GTD Digest 2007-09-30

Weekly recap of GTD news and views from around the web

Getting Things Done Guru David Allen and His Cult of Hyperefficiency
myGTDstuff Rating: 5 out of 5
09.25.07
An excellent article from WIRED Magazine on David Allen. Great overview of GTD and insight into David's background.

Too busy organizing to be productive
myGTDstuff Rating: 3 out of 5
September 24, 2007
GTD stands for Getting Things Done, a personal productivity system created by David Allen, whose bestselling book of the same name was first published in...

Things pile up when I don't apply David Allen's 2-Minute Rule
myGTDstuff Rating: 3 out of 5
Sep 30th, 2007
I don't do everything according to the productivity master David Allen, who wrote one of the most popular personal productivity books ever, Getting Things Done. I do religiously follow his 2-Minute Rule, which states…

SmartIdea: David Allen and the Art of Getting Things Done
myGTDstuff Rating: 2 out of 5
09.27.2007
David Allen's Getting Things Done is today's productivity "bible." You can pick up his book, or better yet, follow his new weekly column over at the...

GTD wallpapers for iPhone
myGTDstuff Rating: 1 out of 5
September 30, 2007
Got an Apple iphone? Want some GTD wallpaper for it?

Is this really the next action? -- new MindReader "i" tag
myGTDstuff Rating: 1 out of 5
September 30, 2007
David Allen typically points out that "Get New tires" needs to be preceded by "make appointment for tire replacement" and that preceded by "find phone number for garage". Mal sent along a great MindReader suggestion this morning to add...

Read your e-mail when YOU DECIDE you need to read your e-mail

For those who use Outlook, I am sure you are aware of the e-mail desktop alert box. This is the little box that pops up in the lower-right corner of the screen telling you that you have a new e-mail. By default, this box stays visible for 7 seconds and then fades away.

How can one be expected to get something done when they are constantly being reminded every time a new e-mail is received? What could possibly be so important that I need to know about it immediately? Should I open that e-mail now, or wait? I must see it now. I must stop what I am doing and open that e-mail!!!

For me and many people I have talked with; when that little email alert box pops up, it catches your eye, steals your attention, and if even only for a moment, distracts you from the task at hand. Damn that little box! I have other work to do!

My solution? Turn it off! Focus on the task at hand and get to your e-mail when you decide to get to your e-mail. With that little box no longer vying for my attention, I am more efficient and focused on the task at hand.

To turn off e-mail desktop alerts:

1. In Outlook, From the Tools menu, Select Options
2. Click the E-Mail Options button
3. Click the Advanced E-Mail Options button
4. Uncheck Display a New Mail Desktop Alert

…and if you really want to let go of the incoming e-mail and focus;

5. Uncheck Briefly change the mouse cursor
6. Uncheck Show an envelope icon in the notification area
   

Give it a try. You will not regret it!

How to quickly put your laptop into Standby mode

I put my laptop in Standby mode a lot. In the morning before I leave for work. In the evening when I head home. Throughout the day if I am docking, undocking or traveling with my laptop.

I found a cool little utility to make Standby mode a double-click operation. It is simply an icon on my desktop that I can click when I want to put my laptop in standby mode.

This is not one of those time savers that will save you an hour a day. It is just a little laptop-hack to simplify your life a bit.

To set this up on your laptop, you must first download a freeware utility called PSshutdown. PSshutdown is included with a set of other “PS” tools available from the Microsoft website. PSshutodown was created by a company formally known as Sysinternals. In 2006, Microsoft acquired Sysinternals. See <this page> and click the link at the bottom of the page that says “Download PsTools (1 MB)” to download a ZIP file with all of the PS utilities.

Next, for the sake of simplicity, create a directory (folder) called “utils” on your C:\ drive. Then, copy the file PSshutdown.exe (from the ZIP file you downloaded earlier) to the c:\utils directory.

The last step is to create a Standby icon on your desktop.

1. Right Click on your Windows desktop
2. Select New >, then Shortcut
3. When prompted to “Type the location of the item”, enter: C:\Utils\psshutdown.exe -d -t 1
4. Lastly, type a name for the shortcut. I simply call my shortcut “Standby” (clever, eh?)

That’s it. You now have a quick and easy way to put your computer into Standby mode.

Other helpful tools
Freeware ZIP/UNZIP: Try 7 Zip, a simple, easy to use open source ZIPing utility. See http://www.7-zip.org/.

