Getting Things Done

Well, who doesn’t want to get things done. GTD is a strongly evangelized (!) publication by David Allen, talking about the art of stress free productivity.

If you got “stuff” to complete, which means just about any TODO, GTD describes a lot of ways in which you can organize and take control of the planning, prioritizing and execution process. David says:

Here’s how I define “stuff:” anything you have allowed into your psychological or physical world that doesn’t belong where it is, but for which you haven’t yet determined the desired outcome and the next action step. [pg. 17]

Merlin gives a cool summary of what GTD is about:

1. identify all the stuff in your life that isn’t in the right place (close all open loops)
2. get rid of the stuff that isn’t yours or you don’t need right now
3. create a right place that you trust and that supports your working style and values
4. put your stuff in the right place, consistently
5. do your stuff in a way that honors your time, your energy, and the context of any given moment
6. iterate and refactor mercilessly

There are also a couple of open source GTD tracking tools such as NextAction and Gravity. So Get Organized!