New to GTD or a veteran, you can be more productive by harnessing the power of checklists. David Allen’s Getting Things Done has terrific how-to information on checklists in Chapter 7, Organizing: Setting Up the Right Buckets.  You’ll find David’s suggestions for creative ways that you can make checklists that improve your productivity.

For another perspective on the value of checklists, have a look at this video of Dr. Atul Gawande, author of The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right. At 14:00 minutes in, he explains how checklists make experts better at what they do.

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A new study suggests that the stress of dealing with email causes health problems. In the study, those without email felt more productive and focused. But as anyone who relies on email can tell you, it’s also stressful to be on vacation from this pervasive form of communication. Some study participants reported feeling isolated—which is also stressful—when they were away from email.

So are you stressed if you do and stressed if you don’t?  Or is there another, better option?

Yes there is.  It’s the GTD approach to getting email under control. You can stay connected, or take a vacation away from email, and trust that your decision is healthy.

You can read more about the study in this article from the Atlantic.

The Latest ‘Ordinary Thing That Will Probably Kill You’? Email

By Megan Garber

Your inbox is stressing you out, a new study finds.

“You’ve Got Wail.” / Original image of Edvard Munch’s “The Scream” via Ian Burt/Flickr.

 

Here are some things about your job that could lead you to an early demise:

Your commute to your office.
Your morning coffee.
Your coworkers.
Your chair.
Your lunch.
Your happy hour cocktail.
Your commute from your office.

Now, we can add one more X to the X WILL KILL YOU work party: your email. Well, sort of. A new study, a collaboration between UC Irvine and the U.S. Army, measured the stress effects of email usage on a group of thirteen Army workers in a “suburban office setting.”

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There’s always something new in GTD Connect. You can easily access all this content, and more, through the free trial.

Listen to David’s Latest In Conversation
David interviews a corporate VP at Siemens about leadership, decision-making, and GTD.

Take the 14-Day GTD Challenge
Lead yourself through a 14-day GTD Challenge to optimize your GTD skills and systems.

Take a 30-minute Express Webinar
Our next Express Webinar focuses on the 3-fold nature of your work.

Take a Guided Hike Webinar
Take a tour of the forums–a lively community for learning & sharing with others doing GTD.

Watch a Coaches’ Connection video
Hear Coach Chris McIntyre give a simple explanation of the 5 phases of mastering your workflow.

Take a GTD Core Skills Challenge
Join our core skills challenges around the Weekly Review, procrastination, or priorities.

Listen to a Podcast
Meg Edwards & Mike Williams kick off a series for bringing GTD to the younger generation.

Set up your GTD Connect Intention Journal
Engage your creative side with your GTD Connect Intention Journal.

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Mind Like Water: A mental and emotional state in which your head is clear, able to create and respond freely, unencumbered with distractions and split focus.
—David Allen

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Mike Vardy of Lifehack.org interviews David Allen and Mike Williams, CEO of the David Allen Company. They talk about David’s role at the company these days, Mike’s experience bringing GTD into GE Healthcare, and a glimpse of what’s coming from DAC to expand GTD more fully in the global community. It’s available for download now on the David Allen Company podcast page.

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Hi Folks,

Before you spend another minute creating yet another list with ABC, 123, or high-medium-low codes as a way to define your priorities, read my essay this month. You may discover there’s a more natural path for getting you what you need to get the right things done.

All the best,

DAVID’S FOOD FOR THOUGHT

WHY ABC PRIORITY CODES DON’T WORK

“How do I set priorities?” Because I hear that so frequently, I assume most people think they could and should be doing it better.

The “ABC” priority codes don’t work. Listing your top 10 things you think have to get done, in order, doesn’t work. You’ll have a different priority set at 8:00 tonight than you will at 10:30 this morning. And sometimes the most strategic thing for you to do will be to water your plants. Like, when you’ve been in six meetings, felt beat up in five of them, and by 4:30 your brain is scrambled eggs, and you barely have the attention span of a gnat. That’s the time to water your plants and fill your stapler. Why? Because you can’t do anything else, and you’re going to have to water your plants sometime anyway.

On a day-to-day, moment-to-moment basis, there is no algorithm or formula that will last very long, or is really worth trying to nail down in some written or coded system. The four criteria that you will use to decide what to do are (in order of precedence):

Context (what can I do where I am?)
Time (when do I have to do something else?)
Energy (how wasted/fresh am I?)
Priority (what has the highest payoff for me if I do it?)

This excerpt is from a recent issue of David’s Productive Living newsletter. It’s free and sent about every 4 weeks. You’ll find essays from David Allen, thought-provoking quotes, and productivity tips you can use every day.

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“Small Business Big Marketing” recorded this informative and entertaining podcast with David Allen.  It has some great examples of how GTD helps us all to get more of the productive experience more often.

• Achieving an “on” state of mind
• Getting back on the GTD wagon
• Summary of the five phases of mastering workflow

Listen now or download from iTunes.

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Get clear, get current, get creative.  Sound good to you? That’s what you get from a weekly review. David Allen calls it ”the critical success factor” in GTD. Lifehacker has two recent posts on this topic. The first is their link to our video of David talking about the value of the weekly review, and why it provides the leverage you need to be more productive.  The second is a how-to that includes practical tips for getting into the groove of doing a weekly review.

Your time is valuable. The time you put into a weekly review is a guaranteed investment in yourself.

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“If you don’t have a clear sense of the totality of your obligations, you will always overcommit. And commitments occur on multiple levels, from ‘why I’m on the planet’ to ‘need butter.’ But the elevation most amorphous for most is the plane just above your physical activities—your projects. I have a radical definition of a project: Anything you’re committed to finish within a year that requires more than one action to complete it. Given that broad designation, most people have between 30 and 100. Where’s your list? How complete and current is it?”

—David Allen

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There are five phases of your workflow: Collect, Process, Organize, Review & Do. You need to know the best practices and tools for each phase.  David Allen Company offers the “Keys to Getting Things Done” public webinar. Whether you are setting up your GTD system for the first time, or want to get better at working what you already have, this webinar is the way to go.  It’s a lively 90-minute webinar for $49, available on the dates listed below.

“Thanks again for your excellent GTD seminar.  I have just been reviewing the notes – very refreshing and envigorating, bringing some new perspectives to light for me.”
—David Orr, GreenMarch Services Limited

You can learn more by clicking on the date that works for you:

Thursday, May 10, from 10am-11:30am Pacific Time

Thursday, May 17, from 10am-11:30am Pacific Time

Wednesday, June 13, from 10am-11:30am Pacific Time

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