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I want something more than that, though.

I don’t want to have to “recover” from Christmas. I don’t want to start the new year eight pounds heavier. I don’t want my children focused only on the electronic gadgets they hope Santa brings. But everything I don’t want will probably become my reality–unless I take the initiative to implement what I do want.

David Allen’s Natural Planning Model seriously saves my sanity on everything from birthday party planning to creating new programs for my website, so this year, I decided to use the five steps of the Natural Planning Model to create a Christmas experience that is both magical and meaningful.

Step One: Defining Purpose and Principles

For this part, I sat down with my children and gave them the following prompts:

• What’s the purpose of this season?
• What do you want this Christmas to feel like for our family?
• Please finish this sentence: “I would be happy with any Christmas celebration, as long as . . .”

Then I took good notes, and the beauty of their responses continues to amaze me.

Step Two: Outcome Visioning

We did this part on a separate day with an informal breakfast discussion, which basically took our ideas from Step One to a deeper level.

My 11-year-old was the scribe:

We agreed that we want to be well-rested, reasonably-paced, and organized throughout the holiday, and we’re going to continue exercising and eating well so we’ll be in better health by the time the tree comes down.　

We’re all going to be happy with our Christmas gifts–even if we don’t get the “big” stuff that all the kids at school are talking about. We’ll purchase and wrap our presents by the first week of December, shop together for a beautiful tree that will be trimmed with homemade decorations, and focus the majority of our activities and expenses on making others happy.

Just typing these things out gets me so excited about the holiday season. Certainly, there will be days that won’t go as planned (probably most days), and some of us will be whiny or emotional while others will be frustrated or exhausted, but that’s just life. We can still aim high, can’t we?

On to Step Three: Brainstorming

This step is my favorite because it gives us a place to write all the ideas we’ve been cooking up over the past few months.　

We looked carefully at our notes from the first two steps and then gathered as a family one evening to brainstorm around seven areas of focus. Here they are:

• Activities and Outings
• Helping Others
• Uplifting Media
• Christmas Cards
• Gifts
• Meaningful Traditions
• Healthy Food

Then my daughter added an eighth area called, “Unhealthy food.” (She needed a place to include the gingerbread house.)

Photo courtesy of Shawni Pothier

Seeing our areas of focus as clusters on one page helps us to realize that the “all-consuming” holiday planning really is finite. We can create boundaries around our time, we can control our expenditures, and we can make sure our energy is spent on what’s most important.　

In many areas, there’s a clear overlap. Can’t we create meaningful traditions that help others? Can’t healthy Christmas goodies and beautiful music be part of our Christmas-gift giving? Looking at the big picture clarifies everything.

Step Four: Organizing

This part initially feels hard. How am I going to take all these brainstorms and make them manageable?

Simply jump in.

I wrote out all the components and sub-components on little slips of paper.

Then I moved them around and organized them according to priority and sequence.

Here are my three sub-clusters: things to do this week, things to do before December 1st, and things to do in early December.

I noticed that four of these slips contained two-minute tasks, so I quickly accomplished those and then moved onto the next step.

Step Five: Identifying Next Actions

As I was getting all my ideas out onto Post-it Notes, I realized that some things I wrote down were projects, while others were tasks.　

I created a list of Current Christmas Projects,

and then I created two Next Actions Lists: one for immediate Next Actions–things to accomplish within the next week, and one for important Next Actions–things to accomplish as soon as it’s convenient.

Then I simply put these sheets into my inbox to organize during my next Weekly Review.

I’ll create calendar triggers for the Christmas plans that mean the most to me, and then I’ll just do my best with the rest, knowing that ultimately, spontaneous events might replace those I’ve planned, some of these projects might not seem as important three weeks from now, and what really matters is how this holiday feels.

Your family’s Christmas planning will likely be much different than ours. There’s no one “right” way to do this, but I hope that this exercise using the Natural Planning Model will help you to create a wonderful Christmas for you and the ones you love.

April Perry is the mother of four children and Co-Director of The Power of Moms.

Here’s a great reminder of how helpful GTD is for any project, personal or professional.

Our team at the David Allen Company is planning a baby shower for  a co-worker.  We met today to do the following:

1. Brainstorm and mind map the project
2. Decide on next actions
3. Assign people to the identified next actions
4. Decide when to loop around again for further planning

Here was our simple mind map that helped clarify the tasks:

Our 20-minute meeting allowed everyone to move forward on this fun project with their own clearly-defined tasks.

GTD can help integrate your professional and personal life. Simple, easy, and fun planning — that’s a “GTD” baby shower!

My little GTD baby is celebrating its first birthday and it is time to look at the giant leaps and small steps taken towards a “mind like water”.

Even though I bought the book in 2007 I just implemented parts of GTD. I fell of the wagon a lot during these first years and had a major crisis in 2009 when my whole digital GTD system crashed together with the hard drive (no backup). It took until summer of 2010 before I was up and running again and decided to go “all in”.  So the system is based on three critical components:

• Complete system both Home/Work
• GTD Connect Member
• Weekly Reviews

Having a complete system is a big task to do, and I guess it is never really “Done”. But I feel very good about my system. I trust it. The GTD Connect community has helped to stay on course and get constant reassurance that I’m not alone in doing GTD when nobody I know is. Thanks Kelly and everyone! I did 49 weekly reviews the first year. Probably the biggest single factor for GTD success.

The biggest “wins” this first year:

• Changed job
• Better relationships with my family/friends
• Spiritual awakening

I had been at my old job for seven years and it was time to leave (a long time ago really), but GTD gave me a system to go through the struggle with CV and interviews and disappointments. And it payed off!

I have a much better relationship with my friends than I’ve had in a long time. I see them more often. My family is probably the biggest “winners” since I actually DO domestic things at home, AND have time for family activities.

My spiritual awakening is the one thing that has surprised me the most. Once I implemented GTD the “mental noise” slowed down and I had time to think for the first time about the purpose of why I’m here. This resulted in the realization that I do have a spirit after all.

This first year has been mostly a mental journey. To change the way I think and therefore act. The second year is probably going to be more driven by spirit though. More around values, purpose and principles.

So how about “Mind like water” then? Not even close. But I’ll keep trying!

Life is good

I am a big fan of David Allen’s GTD system. He has written what I feel is the greatest productivity book in the history of the world.  If you have not read it and you are an overwhelmed momma then please borrow from the library or buy yourself one.  It is what keeps me sane.  It allows me to find time in the crazy busy momma world. The best part of the system is the physical inbox, what I call my big fat inbox.

The book is called Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity. It simply rocks.

His system in a very tiny nutshell for me is something like this.

1. Collect all the Stuff and Write all the Stuff –anything that comes into mommy land goes into my physical inbox.  Mail, school papers, work papers, catalogues.  Any awesome mommy idea that comes to my head gets written down and put into my physical inbox.  This includes recipe ideas, family outing ideas, article ideas, coupon inserts, field trip forms etc.  It can really get full.
2. Process the stuff into projects, tasks, or file it away for a rainy day, just in case, or a momma memory file. And clear out the box every single day all the way to the bottom. Projects can be planning family outing, planning purchases, meal planning or putting brochures in a file for my dream vacation.
3. Review, plan, do.  This really just means planning, scheduling for how and when all the things that need getting done will get done.
   
   

I cannot tell you how easy it is to get things done, when all of it can be found either in the inbox or filed away in a nice, crispy, new labeled folder.

This system is perfect for the mom who has ever:

• Forgotten or lost a field trip form or misplaced a report card to sign in and turn into the teacher.
• Had a great coupon for 10 dollars off at the favorite family restaurant and thrown it away by accident.
• Lost the best recipe for no-roll piecrust.
• Misplaced the electric bill.
• Misplaced the baby’s shot record.
• Forgot to charge the camera battery for the big birthday bash.

