Getting Things Done: A look at David Allen

David Allen is an expert on organizing ones schedule and attempting to put oneself in a good position to complete tasks efficiently and well. There are some things I really like about David Allen's process. I particularly liked a couple of his early questions he suggest people consider when organizing various tasks: "Is it actionable? If no, toss it or put it in a file for a later time" and "Will it take less then 2 minutes? Yes, do it. No, then..." His suggestion that you're less productive when you are preoccupied by thinking about other things you have to do is exactly right. These two questions can help to alleviate most issues. If you cannot act on a potential tast, then you really can't concern yourself with it in the first place. And if it can be accomplished in a couple minutes, then you probably should stop putting it off. Past this point though, I think I envision my time management a little bit different.

For the sake of giving David Allen the benefit of the doubt, I decided I would give his process of organizing tasks a shot. I choose to use a google spread sheet, with multiple tabs (one of each of his 4 categories: Projects (you have a commitment to finish), Calendar (actions that must occur on a specific day or time), Next Actions – (actions that need to be done as soon as possible), Waiting for – (projects and actions others are supposed to be doing, which you care about). Each also had a column for date. That way I could use the spread sheet to organize categories, but have a built in calendar since you can reorder a spreadsheet by date too.

Honestly, I found the process somewhat annoying just because I already organize most of my obligations on a calendar anyways. As far as projects with undefined dates (e.g. extend driveway, repair roof, sand and paint basement walls, etc.), I don't find I have a problem with mentally organizing these and choosing to complete work when I have the time. If I simply have my scheduled tasks already in a calendar, I find it much easier to figure out when I have spare time for other projects. I am a person who prefers to look at deadlines. I think maintaining a calendar is a more useful macro management program for me. I think creating lists would help me on a micro scale though. I know whenever I have a big project it helps me to make a list ordering the task I need to complete. This helps me by making sure I do not forget something, and I can visualize progress.

Ultimately, I am going to continue to give the process a shot. Especially those two questions to ask when considering the value of completing smaller tasks. I still think my bread and butter will be my calendar though.