of discoveries around personal productivity - a guide to maximizing work results and minimizing effort, all in a world where the workload is steadily growing and the tasks are becoming ever more nebulous. I spent many hours next to people at their workplace, helping them organize their workflow. The methods I discovered have proven to be really effective in all types of companies, at all levels of work, in all cultures, and have even come in handy at home and at school. After twenty years of training some world-famous professionals in their field, I learned for sure that the world really lacks these methods.

Managers would like to instill in themselves and their subordinates as the main standard the formula "do it at all costs." They, like me, know that behind closed doors, after the end of the working day, there are unanswered calls, unassigned tasks, raw briefs from business meetings and negotiations, unfulfilled personal duties and a dozen letters that were not even taken on. Most of these businessmen are quite successful because the crises they have to overcome and the opportunities that open up before them are much larger than the problems they let loose or create themselves in their offices and in their portfolios. But: we have been given the rhythm of business and life today, how to balance them is another question.

On the one hand, we need proven techniques to help people focus all their energy and not let it drain on minor distractions. On the other hand, it is necessary to create such a working atmosphere in which the busiest workers will be reliably protected from stress. We need a positive style of work, one that attracts and retains the best and brightest people in the company. Such information is valued in organizations worth its weight in gold. It is also needed at school, where our children are still not taught to work with information, focus on the result and what actions should be taken to achieve it. And each of us individually - it is also very useful - we could learn to fully use the opportunities provided to us in order to improve ourselves and be useful.

The power, simplicity, and efficiency that I talk about in this book is best expressed in real-time experiences in the real world. The book aims to structure the dynamic art of workflow and personal productivity. I have organized the information in such a way that, on the one hand, I give you an inspiring overview, and on the other hand, I give you the opportunity to immediately feel the results. The book is divided into three parts. The first part describes the whole game, contains a brief overview of the system and an explanation of its uniqueness, and presents the main methodologies in the most general terms. The second part is about how to use the system. These are your trainings: step by step, little by little, you will learn how to apply the models. The third part takes it even higher - it describes even more significant and significant results that you can achieve if you make these methodologies and models an integral part of your work and your life.

I recommend that you act on the principle "right off the bat" - test the material on yourself, do not just believe, but also check that these methods are not only possible, but also necessary for you personally. And one more thing - I want you to understand that everything I offer is really simple. It does not require any special skills, because you already know how to concentrate, write down things, decide on results and actions, reconsider positions and make choices. You will see that much of what you did instinctively and intuitively is correct, and I will give you the opportunity to take these skills to a new level of efficiency. I want to urge you to put it all together and accept it as a new behavior that will become a beacon for you.

On the pages of the book, I often refer to my training and seminars. For the last twenty years I have worked as a management consultant, either alone or with a small team. My job has been to run private productivity training sessions and workshops on the techniques presented here. My colleagues and I have coached over a thousand people privately, hundreds of thousands of professionals, and delivered several hundred seminars - these are experiences from which I will draw examples. The promise was correctly formulated by one of my clients. He wrote: “I started using the methods from this program and it saved my life, but when I made it my habit it changed my life. It is a vaccine against the daily life-or-death struggle when “the project should have been completed yesterday” and an antidote to the imbalance that many people create for themselves.”

Part one. The art of completing tasks

Chapter 1 New Methods for a New Life

The situation when a huge list of tasks hangs over a person and at the same time he manages to keep a fresh head, a positive sense of calm control and work productively is quite real. This is a wonderful way to live and work, achieving a high level of efficiency. Recently, this has become a style of work that is required from successful high-class specialists. You already know what and how to do to reach this level. However, if you are in the majority, you need to apply this knowledge in a shorter time and in a clear and systematic way so that you can reach the top instead of floundering somewhere at the very bottom. Although the method and techniques described in the book are based on common sense and are intended for practical use, most people are still subject to general work habits that should be changed before starting to use the system. You need to make small adjustments to your way of clarifying and organizing the tasks that occupy your attention.

...

Anxiety is caused by lack

organization, preparation and action.

All methods presented here are based on two key goals:

1. Collect all things to do, now, later, someday, big, small or related - all things in a logical system, but not in the head.

2. Force yourself to make final decisions about everything. That is, you must always have a plan and know exactly what to do next - and you can at any time complete this task or reconsider it.