Is this you?  I know it was me a time or two before I purchased and started using my big fat inbox every single day. If you don’t have one, then give it a try. You can use anything you have on hand that is big enough to hold what you process in one day.

The essentials for this system are as follows:

1. Big Fat Inbox
2. File Folders
3. Hanging File Folders — it is just easier to pull out the plain folder and leave the hanging one in place.
4. Filing system
5. Label Maker or Black Permanent Marker – I simply cannot live
   without my label maker.

*Note: when I process my inbox I place all my bills in a magnetic box on my bulletin board.  The key is to keep them all in one place where you will not forget them.

Have a super productive day!

Momma

If you already have a physical inbox:

Simple Daily Challenge for the day is to clear it out!

Lately I’ve been feeling overwhelmed. Not because I can’t process all the tasks, projects, and goals on my plate, but because I keep forgetting that I only have one plate.

As I’ve applied GTD strategies to my life, opportunities to “live the life of my dreams” have literally exploded in front of me. My website is growing, creative ideas are spilling into my colorful assortment of spiral-bound notebooks, friends and associates are jumping on board to support the vision I’m helping to create, and my family life is exactly what I always hoped it would be.

However, along with all this excitement, my emails have quadrupled, my project load has significantly increased, and my stress level has been rising beyond my comfort level. (Once you experience “stress-free productivity,” there’s no going back . . . .)

So today I decided to apply the Natural Planning Model from GTD to my overall life plan. The point of getting organized isn’t to simply “get more done.” The point is to get the right things done–and that takes some serious decision making.

I figured that as long as I’m doing this exercise, I might as well document the process and share it with others who also might be trying to cram too much onto their plates.

Step 1: Defining Purpose and Principles

This was a fun one. I got out a blank sheet of paper and wrote at the top: ”If I were to feel thrilled about my life each day, what would it look like?” I know this list could go on and on, but I tried to keep it simple, basically entailing things like having a healthy, clean environment, building strong relationships, spending my time on meaningful projects (that can only be done by me–delegating everything else), nurturing my mind, body, and spirit, and living a life filled with purpose.

Step 2: Outcome Visioning

As I looked over the list from Step 1, I started envisioning how this “new life” would be (and how it would not be). For example, I pictured our closets and cupboards containing half as many things as they currently do. I pictured my children happily completing their responsibility charts. I pictured our family going on more walks together, cooking new recipes in the kitchen, and snuggling together for story time and bedtime. I imagined myself responding to emails twice a day, when I could actually sit down and process them calmly (instead of rushing through them whenever I had a free second in the kitchen). I also pictured myself breathing more, smiling often, and feeling more deliberate about my daily routines.

Really seeing these things is empowering.

Step 3: Brainstorming

With this vision fresh on my mind, I started seven small mind maps–encapsulating all the actions and characteristics I want to translate into habits.

The seven mind maps (for my specific needs) were as follows: Spirit, Environment, Routines, Recreation, Relationships, Power of Moms, and Other Pursuits.

As I did this, an interesting thing happened. I started to see how a few basic changes would transform my entire life.
I need firm boundaries. As a mother who is working on lots of projects from home, it’s enticing to squeeze work into every open minute. I need more space in my day, and that means keeping “extra” work separate from “family” work.
I need to be deliberate about making time to read and think. That’s what fuels me, and when I stop doing those things, the person inside starts to die.
I need to delegate or defer as many projects as possible. There are some things that can only be done right now–like making podcasts with my children, photographing their childhood, recording what I’m learning about motherhood, and building a family that I adore. A lot of the “urgent” things can wait.

Step 4: Organizing

Here’s where I took all those principles, dreams, and brainstorms and translated them into a very doable list. I first identified eight components of my “ideal” life. As I prioritized them, I realized that half could wait awhile, so I put them onto next month’s trigger list. I also realized that the four remaining items were the essence of my stress. (Kind of fun to figure that out.)

Step 5: Identifying Next Actions

Before placing these four items onto my “Current Projects” List, I identified my Next Actions and put them on my context-based list. It is one of the most liberating things in the world to see a broad, theoretical plan become something doable and focused.

This week, I don’t have to think about every little thing I’ve ever wanted to accomplish. I simply need to keep my work hours within predetermined slots of time, spend 30 minutes moving those “I’ll-sort-someday-but-these-really-belong-in-the-office” boxes out of my bedroom, take 15 minutes to research a landscaping company, and invest one hour evaluating my Routines and Responsibilities List. That can be done.

Not everything in life can be controlled, and there’s no way I can plan for every single distraction or opportunity. However, GTD has helped me realize that I can create the life I’ve always wanted–even if I DO only have one plate.

April Perry is the mother of four children and co-founder of www.powerofmoms.com.

In an earlier GTD Times post, I talked about some of the basic ways I use the principles of GTD with my kids. That post focused on Capturing, Clarifying, Organizing and Reflecting at a high level.

This week, I spent the better part of an evening on a Clarifying mission with my kids, and it struck me that the act of processing an inbox with kids is vastly different from how we do it as adults.

If you are a parent who works outside the home, your kids probably generate a lot of artwork during the day. And by “a lot” I mean levels that will wake you up at night with hoarders’ nightmares of having to dig tunnels through the piles of coloring sheets and construction paper stacked floor-to-ceiling in your house. Or maybe that’s just me.

At any rate, Capturing & Clarifying can be particularly helpful in dealing with kids’ art projects. Here’s how I handle it.

Capturing
- The kids’ artwork comes into the house via a delivery device known as a “backpack.”

- Each night, we empty the backpack and look at all of the papers while we eat dinner. This is not so much processing as just enjoying and observing and talking.

- Things that are particularly awesome might get immediately hung on the fridge, placed in the baby book, or tacked up on one of the kids’ bulletin boards. (They have one in their room, and one over their play table.)

- Any remaining papers are placed in an orange plastic box. (Seen on top of the wooden toy shelf in this photo.)

Clarifying
When the orange plastic box gets full, we go through it to decide what we should keep, and what we can let go. There are two advantages to this delayed processing.

First, papers that seem unimportant at first sometimes feel meaningful after a few weeks (or months) and it can be fun to look at them together and marvel over them. “Wow, look at how much better you can write your name now than you could then!”

Second, it gives the kids some emotional distance from their work. I mean, think about it: what if you brought an awesome spreadsheet home and your spouse looked at it for 2 minutes and then tossed it in the trash? Okay, fine — I’ll admit that I sometimes recycle their papers on the sly. But, it’s rare, because I would be crushed if someone looked at what I did all day and immediately decided it should be tossed out. But if I looked at it months later, I might agree, “That thing? Oh yeah, toss it. It’s a metrics report that’s out-of-date.”

It’s the same with kids: given some space, they’ll look at old work with more of an ability to recognize what’s really special, and what they’re willing to part with.

That being said, kids usually need more processing time than adults. As adults, we can — and should — push ourselves to make decisions about “stuff” and not re-process the same materials over and over. With kids, I find at least two rounds of processing are necessary.

Round 1 involves going through everything in the inbox item-by-item and setting aside things that should obviously be saved or recycled.

This is where patience comes in: what’s “obvious” to me, isn’t always obvious to them. So, in addition to “Trash” and “Treasure”, have an “Undecided” pile. Give them their space; if they’re not ready to part with it, allow it to go in Undecided. Tip: I keep the Treasure box visible. It helps them understand and visualize the small amount of space for the things we are keeping.

By the same token, it may help to keep the Trash bag out of site. The idea of your things being tossed out is less harsh than actually seeing them get tossed out. In the photo below, our Trash bag is visible — in the past, the “let’s say goodbye to this one” pile gets thrown out after they’re in bed.

