LinkedIn’s course — Getting Things Done
- imran ali
- Oct 16, 2022
- 3 min read
Humans have advanced significantly over the past few hundred years. With so many advancements and easy access to everything, we are often the most mismanaged species in the world. We forget the birthdays of our loved ones; nor do we remember the key highlights of the discussion we had with upper management, and let's not even mention the countless times we have forgotten our phone or wallet at a restaurant.
I may sound extreme, but this is true for most people these days. This is because we use our minds to remember everything we encounter daily, but unfortunately, our minds are not designed for this task. I have been consuming productivity-related articles for a long time now and have always found mentions of David Allen. Consequently, I made the decision to enrol in an online course on David Allen's productivity system, Getting Things Done.
Learnings from the course
Allen's productivity system is based on five key principle areas:
Capture - Collecting items that are pulling our attention The mind is the leakiest place in the world. Our mind is to create ideas; not for holding them. Therefore, we must capture everything that draws our attention. The information must be captured in a common place that can be revisited easily. Capturing can be done via voicemail, pen and paper, or on a whiteboard.
Clarify - Process items where we need to put more attention. We process the items that were captured in this phase. We determine whether the item is actionable or not at this point. If not, we either discard, incubate, or use it as a guide for the future. If the item is actionable, we must decide whether to act immediately, delegate it to another person, or defer it.
Organize - Allocate items to where it belongs Here, we add clarified tasks in the next item lists or the projects (arranging a birthday party or getting a new pair of clothes). If the task is time bounded then we add it to the calendar. One of the most important things is to add context to each task so that we don’t feel overwhelmed by looking at a long list of actionable items list.
Review - Revisit Actionable list We have to engage with our minds to get things off our minds. Therefore, a brief daily and detailed weekly review should be done to understand how things are going, and how much progress is made on projects.
Engage - Use the system Use your system frequently and use it to plan your day. This step is very important because the system is only going to help if we engage with it; if we capture clarify, prepare to-do using the system and then religiously use it to make most out of it.
Applying GTD System
As we are aware, teaching and applying the lessons is the best way to make the most of what we learn. I therefore used the NOTION app to create my own GTD system. It was a no-brainer to use Notion, since it is a very powerful app and I use it to manage every aspect of my life (check out my other article on using Notion). I implemented the GTD system, which is based on a master database. I record my thoughts, clarify inbox and create an actionable list of upcoming jobs and projects by using multiple linked views of the database. Here is the glimpse of my implemented GTD system.
Conclusion
In order to maximise our time, energy, and focus, people frequently need productivity tools and techniques. This LinkedIn course was undoubtedly helpful in gaining a more comprehensive understanding of the GTD system, and moving forward, my objectives are to
Implement the GTD system in my life.
Read David Allen's book "Getting Things Done."
I advise everyone who has trouble managing tasks in their daily lives and at work to take the course.
Comments