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This is a guest post from Philip Brewer of Wise Bread, a personal finance and frugality blog. Philip is one of my favorite personal finance writers. Today, however, he’s sharing about productivity.
I spent many years working for various companies that, like most businesses, were more or less dysfunctional. They were places where priorities constantly shifted, where every day brought a new emergency, and where managers and peers might show up at any time with something urgent that needed my attention.
When I became a full-time writer, I discovered that I needed different ways to manage my time than the ones that had worked when I was an employee. Interestingly, the different ways that seem to work best for me aren’t new at all — they’re the old classic tools of time management.
Getting things done
The hot concept in time-management these past few years has been Getting Things Done. It’s a significant departure from the old ways of time management, where you made to-do lists for each day and then blocked out time on your schedule to do each of the things you wanted to get done.
Instead of to-do lists and blocks of time, Getting Things Done emphasizes the practice of capturing all the things that you need to get done, and then turning those items into “next actions” that are steps toward getting the thing done. It also describes some simple behaviors for reviewing your lists, to make sure that nothing important falls through the cracks. It’s a powerful tool that enables you to spend almost all your time making progress on your most important tasks.
My experience this past year, though, is that Getting Things Done doesn’t solve the problems that I face now that I’m working almost entirely for myself.
Working for the man
Getting Things Done is perfectly designed to solve the problem of the guy working for a dysfunctional company. When every day brings shifts in priority and new emergencies, it’s critical to have a fluid list of actions that need to be taken — and it’s pointless to block out two hours on a Wednesday afternoon to work on a big project if manager A is going to assign a more-urgent task, managers B and C are going to ask for status updates, and peer D is going to ask you to spend that time reviewing and commenting on some completely unrelated thing that has to be finished today.
In a situation like that, it’s very easy to end up spending all your time doing things without every getting anything done. And, if you somehow thwart the system (perhaps by coming in early or working late) so that you can finishing something, it will turn out to be the wrong thing — because priorities will have shifted or plans will have changed.
As a way to handle that circumstance, GTD is wonderful. Any moment when you have a chance to do some work, you check your list of next actions and do the most important one that you can squeeze into the time available. As long as you keep your lists up-to-date with the constantly changing plans and priorities, you can have considerable confidence that you’re always making progress on the things you need to do. And, if you keep doing that, you will manage to get things done.
Working for me
The thing is, my circumstance is different. My problem isn’t that goals and plans and designs and priorities are constantly changing out from under me. My problem is that I’ve got more things I want to do than I can possibly get done, and that many of those things require large blocks of time to make much headway. In that situation, I tend to alternate between dithering around with multiple tasks, and then throwing my hands up at my lack of progress and deciding to read a good book instead.
Similarly, I alternate between getting in the running, bicycling, and lifting that I need to be adequately fit and healthy, and then cutting those activities so that I can focus on the many tasks that I want to get done. I also spend a lot of time reading interesting stuff on the web.
The old-fashioned way
It turns out that I can solve this cluster of problems with the old-fashioned time management technique of blocking out chunks of time to do things.
- It solves the dithering problem (as long as I don’t block out the morning into a dozen 15-minute chunks of time — which looks so silly on a schedule that I automatically tend not to do it).
- It solves the problem with getting my exercise in (as long as I routinely put the exercise on the schedule).
- And it solves the problem of excess web-surfing (as long as I block out enough time for the necessary web surfing, and then keep to my schedule).
I’ve discovered that, for my current circumstance, the key to getting things done is doing things.
Get Rich Slowly reviewed Getting Things Done in November 2006. Like Philip, I’ve found the system unworkable for my lifestyle. I think I’m trying to make things too complicated. I think I need to take his advice and do things.
This article is about Self-Improvement Wednesday, 6th August 2008 (by J.D. Roth)
August 6th, 2008 at 5:09 am
I take portions of the system and apply them, but I definitely have hacked it into something that works for me.
I think the main thing is finding a trigger that alerts me when i am procrastinating and not getting the things done that need to be done. I find that an alarm clock is the best method for me.
What happens is that if I get off track, I usually get so into whatever has gotten me offtrack that unless there is something physical to alert me, I just never get back to what needs to get done. By setting an alarm clock to go off every half hour, it ensures that I don’t waste the entire day and only a short period of time if I do get off track.
