Get Things Done

"Your mind is for having ideas, not holding them." -David Allen

David Allen is the creator of the Get Things Done work-life system or GTD system for short. And proved success for individuals and organizations to bring order to their chaos. GTD enhances the performance, innovation, creates more capacity, gives clarity and confidence. It simply transforms overwhelming life to a stress-free life.

To keep it simple, it is the secret to keep your to-do list manageable by helping you to prioritize everything. It helps you to see everything you have to do and then choose what you would like to do next.

It mainly consists of this 5 steps:

1. Capture: collect what has your attention
2. Clarify: process "what if" means
3. Organize: put it where it belongs
4. Reflect: review it frequently
5. Engage: start doing

Simply, it all starts with 30 minutes of non-stop writing of things that you need to do. Those things can be as simple as buying coffee, or as complicated as starting your own business. Most important thing is to write freely with no judgments. The ideas will remain flowing as you keep writing and at the end you will feel relieved. Then, you start clarifying those ideas by breaking it to actions. And you do have three options: "Do it" if it takes less than couple of minutes, "Delegate it" if someone can do it better, or "Defer it" to one of you lists if it takes more than couple of minutes. 

Later on, you start organizing your ideas where it really belongs. To organize your ideas to have different lists with due dates, a list of things that you may do some day. Another list for things to be done during your work. Another list for things to do while commuting, and the list may go on. Then, start reflecting on the actions you have to do and choose one to do that matches your available time and energy. Review those list periodically (weekly, monthly, quarterly, ...). Last but not least, start engaging by doing things and crossing them off your lists.