Implementing Getting Things Done

As many of you may already know I am an avid social network user.  I have my cell phone and instant messenger programs connected so I can quickly type a short blurb and have my statuses, tweets, and profiles all updated in a few quick seconds.  I tend to lean toward sending an answer to “What are you doing now?” for most of my updates.  

A month or two ago I sent what I thought was an innocent status update.  “Working like crazy to get lots of things done before I head home from the office…” One of my co-workers caught this on Yammer and soon replied with a link to Wikipedia and told me that maybe this would help.  It certainly has.

After reading the book and doing a little research online I decided I needed to try to implement this system for myself.  Being the nerd that I am, I could not see using paper, file folders and desk drawers.  I needed to be completely mobile enabled.  I have implemented GTD this way:

2 Day mind sweep / gathering – I began by going through my house with a notepad and just listing everything around the house that I wanted to do.  After this I headed to my office and did the same.  Next was my personal e-mail box. 

Turned off Outlook notifications – One thing that I realized through this was that Outlook was seriously distracting me.  Even when I was doing the gathering exercise above I continued to be distracted with new items.  I turned off the sounds, pop-up notifications and tray notifications so that I have to manually open outlook and click my inbox to be able to see new messages. 

MyLifeOrganized – I found this great program which allows me to keep ALL of my projects and tasks organized by context, synchronized between computers as well as my cell phone.  This definitely satisfied my nerdy side.

Weekly 2 hour review – I honestly thought David Allen was crazy when he suggested that you set aside at least 2-3 hours each week to regroup on everything.  I believe what he suggests is actually too little time for most people.  I blocked off 2 hours every Friday afternoon to review everything and prepare for the weekend.  I constantly find myself running out of time or needing some extra time for this on Saturdays.  You should definitely take this seriously and make sure you have proper time to review.  It will pay off big time!

David Allen describes a nagging feeling that’s always in the back of your mind when you don’t get it all out of your head.  I can definitely identify with that.  Since using this methodology I definitely feel that I am more in control of my destiny.  Each day I feel that the things that are most important are moving forward.  I’m even receiving compliments from friends, family and co-workers that I seem to be more on the ball lately.

Personally, I love that all of my inboxes are clean and I can keep my desk much neater.   Turning off notifications in my Outlook has allowed me to focus better and not be distracted by all of those electronic interruptions.  It’s great to be confident that if I tell someone I will do something for them, it will get done.  It may not be this moment, but I will eventually get to it.

I am definitely an infant when compared to folks that have used this methodology for years, but I know that with practice I will eventually get to the “mind like water” state that’s described in the book.  The areas that seem to trip me up so far are fairly minor.  Many times I look at my list of tasks and still feel a little overwhelmed by the length of the list.  My natural tendency is to want to clear the entire list.  This is definitely not possible and sometimes that causes me to need to remind myself just to focus on what’s most important.

Initially I had a difficult time making sure my list was updated whenever I got a call or e-mail.  I would need to spend a large portion of my weekly review time looking at my sent items and call histories to remind myself of which items needed to be added to my “Waiting For” list as well as adding follow up calls to my list.

All-in-all I’m extremely happy with the results of implementing this methodology and I look forward to continually growing in this area to the point where I can help guide and mentor others so they can reap the same rewards.

More again soon….

Are e-mail gremlins trying to ruin your career?

How many times throughout the day do you find that you're spending more time tending to your e-mail than actually getting your daily work done?  Lately I've found that I’m spread too thin across many tasks and that e-mail has turned into an anti-productivity tool.  Here are a few tips for reclaiming your precious time. 

Turn off notifications

Normally,  I see the little outlook message notification in my toolbar or the preview notice window, hear the evil little new message chime or my cell phone  beeping to kindly remind me that I'm not giving it enough attention.  This happens to me about 300 times each day.  I know that I'm not special and there are many of you out there that see these even more frequently.  I recommend turning these reminders off completely, which will ensure that during times when you're being productive you aren't continually distracted with issues that will pull you off task. 

Set pre-defined times for reading e-mails

After you've turned off the notifications you should set one or more specific times during the day to jump into your preferred e-mail client and begin knocking away at all of those little electronic monsters.  During these times, your goal should be to pick off the easy ones.  If the message only requires a few lines of response then don't hesitate shoot back a response and get it out of your inbox. 

If you prefer phone contact setup an auto-responder

Many people still prefer to use phone as their primary form of contact.  If you happen to be one of these people then it might be a good idea for you to setup an auto-responder in your e-mail client letting people know that it might take a while for you to get back to them via e-mail, but they can quickly contact you by phone.  Doing this will help them immediately understand your preferences.  This will help to ensure that they don’t get upset while having to wait for your response. 

Don’t use email as instant messenger / text messaging

It may be perfectly reasonable to assume that you can send one of your IM buddies a message that says "plz git meh sum coffeee", but how would you feed if a prospective employer or customer was to read it?  There are many e-mails I've seen that have glaring spelling issues or poor grammar.  While it is mildly annoying to me, there are some people that actually take offence to e-mails where it is obvious that the writer did not care enough about the content to spend a few extra seconds doing a spelling and grammar check on their e-mail.   

If you’re asking a question, place it first and add supporting details afterward

Following this simple rule will not only make things easier for the recipients of your e-mails, but it will ensure that your questions are answered promptly.  Simply start your e-mail with the questions you have and add any supporting information afterward.     

Keep on topic

Many times it is very difficult to try to find a certain topic or block of text in my e-mail box.  You can make this easier by keeping the subjects of your replies up to date.  If the subject of the e-mail is no longer relevant to the body you should update the subject of the message.    

Take another look before you send

I love email. It's much less intrusive than a phone call and faster than a letter. It may be your introduction to someone you never met before. Take your time putting together a well-written message. Once you hit the send button you won't have another chance.