Don't be afraid of the Delete Key

In yesterday’s post, I talked about using a Desktop Search tool to help you find your stuff. Today, let’s talk about what I do with e-mail that I am not quite sure what to do with.

If the e-mail is not something I need to file and reference later, not something I need to reply to, not something I need to action, not something I need to delegate, not something I need to defer until a later date; What should I do with it? Delete it!

I must admit, it wasn’t always that easy... What if I need to reference that e-mail two months from now? What if the sender questions me about it next quarter? What if I change my mind and decide to action the e-mail? All of those types of questions used to go through my mind. A setting in Outlook and a Desktop Search tool cured me of those worries.

Step 1
See yesterday’s post on using a desktop search tool. Get one. This is critical.

Step 2
Don’t really delete your e-mail (archive it). In Outlook, pull down the Tools menu, select Options, and then uncheck the box to Empty the Deleted Items folder upon exiting.

OK, technically you are not deleting your email, you are simply saving it to the Deleted Items Folder. The beauty for me is the psychological effect. You’ve removed something from your mind. You’ve removed something from your Inbox. You have not filed something you do not think you will need. You have not deferred something until later. It’s gone. Well, not REALLY gone, you can always find it in your Deleted items folder with your desktop search tool.

One caveat: Your deleted items are out of mind, but they are still taking up precious space in your online e-mail box. To alleviate this, once a week, move things in your Deleted Items folder to an offline archive folder.

I have 50,000 e-mails currently indexed and searchable with my desktop search tool. Of that, 40% of those e-mails sit in my Deleted Items offline folder. Out of sight, and for the most part, out of mind. This dumb little trick helps me keep a mind like water.

Finding your Stuff using Microsoft Desktop Search

The beauty of computers is that they can be used to store all of your stuff. The downside to this is that it is up to you to remember where you put your stuff on the computer. Sure, there are ways to search your computer for something, but most methods are cryptic, application specific and slow. Until now…

There are a number of very good personal search applications available for free from Google, Microsoft, Copernic and Yahoo for Windows based computers (i.e. I am not familiar with Mac software). I have tried them all. They all tend to perform the same basic functions in a similar fashion. Each product indexes your hard drive and your email. Each product allows you to search for things using simple words or advanced search terms.

For me, the Microsoft product worked best. As a Microsoft Outlook e-mail user, most of my stuff exists in Outlook. The Microsoft Desktop Search software worked the best for me when searching for items in Outlook.

The graphic titled Windows Desktop Search results illustrates how you search for something with Microsoft’s Desktop Search (MSD) Tool. MSD installs a search box on the bottom of your desktop. When you need to find something, you simply enter the search criteria in the search text box. MSD will do a quick search for “common things” that meet your search criteria. If you don’t immediately see the item you are looking for, click the Search Desktop button. From there you will be presented with a complete search of your e-mail and your hard drive (your My Documents folder). All of this happens in less than a second.

Below is an example of the search results page. In this example, it shows all of the e-mails I have containing a combination of the words “Getting Things Done”. On the left is a list of;

• Who the e-mail was From
• The Title
• When I received or sent the e-mail
• The size
• The name of the folder it resides in

On the right is a preview of the e-mail. To open the e-mail, I double click on the one I want and it opens Outlook and shows me the e-mail.

This same search works for documents, spreadsheets, Power Point presentations, PDF files, text files and just about anything else.

With Microsoft’s Desktop Search Tool, I no longer worry too much about where I store a document, email or spreadsheet. Even if I forget where I put something, I know I can always find it.

To try Windows Desktop Search Tool, click here and select the “Get It Now” button.

If you use something other than Windows Desktop Search to keep track of your stuff, let me know. Leave a comment. Thanks!

How I keep my mind free – My Moleskine notebook

So you are trying the GTD system. You’ve performed a mind sweep and cleared your head of clutter. You’ve organized all your stuff. How do you sustain having a “mind like water”? If you do not make an effort to keep your mind clear of clutter, you will not achieve the free state of mind that you desire (make that, deserve!).

For me, I took a low tech approach to keeping my mind free of clutter. I use a Moleskine (pronounced mol-a-skeen'-a) notebook to record everything. Anything and everything goes into my Moleskine. It is my temporary holding bucket until I can get it into my system. Once in my system, the idea/thought/to-do is crossed out in my Moleskine.

My Moleskine notebook goes with me most places. If I am brushing my teeth and I think about something that I need to do later, I find my Moleskine and write it down. If I bump into someone in the hall and they ask me to send them something, I record it in my Moleskine. If I’m in a meeting and my mind wanders to another topic that I need to follow-up on, I jot it down in my Moleskine and return my mind to the meeting at hand. My Moleskine is my “safe place” for my stuff.