Round 2 is going through the Undecided pile. I’ve noticed that decisions are easier and faster this second time through. Usually, they’ve let go of a few things during Round 1 and have noticed it hasn’t killed them. We’ve also referred to the Treasure box — and how full it’s getting — so they know not everything can be saved.

So, how does all this look in real life? The photo above shows us in action.

Clockwise, from left to right:

- Brown Paper Bag: Trash.

- Orange Archive Box: Treasure. Only a very small number of things make it to this box — this is the forever box and space is limited!

- Kids, 5 and 2. In the act of processing.

- Orange Plastic Box: The kids’ art “inbox”.

- Truck. It’s just helpful to have a large dump truck nearby. You never know.

- Pile of papers: Undecided. See how big that pile is? We’re early in Round 1 at this point. Even though it’s been weeks since the kids made this stuff, it’s hard for them to part with.

So, if I had to summarize my tips for successfully processing “stuff” with kids it’d be this:

- Define a process that works for your family. Yours may be different from mine, but I think it’s good to have a process so kids know where to put their art, where they can find it later, and so that they feel like they’re a part of deciding what to keep (vs. feeling like their stuff disappears mysteriously!). It also prevents the awkward, “Mom, why is my precious artwork in the garbage?!” discussion.

- Have lots of patience. Remember that their brains are processing differently from yours. Encourage them to talk through their thought process and try to help guide them when they get stuck. Ask lots of questions about how they feel about their art. Let them know it’s sometimes hard for you to get rid of stuff, too — or to make decisions.

- Try to make it fun. Seriously, when the Trash pile is literally a dump truck…throwing stuff out is way easier!

Meghan Wilker is a regular community contributor to GTD Times.  She’s also been featured in David Allen’s In Conversation series on GTD Connect, spotlighting some of the most fascinating people in our network of GTDers around the world.

Some people need silence to be productive. Some people need music. Some people need an extreme amount of light. Some people don’t need anything specific. Some people don’t need anything at all.

To anyone who falls into one “some” category, they are not likely to fall into another. There’s a subjective nature to working environments. The same goes for distractions.

For example, I can actually watch certain television shows in the background as I write. Now, it depends on what I’m working on, but generally when I’m creating content I can have the TV on and have it actually spur me on as opposed to distract me. I know well enough which shows these are (I’m looking at you professional wrestling), so I don’t put on shows that demand my exclusive attention. I also don’t try to work on stuff that demands the same kind of attention from me when I’m watching wrestlers defend championships either.

As I write this, I’m listening to music — music that has lyrics. I know a lot of people listen to instrumental music if they are going to have any on at all, but I can work either way. I also work fine with silence…but I generally save that for when everyone is asleep (before 8am and after 10pm), and that’s when I can get the “heavy lifting” done.

Distractions come in all shapes and sizes.  They can vary, depending on where you are and what you’re doing. Time of day has an impact on what you can not only do, but what you can take in. I find that the morning is my “set up” time for the day, so I like it mellow at first before I kick it into high gear. When I do kick it into that gear, I find that my musical selections tend to kick up a notch as well, both in terms of genre and volume. Depending on how my day goes, I find that the occasional distraction is warranted.

What are the things that distract me no matter what time of day it is? Email and social media sites are the usual culprits. But I’ve learned that the reward of getting stuff done is more valuable than reacting to stuff not done yet  (email), or hearing about what others are doing (social media). That’s not to say I don’t check in every once in a while, I have just decided that it will be only “once in a while” as opposed to “several times a day.”

If you’re not able to be productive (a la GTD), one of the things you need to do is a Distraction Check. If you find that silence isn’t helping you, try playing some music. If instrumental music doesn’t work, try some with lyrics. Maybe put on the television in the background while you work on low impact action items to see if you slow down at all. Change up your atmosphere. Mix it up.

Keep in mind that the more you discover what distracts you and what you can work with or around, the better equipped you’ll be to perform in different circumstances and environments.  This knowledge can also serve to “childproof” your working habits, as I’ve learned from personal experience.

Tackling a 5th-Grade Science Project

My 11-year-old daughter came home with a huge packet of science project information a few weeks ago, and the entire family started feeling the stress.  Before the world of computers and fancy tri-fold poster board, science projects were a cinch.  I remember hunkering down at my dining room table with construction paper, some magic markers, and a simple sheet of white poster board.  But today’s children have a lot more pressure.  They need charts and graphs, digital photographs, and well-written hypotheses.  It’s enough to overwhelm the children and the parents.

Instead of letting the stress get to me, I decided to apply the principles I learned from Getting Things Done and show my daughter that projects don’t have to give us headaches.  Here’s what we did:

Step 1: We read through the packet of information and made a list of tasks based on context. 

My daughter got out a little sticky-note pad, and she divided her tasks into the following categories:

• On My Own
• With Mom @ Home, and
• Errands

Step 2: Each day we started checking things off the list, depending on our energy level, schedule, etc.  When we were out at the mall one evening, my daughter said, “Since we’re running errands, can we pick up the poster board and notebook I need from the art store?”  Fifteen minutes later, it was done.

When I was helping the other children with their homework after school, my daughter did the typing and research she’d already determined she could do on her own.  Even though she was a little timid at first, it turned out great.

On the days we didn’t have anything planned, we looked at the list of things we needed to do together.  Her project was to see what would happen to a loaf of bread when one of four ingredients was left out.  So one day, I stayed in my pajamas until noon while we mixed up five different little loaves of bread, including the “control” loaf.  Then we ate the tasty ones for lunch.

The greatest part was that whenever my daughter would say, “Mom, I don’t want to do the Science Fair,” I would say, “Don’t think about the whole project.  Just think about your next action.  What is the next, specific thing you need to do?”  Since she’d already taken the time to identify each task, it only took a second for her to figure out the next action.  She became much more calm and confident as the project progressed.

Step 3: We set a date on the calendar for when we would put the entire project together.  Prepping each component of the project wasn’t too difficult, but we knew we needed an entire evening to print and assemble everything onto the poster board.  Our little three-year-old LIVES for projects like this, and we were sure that involving him would spell “catastrophe.”

When my other daughter and husband bought tickets to attend the Daddy-Daughter Dance at school one Friday night, we decided that would be the perfect time to have our own party, science-fair style. We put it on the calendar and didn’t worry about the details one bit.  We tucked the three-year-old in bed and had such a fun time cutting our print-outs, chatting, gluing, and enjoying our work together.  We even learned to make photo collages together using Picasa, and she was so excited to make the background purple.

Tackling the Science Fair together strengthened our relationship, gave me a chance to teach my daughter about project planning, and even provided a tasty lunch along the way.  The smile on her face when we finished that project was priceless, and now we’re already brainstorming for next year.

April Perry is the mother of four children and the Co-Director of The Power of Moms.

I’m the mom at the toy store on December 23rd with a cart full of car tracks, dolls, sports equipment, and art supplies my children may or may not like. I’m also the mom paying overnight shipping charges to send hastily-assembled photo albums to Grandma. I stay up late the night before school gets out for Winter Break, making bread for the teachers (mainly because I can’t think of anything else to get them). Our Christmas cards usually get sent out after New Year’s . . . if they get sent out at all. My neighbors don’t get plates of cookies from us, our mail lady never gets a card, and my husband gets only a big hug and a kiss. All the while, I’m feeling frustrated and overwhelmed with the holiday season–wishing I could pull things together.

This year, I decided to plan out my Christmas festivities using GTD. It works for my business, my family, and my personal life. Now I’ve made it work for my gift-giving. Here are the steps that have made this year’s holiday season a breeze:

Step 1: I sat down with my family and brainstormed all the people we want to remember this season–teachers, family members, friends, neighbors, etc.