This book contains a proven method for organizing your workflow professionally. Here are reliable tools, tricks, techniques and tricks. As you will see later, all principles and methods apply to everything you do, both in your daily life and at work. Like many of your predecessors, you can also use what I describe as an ongoing dynamic style in your work and in your world. Or, again, like many, you can simply use it to return to tighter control mode when you feel like it.

Problem: New requirements create a lack of resources.

Almost everyone I've worked with has said that they have too many tasks and not enough time to do it all. Just last week, I advised an employee of a large investment firm who was convinced that the new position of corporate manager he was awarded would be at the expense of his family obligations. Being an average person, a manager trying to stay in the top and answering 150 letters every day is forced to increase the staff of the department from 1100 to 2000 people - all in order to be able to spend weekends with family, and not at work.

The paradox of the new millennium: people want to improve the quality of life and, at the same time, they take on more than they can handle. The eye sees, but the tooth is numb. And here is the result: most people get lost and confused in search of ways to rectify the situation.

Work no longer has clear boundaries.

The main reason for the ever-increasing stress is that the nature of work, as such, has changed in a revolutionary way, in contrast to our skills and capabilities, which have remained the same. It was only in the second half of the twentieth century that what "work" meant was transformed from concepts of assembly lines and all motor actions into what Peter Drucker so succinctly expressed with the phrase "work of the mind." The fields must be plowed, the machines repaired, the boxes packed, the cows milked. You knew exactly what kind of work needed to be done - you could see the result. And it was quite obvious when the work was in an intermediate stage, and when it was already completed.

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Time is such a property of nature that does not allow events to occur at one moment. Although lately it doesn't seem to work anymore...

Anonymously

Today, most of us do not represent the real boundaries of our projects. Most people I know have at least half a dozen tasks in "pending" at a time, meaning they have up to half a dozen tasks "right now" to complete. But even if they had tried to do this for the rest of their lives, they would not have been able to achieve a brilliant result. Perhaps you are also facing a similar problem. How fruitful could the conference potentially be? How effective will the training program be? What inspiring impact will the essay you are writing now have? How to promote a staff meeting? How functional will the reorganization be? And the last question: exactly how much meaningful information must be provided in order to perform the project in the best possible way? Answers: a large number; readily available or at least potentially suitable; through the Internet.

...

Almost every project can be done better, and the availability of information helps a lot.

On the other hand, the absence of boundaries creates more work.

Many of today's organizational challenges require cross-talk, interaction, and engagement. The ranks of office workhorses are thinning out, and with them the luxury of not being able to read or receive emails from the marketing department and God-knows-what departments.

Our work continues to change.

The growing boundaries of projects and work in general challenge the worker. But now we must also take into account the expanded range of our responsibilities. In seminars, I often ask, “Which of you at work does exactly what he was hired to do?” Raised hands in the hall - a rarity. The boundaries of the task can be very vague, but if you had to face a clearly defined task, you should write out: what exactly you need to do - how much and at what level - within reason, of course.

However, there are few such lucky ones. There are two reasons for this:

1. The companies we work for seem to change their goals, products, partners, customers, technology markets, and shareholders every single day. And all this, of course, affects the structures, forms, roles and responsibilities.

2. The average worker today has far more freedom than ever before. He can change his career as often as his parents changed jobs. And even forty- and fifty-year-old workers try to keep up with fresh trends. Now their goals are much more in line with reality - they are covered by positions like all sorts of "management" or "executive expansion" - this simply means that they are not going to stay in this position for any length of time.

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We can never prepare for something new. We have to adapt, and every adaptation is a test ...: we pass the test, we have to prove something to ourselves. You need to have controllable self-confidence in order to accept change without hesitation.

Eric Hoffer.

So, all this is very vague - what is our job, or what emotional, mental and physical investment can be justified? We miss a huge amount of information, make countless contacts and generate about the same giant pile of ideas and all kinds of agreements with ourselves and others. But we are not so well savvy to mess with all these internal and external frictions.

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If you are free to decide what step to take, then you also have the responsibility to ensure that this step is correct.

Old methods and skills are not enough.