At least once a day, I review what I’ve jotted in my Moleskine and run the GTD drill:

• If the item is not actionable, I file it.
• If the item is actionable, I decide what the next action is.
• Once I know the next action, I Do it, Delegate it, Defer it or Delete it.

Yes, even “delete it” applies. Just because I jotted it down in my Moleskine does not mean I need to action something. What I thought was a good idea 6 hours ago, may turn out to be a bad idea now. Using my Moleskine as a temporary holding bucket allows me to reevaluate things with a clear mind during my review. This has saved me from acting on some pretty bad ideas!

So why do I use a Moleskine notebook when a PDA or simple piece of paper would suffice?

• A Moleskine notebook is a well made piece of equipment. It has a durable thread bound binding. The cover is a hard and makes for good writing support. The acid free paper is heavy and does not dog-ear. Moleskine notebooks also come with a ribbon placeholder and an expandable accordion pocket in the back (two nice touches).
• I use a pocket sized 3.5 x 5.5 inch Moleskine and it fits just about anywhere. Easy to transport.
• I’ve tried many electronic PDA’s over the years and I have yet to find one as simple as a piece of paper and a pencil for recording quick notes. My Moleskine does not need to “boot up”.
• It’s all in one place. I don’t have scattered scraps of paper that I need to account for.
• It looks good. Like I said, it’s a well made, nice looking piece of equipment. You have to be happy with the tools you use day in and day out. It may sound crazy, but why do you drive the car you drive when a Yugo would do? Why do women carry around nice looking purses when a paper bag would do?

Whatever tool you use to record your next idea/thought/to-do is up to you. My only consultation is that you record it somewhere. The feeling of relief that your idea/thought/to-do is in a safe place will be quite refreshing. Your mind will be free of clutter and you will achieve a mind like water.

Free image editing software

A few years back I stumbled across a free application called Paint.NET. It is a freeware application for editing images and photos. It supports most of the same features as image editing software costing several hundred dollars. It has an easy to use interface and can perform some pretty powerful editing functions.

Paint.NET was originally developed at Washington State University as a student project. It has evolved into an open source application funded only by donations and the goodwill of several developers.

There are quite a number of websites and blogs offering tips, tutorials and instructions on using Paint.NET. Here are a few of the best:

• Paint.NET Video Tutorials
• Paint.NET Tutorials from Paint.NET users
• Paint.NET Help from Washington State University

You can download a copy of Paint.NET from their official website at http://www.getpaint.net/

You will not be disappointed.

After a period, one space or two?

I noticed my blog postings only had 1 space after each and every sentence. No problem, I edit my most recent post and insert 2 spaces after each period. Click save and done. A quick double check and; 1 SPACE AFTER EACH SENTENCE. What the heck?!?!? I learned long ago in typing class to always put 2 spaces after each period.

Turns out I was taught wrong. Make that, I didn’t learn the whole story. I did a bit of research on the internet (remember, everything you read on the internet is true), and low and behold, 1 space after a sentence ending period is perfectly acceptable. In fact, it is standard practice when using a proportionally spaced font.

The rule of thumb: If you are using a mono-spaced font, double spacing after a period is OK. If you are using a proportionally spaced font, 1 space after a period is standard.
Standard web content (using HTML) will never add a second space after a period unless you explicitly code one.

To Illustrate:

This is a mono-spaced font.   Using 2 spaces after a period is preferred.

This is a proportional spaced font. Using 1 space after a period is perfectly acceptable.

If you are interested in more details on this (seemingly silly) topic, check out:

• http://www.westminster.edu/staff/nak/courses/spaces.htm
• http://www.webword.com/reports/period.html

Photographs + Music = A very cool slide-show

I just came across a very cool new website. It’s called animoto. animoto allows you to create your own “music video”. Basically, a picture slide-show put to music. You provide the pictures, you provide the music and animoto does the rest. It’s that easy! …and animoto does a very cool job. Check out the demo on their home page. Check out my 30 second demo at http://animoto.com/play/797d853e3614a27c3e8bfca264bec24c

I created a free 30 second demo in about 5 minutes. Very easy. All I needed was a set of about 12 pictures and an MP3 (music) file. You can create as many free 30 second demos as you want.

To create a full-length video slide-show (the length of a song), it will cost you 3 bucks. Not bad at all. They also offer another option for unlimited full-length video’s for $30 per year.