Step 2: We identified inexpensive but fun gifts we can give them, and then we wrote our Next Actions on a sheet of paper organized by context (errands, computer, stuff to do at home). On the errands list, I included each store we need to visit. When I get to those stores, I’ll reference my gift list, which has very specific items on it. On the computer list, I wrote down each item that can easily be purchased online. Those can quickly be ordered weeks before Christmas. On the “stuff to do at home” list, I wrote down all the things my children can help me do–like pick out photos for Grandma and draw cards for the teachers.

Step 3: I noted deadlines on my calendar so I wouldn’t forget to deliver any gifts. My sisters all got together for a wedding at the end of November, so I delivered their homemade earrings then. Check! We dropped off little advent calendars to some friends before December 1st so they wouldn’t miss a day of chocolate. Check! We wrapped the teacher gifts (Christmas kitchen towels) weeks before Christmas so they could enjoy them throughout the month, and we started making the toy store rounds early enough that I wouldn’t end up buying random presents I’d only have to return later. Check, check!

I can’t even explain how great it feels to be on top of things this Christmas. Because I have things organized, I’ve been able to do some extra special things for families in need. I’ve been able to sit around with my children in the evenings, reading Charles Dickens’s “A Christmas Carol.” We’ve been able to discuss the reason why we celebrate Christmas, and we’ve had a much more peaceful feeling in our home.

We’ve also decided that there are several things we won’t be doing this Christmas. Because my Routines and Responsibilities list is quite full this month, we’re not going to worry about Christmas cards. We’re not going to go to a ton of parties. We’re not going to travel. This Christmas, we’re keeping things simple, sharing love for the special people in our lives, reaching out to help those who are less fortunate, and truly experiencing Peace on Earth.

April Perry is the mother of four children and the Co-Director of www.powerofmoms.com.

A friend of mine came to visit when my first child was three months old.  Noticing I was still actively using my day planner, she joked, “What do you write on your task list, ‘Cook and Clean?’”

She wasn’t trying to hurt my feelings, but her question reflected an assumption that many people have about those who spend the majority of their waking hours taking care of little ones…that they’re not actually “doing” anything.

I’ve spent 10 years as a full-time mom, and let me assure you that taking care of a family is a huge responsibility.  It’s a party some days, a train wreck other days, but it’s the most important thing I’ve ever done.  I’ve created a Mom-and-Dad-friendly “Trigger List” to help parents see what types of things they can organize with GTD. 

Let the fun begin:

• Books to read together as a family
• Holiday traditions to create more unity
• Recipes that can be made with lots of “help”
• Lullabies to learn on the guitar
• Parent/Child date night ideas
• Promises I’ve made to my children
• Promises I’ve made to my spouse
• Family service projects
• Neighbors we’d like to know better
• Family Vacations
• “Quiet Time,” family-friendly websites
• Free community events
• Family day-trips
• Errands to run when I’m by myself
• Errands to run when I’ve got lots of company
• Volunteer opportunities with the PTA
• Birthday party gifts to keep on hand
• Fun birthday party games and ideas
• Good behavior incentive programs for my children
• Job charts/housework plans
• Shopping lists (pre-printed, organized by store)
• Sports for my children
• Home de-junking plans
• Cultural experiences to calendar
• Great mentors for my children
• Items to discuss with my children’s school teachers
• Holes in the wall to repair
• Family fitness goals
• Clothing to mend
• Clothing needs (did they grow out of that already?)
• Ideas to make nap time happen regularly
• Parenting books to read or classes to take
• Journal entries to record (so I don’t forget how cute my children are)
• Doctor and dental appointments to make
• Character traits I want to develop as a parent
• Character traits I want my children to develop
• Home decor ideas
• Play date ideas
• Crafts that won’t leave my kitchen sparkling with glitter
• Family memories to create so my children will always remember how much I loved them

The list can go on and on, but way I see it, I have two options:

Option 1:  When my children turn two, I can say, “Look, Honey!  This is called a TV.  It’s going to take care of you for the next 16 years!”

or

Option 2:  I can be an involved parent.  I’ll certainly take time, occasionally, to watch great programs on television, but I want more than that for my children. 

I want to be the kind of parent who thinks big.  I want to bring inspiring books into our home, bake 23 different kinds of bread, visit historical landmarks, tour the world’s museums, help families living in poverty, teach my children about history and politics, create a family of incredible photographers, and bike 12 miles together on Saturdays. 

All of this used to overwhelm me.  Of course I can’t do everything I imagine, but I can do a lot of those things–if I’m organized. 

Getting Things Done isn’t just about “things.”  It’s about people, about relationships, and about creating a lifestyle that most people think they can’t achieve. 

Our family has improved dramatically since I implemented GTD into my life–not just because I’m less stressed about running my business and managing the home, but because I now see a clear path to turning my dreams of a strong, healthy family into my reality. 

April Perry is the mother of four children and co-director of www.powerofmoms.com. She is a regular contributor to GTD Times.

I was the guy on the back row when you asked ‘How do these unfinished things make you feel?’ replied with ‘a failure’.

I’ve been using the concepts learned in class to process my work and personal email. (I use Exchange for work – GMail for personal.)  I have a shared Google calendar my wife and personal friends can see.  This lets them know when I am available and when I am taking personal time.

All I can say is wow.

I now leave work with an inbox of ZERO knowing that everything is in its place and I get reminded about everything.   I can now think about where I am and the moment.

Result:

• This past month I became / finished a Six Sigma Orange Belt Project (first in my department to do so).
• Working on a book for small businesses to be available via Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Kindle, Nook, and Apple’s iTunes store.
• Earlier this year, as a result of looking at time / scheduling, my lovely bride signed me up for a fitness boot camp — at 5 a.m.
• I will be taking a boxing class right along side ‘professional’ boxers.  This would have been unthinkable a year ago.
• I’m doing consulting work for local non-profits and churches.  Two groups I have a fondness for.
• And, most importantly, we’re expecting our first addition to the family in December.

I’m thankful for GTD.  This has brought me out a chaotic state and into a ‘mind like water’ focus.

A Community Contribution from April Perry

The first day of school started out great.  My three oldest children dressed in their new clothes, laced up their new shoes, ate a healthy breakfast, and then headed off to school with homemade sack lunches and brightly-colored, fully-stocked pencil cases.  I felt like a wonderful mom.

They returned home seven hours later, happy but tired, toting folders overflowing with paperwork, and that’s when MY work started (I mean…continued).  As I shuffled through more than 50 sheets of fliers, forms, and date-specific notices, I started to feel a little dizzy.  The pile on my counter harbored a LOT of information, most of which needed my attention right that minute.  I was tempted to break into tears or bury my head in a carton of Rocky Road, but then I thought, “Wait a minute.  I’ve been trained in GTD.  I was MADE for situations like this.”  

Within 30 minutes, the papers were completely processed, and I was ready to move on with our evening.  And since I had such a glorious experience with my paper party, I thought I’d share some ideas that might help other moms manage the near-constant influx of papers that comes flying from their children’s backpacks.

Shall we begin?

Step #1: I did a quick initial sort, pulling everything out of the pile that belonged in the trash.  That was actually half the pile, since all three of my children received identical copies of each handout (maybe they’ll go digital someday?).  By removing the trash at the beginning, the remaining stack looked much less daunting.

Step #2: I went through the stack again and processed everything that would take two minutes or less.  I typed the teachers’ email addresses into my Contacts list, noted the date of the school’s 5K, and recorded all of the holiday breaks onto my calendar.  That eliminated seven or eight more sheets of paper.

Step #3: I gathered all the sheets I wanted to keep for reference (bell schedules, classroom rules, details about the school exercise program, etc.) and put them immediately into my filing cabinet in a clearly-labeled folder…just in case I need to find them quickly in the future.

