GTD: The Getting Things Done phenomenon…
Cornelius Fitchner has an interesting story over at the always excellent project management podcast about his discovery of David Allen’s infamous book Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity. Allen has basically turned a simple idea into a cult following. It works like this: Instead of filling your todo list with major tasks and projects, focus instead on defining the next step. So for example, instead of listing:
- Go to dentist.
You might break that down into “next steps”:
Go to Dentist
- NEXT STEP: Obtain access to my PPO website through HR.
- NEXT STEP: Use the online directory to lookup a local dentist.
- NEXT STEP: Book appointment and add to calendar.
- NEXT STEP: Alert boss: I’ll be out half-day
Does this sound trivial? It did to me the first time I heard it. But I kept hearing people talk about GTD, and ended up finally breaking down and trying it one day. Just as Cornelius described in his podcast, I was shocked by how effective it is. There is a strange psychological boost that comes from concretely defining your next step, it makes you more likely to actually do it.
And thanks to Backpack, the process of managing these steps (and my todo list) is infinitely easier. But that’s a story for another post…