This is definitely worth a look. http://animoto.com/

Mind like water

In part 1 of the Fundamentals of GTD, I introduced a process known as the “mind sweep”. Basically, getting anything and everything out of your head and into a “safe place”. A place where you know it will be tracked. A place where you will look for it later. Keeping things (ideas, tasks, concerns, issues, to-do’s) out of your head and in a safe place can have tremendous benefits above and beyond the obvious productivity benefits.

IT’S A STRESS RELIEVER!

Your mind is free of worry. All the issues that were cluttering your mind are in a safe place. Your mind can give 100% of focus to the task at hand. Your mind is free to generate new, creative ideas. David Allen calls this “a mind like water” – being in a perfect state of readiness. A stress free, clear mind, that is nimble and ready to give full attention to the right things.

What happens when you toss a stone into a completely calm pool of water?

Ripples emanate from the center in perfect response to the impact of the stone. The water neither underreacts nor overreacts. It simply reacts appropriately to the situation, then it returns to calm.

Having a mind like water has been perhaps the best side effect of GTD for me. It’s been an incredible life change. A mind like water puts me is a state of readiness. A state of focus. A state conducive to new, creative ideas. A state free of stress.

Want more details on the benefits of achieving a mind like water? Here are a few links to similar articles.

• An Empty Mind Does a Better Job of Thinking — and feels relaxed...
• HowTo: Have more peace of mind and increase your productivity

Filing simplicity – An alphabetical approach

A good number of e-mails I receive do not require any action. Many e-mails I receive are informational. In these situations, it is something I need to read briefly, get a general idea of what it is, and file it away for future reference.

In the past, I had a highly engineered system for storing these types of e-mails. This included a hierarchy of folders many times 4 or 5 levels deep. Sometimes my folders were organized by project, sometimes organized by a persons name, sometimes organized by priority – Whatever I decided based on my current mood. What a mess! I could rarely find anything.

Taking a tip from David Allen, I changed my filing system to a simple, easily accessible, easy to navigate alphabetical list of folders. Simple yet extremely effective! I can find anything quickly and easily.

The beauty of an alphabetical system is that everything is in front of you in one simple (albeit long) list. Nothing is hidden in a sub-folder of a sub-folder of a sub-folder. I can find something by usually looking in no more than 3 places. Did I file my latest expense report under “expenses” or “trip to XYZ conference”.

I do have a few rules I follow.

1. For projects that contain many mini-projects, I name the folder for the project and the mini-project rather than create a sub-folder structure. For example:
   - PROJECT ABC – Training
   - PROJECT ABC – Planning
   - PROJECT ABC – Staffing
   
   
2. It’s OK if a folder only has 1 item in it. For example, the e-mail telling me about the annual company picnic goes in a folder call “Company Picnic”. If I were to put it anywhere else, I would not know where to find it later.
   
   
3. If it’s in reference to a person, I name the folder “Lastname, Firstname”.

That’s about it. If I find myself creating more rules, I stop. If I start over-engineering my system, it will become too complex, messy and unusable.

If your filing system is failing you more often than not, I’d highly recommend giving an alphabetical approach a chance. You won’t be disappointed with how effective a simple alphabetical filing system can be.

Outlook Note Tips

I’ve been using the Notes feature of Microsoft Outlook more and more recently. I found it to be a great way to manage my miscellaneous lists.

Creating a Note in Outlook is easy. The Quick-Key method is CTRL-SHIFT-N. Then, type your note and close it by clicking the “X” in the upper right hand corner of the window. Quick and easy.

When using Notes in Outlook, keep in mind that the first line of the note becomes the title. For example, if I want to create a note for books that I want to read, the first line of my note is “Books to Read”. Subsequent entries in that note are the names of the books I want to read.

Here is the list of Outlook notes that I currently maintain.

• Blog Ideas – Things I want to add to this blog someday
• Books to Read
• Dates – Important dates I need to remember. Birthday's, Anniversaries, etc.
  
• Gift Ideas – If I see something that I think would make a great gift for someone, I make an entry here
• Ideas – Just a place to keep seemingly good ideas
• Might Buy – Things I might want to buy
• Movies – Movies that someone told me was good
  
• Quotes – Clever quotes or sayings that I run across
• Tool Ideas – Ideas for computer tools I may want to find or code myself someday
  
• Vacation Days Left/Used
• Vacation Ideas – Where do I want to go
  
• What is… - This is a list for placing those things I want to look up later, a new acronyms, etc.
• Wines – Good wines that I have heard or read about that I might want to try

I don’t spend an inordinate amount of time with these notes (lists), but when I need something from one of them, I am glad I went through the effort to maintain them.