Step #4: I made a decision on the school picture order form and then wrote a reminder on the next day’s calendar page to order the photos online (doing so enabled me to receive a few extra photos free of charge.  Wasn’t that a nice of them?).

Step #5: I got out my Next Actions list and recorded the three extra school supplies my daughter needed in the “Errands” context.

Step #6: I spread out all nine of the emergency cards and a few extra forms on the table, and my children and I filled them out together.  They wrote their names, address, phone number, etc., and then I added a few additional pieces of information and my signature.

That was it!  Piece of cake, right?  There’s no need to stress when you’re a “black-belt” at paper processing.

There was one little boy in my daughter’s Kindergarten class a few years ago whose mother NEVER emptied his backpack.  I’m serious.  Every morning, he came to school with a bulging backpack–full of paperwork that had been piling up for months.  I knew his mom a little bit, and I don’t think she was trying to be neglectful.  I think she just felt overwhelmed with her own paperwork and problems, and unzipping a backpack of “stuff” would have thrown her over the edge.

I feel like part of my mission in life is to help the moms of the world to get organized.  It takes some work, but it’s not that complicated, and the basic ideas presented in Getting Things Done have the power to make life much, much easier–whether it’s the first day of school or simply the first day of the rest of your life.

April Perry is the mother of four children and co-director of www.powerofmoms.com. She is a regular contributor to GTD Times.

A Community Contribution from April Perry

Just about every mother I know has a refrigerator that is completely covered with party invitations, handouts for school assignments, reminders for community events, coupons, and about 50 other things calling out, “Me! Me! Me!”  We’re so afraid of the “out of mind, out of sight” rule, that we want to keep everything that needs our attention smack dab in the middle of the kitchen.

Although this tactic might help us feel slightly organized, the drawbacks greatly outnumber the benefits.  For example, how are moms supposed to calmly make it through the dinner hour when every time they turn around, they’re reminded of all the things they’re not doing?  How are they going to remember which items have associated computer work or which ones require a run to the grocery store?  What happens if an important notice gets buried under alphabet magnets–or stolen by a toddler looking for something to color?  It just doesn’t work.

That’s where the Tickler File comes in.  It saved my life.  I don’t know why I didn’t think of this before, but it’s brilliant.  You just put items that need your attention into date-specific folders, and you “mail” them to yourself.  My stress level has literally been cut in half since I implemented the GTD Tickler system, and as I’ve introduced the idea to my friends (who also have colorfully-decorated refrigerators), their eyes have lit up with excitement at the possibility of finally having a system to keep track of all their madness.

Here are a few Tickler ideas that have worked for me and lots of other moms out there:

(1) Simply take 12 folders and label them January through December.  The “official” way to build a Tickler involves 43 files–31 for days, 12 for months, but some moms feel overwhelmed by such a large number of folders, and they’re so busy dancing from breakfast to clean-up to carpool, that they won’t get around to checking their tickler until everything in it is out of date.  Maybe we’ll try this gain once the children have grown up….

(2) Make sure that everything in your Tickler is referenced on your calendar.  Because moms may not be checking their Tickler every day, they want to be sure to note all “tickled” items on their calendars (which they will be checking every day).  A small capital T with a circle around it is a simple symbol to use.  That way, if the middle school is hosting a holiday dance in December, and if they’ve sent home an order form for photographs at the event, you know exactly what to do with it.  You record the dance time and date on your calendar, put a “Tickler Symbol” next to the event, and place the order form in your December Tickler.  Voila!  No more rushing out the door with keys and corsage–screaming, “How much money do I need to send for photos?”  Sounds nice, doesn’t it?

(3) Use your Tickler to create the family of your dreams.  It’s true…the Tickler has this power.  You know all those ideas you get at the absolute wrong time of year?  The holiday decorations you discover in July?  The summer activities you read about in October?  The New Years’ traditions you dream up on February 27th?  You don’t have to waste those “light bulb moments” anymore.  Write them down, put them in the appropriate month’s Tickler, and write a little trigger on your calendar to “Check Tickler for GREAT ideas.”

The Tickler File works.  It will be one of your best friends.  (And as an added benefit, “Tickler” is fun to say!)  Thank you, David Allen.

April Perry is the mother of four children and co-director of www.powerofmoms.com. She is a regular contributor to GTD Times.

Hi fellow GTD’ers,

April 9, 2009 was the morning that changed my life. For the 4th time that week, I woke up at 4 am and couldn’t close another eye because of all the things I had to do (recognise this?). But this time I got up and surfed the web for a solution. Pretty fast I ended up with GTD and David Allen. One year later I’m the biggest GTD-fan in Europe (well, in Belgium anyway). The approach David and his team developed, helped me control and overview all the different responsibilities I’m handling. Being a musician in a lot of totally different kinds of music projects, music teacher, project coordinator, husband and father of two wonderful girls (you know, this takes time). A house, a beautiful garden, 3 chickens and a rabbit to maintain. I want to keep in shape–don’t we all–but I love drinking our famous Belgian beers, so this demands some balancing…

Thanks to GTD, I finally got rid of the old kitchen we replaced 4 years ago, but was still in our garage catching dust and spiders, I got to launch very nice projects at school, recorded a CD–I am organised and nothing blows up in my face anymore. In short, this changed my life completely.

Now it seems as though the whole world around me is one big chaotic mess. And if you start paying attention to what people are saying, everybody is struggling with the same organisation problems. That’s why spreading GTD has become a new hobby (…didn’t I have already enough things on my mind? – No, this is fun!) So, as soon as someone complains about all the things he has to do, I tell him: ‘You know, there is a system to manage that.’ – ‘There is?’ (big eyes) Then I show my PDA ‘Well, this contains everything I have to do for the moment.’ And then a giant question mark show up on their faces. So I tell about the wonderful books David wrote. And they get all excited and ready to start.

When we meet again a few months later, I ask about their GTD system. Most of them answer, “Well, that was an interesting book – Did you apply it already?”– ‘Oh, well I have to many things to handle right now, you know,…’ Except one of my colleagues, who had terrible stress-related headaches. He’s getting it, and is flying the corridors of the school. If he gets stuff in: whoosh! Process, Organise, Do, … give me a new one!

I think a lot of people need someone to hold their hand to get started. So this is what I am doing now: when I see my wife with 124 items in her email: honey, let’s clean that up. My kids (6y and 8y) know by now, if they need something to be taken care of, they drop it in my inbox (I get a lot of broken toys in my in basket). Students struggling with workload, I try to give some tips and hints to get their things organised and planned.

Next thing on my plate is getting my wife into real GTD. She already started reading the book but somehow became stuck: ’I’m too busy to read a book’ – ‘Yeah, but this book is great for dealing with busy people.’ – ‘Oh, I don’t have the time.’ So now, I slipped the CD’s of GTD Live into her car, hoping she might listen to them sort of by accident. I’ll let you know how that goes!

Jan lives in Belgium.  He says that “GTD got me organised, now I can be chaotic without losing perspective and control.”

Mothers need Getting Things Done as much as (or more than!) any other group.  Why?  Let me show you a glimpse into my life “pre-GTD.”

My 7-year-old son, Ethan: Mom, want to see this cool toy lizard I got as a prize today?

Me: Yep.  Ooh.  That’s neat.  (Then in my head)  I need to buy paper towels, we have ants in the bathroom, it’s my niece’s birthday Friday, there’s a permission slip form somewhere around here I need to sign…

Ethan:  Mom, you’re not even looking!

Me:  Sorry.  Okay.  Yes, I really do like that lizard.  What’s his name?  I didn’t even exercise today.  I’ll remember tomorrow.  Don’t I need a sitter for Friday night?  How’s the laundry doing?  If I could just get that laundry room organized, I would feel so much better.  Where’s that book I was reading?  I need to remember to get some chocolate chips at the store.  The carpet needs to be vacuumed.  Where’s the baby?

