Getting Things Done (GTD) is a productivity system and book by David Allen. I only recently found about about it via Merlin Mann’s website 43 Folders. A couple of days later the guys at Automate My Small Business spoke about the same system. It was as if the planets had aligned and were pointing me toward GTD. I did a quick Google search and found a little podcast with some more info and then found some cool Mac tools like Things and The Hit List that I could use to get my life in order (I’m using The Hit List at present).

At the moment, I’m just learning about the basics of GTD (I’ve ordered the book and am awaiting delivery). But here’s the thing, just implementing the little I know has made a massive difference to my life. And it’s only been a week. So, what have I learned and what have I actually done?

The first thing that I learned was that there is a difference between an ideas list and a task list. The two are not the same and should not be confused. Historically, I had one big list of both tasks and ideas and I could never get through it. This was disheartening and frustrating (to say the least). With one small adjustment I now maintain an ideas folder and a task list. So, my task list has reduced substantially in size and I don’t fell quite so overwhelmed.

Next, I started to capture every little idea, task, problem, solution that popped into my head. I captured it however and wherever I could. I used my iPhone, my MacBook, a piece of paper. I just wrote it down wherever I could. This is what I call Writing Shit Down. With this simple change I’ve begun to free my mind from having to circle around on itself wondering if I’ve done everything. I believe David Allen calls these circles open loops. These open loops keep us thinking and agonising over things we need not concern ourselves with. Once they are down on paper and part of a system – a trusted system – we can stop worrying about them.

My GTD system is incomplete (I don’t have the book yet) but I’m already felling better and I’ve only made two small changes to the way I’ve done things for a very long time. I’m excited about what improvements I can make by implementing more of the GTD protocol.