Cheap Software and the OEM Software Question

I had been running McAfee Anti-Virus for years on my home computer. I thought it was doing fine until my kids got into the whole MySpace scene. Everyday, there seemed to be a new version of a virus, malware or spyware on my home computer. Quite frustrating.

Fed up with McAfee Anti-Virus, I download a 30 day trial version of Kaspersky Internet Security 7.0. This is an anti-virus, firewall, anti-spam, anti-phishing, anti-EverythingBad application. Within a day, I was convinced. This is one damn good security application. This app is finding and eradicating things McAfee never detected. Kaspersky Internet Security 7.0 rocks!

With my 30 day trial version almost up, I need to buy a licensed copy. I check the Kaspersky website and they are selling Kaspersky Internet Security 7.0 for $79.95. More than I wanted to spend, but I’m willing to pay to keep my computer virus free. Before I make the purchase, I check froogle.com for a better price. OK, make that Google Product Search. I wish I knew why Google changed the name. I kinda liked the name Froogle. But I digress…

After searching Froogle, um, I mean Google Product Search, I find a company called Purplus Software selling Kaspersky Internet Security 7.0 for $19.95 (+ $5 shipping). Not bad at all!!! After looking a little closer, it turns out to be an OEM version. No packaging (box), no manual. OK, I’m a smart guy; I don’t need a manual, so I place the order.

Later that evening, I get an email from Purplus Software telling me that my order will ship in one day. The next day I get an e-mail saying my order shipped. Three days later, I receive my order from Purplus Software. I’m impressed!

The software installs flawlessly. The license key (printed on the CD case) is accepted without issue. My computer is safe from viruses, malware and spyware.

The only question remaining for me is the OEM issue. Can I legally purchase and install an OEM copy software on my pre-existing PC? If not, why? If I can, why does OEM software typically say “only to be installed on a new computer” (the Kaspersky Internet Security 7.0 CD that I received does not say anything about licensing or being an OEM version). Do I own a valid license? I have no idea…

What do you think? Leave a comment and let me know. Thanks.

Effective Delegation using Microsoft Outlook

del·e·gate
[v., del-i-geyt]

1. transfer power to someone
2. give an assignment to (a person) to a post, or assign a task to (a person)

The key to GTD is deciding if an item is actionable and if it is; decide what that next action is. Once you know the next action Do it, Delegate it, Defer it or Delete it.

Today, I am going to show you how I use Microsoft Outlook to effectively delegate, track and manage those delegated actions.

When I receive an e-mail, I go through a standard GTD thought process. I decide what the next action is. If I decide to Delegate the next action associated with the e-mail, I simply forward it to the person I wish to take the next action.

Pretty simple, eh? Well, there is a bit more to this… What I really want is to see that action completed. How will I know when it’s done? If I delegate 25 things today, how can I possibly track all of these delegated tasks?

I use an Outlook Folder called @WAITING FOR. Within this folder is a set of sub-folders named for each person I delegate to.

For each of these sub-folders, I set the properties to display the number of e-mails they contain. To do this; Right Click on the folder name and select Properties. Then, choose the option to Show total number of items.

When I forward an e-mail to Steve Davidson, asking him to take care of something, I also copy that forwarded e-mail to my @WAITING FOR – Davidson, Steve sub-folder.

After about a week, my @WAITING FOR folders looks like this:

This works for me in a couple of ways.

1. At a glance, I know who owes me a lot of things and who owes me only a few things.

2. Before I go into a meeting with someone, I can quickly review the contents of their @WAITING FOR folder and in an instant, I know everything I what to review with that person.

3. During my weekly review, I can check each folder and if things are really late, and send a follow-up e-mail gently reminding this person that I asked them to do something.
   
   

4. During my weekly review, if I see something that I know has been completed, I simple delete the 'request' e-mail from the @WAITING FOR sub-folder.

It’s not a perfect system and I could get a little nutty by automating things, but in its basic form, it works quite well for me.

Free Credit Report? Yes!

I’ve always been skeptical of websites offering a free credit report. My experience has been that these sites are not free and typically force you to buy some bizarre credit monitoring service before you get your free credit report. That's not quite free in my book.

In this week’s issue of Business Week, I came across an article about checking up on your credit. Click here to read the Business Week article. The piece talks up a website called AnnualCreditReport.com that supposedly offers a free credit report from each of the three major US credit reporting agencies (Experian, TransUnion and EquiFax).