Neither our classical education, nor traditional time management, nor the abundance of self-organization tools, such as an organizer, Microsoft Outlook or a reminder in Palm, meet the requirements of the time. If you have tried any of the above, then you must have found that they are completely unsuitable for the current speed, complexity and permanent changes in priorities in what you do. Today, when life is in full swing and mostly in the head, the ability to be successful requires new ways of thinking - there are not enough new methods, technologies and work skills to help us take over the world.

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Winds and waters always help skilled captains.

Edward Gibbon

The traditional approach to time management and self-organization was relevant in the old days. He really gave good advice about the organization of work even when he was transformed from maintaining assembly lines into a new kind of work where it was necessary to make decisions about what and when to do. When time itself became a means of production, personal calendars became the main working tool. (Back in the late 80s, many experts considered the pocket diary to be the pinnacle of self-organization, but even today, many people consider it the main tool for self-control). Along with the discretization of time came the need to make the right decisions about what to do. "ABC" priority lists and "to-do" lists have taken the position of key techniques that people use to understand and make a meaningful and logical decision.

You must have convinced yourself that the diary, despite the fact that it is really important, actually helps to organize only a small part of your affairs. And the daily "to-do" - lists and priority lists were unable to cope with the full volume of heterogeneous cases that every professional has to deal with. The working day of many people consists of tens and even hundreds of letters, and there is no way to ignore a single request, a single complaint, and a single order. Very few people could (or should) organize their responsibilities into three columns of priorities. A, B and C, or make a “to-do” list without fear that the first phone call or the boss’s order will not discredit this whole plan.

Napoleonic plans against everyday dullness.

On the other hand, a lot of management books, methods, seminars and gurus promote "forward looking" as a solution to problems in this crazy world. When you clarify goals and values ​​for yourself, your consciousness itself will begin to issue orders, directing the work in the right direction. In practice, the exercise of thinking about the goal does not bring the expected results. I have never seen such failed attempts. This happened for one of the following three reasons:

1. There are too many distractions in your daily routine that prevent you from concentrating on more important positions.

2. Inefficient self-organization systems create a huge subconscious reluctance to start new even larger projects, which are also likely to be organized to hell and lead to even bigger turmoil and stress.

3. When perspective priorities already are clear, a whole series of secondary positions appear before us out of nowhere, reminding us that much more things require change. Already at this stage, we begin to annoy the exorbitant number of cases that need to be taken on. And the essence of the work, the essence, is painted in the first positions of the list of priorities. Our priorities! Focusing on priorities will not help you. Yes, they provide the significance and the main direction of movement, but they also create additional difficulties.

Focusing on core priorities and values ​​is really it is necessary, I do not argue. But this does not mean at all that there is nothing more to do. On the contrary, it raises the stakes in a game that will have to be played every day. For an HR manager, for example, the decision to work with quality-of-work-life issues in order to attract and retain a talented employee not simplifies tasks.

There is a significant gap in our new culture of knowledge work - a system with a logical chain of behavioral models and tools that work effectively only at the level where the work actually takes place. But in fact, this system should combine the results of a look into perspective and details, everything, even the smallest ones; should take into account multiple levels of priorities; should control hundreds of streams of new information arriving every day - should, after all, simplify the process of completing tasks.

Promise: "Ready state" martial arts master.

Imagine for a second what it would be like if your self-organization was really constantly under control. What if you could really give 100% attention to what you are doing at the moment, without distractions?

And this possibly. Being in control, staying calm and relaxed, and doing meaningful things with minimal effort are all really. Your ability to keep things under control is directly proportional to your ability to relax.

You you can learn for yourself what the masters of martial arts call "consciousness as crystal clear as water", and champion athletes - "zone", inside the complex world in which we are all involved. In fact, all of you have experienced this state from time to time.

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In life, everything manages to pay very little attention: whether it is cleaning windows or writing a masterpiece ...

Nadia Boulanger.

It is a process of work, fulfillment and existence, when consciousness is clear and only constructive things happen. This state can be reached by everyone, everyone who needs to work effectively in the difficult conditions of life in the twentieth century. Soon, this state will become a common requirement for professionals who want to strike a balance and receive significant positive work results.

