Dear David Allen: You mention you only “think once a week”.  Does that mean you have a script rule about planning out your weeks as opposed to day-to-day? Could you explain that a little more?

David: When I say I only think once a week, I’m making an exaggerated point that doing a thorough GTD Weekly Review sufficiently sets up my sense of priorities so that I don’t have to do a lot of re-thinking or over-structuring, as I go day to day.  Usually we don’t have the time in the busy pace we work to stop and do “forest management instead of tree-hugging”.  Because most people don’t build in that reflection time–regarding actions, projects, and commitments–they’re constantly thinking that they should be thinking about their priorities, but they never really do.

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In response to our recent Productive Living newsletter, a GTDer wrote to David Allen and said:

Please provide a less complex version of the basic GTD chart/system for me and the hundreds of thousands of organizationally challenged managers just like me who have tried and failed to maintain the GTD system. Simpler is better.

David responded:

I empathize with desire for the “GTD for Dummies” approach.  I suggest just not letting the visual chart get in your way… it’s as simple as:

Write it down
Decide what’s next about it
Park that somewhere you’ll trust you’ll look at as a reminder
Keep your head empty and your list(s) current

Hope that helps.

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Question: You say you shouldn’t write anything on a day when it doesn’t absolutely have to be finished by then. Furthermore, you tell that priorities are depended on time, energy and a lot more, but I miss one thing there: deadlines. What if I make a list of things to do, and find on Monday that there was something I should have done on Saturday or Sunday, but didn’t do it because I didn’t go through my entire list?

David Allen: Deadlines (especially “hard” ones that you have external commitments about) should be tracked on the Projects list, and any pre-warnings inserted on appropriate dates in your calendar (that’s “day-specific information”, e.g. “Budget due in 10 days” would be on your calendar 10 days ahead. )  That, plus regular Weekly Reviews, prevents what you describe — missing deadlines.

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Q: Since college I have used the GTD System and continue to apply it as best as possible.  I get slammed sometimes with multiple tasks and was wondering if you could comment on how best to prioritize tasks within the context of the System.  Thank you for your help.

David Allen: The Secret Sauce for what you’re inquiring is the GTD Weekly Review. I guarantee you, if you do a thorough review of all your projects, actions, calendar (prior and upcoming), and (here’s the catch) all the content is relatively complete and current in your system), you would not have this question.

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Longtime GTDer Jacki shared this on our GTD Facebook Fan Page about her experience with the GTD Weekly Review:

For the longest time I avoided the Weekly Review and just moved from day to day reacting to what came up – in other words, I had not implemented the most effective part of GTD. Then I set aside an hour on Sunday, turned off the phone and TV, and put on a pot of tea and some relaxing music. During that time I asked myself why was I avoiding the Weekly Review? I found the answer to be that once I knew how many things needed to be done in my personal and business life, I felt overwhelmed. But then I realized that once I had it all out in front of me, I could pick and choose what I could do when, delegate in some instances, and negotiate deadlines on some items, and put off some indefinitely. I started with just telling myself to do it for 15 minutes, and that stretched to an hour. Now that golden hour every week helps me face whatever comes my way. I can make adjustments and still get through the week with confidence and with most of my life and business tasks accomplished.

What has your experience been doing (or not doing) the Weekly Review?

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A GTDer asked David Allen: Whenever I thoroughly complete the weekly review I feel as if a weight is lifted.  This is interesting because very few (if any) “action items” are completed with the weekly review. Do you have any explanation or insight on why the weekly review makes one feel like the weight is lifted?

David: Weight is lifted because the weekly review allows you to clarify and renegotiate all your agreements with yourself. That simple. Negative stress usually occurs because of inner conflict that can only be resolved with conscious dialogue with yourself and decisions made that resolve the discrepancies (you can’t do everything at once.)  I applaud your discipline to discover this!

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Community Contribution from Jason Verly

On April 3, 2010, Apple released the iPad to the world.  A day later I completely changed how I do my weekly reviews.  Like most avid GTD’ers, I kept my weekly review to be a sacred and solemn time.  I normally did my reviews on Sunday evening in my home office so I could really dig into what was happening so I could get clear about what I had coming up the next week.  My weekly review was anchored to a time and place where I believed I needed to be to get through my lists.  Not anymore.

The weekend the iPad came out my weekly review was done on the couch sitting next to my 5y old son while he watched a movie.  I have to tell you, it was great.  I was in a relaxed place, with little distraction, and I was able to focus and process like never before.  Now before you hit enter on your comment asking how could I concentrate while sitting next to my son while he was watching a movie or stating there is no way someone could get a good weekly review done in that kind of setting, see if you can give me two more minutes to explain.  I’ll bet I can convince you it can be done in that kind of setting and it is so worth it. [Read more →]

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Community Contribution from Mike Vardy

I’m about to state the obvious.

We’re all human.

Ergo, we make mistakes. Like creating words like “ergo.”

Beyond “The Royal We,” we’re individuals. I’m sure you didn’t create the word “ergo” but I am pretty certain you’ve made other mistakes. I know I’ve made my share. For example, starting off this article as I have. That’d be one.

Another I make is getting off track rather than Getting Things Done. Hey, it happens to the best of us, right? [Read more →]

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Thanks to all who participated in the Guided GTD “Tweekly Review” I did this morning.  If you want a refresher, or missed it and want to follow along yourself, here’s the path.

Some of the other great resources for the GTD Weekly Review:

• The Book. It’s all in there. Really!
• GTD System Guides (which has the 11 steps on a laminated card)
• Weekly Review Set on CD or MP3
• Audio, Video, Articles and Webinars on GTD Connect
• Blog articles on GTD Times
• Free Podcast on the Best Practices of Review

Cheers!   Kelly

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I’ll be doing another free guided GTD Weekly Review on Twitter this coming Friday, March 26th at 10am California time.  These events are fun, easy to follow and a great way to get a taste of a GTD best practice.

What: It will be a working Twitter class.  Over an hour, I’ll guide people through the 11-steps of the GTD Weekly Review through a series of Tweets. You’ll want to be in front of your system (at least calendar, lists, email, inboxes etc.) to take action based on the Tweets.  While the purpose isn’t to bring you to completion with all of it, you’ll get to experience a bit of each step, and capture what’s next for you.  Remember, the Weekly Review is the critical success factor for GTD!  The better you know it, the better your system will be.

When: Friday, March 26th at 10am PDT/California time. Find your local time.

How: Follow @GTDSpecialEvent on Twitter or just launch this web page during the event to follow the Tweets. You’ll want to Refresh your Twitter page often to make sure you’re getting the latest Tweets.  They’ll come every few minutes.

Who: Probably good to have at some basic understanding of processing & organizing with GTD (also chapter 2 of the GTD book is great) and at least a basic structure of GTD setup for yourself already.

Read what others had to say about the last one.

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