Probably won’t work for most, but it does for me.
August 6th, 2008 at 5:46 am
This is a keen observation, Philip. David Allen’s system is designed as a set of tools for the kind of present-day “knowledge worker” that Peter Drucker identified, working in a knowledge-driven organization.
But the fact is that there are many, many jobs today that are not particularly new or different. Yes, blogging is new, but blogging is essentially writing (with research and everything else it involves), and writing is nothing new. I’ve also never heard of GTD working on the floor of a factory. Maybe in a factory’s back offices, but not on a plant floor.
I have practiced GTD consistently for more than four years now, and I find it incredibly helpful and very suited to my various knowledge-related needs. (It seems to be of no help when it comes to doing my laundry, for instance!) Personal finances are certainly included–bills are the ideal sort of thing to go in an inbox.
Many people see GTD as too complicated or strict. I actually see it as something that lets me relax and go with the flow. Saying, “I am going to set aside this block of time and do a certain thing then” is really artificial to me–and I’m likely not to be in the right frame of mind (or not have enough energy). That said, GTD still allows you plenty of room to do that sort of scheduling.
Every few months I think about my system and make any tweaks that I need to. But in general, it’s totally in the background. I spend my time actually doing things. And thanks to GTD, I spend almost no time at all worrying about what else I have to do that I might forget about.
Thanks for the guest post!
August 6th, 2008 at 6:35 am
Eat that Frog! by Brian Tracy is still the best tool I’ve ever found — and it works great in crazy corporate environment and for blogging at home. I summarize it at http://shanelyang.com/2008/06/02/eat-that-frog/
August 6th, 2008 at 6:47 am
The late Randy Pausch had some interesting ideas (none of them new, but all of them effective) in his Time Management lecture, which is available here:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5784740380335567758
Like many busy people I’ve developed my own system over the years. When looking at tasks I mentally sort them into the classic urgent/important, not urgent/important, urgent/not important, not urgent/not important hierarchy, and tackle them in that order, often letting the “not important” tasks slide until they magically disappear.
I manage most of my work through Microsoft Outlook. When emails come in that require action on my part, I drag them to my task bar and assign them a deadline and a reminder. Appointments go on my calendar. As task reminders come up, I look at them and decide how long I can snooze them based on how urgent/important they are. Some tasks get snoozed weeks into the future or I set new deadlines for them; others get addressed right away.
I do tend to break down big tasks into manageable steps, following Anne Lamott’s advice to writers in her book “Bird by Bird.” The title was inspired by a homework assignment that her older brother had months to do but left til the last moment: was supposed to write a report on birds. On the night before it was due he was sitting at the kitchen table immobilized by the enormous task ahead of him. His father walked over to him and put his arm around his shoulder, saying “Bird by bird, buddy. Just take it bird by bird.” That’s good advice, and I find it helps me a lot. The “chunking” of big tasks into little ones gives me a sense of progress and momentum.
The other major key for me in getting things done is accountability. When my clients give me an assignment, I require them to give me a deadline. “Oh, whenever you get to it is fine” is the kiss of death, and I tell them so. If I didn’t have deadlines and people to be accountable to, I’d probably never get anything done at all; I’m a lazy and disorganized person at heart, but give me a deadline and suddenly I’m focused and productive. I’ve also learned that far-off deadlines have a way of slipping off my radar screen, so I work with my clients to set intermediate milestones with short-term deadlines that will keep me on target.
August 6th, 2008 at 7:12 am
Last night, when I couldn’t fall asleep, I read a new book from Dave Crenshaw called The Myth of Multitasking. Because I couldn’t fall asleep, I also wrote a short review, but I’m not going to post it for a couple of weeks. (This a personal finance blog, not a productivity blog!)
The upshot is this: multitasking doesn’t exist. Studies show that people are much more productive when they set aside time to get things done — one thing at a time.
August 6th, 2008 at 7:14 am
I read Getting Things Done and I thought it was a pretty good book. The biggest thing that I learned from the book was to partition my tasks into contexts. Which tasks can I perform at home? At work? When I’m out? Etc.