World class rower, Craig Lambert described the feeling crystal clear consciousness:

Rowers have their own name for being in the absence of any resistance: natural movement... Remember the childhood delight of swinging on a swing in the yard: the ease of movement, the impulse that comes from the swing itself. The swing carries us: we don't put any effort into it. We swing our legs to fly higher, but gravity does most of the work for us. We put not so much effort, the main work is done by itself. The boat is carrying you - as if it wants to move faster. Our task is to work with the boat in pairs - to finally stop stopping it, trying to accelerate on our own. Trying too hard will slow the boat down. Trying becomes striving, and striving discredits itself. Social Climbers strive to become aristocrats. But the aristocrats are no longer trying anything - they are already aristocrats. Also, the natural course - everything happens by itself.

Comparison with crystal clear consciousness.

In karate, there is a symbol that denotes a position of full readiness: "crystal clear consciousness." Imagine throwing a pebble into still water. What happens to water? The answer is this: the movement of water depends entirely on the strength of the throw and the size of the pebble, and then it becomes calm again. There will be no fountain, but do not expect the absence of circles on the water.

In karate, it is the speed of the strike that matters, not the strength of the strike. That's why people can't learn to break boards and crack bricks with their hands: it doesn't take brute force, just the ability to set the right speed. But tense hands cannot make quick movements. So, the last stage of martial arts training requires balance and relaxation like nothing else. Crystal clarity of thought and flexibility is the most important thing.

Anything that makes you react violently or react sluggishly can have an effect on you. And renders. An inadequate response to a letter, a tense conversation with a boss, with subordinates, magazines you have not read, thoughts of unfinished work constantly spinning in your head, children left unattended - all this will lead to worse results than you expected. Most people tend to pay more or less attention than they should to things that deserve it, just because they don't have crystal clarity of thought.

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If your consciousness is empty, it is ready to accept anything at any moment, it is open to everything.

Sbanry Suzuki

Can you get into your “productive state” when needed?

Think about the last time you were productive at work. Most likely, you had the feeling that you were in control, you were not under pressure, you were focused on what you were doing, time seemed to fly by in an instant (maybe it was lunch time?), and you felt that it was essential approached the desired result. Would you like to repeat this? And if you feel completely, well, completely different - you feel that you have lost control over the situation, you are unsettled, your attention is scattered, you are bored - can you return to this state? Right now, everything that makes you react violently or react sluggishly can take over you. And it often does.

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We can only do one thing. The lucky ones can do it using only their inner potential.

We can be on point.

We can--we can give our full attention to the possibilities before us.

The execution methodology will have the greatest impact on your life, showing you how to keep your mind crystal clear while working at your full potential.

Principle: effective action with internal responsibilities.

In twenty years of practice, I came to the most banal truth - the main cause of stress is that people incorrectly allocate and handle responsibilities, "holes" that they impose on themselves and that they have to fulfill. Without a doubt, those who are not constantly stressed will be able to relax more easily, concentrate faster and work with more energy once they learn to untangle their Gordian knots.

Surely you, without realizing it, have repeatedly given yourself a bunch of arguments and arguments, much more than it seems, and each of them, even the smallest one, was completely traced by the subconscious. These are the very “holes” and obligations that I would define as something that diverts your attention, something that spins in a completely different place where it should be. Anything can become such holes, starting from such positions in the “to-do” list as “Feed the starving Volga region”, through the item “Hire a new assistant” to such trifles as “Replace the electric sharpener”. It is quite possible that there are more thought processes going on in the back of your mind right now than you think. Just think how many details you need to think over if you have even a small responsibility. For example, you may have the constant thought that you need to deal with all your email and voice messages.

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Everything that is out of place is a “hole” that distracts your attention.

And of course, there are many projects that are on your list, goals, tasks that have not yet been clarified, and indeed a life that you just need to live.

And you have established a certain level of internal responsibility for everything in your life and for work, which is also, in general, a “hole”.

Collect and sort everything that constantly reminds you of yourself, and plan how to deal with it if you want your work to be effective. Despite the seeming simplicity, most people have no idea how this can be done.

Basic requirements for the organization of obligations.

Organization of obligations requires some basic actions and special behavior:

§ Firstly, if you keep obligations in mind, then consciousness can no longer be crystal clear. Everything that you consider to be incomplete at the moment should be collected and organized somewhere, but not in your head, in some place where you will periodically look.

§ Second, you must be clear about what your commitment is and what exactly you must do to move closer to the result.

§ Thirdly, when you have written down all the tasks that need to be done, you need to put reminders on them.