Being the skeptical person that I am, I did a bit more research. Turns out the Federal Trade Commission also recommends this website for a free copy of your credit report. According to the FTC website, “The three nationwide consumer reporting companies have set up a central website, a toll-free telephone number, and a mailing address through which you can order your free annual report. To order, visit annualcreditreport.com…”

So I tried, and was quite impressed. Aside from some overbearing ads for paid services, I was able to get a copy of my credit reports from Experian, TransUnion and EquiFax via AnnualCreditReport.com. Following are some tips for navigating the website.

Once you enter some personal information along with your Social Security Number, you are taken to the Experian website with a pretty looking lady typing away, very likely getting her own Free Credit Report. But wait, what’s this “Add It Now, $5.95” crap!

Just scroll down a bit to get to the Free button you are looking for.

When you are done with your Free Experian Credit Report, you need to click the "Return to AnnualCreditReport.com" button to get your other Free Reports.

Next up is the EquiFax website. The only look-out here is to make sure all the “special offers” are checked “NO”, then click Submit.

When you are done with your Free EquiFax Credit Report, you need to click the "Return to AnnualCreditReport.com" button to get your last Free Report.

The last Free Credit Report was from TransUnion. The TransUnion site asked for verification of credit card #’s or old addresses. Being too lazy, and already having seen my first 2 reports, I decided to forgo my TransUnion Free Credit Report.

Overall, I am impressed. I have an updated copy of my Credit Report (2 actually!) for Free. Good stuff! I’d recommend AnnualCreditReport.com to anyone looking for a safe, secure, reputable Free Credit Report.

Inbox Zero

How many e-mails do you get a week? 25? 50? 100? 500? If you are a typical knowledge worker in this day and age, you likely receive hundreds of e-mails per week. Having a 1,000 e-mail week is not unheard-of!

One of the biggest challenges that I face each and every week is getting my e-mail inbox to a manageable number. I found that manageable number to be zero.

The presentation below offer some ideas to getting your inbox to Zero. This deck is based on the writings of Merlin Mann from 43folders.com (see http://www.43folders.com/izero/).

The Fundamentals of GTD – Part 3

In Part 1, we talked about collecting all of your stuff.

• Performing a mind sweep and collecting everything in your head.
• Collecting all of the material to-do’s laying around your office, kitchen table, notes scribbled on the back of bar napkins, etc.
• Collect all of your unread or unactioned e-mail messages.

All of these things should be in considered in your INBOX (either real or virtual).

In Part 2, we reviewed the processing phase, or said another way, what to do with all the stuff in your INBOX. It comes down to 3 simple possibilities:

• If the item is not actionable, file it.
• If the item is actionable, decide what the next action is.
• Once you know the action: Do it, Delegate it, Defer it or Delete it.

Now it’s time to talk about sustaining this system. This is called the Weekly Review. The Weekly Review is the most important part of this system.

The weekly review is critical, yet simple - repeat the Collection and Processing phases. That’s it! For clarity, let me break this down into a bit more detail.

First and foremost, be sure to dedicate a slot of time during your week to actually perform the Weekly Review. I like to set aside an hour on a Sunday night for my formal Weekly Review. Some people prefer 1^st thing on a Monday morning, some people prefer last thing on a Friday afternoon. It’s up to you. Again, the most important commitment you need to make is to “Just Do It”.

The Weekly Review Process can be split into 3 sets of activities:

Get Clear

1. Collect all your loose papers and unprocessed mail into your INBOX. Process your INBOX
2. Get your e-mail INBOX to zero. Process everything in your e-mail INBOX
3. Perform a quick mind sweep. Get everything out of your head, decide what the next action is, and process it – get it on the right list.

Get Current

1. Review your upcoming calendar. Are you prepared for the next week’s events? Is there something you need done by a specific time? Is anything missing?
2. Review your project lists. Is there anything you need to do this next week? Do you need to schedule time on your calendar for project specific work?
3. Review your action lists. Is there anything that needs to be done this next week? The week after? Is there anything else that needs to be on one of your action lists? Have you made time on your calendar to do some of the things on your action lists? Is there anything you can mark as done?
4. Review your follow-up file. Are you up to date on the things you have delegated? Are people getting things done that you’ve delegated to them?

Get Creative

1. Consider longer term things you want to accomplish. Do you have them on a list? If not, create a list of your long term goals – keep in current each week,
2. Tweak you system. Do you have lists setup for all of your projects, agendas, follow-ups? Are there lists you don’t use? Do you have too many lists? Do you have to few lists? It’s your system, it needs to work the way you work.