Doing this allowed me to put aside the tasks that I can’t possibly take care of at this very moment so that I can concentrate on the tasks that I can take care of right now.
August 6th, 2008 at 7:30 am
I have been in a couple of businesses and have found each one very different. I am a list writer and now that I work in a home office I tend to schedule blocks of time (typically for an hour or so) to accomplish things.
I start out my week writing down everything I want to do. From there I put them in order of days when I want to work on them. I have that many things can throw off my schedule and that will always happen.
I do not let that frustrate me, I have just learned to live with it.
When you have days that it seems there is way to much to do. Just start plugging away and you end up getting more done than you think.
I believe the key is scheduling your work outs in your day. You will find by working out your stress level comes down and you have way more energy.
August 6th, 2008 at 7:32 am
Since we all procrastinate, this will be agood book to read.
August 6th, 2008 at 7:41 am
A former supervisor and friend of mine once recommended Getting Things Done as a management technique for me when I set out on my own. Like you, I quickly realized that it didn’t work as well outside a larger organization as it did inside. Unfortunately, I didn’t think to swing back to the “traditional method” so quickly and actually lost a lot of time trying to “improve” the ideas of Getting Things Done.
Productivity is hard to nurture when you’re your own boss, but it’s even more important. I agree that the key to getting things done at this stage is doing things, and I thank you for your well-written explanations.
August 6th, 2008 at 9:23 am
If you get nothing else out of this system, make sure you understand the importance of “next actions” compared to to-do lists.
The next action is literally that: the next physical action you need to take. Cross one off your list and immediately add the next action required to complete your goal to the list.
Traditional to-do lists are often times counter productive. They use vaguely worded goals that are often dozens of steps long and do nothing but discourage you from being productive by permanently sitting on your list, mocking you.
August 6th, 2008 at 9:54 am
I would guess that, like many people, my problem isn’t one of knowing what to do when but of being motivated to do.
Consequently, systems like GTD, and even old-fashioned methods like blocking out time, seem to overthink things. I’ve made lists, schedules, and so forth many, many times, but have always found them nearly impossible to even implement, yet alone live by. It’s been far more effective for me to implement a policy of simply doing things, stupid as it may sound.
Instead of wasting time chalking out a schedule or refining my to-do list, I just DO it. I do keep a task list at work, but it’s merely a general reminder. It is usually intentionally short and vague to avoid bogging me down via over-analysis of a task. Like most people, I think, I know what needs to be done - I just need to do it!
The same principle is effective in working out. I know I need to lift (upper and lower body) and do cardio. My schedule is simple: alternate daily. To make things even simpler, I work out 7 days a week. This way I don’t have to worry about scheduling days off. Also, I find it easier to work out every day than to get back into exercise after a day or two off. And so instead of messing with schedules or blocking out time, I simply adopt a mindset of getting out there and doing it!
August 6th, 2008 at 9:59 am
“the key to getting things done is doing things.”
I would say this is probably the key to doing most things….at most times
August 6th, 2008 at 10:22 am
I think the grass is always greener on the other side when it comes to any todo system. I work in an 8-5 job and feel like GTD doesn’t work for my situation but would if I was working for myself!
August 6th, 2008 at 3:13 pm
I disagree that it doesn’t work when you’re working for yourself.
If I were working a 9-5 job (none of this 8-5 nonsense - that’s an American thing), my time wouldn’t be my own to structure how I want.
I’ve worked for myself for two years and I’ve found GTD to be extremely helpful in raising my productivity. I might occasionally write daily lists but that’s taken directly from my next actions list and just reflects the priorities for the day.
August 6th, 2008 at 5:28 pm
“the key to getting things done is doing things.”
Absolutely. The whole problem with the GTD “system”, is that the last thing a person who has trouble concentrating and following through on things needs, is another system and more tasks to keep track of.
A huge percentage of the time, the GTD system takes longer and creates more work than just doing the task and being done with it.
There is someone at work who I think follows this system and he’s impossible to work with. Even small tasks take him hours because he only works on a single thing at a time and has to keep lists about what he has to do and wastes tons of time reorganizing the lists.