Important exercise: testing this model.

I suggest that you write down on paper your project or the situation in which you are currently working. What positions constantly annoy you? What distracts you, and what, on the contrary, interests you? It could be a work project you currently have or just a situation that you need to resolve, and the sooner the better. You may be traveling as a vacation and need to get even with the rest of your business. Or maybe you inherited $6 million and don't know what to do with the cash. No difference.

Understandably? Fine! Now, in one sentence, describe the successful outcome you are striving for. In other words, how everything should look so that you can safely say "work is over." You can write something as simple as "Go on vacation to Hawaii", "Deal with customer XXX", "Reassess the situation at Susan's school", "Clarify the new structure of the management division". All clear? Super!

Now write down your next action that you are going to take to take the first step in business. You have nothing else to do at all, but you are stuck on it. What will you do now? What step will you take? Maybe pick up the phone and call? Maybe write an email? Will you sit down at the table, armed with a pen and paper, and brainstorm with yourself? Talk to your spouse, secretary, lawyer, boss? Go to the hardware store and buy nails? What?

Did those two minutes of thinking do you any good? If you, like most of the participants in my seminars, have completed this exercise, then it will already help you at least relax, concentrate and establish increased control. You'll also be well motivated to do something about an issue you've hardly thought about before.

If you learned anything useful from this exercise, think about it: what has changed? What happened that created improved conditions for your work? The problem has already become material, at least in the physical world of things. In fact, you just got a clear view of the result and your next action, nothing more. But what did it give rise to? Answer: thinking. Not so much. But enough to determine your duty and the resources needed to fulfill it.

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Think like a man of action, act like a man of reason.

Henry Bergson.

The real work of intellectual labor.

Welcome to the real world of intellectual work, where the basic principle is: “Must think about your work more carefully than you think is necessary, but not as caustic as you are horrified to imagine”. Peter Drucker writes: “There are no tasks in intellectual work. They must be placed. What are the expected results of the work? - this is the main question by which the productivity of intellectual labor is determined. And answering this question, you in any case risk. Usually, there is no right answer, but there are plenty to choose from. And the results must be clearly defined, then the work will be effective.

The Getting Things Done (GTD) method is based on thinking about the results and determining the “next steps”. The main idea of ​​GTD helps to clearly define the goal, and then each step on the way to achieving this goal. The method is suitable for organizing a presentation at work, and for planning Christmas shopping.

Each task should be small so that you can solve it quickly, and the lack of time or motivation could not interfere with you. This approach contributes to the achievement of all your goals in life, helps to avoid stress.

When organizing projects using the GTD method, you will always be ready to start working on a task immediately, no matter what is happening around you and where you are. GTD makes the next step so easy for you that you won't want to put it off.

In this book, you will find some simple tools that you can use to work efficiently and keep a clear mind; as well as recommendations on what attitudes need to be developed in order to implement the basic principles of the GTD.

Your brain is a thinking tool, not a storage device.

To be successful in your work means to be a good organizer. This is especially important for knowledge workers, for whom juggling dozens of tasks and projects at the same time is a daily reality. Difficulties arise when the thin line between our personal and professional lives blurs. This happens because our brain tries to sort out unresolved problems and reminds us of them at the most inopportune moment - even if we would rather deal with them later.

To keep all the complex information about life under control, many of us treat our brains like a desk drawer or a notebook. We abuse our brain by forcing it to store all kinds of information. By filling our heads with information about unfinished assignments, upcoming meetings, and other obligations, we recklessly waste our brain's ability to think, which makes it difficult to concentrate on real work.

In order to work as efficiently as possible, we must free our minds from everything that is not related to the task that we are performing at a particular moment in time. Use 100% of your mind's ability to focus on the task at hand.

If you want to think clearly, you need a secure "collection bin" outside of your mind.

Our brain has one annoying property - it never lets us forget what we should take care of. We are constantly bombarded with new information that also takes up space in our minds. Every new idea, every memory, and every problem we forgot to solve distracts us from the main thing.

Always use the so-called "collection bin": a place outside of your mind where you can put any extraneous information or idea. You will know exactly where to find the information later when you have time for it. This allows you to fully focus on writing a letter, talking to a colleague, or mowing the lawn.

