Managing the mundane
November 24th, 2012 GTD Times Team - Staff ContributorsCategories | Best Practices of GTD | David Allen | Getting Things Done | Implementation | Inspiration
Hi Folks,
The elegance of productivity doesn’t just come from handling your “important” projects and actions, but also includes the rigor of managing the mundane and less important ones. Problem is, most people think they should consistently ignore the mundane and focus on only the important ones. There are limited times and contexts, though, in which you can do that effectively. For the most part, you have limited space or brainpower to tackle The Big Things. The trick is to know how to use the rest of your day, when your brain may be fried and your time constrained. You might find that handling the little stuff will help the other priorities along wonderfully.
All the best,
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.
This is what I LOVE about GTD. I’ve been listening to a few podcasts by the author of “18 Minutes,” and I really like the concept of spending five minutes in the morning identifying the most important things that need to get done and then focusing on those things during the day (checking in for one minute each hour to assess how you’re doing), but it’s the “little” things that kill me. Especially as a mom of four children. I love how GTD helps me keep track of the smaller, “less important” tasks so that I’m not dropping the ball on things that maybe be mundane.
Thanks, GTD Times, for your wonderful ideas and reminders!
From a management and leadership stand point is it more effective to assign mundane task to one person or spread it amongst the team.