Ethan:  Look, Mom!  Right here.  The lizard has cool eyes that pop out when I squeeze his neck.

By this point, I’m so frustrated with the dialogue in my head that I just ask Ethan to show me his toy later (which won’t happen), and I head off to find the baby and then make some progress (any progress) on my continually-growing list of “to do’s.”

Scenarios like the one above have a familiar ring to every mother out there.  I wish the hospital would include a copy of Getting Things Done in every take-home diaper bag, but I don’t think the world in general understands how incredibly overwhelmed mothers are.  We’re struggling every day to handle the PTA newsletters, the little feet that keep growing out of shoes, the fishy cracker crumbs on the couch, and the band-aids stuck to the inside of the dryer.  We try to use our talents, nurture our minds, and save the world, but we end up discouraged when we realize there’s no way we can “do it all.”   Mothers love their children and want to have a handle on all the “stuff” of life, so we can enjoy moments like the photo above.

No one likes living with stress, but many mothers simply don’t know there’s another option.   Once they find out about Getting Things Done, their lives will change.

Here’s what Getting Things Done has done for me:

• It has enabled me to REALLY enjoy my family.  I like to be with them now because every “open loop” is captured in a trusted system.   I’m not always worried about my task list, so I can savor our time together.  That alone is worth the time it takes to implement the system, don’t you think?
• It’s narrowed my daily focus to a simple calendar and an organized Next Actions List.  When ten minutes open up while the spaghetti is cooking, I have specific, effective ways to use that time.

It has given me the energy and “brain space” to move rapidly toward my

• goals while maintaining balance in my life.  A friend of mine said, “If you could create a program to show women how to succeed in business while balancing a family, every single woman I know would buy it.”  Well, David Allen’s already done that.  It’s called Getting Things Done.
• One final thing I’ll mention is that I’ve learned that organization is not about a perfect house—it’s a state of mind.  I used to spend HOURS cleaning and organizing my house because that was the only means to feeling “in control.”  Now we keep things generally clean and organized, but I’m so excited about life that the toys, fingerprints, and all the messes associated with raising a family don’t even phase me.  My home is bliss.

If you’re a mother, and you want this same experience in your life, here are a few ideas to make it work:

(1)  Read Getting Things Done.  Order it online, check it out at the library, or borrow it from a friend.  Just skip TV-watching for a couple of nights and read the book cover to cover.

(2)  Translate it into your “language.”  Don’t feel like you can’t use the system when you hear about people who take READING materials on airplanes while you’re packing fruit snacks and finger puppets.  The principles of GTD will work for anyone…even you. (And I bet your plane rides are much more exciting anyway!)

(3)  Invest an hour a day implementing the process.  Most mothers don’t have huge chunks of time to get organized, but the bite-sized pieces will add up eventually, leaving you calm, happy, and excited about the possibilities ahead.

If you want to give the mothers in your life a GREAT gift, Getting Things Done is a wonderful option—because it’s more than a book, it’s a key to stress-free motherhood.

April Perry is the mother of four children and co-director of www.powerofmoms.com.

I just wanted to let you know that I really have gained a lot from your book, Ready for Anything!  I am not a business person, or an entrepreneur.  In fact I do not even get paid for my work…but I do work — I am a Stay At Home Mom.  And, while I know I am not your target audience, I just wanted to let you know that this SAHM really got a lot from listening to your audio book.

My husband who does work outside the home in a small family business (providing me with the opportunity to stay at home with our “cherubs”) got your audiobook just before we left for a family vacation (which included a 13 hour drive).  So, while the kids were DVD’d and headphoned-up in the back seat, we listened to your wisdom.  I must say, I wasn’t actually excited to listen to some guy talk about organizing and prioritizing…but, damn, I’m glad I did.  I really got some great tidbits that I have incorporated into my “work”.

So…thanks!

-Kim Dettmer
FYI:   talked about it in my blog…

Here is the email I sent to this participant regarding her project:

Dear Sara,

I wanted to share with you what I did to help my son with his efforts to get into college. Like your daughter, my son was looking at schools. The deadlines for college applications had been approaching, and he had not completed any applications. In response, I took him through the Natural Planning Model. Specifically, here’s what I did with him:

1) Purpose
I asked him to tell me why he wanted to go to college. At first he started with reasons that seemed to belong to others, but I encouraged him to get real with it – why did he really want to go to college? Was it to learn a trade? Develop strong friendships? Have an adventure? Meet new people? Enhance his education by broadening it or giving it more depth?

2) Guiding Principles
I asked my son what was important to him as we went through this process. He said that he wanted the process to be easy and fluid, and it was also important to him that we do it in a spirit of cooperation.

3) Vision
Once we got his Purpose and Guiding Principles clear (and I had him write all this down by the way), I asked him what his ideal scene was for college as best as he could describe it in that moment. I used the following cues to stimulate his thinking:

- Large or small school?
- Metropolitan or rural setting?
- East coast? West coast? In between? Or abroad?
- Large classes or small intimate learning settings?
- Male/Female ratio?
- Living on/off campus?
- What is his major?
- What will he know at the end of four years?
- What types of courses will he take?
- Athletics?
- Drama?
- Other extra-curriculars? – he came up with wanting to be close to ski areas (!)
- Political/ideological/religious leaning of the school?

4) Brainstorm
We skipped this phase because he already had plenty of schools he was interested in. For kids who haven’t yet identified schools of interest, I’d encourage them to take a very broad look at every school that holds any appeal to them, using tools like Barron’s, etc.

5) Organize
I then had my son rank each of the schools on his preliminary list on a scale from 1 to 10, based upon the criteria he himself had established in the Vision section. When we looked at the schools ranked 6 and above, we realized we had too many. When we only looked at schools ranked 7 and above, we came up with 10, which seemed more manageable. I’d also recommend that students apply the idea that most college counselors encourage – to include a few “fall-back” schools, as well as at least one that would be a stretch for them in terms of the average GPA and SAT scores.

6) Next Actions
There were a few schools for which my son lacked sufficient information to be able to rank them, so that became a next action for him – to take “virtual tours” and see what number he would assign based on that information. There were only a few, however, so the next actions we identified were to determine the application requirements for each school in his top ten and set them into a grid so that we could see which applications were due when, and what needed to be completed.

This process worked very well. Not only did it get my son moving toward getting his applications done, but it also shifted the energy that we all had around it from drudgery to joy and anticipation of the adventure ahead.

Wayne Pepper is a senior coach and presenter with the David Allen Company.

Mr. Allen.

I am writing to pay a special tribute to my Grandfather – who passed away last week at the age of 94.  He led a good, long life and was successful in many things.  He was the first President of Fording Coal and Superintendent of Mines for Comino in British Columbia, Canada.

I was in Vancouver last week, helping the family with the final tasks that are inevitable after a loved one passes.  Now – for the record, I have read all of your books and personally, have struggled with being successful in the implementation of the full GTD System.One afternoon – I found myself sitting alone in my Grandfathers room (he had moved into single bedroom in a care facility some months prior).  He was, even til the end, very active in his investments and was constantly reviewing portfolios and various other items.  I sat in his desk chair and looked around the room – a room that was setup very much like his office back when he lived in his house – a room I had been in many times.  It was a peaceful moment – one I am grateful to have.

As I looked at the surrounding area – it struck me.  I have no idea if Grandpa has ever read your books – and I mean no offense when I say that I think he had not.  However – many aspects of your system were laid out in front of me.  Everything was in an arms length (he could not move quickly…) the filing cabinet was labeled and ready.  He did not have label machine, but a stack of blank labels and a pen – dedicated to the job.  The inbox and related system was also within reach.