Your "collection bin" could be a notepad, lists on your computer/phone, or even boxes to put items and papers in. Your collection basket (or baskets) should be located nearby so that you can easily retrieve information that you would otherwise accumulate in your mind.

Take out the trash - empty all external "baskets" weekly

For the system to work properly, you must maintain it. Get in the habit of reviewing and emptying your trash once a week. The "collection basket" system works because it gives the mind a rest with the confidence that it will not lose or forget any important information.

If the system is not updated, it ceases to be reliable, and the brain becomes wary and ceases to trust it. As soon as this happens, the subconscious will again begin to be distracted by unresolved problems and unfinished tasks. You must carefully consider all your tasks and put things in order, guided by the following rules:

• Cross off unimportant tasks from the list right away.
• If you can solve a problem very quickly (in two minutes or less), do it immediately.
• Keep important information in a safe place. If it's a meeting, project, or specific task, move it to the appropriate list.
• Regular "trash emptying" is the only way to ensure reliable performance and avoid stress.

Emptying the "basket", sort the material into lists

No matter how different the material in your "basket", you do not need to classify and arrange it into separate "boxes" or lists.

Most to-do lists don't work because they turn into a vinaigrette of tasks, thoughts, and information. Lists should only include specific, doable tasks, but we write them down indiscriminately, and so it's very easy to lose sight of individual doable tasks.

How to organize the items in your shopping cart?

• Remove all non-essentials, solve small tasks and put appointments or deadlines into your calendar.
• If it is a complex job (that is, it requires several specific tasks), include it in the project with a clear goal.
• All other tasks should be on the "Next Actions" list.

The "Projects" list gives you an overview of all your current projects

Projects are a key component of any productivity improvement system. A project is a desired outcome that requires multi-step actions. To determine what tasks the project should consist of, imagine the result you want to achieve and describe the desired result in one sentence. Thinking about the outcome helps you formulate specific goals that will bring you closer to achieving the project goal.

The list contains all projects that must be completed in the near future. It will help you keep track and control all ongoing projects, improve your productivity, and relax.

By updating the list weekly, make sure each project is scheduled step by step. All the activities that make up the project fall into the "Next Actions" list. It is specific tasks that allow you to achieve any goal.

Replace your daily to-do list with a calendar and Next Actions list

Daily to-do lists are ineffective - they distort your sense of time, mislead you, and make you believe that you really have time to do all of the above in a day. Such unrealistic planning leads to frustration, waste of time and dooms what you are doing in advance.

A much more efficient method is to work with the calendar and "Next Actions" lists. The calendar serves only one purpose: to record appointments. Everything related to a certain day or hour - a meeting or a doctor's visit - should be recorded in the calendar.

Put all other tasks or specific steps on your Next Actions list. It allows you to quickly decide which tasks are most relevant and whether you have time to solve them.

No matter where you are, you should always have a Next Actions list with you. This will give you the opportunity to choose which problem makes sense to solve.

If you have planned well and pre-selected tasks, it will not be difficult for you to decide which one makes sense to take on. Imagine that you are at the airport and your flight is delayed by an hour. In this situation, ask yourself:

• Which task should I choose now?
• What task can I complete in the allotted time?
• What task will I have enough energy for at the moment?
• Which task has the highest priority?

If too many tasks are scheduled, it makes sense to distribute them across multiple lists and repositories. For example, one list can be stored on a smartphone and another on a computer. By sorting tasks this way, you'll know which one you can complete while at your desk, in a meeting, or while waiting at the airport.

Pending lists are useful when working with other people

All current projects should be listed in the "Projects" list. When you use the Next Actions list, you can ensure that you work on tasks in sequence, each one bringing your projects closer to completion.

In most cases, you must rely on other people who are responsible for the individual parts of each project. But this does not mean that you should give up control over the progress of any of your projects.

Whenever you're dependent on other people's work - waiting for someone to report back so you can continue working on your presentation - it's worth keeping a "Pending" list. This way you can mark everything that other people have to give you, along with deadlines.

By updating this list every week, you will see who and how is doing their job. You will have a new specific task: to remind this person of the obligation.

If this task takes you less than two minutes to complete, do it immediately. If not, put it on your “Next Actions” list or one of the more specific lists and kindly remind the person that you are still waiting for their report.

