Getting Things Done

Getting things done, abbreviated as GTD, is an organizational method introduced by David Allen in a book by the same name.

The method works on the theory that a person should move his tasks out of his mind, by recording them externally. By doing this, the mind does not have to carry the burden of trying to remember all that needs to be done and can freely concentrate on ‘actually performing those tasks’.

David Allen’s concept of Getting Things Done, rests on two key elements – control and perspective. He suggests a work flow process to gain control over all the tasks and commitments that one needs has to complete and six levels of focus to help them get the useful perspective.

In order to accomplish tasks through the Getting Things Done method, Allen advocates a review every week, focusing on different levels, and further states that the perspective gained from the weekly reviews will help in driving one’s priorities, which will then help in prioritizing individual tasks and commitments accumulated in the work flow process.
How do weekly reviews assist in Getting Things Done?

Weekly reviews demand that the individual in question must check the tasks he has to perform and place them in appropriate lists. For instance, he can determine the context of tasks and create a group with a list of similar tasks like making phone calls, and errands to do when out of office.

These context based lists are defined by the set of tools available or by the presence of individuals or groups for whom one has items to discuss or present. For more cues on context lists for similar tasks, log on to www.thinkproductive.co.uk.

GTD, or Getting Things Done, is an organizational method that’s makes it easy to store, track and retrieve information relevant, and in relating to the tasks that need to be accomplished. According to the founder of this method, David Allen, most of all our mental blocks that we face are the result of inadequate ‘front-end’ planning. Allen suggests that we should try and plan, thinking in advance and conceptualizing a series of actions, which later, we can simply put into action without further planning. Allen feels that the human brain’s ‘reminder system’ is not efficient enough and will seldom remind us of what we need to do, where we need to do it, how we need to do it, and when we need to do it.

However, if we follow the Getting Things Done method, the ‘next actions’ stored by context in the ‘trusted system’ like checklists, memos, alarms etc., will support us externally by responsibly ensuring that we are presented with the right task reminders at the right time and the right place. Getting Things Done is dependent on external memories and is studied as an application that works on scientific theories of distributed cognition or the extended mind.