That’s all it is. Basically, your weekly review is your opportunity to get your system current and tidy things up.

Again, these are my views of the fundamentals of the GTD system. For those who have read David Allen’s book, you may have a different interpretation. Part of the beauty of GTD is that it is flexible enough that you can adapt it to how you work. This series has been about how I work the system. This has been all about how GTD works best for me.

In summary, GTD for me is:

• Collecting all my stuff – Doing a mind-sweep
• Deciding on the next action for each of items. Then, Do it, Delegate it, Defer it or Delete it.
• Each week, perform a weekly review

My desire is that you found this overview useful. I hope you found a nugget or two you can use to Get Things Done.

QuickMonth - A handy little calendar utility

QuickMonth Calendar is a freeware program which displays a small calendar on your Windows desktop whenever your mouse hovers over the clock in the system tray. The calendar display may also be toggled on and off by using the Windows+Q keyboard shortcut.

I like this handy little program. In the past, I had been clicking on the Windows Calendar in the system tray and inevitably, while flipping through searching for a date, I’d inadvertently change the Windows system date. This app does not mess with the Windows system date and it provides a quick, cool interface for flipping through months and years.

You can download QuickMonth from http://www.esnips.com/web/qmc

Jott.com - Mobile Note Taking

I’ve been using Jott for about a week now and I am quite impressed. Simply put, Jott transcribes a voice message and sends you an e-mail with the text.

Here is how it works:
- You call the Jott toll-free number
- A voice asks you “who do you want to Jott?”
- You respond, “myself”
- The voice says “Jott yourself”
- Then you leave your message. When you finish, you simply hang-up.

Within minutes, the message is transcribed and sent to your e-mail inbox. Very cool!

This service is free. All you have to do when you sign-up is provide a phone number (the system uses caller id to know who you are) and an e-mail address. I’d highly recommend Jott for anyone who needs to dictate a quick note to themselves (or others).

Check it out at Jott.com.

A special thanks to Kelly Forrister from The David Allen Company for turning me on to Jott. You can check out Kelly’s great blog at http://www.davidco.com/blogs/kelly/.

The Fundamentals of GTD – Part 2

In part 1 of this series we talked about collecting all of your stuff. Now we need to do something with it.

The Processing Process
The processing of your things following the GTD system is pretty simple.

1. If the item is not actionable, file it.
2. If the item is actionable, decide what the next action is.
3. Once you know the action: Do it, Delegate it, Defer it or Delete it.
   

That’s it! Now let’s take a deeper dive into each of these steps.

First, decide if the item is actionable.

Non-Actionable items
If the first item you take from your pile of stuff is a receipt for the television you just purchased, put it in a file called receipts. If the item is a magazine you finished reading and you want to keep it for reference, put it on a shelf with your other reference materials (better yet, clip the one article you liked and only save that one article). If the item has absolutely no value to you and it was simply cluttering up your desk, by all means, throw it away!

Actionable Items
Next, decide what the next action is. Break your items down to small actionable tasks. Deciding on the next action is sometimes simple:
If you are faced with an unpaid bill, your next action is to write a check and mail it.

Deciding on a next action is sometimes more challenging:
If the item from your mind sweep was to plan a party, you could have many next actions. For GTD to work, you need to break things down into the smallest actionable tasks. Planning a party may include making a call to rent a room, going to the store to buy snacks, or sending invitations to your friends.

Once you know the next action, you can decide what to do with the item.

Do it
Be careful with this one. Keep in mind you just finished collecting everything and you should now be in processing mode. If you embark on a 2 hour mission to complete the action associated with something from your pile of stuff, it will be difficult to get back to processing. Use the 2 minute rule. If you can do it in less than 2 minutes, then do it. If it takes any longer than 2 minutes, this is not the right time to take action. Remember, you are in processing mode.

Delegate it
Are you the right person to action the item? You do not have to have people working directly for you to delegate. You might ask your boss to do something. A colleague, a friend, your spouse, etc.

To make sure things get done, I have a file with the name of each person I delegate things to. When I delegate something I make a note in the file and periodically review to make sure the task was completed.

Defer it
I keep 3 types of deferred item lists:

1. As soon as possible (ASAP). These are things that will take longer than 2 minutes to complete and I need to do them when I have time. I group my ASAP items into context related lists. Things I need to do while at work, things I need to do at home, things I need from the grocery store, things I need from the hardware store, agenda items for recurring meetings that I host, things I need to talk to my boss about.
   