Save information for a specific day in a calendar or file cabinet

You can plan a huge amount of things in advance, but sometimes you have to wait for certain information before turning the materials from your "basket" into specific tasks or meetings.

Example. If a trade show of interest to you is coming up, you might want to wait a bit and see the exhibitors before deciding whether it makes sense to attend. If such information is not available to you in advance, it is best to postpone the decision.

In cases where you have no choice and have to plan everything at the last minute, the following strategies will come in handy:

• Set yourself a reminder for a specific day on your calendar.
• Maintain a file that will help you access the information you need at the right time.

The file cabinet is a very precise and logical system. It consists of 43 files: 31 files for the days of the month and 12 for the months of the year. Every day you can check documents, reminders or materials "sent" to yourself.

For the system to work, you must use and update it daily, and this is the hardest part.

Ideas that may become relevant in the future, put them on the “Someday/Maybe” list

This list includes everything that is not in the "Next Actions" or "Projects" lists, but which should not get in the way in your head. The Someday/Maybe list contains all the material that you have not yet converted into specific ideas or tasks. Do not underestimate its benefits. It allows you to keep track of project ideas that may be extremely important in the future. The ideas in this list can be divided into groups. For example:

• "Trips I'd like to take";
• "Wines I would like to try";
• "Music I would like to listen to."

Like Next Actions lists, Someday/Maybe helps you find the information you need at the right time. Lists are more reliable than your own memory.

The Someday/Maybe list should be reviewed and updated regularly if you want to use it effectively.

An organized workplace and a weekly review of your system increases productivity

All list materials must be accessible from your workplace. Create a "control cabin" - a functional mobile system for accessing information wherever you are. It's extremely important to create a system of lists and files that you can take with you wherever you go: even if you're stuck at the airport or in a snowstorm, you can still be productive.

The GTD method allows you to feel calm and control all ongoing projects: monitor their implementation and make sure that they are moving forward.

Your productivity system should always remain up-to-date and complete. Your mind will relax and be able to fully concentrate on the task only if you trust your system.

By reviewing all your lists weekly, you'll make sure your system stays functional - every current project is linked to at least one "Next Action" in an up-to-date, easily accessible list. You will have a general idea of ​​​​everything that is happening. Revision helps to see the "forest" without losing sight of the "trees".

The amount of time you spend on a weekly review depends on how much time you need to feel secure and build confidence in the system.

Schedule your weekly review, for example, for Friday night. This will allow you to close work cases and leave for the weekend with a clear head and a sense of control.

Natural planning clarifies the goals and next steps of your projects

Project development is a rather unnatural and illogical process. You must think over and plan all the steps in advance, not yet imagining a clear goal. Use a natural planning method that reflects your daily activities.

An example of a daily activity: you are hungry and form a vague goal ("I should eat something"), and then refine it ("I want pizza"). At this point, several ideas pop into your head about how to achieve this goal (“I can either bake a pizza, or order it, or go to a restaurant”). Any steps you need to take along the way become self-evident.

Apply this way of thinking to your real projects: start with the most specific goal definition. It never hurts to take the time to define a goal, because all subsequent actions will depend on it. When the goal is clear, your mind will automatically start brainstorming. This way you can come up with the ideas you need to achieve your goal. A good tactic is to start brainstorming "from the outside"; for example, write down and save your ideas on paper.

Once you have collected all your ideas, you must organize and group them, and then determine the specific actions required to complete the project.

Natural planning greatly clarifies the work on the project and makes it interesting, fast and intuitive.

The most important thing

How to work effectively and with a clear head?

• Your brain is a thinking tool, not a storage device. If you want to think clearly, you need a secure "collection bin" outside of your mind.
• Take out the trash - empty all external "baskets" weekly.
• When sorting through the "baskets", sort the material into thematic lists.

The simple tools that make up the GTD method

• The "Projects" list provides an overview of all your current projects.
• Use a calendar and Next Actions lists instead of a daily to-do list.
• Pending lists are very useful when you're working with other people.
• Save information for a specific day in a calendar or file cabinet.
• All potentially interesting ideas should be put on the “Someday/Maybe” list.
• An organized workplace and a weekly review of your system is indispensable for productive work.

How to implement the basic principles of GTD?

Natural planning clarifies the goals and next steps of your projects and makes it easier to work on them.