As I thought about Grandpa – he believed in his system – much the same as you say we must do in the GTD system.  He never stressed about missing things – it was always in his system.  I know that he did what is effectively a weekly review meeting – and I know firsthand that he had a list of projects for each person that would come to visit – as I was the recipient of that numerous times.  I am sure there were differences that he had – but it seemed to me that he may have been a great disciple in your system…

When he left – he was moved to a hospital in a bit of a rush – so – there was no time to clean up things, etc.  However – when I looked around at his desk – I noticed that his inbox – was empty.  Perhaps a final testament to the GTD system.

I plan to get the GTD System package you have – and make another go of it – for me and Grandpa.

Thank you for your time.

Kevin

David’s reply:

Kevin,

Such a sweet story! Thanks so much for sharing it with me.

GTD simply emerged after paying attention to the things that get in our way… so your grandfather was just paying attention!

All the best,

David

Meghan Wilker–mom, social media maven, and GTD’er-extraordinaire, brings her tips for surviving the holidays GTD-style. Enjoy!

This weekend kicked off the holiday season which, for most people, is synonymous with utter chaos. Often, work projects need to be wrapped up by end-of-year, we are inundated with party invitations from friends, clients, and vendors and — on top of all that — family commitments multiply. Oh, and then there’s that whole “buying presents” thing, which is made all the more fun by the current economy (aka “these uncertain times”).

Here’s how GTD can help you maintain your sanity this holiday season:

Calendar Kung Fu
If you haven’t already gotten a calendar management black belt, use the next two months to earn it. My favorite moves include:

• When party invitations arrive, put the party on your calendar immediately with a question mark at the end of it. This is your placeholder until you RSVP. Then, drop the invitation into your Action Support (or Tickler) folder and review your invitations once a week or so. Seeing all the placeholders on your calendar will help you decide which events to attend: Can I really make it to that client happy hour if we’ve got parties with our close friends the next night? Don’t overextend yourself by feeling like you “have” to attend everything you’re invited to; make decisions about what to attend based on which events are important to you. Sound snobby? It’s not. Your time is precious; don’t waste it!
• If you’re using a digital calendar, use the Notes field to remind yourself of anything you’re supposed to bring to the party, who your babysitter is for the evening, etc. If you’re using a paper calendar, your tickler file is a great place for these reminders.
• If you haven’t already found a good way to share calendars with other family members, now is a great time to start. Much pain and suffering can be avoided when you can see, at a glance, that a holiday party conflicts with Junior’s piano lesson and your spouse’s business trip. Here’s an article I wrote on sharing calendars with Google but, if you can get everyone in the family to keep it updated, a paper calendar can work just as well.
• Block out time on your calendar for gift shopping so you don’t find yourself wandering the mall on Christmas Eve in a panic. (Trust me, I’m speaking from experience.) If you’re a big shopper or bargain hunter, put reminders of big sales on your calendar so you don’t forget them.
• If you’re hosting parties, block out the prep time you need in the days and hours before the party.

Tickle Me Elmo (er, GTD)
The Tickler file can really save your bacon at this time of year: event tickets, invitations, directions, coupons and gift cards* — anything that you need on a specific day belongs in your Tickler. GTD Times just recently posted a great article on the importance and usefulness of the Tickler.

I also use it to “mail” reminders and affirmations to myself. If the holidays are a time of year that stress you out, it can be nice to get a soothing quote or reminder once in a while. Toss it somewhere in your Tickler and surprise yourself.

*If you know you’re going shopping on a certain day. Otherwise, I have a Gift Cards & Coupons folder on my desk where I centralize everything. I check that folder before I head out on any shopping excursion.

Simplify Shopping
If you have a fair number of people to buy for, consider creating a Google doc to keep track of your list. As ideas occur to you jot them on your Google doc. You can share the doc with others (like your spouse or other family members) and cross things off the list once they’re purchased. This helps spread the shopping load and takes a lot of noise out of your head.

Knowing what you want to buy ahead of time also allows you to do a bunch of homework on where to get the best price. It’s also a great place to keep track of links to places you’ve found to buy the product online. Then, on your “shopping day” you can place as few orders as possible (thus reducing the number of shipments and, in some cases, reducing shipping fees and/or packaging).

Weekly Reviews
Once things start getting nuts, Weekly Reviews are more important than ever. Don’t let anything encroach on that time; use it to clear your head and recalibrate. One of the most wonderful ways to use the Weekly Review at this time of year is to remember your priorities. Looking over your Areas of Focus might remind you that what you really want is to spend more time with your kids, not more money on them (which simplifies that whole shopping thing a lot more!). Or, it may help you decide to attend a client gathering instead of your neighbor’s cocktail party because you’re trying to do more professional networking. Whatever it is, the Weekly Review can often help remind you of where you want to spend your limited time and energy.

Happy holidays!

Meghan Wilker is a regular community contributor to GTD Times. She’s also been featured in David Allen’s In Conversation series on GTD Connect, spotlighting some of the most fascinating people in our network of GTD’ers around the world.

Dear David,

I’m probably in the camp of those who need GTD the least and who benefit from it the most. I’ve always been an “organized” person and have been praised for my ability to get things done and not let things “fall of my plate” or “radar screen” depending on the metaphor you prefer. That said, my life has taken a turn for the more complex and chaotic recently and I’ve found GTD to be the thing that helps me keep it together. A while back, my mother was diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer. (For those who don’t know, this is Stage IV cancer where it has spread throughout the body and is incurable. Amazingly, with the treatments available, women are able to sometimes live for years with this diagnosis.) I am my mother’s caregiver, with no other family support. As you may imagine, the complexity of managing all of the new doctors/specialists, medical information and appts (along with my already busy career and life) is incredible. And just to make things fun, I live in one state and my office is in another state, so I’m on the road a lot.

Here, specifically, are the behaviors that GTD has influenced and I find particularly helpful:

• I take notes on my laptop at all of my mother’s doctors appts. This makes it easy to find information later and to capture the next actions quickly. Also, it allows me to copy and paste the notes into an email to my mother so she can reference the information later.
• I have an “area of responsibility” called mom, and track all of my projects related to her care in one place in my system.
• I keep items that she will take care of herself (like filling a prescription) on my @waiting list to make sure that nothing falls through the cracks.
• I keep an agenda list for each of mom’s doctors and add questions as they come up. This way they are handy in and in one spot when we arrive at the appointments.
• I do bi-weekly reviews of the “Mom” related projects and actions with Mom (like a sub-set of the weekly review) so that we’re up to date on our active projects and commitments related to her care.

All of this helps me make sure that I’m caring for her the best I can and focus my mental energy on enjoying the time I have with her. Another benefit is that, in this rough economy, I’ve actually had two doctors offer me jobs on the spot when they realize how well I’m organizing all the details of my mother’s care and ensuring that nothing falls through the cracks!

Thanks for your books and all of the great tools! I refer to the job aids and listen to the audio resources on a regular basis.

Best regards,
Tara Nofziger

If you have a GTD story to share with our readers, we’d love to hear from you at editor@gtdtimes.com.

It was great to see spend the day learning how to take the GTD process from 50% to 100%.  I was so energized by the training that I did not go to bed Friday night and let me tell you what has happened in a short amount of time:

• Went on GTD Connect and reviewed the process once again from start to finish
• Revised my Outlook to reflect the GTD way
• Kept my inbox at zero
• Did a mindsweep
• Created an in folder for my wife for her to do a mindsweep as well and place in the folder
• Saturday went to Staples and bought everything I needed to create the “bins” which I viewed on the GTD Slice of Life (on GTDConnect.com) to see how people set up their desks as well.
• Collected everything on top, below, in drawers and around my desk and have processed to about 50% with target of getting in to zero today.