August 6th, 2008 at 9:47 pm
Well, everyone has their own ’system’. I’ve never known anyone who follows GTD to do it exactly the same way. There’s really a couple of the most important skills that I learned from reading GTD:
1) Never keep things in your head. I carry a notebook everywhere. Inspiration or a to do strikes me - it gets recorded.
2) Whatever gets recorded gets processed and sorted into a ‘next action’ or ’someday’ category at a convenient time.
3) 2 minutes or less - do it now and get it over with.
4) Refer back to the ’someday’ category at regular intervals. There’s often useful stuff in there would have long been forgotten.
5) Never keep anything in my “Inbox”. I am a religious practitioner of ‘zero inbox’ rule. Email either gets
(a) A response because it’s something that I need to take action
(b) Filed away because it’s information I may need later
(c) Deleted because it’s not (a) or (b)
This is how I appear in control, on top of things, and organized (even if I’m a giant ball of stress on the inside).
August 7th, 2008 at 3:54 am
Perhaps GTD works great for a certain type of person, regardless of what they do.
I am self employed; I cut down and prune trees. As a business owner this involves 20% knowledge work, the remainder is actually just doing things. GTD has been a godsend for me; really it has changed my life.
Many of the individual TODOS on my projects are greatly separated by both time and space. With a traditional TODO list I was always making more trips than I needed to, and as a result using my valuable motivated time just driving around.
Now, using David Allen’s system, when I’m at the video store or the pharmacy I also walk over to the hardware store buy not only the washers that I need for the garden hose, but also paint brushes to paint the gas meter that I’ve been wanting to do for ever, also a gallon of oil, a cheap tool kit containing a half inch socket and a new role of nylon string for the shop.
This prevents the hit or miss guessing at the store that leads to unwanted purchases and not having the things that I need to get things done.
I guess for me the biggest change is now having the right tools, information or physical, on hand, and being able to find them, to complete my projects. Before my TODO lists were all about getting my stuff together, now they are about getting things done.
But to return to my original premise of GTD working for a certain type of person regardless of circumstances; I would be unable to focus because of a certain sense of dread that I was not doing something that I should be doing. Then, once it was well and truly past due I would become frightened of the reactions of those people involved in the project; and so get even deeper into the procrastination loop.
GTD has completely eliminated this sense of dread, and as a result cured my procrastination habit. I can’t believe the difference.
Those are just 2 specific areas in which the system has improved my life, there are many more.
I’ve recommended the system to a few people, but in reading the posts here I wonder of its usefulness to them. To those who have read the book but do not practice the system, was it worth reading?
August 12th, 2008 at 1:33 pm
While GTD isn’t a silver bullet, I have found it helpful for me. I do have a greater sense of not having things falling through the cracks.
Issues for me are still mostly of the variety of saying no (especially to myself! there’s only so many directions a person can go in) and of avoiding things I know I should do. I find the hardest thing is getting out of my comfort zone.
Peter, I’d be a little careful of the “work out every day” method. It depends on what you’re doing, but generally it’s a good idea to have at least one day of rest so the body can recover. Personally, I’ve found Ross Enamait’s methods and keepting an exercise journal for myself have been helpful.
I do think having software may help with GTD. I’ve been using ThinkingRock (which is free and just had a new version come out) combined with a PDA (mostly for setting alarms). This way you can easily enter and sort your tasks without getting bogged down in re-writing tons of things.
I also agree that it can always be a danger from any productivity system that you spend too much time on organizing instead of doing, but you just have to try to be aware of your own mental state and when you’re procrastinating.
August 30th, 2008 at 8:14 pm
Phillip, I think you missed the point of the system. It’s not a time management system, it’s an action management system.
The idea is that as anything comes at you, you decide if there is an action for you to do based on that item and you record the action in the system based on when/where you can do it. This can and will require a bit of time to initially get everything in there.
Once everything is in there, you have a list of actions that you can take to progress everything in your life that you have agreed (either to yourself or to others) to do. When it comes time to do some work, you can look at all of your actions and make an intuitive decision about which of the next actions is best to work on. As a writer, you need to write to make money. Often you will look at your lists, determine that there is nothing urgent to do that day, and then decide that the rest of the day will be spent writing. Having a list of all the actions you need to do gives you freedom to determine that everything else can be done later and leaves your mind free to be creative in your writing.