tasks

Book Review – Getting Things Done

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Key takeaways:

  1. Batching: work at designated times only, e.g., check emails and respond to them during a blocked time session – do not exceed this time block. Parkinson’s principle: work will dilate as to fill the time allocated to it.
  2. Buckets: categorize tasks in buckets and tackle them together. This is more efficient than switching between task categories.
  3. Park it: during the day as thoughts and to-do tasks come up, write them down in categorized task lists. Once it is written down, it is out of your headspace, which frees your mind for more creative things.
  4. Some day tasks: list tasks that are unimportant together and check them off during blocked time sessions.
  5. Periodic reviews: review your process at set times, e.g., weekly. Write an SOP (standard operating procedure) for yourself and systematize your process. During periodic reviews, edit and optimize your SOP’s.

Tools that I use to help accomplish this: OneNote, Google Tasks, Google Keep, Insightly CRM (for project management), and my favourite, an old-fashioned notebook/pencil.

These are the major points I took away from this book.

You can get this book here: anywhere you get your books from.

Daily Checklists

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I start my workdays with checklists. Reviewing my calendars, notes, and any tasks on my to do losts, I place them in one of three buckets:

1. Personal development: these are things that I have to do everyday, like, meditate, journal, stretch, skip rope, spend 10 min on a book, etc. Tasks that I want to build habits of daily go here. I will modify this list from time to time, but this list is most important of the three.

2. Personal work: these are day to day admin tasks, any projects I may be working on those days (short or long project), grocery lists, anything that takes time and discipline to accomplish. These items are ranked in priority.

3. Work-work: this is the list of tasks related to my daytime job. It’s important to prioritize tasks and do the best to accomplish them. As I get more efficient in this bucket, I can improve my earnings and allow more time of personal development tasks. 80/20 applies here too (see below).

I use a blank piece of paper to write these lists, and don’t save these lists. I find using paper superior to electronic formats.

Carry forward: any item not completed that day may go forward, or get screen out.

80/20: realizing that this 80/20 rule applies to my lists, I don’t aim for 100% completion, rather, allow items to be unaccomplished. Since the list is rankes by priority, the less important items will filter out.

Parkinsons law: by limiting the time I allocate to complete tasks, I force myself to complete them effeciently. As Parkinson’s law states: time will dilate to what you allocate to accomplish a task…

Pomodoro: giving myself 25 min per task, keeps me motivated to finish it before the timer runs out. It actually becomes a fun exercise, and I reward myself in between.

Systems vs goals: this may seem like a goal-oriented approach, but it is not. The ides is to develop a system which I improve with every iteration. But honestly, it is fun!