Let me tell you the impact this has made already.  I went to my daughters soccer game on Sunday and actually watched her.  I silenced the emails on the BlackBerry as I trusted and knew I would get to zero first thing Monday so nothing was more important.  She had the best game of the season.  Her coach commented that he wanted to know what I fed her for lunch.

After leaving the match I asked my daughter why she played so well.  Her response brought me to tears yesterday as it is now.  She said “Dad, this was the first time you were watching my game and not paying more attention to your BlackBerry.” This from a 10 year old.  It shows that GTD is more than just a system, it is a program that allows us to experience life at such a deeper level than I could have imagined prior to Friday.

I can’t thank you and David Allen enough on this program.  I am convinced that David should receive a Nobel Peace Prize for this.  I will continue to strive for mind like water as I move forward.

-Kevin

If you have a story you’d like to share with us, please send it along to editor@gtdtimes.com.

The last three weeks were the most bizarre in my life so far. Thanks to GTD I didn’t get lost. I want to share my story with you and all interested GTD’ers:

On Saturday 26 September 2009 my dad passed away because of a sudden brain hemorrhage. He was on a trip in Israel with members of his church. It was his dream for 35 years to see The Promised Land himself.

Wednesday 16 September 2009, 16:07h. It was my second workday after a four-week-holiday. I had my Areas of Focus clear and my Project list straight to get back on track again. Ready to dive into the details.

Then the phone rang. It was my dad’s pastor calling from Eilat, Israel. My dad had an accident on the beach of the Red Sea. His body functions had stopped. After a succesful reanimation he came back to life. Immediately he was transported by ambulance to the Intensive Care of the nearest hospital. Dad was in coma and has not come out of it again.

On that moment I reacted without thinking. I had to tell the news to the family. I called my only brother. We had to tell the news to mom in person, so I dropped everything and went on the road.

As my habit I began to collect every thought out of my head into my system. I had to make a lot of calls and gather a lot of information. It went out in a good mindmap, which helped to point every nose in the same direction. A moment before my head was clear and ready for work and life. In the blink of an eye everything had changed. My Areas of Focus just pointed to one thing: Dad.

The next day I found myself packing my suitcase, calling family members, dad’s pastor in Eilat, the Travel Agencies, the Insurance Company, and last but not least: my boss. I went to Israel. In a few hours my aunt and I headed to Amsterdam Airport, waved our partners goodbye, and we took the plane to Tell Aviv. The only thing I knew about Israel was that the temperature in Eilat (Negev desert) was very hot. For the rest I didn’t had the time to do research on Israels culture and habits. Within 24 hours we stood next to dad’s bed in a town 4000 km (2500 miles) from home.

During my first GTD-review in Israel, a lot (actually all) of my projects went straight to “Sometimes/Maybe”. New projects appeared: Ask the doctors about dad’s condition daily, inform the home front daily about it, find a hotel, find supermarkets and places to eat, find a bank!, where is the Tourist Information?, give dad his favorite music while he’s still in coma (had to arrange a Discman), how to travel between hotel and hospital?, etc.

I had in mind to look after dad as much as possible. Heavy emotional times. But the rational business- and bureaucratic side showed up. A warranty had to be arranged for the hospital costs. The Dutch Embassy in Israel, and the Dutch Government of Foreign Business had to be involved. Happily there is a very good Consulate in Eilat. Communicating a lot with him, I could delegate the whole business to him. So I could hold my mind on dad, and keep track of all the delegated actions from beside his bed. The financial administration of the hospital watched my back, so it was very important for me to stay on top of this.

Dad could not be transported to The Netherlands. He wouldn’t survive it. And nobody could say how long this situation would continue. After a week we decided that my brother and another aunt would replace us in Israel. Our travel and tickets home had to be arranged. We said goodbye to dad, knowing that it could be the last time in life. Just before our plane hit the runway on Amsterdam Airport, my brother did let us know that dad had passed away to Heaven’s Promised Land. It was no surprise. It was just definite now.

A lot of projects could checked off, and new projects appeared: Dad’s transport home, his funeral: find a funeral caretaker, make funeral cards, make a complete address list, send the cards, arrange the divine service, etc. I could delegate a lot of stuff to family members.

His funeral happened on Tuesday 6 Oktober 2009. And we prepare ourselves for new projects again: Handle off dad’s stuff and keep an eye on mom. Happily a lot of this has no due date, so we can take some time off. Intense action must be followed by intense relaxation.

Kindly regards,
André

Thank you André for sharing your story. We know how personal this is to you and we are honored that you found the strength to pass it along to others who might find it helpful.

The GTD Times Team

As a GTD evangelist myself, last March I was fortunate to attend the GTD Summit in San Francisco. This was a first-ever event hosted by David Allen, author of Getting Things Done, and his company, David Allen Company. It was a networking event which brought together all of the best and brightest GTD practicers from literally around the world. It was at the GTD Summit that I met Ken Case – the President of the Omni Group.  Being a Technology Director at a school district in Maine and a GTD evangelist, I encouraged him to consider donating OmniFocus to the MLTI program as a first step in exposing the educational community within Maine to the benefits of the GTD system.  Read more–>

Dear David,

I read your book and I wanted to share with you the incredible change it has made to my career. Since picking it up at a JFK airport bookstore during a business trip, I have implemented many of the techniques and I have developed ‘trust’ in my system to keep me on top of things. Not only has my career been taking off–I have been offered a major new responsibility–but most amazingly I’ve found that I am a much more relaxed and pleasant father and husband at home. Maybe not that surprising given how much less I worry and how much more in control I am.

Absolutely fantastic book. You have altered my life. I just finished the book this week and am already re-reading to make sure I got everything.

Best,

Richard Gustafson
Senior Director
Japan Business Development
Polo Ralph Lauren Corp.

If you would like to share your GTD story, please send it along to editor@gtdtimes.com.

I am always running experiments with my kids (queue the evil scientist laugh!).  I would love to share these experiments or test new things (experiments, gear) to help start the GTD thinking at an earlier age.

Here is a recent post I wrote on one of my experiments.  It resonated with several GTD moms and dads at the GTD Summit.

I am also experimenting with home design, backpack gear, homework routines, school routines and home routines to build systems that enable the GTD systemic approach.

Read more about Mike’s experiment>>

Wayne,

I was doing my daily review this morning, which always includes a  daily discipline of ‘read something’.  I ran across your article about  the Natural Planning Model and College applications.  I thought I’d  share a story.

About a month ago, I took a young man away for a weekend retreat to  because he was feeling great pressure from his family to decide ‘where  to go to college.’  He is 17.  We spent the first day and a half doing  various exercises to help him tap into the 50,000 foot stuff that most  people never consider.  Midway through the retreat, I shared the  Horizons of Focus model with him in totality.  It was the first of  several epiphanies that he experienced over the weekend.  “Where did  you get this stuff, Mark?  It is great!”  And then I handed him his own copy of GTD.  Anyway, we never  touched the ‘where should i go to  college’ question until about an hour before the retreat was over.  By  spending time at 50,000 feet (which involved significant delving into his backstory, strengths, habits, hobbies, dreams, ambitions, etc), we were finally able to envision (40,000) life in 5-years (post college), goals for the next year (30,000), specific projects (10,000 within his areas of focus (20,000 – student, son, and friend, in particular), and next actions (runway) to get him moving.

I’m sure you understand from your own life how liberating and empowering it felt to this young man when he was able to connect his runway (like “study for my physics test” and “go online and get an application for community college”) to his 50,000 Purpose For Being On The Planet.  Wow.

Be encouraged that the advice you are giving on Coach’s corner is being read and appreciated.  Have a stree-free day.

Here to serve,

Mark

In our experience, the best way to share GTD is to share what works for you.  If you look back on your life before GTD, what’s different and better now?  What are you doing and experiencing differently?  People will resonate with that.  Then you can tell them how long your lists are…