   
2. Things to be done on specific dates. These are things I add to my Outlook calendar. A paper calendar would work just as well too.
   
   
3. Project work. For project, like “plan a party”, I keep a separate file with all of the tasks (action items) written out. When it’s time for me to work on my party planning, I pull out the plan a party folder and work the actions.
   

Delete it
This is my favorite. Don’t be afraid to simply delete it or in the case of non-electronic items, throw it away. Not all things that you thought were good ideas last week are good ideas this week. If you don’t need it, toss it.


Summary
In part 1 you collected all of your stuff into three buckets:

1. The list generated from your mind sweep
2. Your plastic/physical inbox
3. Your electronic-mail inbox
   

In part 2 we discussed processing all of these items by following these three simple steps:

1. If the item is not actionable, file it.
2. If the item is actionable, decide what the next action is
3. Once you know the action: Do it, Delegate it, Defer it or Delete it.
   

The third and final part of this series will focus on sustaining your newly organized system. This is called the weekly review. The weekly review is the key to keeping all your stuff current.

My picopads have arrived!

I just received my first set of picopads! They are cool little credit-card sized notepads with a pen that fit in your wallet. Certainly not something I’ll use everyday, but when I am somewhere without my Moleskine notebook, I still have a safe place to take a note, record an idea, or write down where I left my car in the airport parking lot (I just thought of that last one! What a great use for my picopad!).
I ordered a set of 3 picopads and 6 extra notepad refills for $12.49 from Tamperseal.com (free shipping, great service). That seemed to be the going price when I searched other places.

I am a geek for new tools. ...and heck, if I use my new picopad to remember just one really good idea, it will be worth the $12.49. Drop me a line with your favorite personal productivity tools. I’d love to hear what you use to keep your life in order.

The Fundamentals of GTD – Part 1

This is the 1^st installment in a series on the fundamentals of GTD. This is not the “text book” version. This is not intended to be a complete overview of all things GTD. I will present what I see as the fundamental “rules”.

By following a few simple fundamentals, you will be “doing GTD”. The actual implementation of GTD will look different from person to person. Part of the beauty of GTD is that actually implementing the GTD system is more art than science. When you start doing GTD, you personalize it. You tailor it to how you work.

The Collection Process
Step 1
The first part of the collection process is called “doing a mind sweep”. That is, getting anything and everything out of your head and onto a piece of paper (or many pieces of paper). Anything gets written down. Nothing is too small.

Need ideas? How about:

• Things you need to talk to your boss about.
• A list of things you need from the grocery store.
• The steps you need to take during your next project.
• A great wine you want to try.
• A phone call you have to return.
• A birthday present you need to pick-up.
• A meeting you need to prepare for.
• A letter you need to respond to.
• …and on and on and on. Anything goes.

The idea here is to free your mind of having to remember all your stuff. As you relieve yourself of the burden to track all of these things in your head, you achieve what David Allen calls “a mind like water”. A mind that is free flowing like a river; free to generate new, creative ideas without the burden of all those other things clogging the free flow.

Merlin Mann from 43folder.com put it this way:
“The idea behind the mind-sweep is to identify and gather everything that is making claims on your attention or is likely to affect the larger areas of responsibility in your life — everything that’s quietly burning cycles, stealing focus, and whittling away at your attention — so that you can then decide what (if anything) must be done about each of those things.”.

Important rules for the mind sweep:

• Don’t do these things now. There will be time to do them later.
• Keep one list. Don’t categorize your list. Don’t create multiple lists. Don’t skip things because “you will remember to do it later”.
• Consider anything pertaining to your work life and your home life. Don’t mind sweep only part of your life.
• Do it in one session. Don’t break up your mind sweep time into multiple sessions.
• Commit. Don’t give it hobby effort. Give it all you have.

Step 2
After the mind sweep, it’s time to collect all of the other things that will eventually end up on your to-do list. Anything you plan to read, any bill you intend to pay, that pile of unread mail on your kitchen table, your unopened e-mail; let’s get all of it in one place. Well, let’s shoot for 2 places. One spot for all your material to-do items – A plastic inbox will do. One spot for all your electronic to-do items – Your e-mail inbox will do.

So we now have 3 places with all of your “stuff”.

1. The list generated from your mind sweep
2. Your plastic inbox
3. Your e-mail inbox.

In part 2, I will talk about what to do with the output from your collection process. The next step is to Process all of this stuff you’ve collected. That is, figure out what to do with it. That sounds like a daunting task, but don’t worry. There are only 4 possible choices. Simple, right? You’ll love it!