What does GTD look like?

Part of my difficulty with David Allen’s Getting Things Done system has been understanding where to place different actions within the system: on which list does this item go?

If it’s:	It goes on:
Date sensitive	Calendar
More than one step	Project list
An action step for a project	Next action list
An idea	Someday/Maybe list
Pending	Waiting for list

This is how I imagine GTD looks:

GOAL 1		GOAL 2
PROJECT 1	PROJECT 2	PROJECT 3
1. next action	1. next action	1. next action
2. next action	2. next action	2. next action
3. next action	3. next action	3. next action
PROJECT LIST
Project 1
Project 2
Project 3
NEXT ACTION LIST
Project 1-next action 1
Project 2-next action 1
Project 3-next action 1

Discoveries of the Week

Great in-depth series on file drawer organization at Productivity Cafe. There’s also an easy way to simplify your closet.

20 ways to say no at Online Organizing.com

A Different Version of the Four Quadrants by Mark Forster at Get Everything Done

Develop a balanced you at LifeOptimizer.com

Zen Habits Single Best Productivity Tip (Simplify) + others instigated by the Instigator Blog Ulimate Guide to Productivity

The Sticking Point

Not all projects are problems, but all problems are projects. The trouble with problems is they look like projects, and then sit there on your list thumbing their noses at you while you can’t figure out why they aren’t getting done. The fact is, you’ll do just about anything to avoid doing them or thinking about them. Because you’re stuck. There is something preventing you from moving forward.

At some point you realize that there is a problem with the project. And you have to take a closer look at exactly where you are hung up and why. It may take some brainstorming to come up with alternate creative solutions to get around the problem.

• Identify the sticking point
• Generate ideas for possible solutions
• Pick one and try it

Problem Solving Resources:

Question summary

Fifty Problem Solving Strategies Explained

Love Lessons

Love Lessons

One of the most popular posts here at the Daily PlanIt is “The Different Kinds of Love.” This is something of a puzzle to me…I would have guessed the one on “Love Books” provides more insight into this topic from several books. Those looking for more information might enjoy The Art of Intimacy Blog. This site is a great source of wisdom about love. The post about Cheating led me to notice the similarity of the percentage of people who cheat and the divorce rate! Another post mentions John Gottman who has written books about discoveries based on research to find out what makes relationships work, or not.

To everything there is a season

…a time for every purpose under the sun. ecclesiastes

-Live with everything you’ve got, and love with all of your heart

Symphony

I’d like to share this piece that was written by Mike around 1990. It was read at his funeral yesterday.

Symphony. ..

Last week we went on our long planned and much needed vacation camping trip. For many it would not have been much of a trip, since we traveled no further than Melvern Lake, but for us it was great. While there, late one afternoon at dusk, we went for a family walk around the camp grounds. While walking, our nine year old, Richie, scolding Rosemary and myself for talking, making too much noise. ‘When you “get away from it all” you’re supposed to leave your work at home, but mom and dad on this occasion were guilty of talking about business while we walked. The sun had gone down. It was that twilight time, with nightfall and darkness close at hand. We continued walking and talking, but Richie persisted, saying something about us making too much noise. He couldn’t hear the symphony. Symphony, what symphony we inquired. Our Richie stopped, stood before us, like an orchestra conductor.

He said, “listen, over there is one part, there another, and there another. They are all playing together, a symphony. We paused and listened. “Don’t you hear the music, the different parts” he asked us? Finally it dawned on us what he was talking about, what he heard. He was talking about the sounds around us, the crickets and things and how it was music, a symphony. It was something we would have missed, if it was not for our fourth grader. Something special.

Too often, we do not take the time from “important things” to stop and listen to the music, the symphony that only God can make. It is always around us, playing every second
of every day. If you take the time to listen, and let the music into your heart it becomes easy to see just how small the wants of mankind; power, control, money and foolish pride, really are. How small we really are, when compared to the symphony… .

In Memoriam

Mike Honn October 19, 1957 - May 15, 2007

The guy that was “it” for me is gone. We were married for 23 years. No one could make me laugh (or cry) like him. Though we were no longer together, he still had a hold on my heart that wouldn’t let go. There was a connection of our spirits that never went away, something that is beyond understanding or explaining.

He was a very unique guy: very passionate about many things and so much fun. He had his own way of doing things, and didn’t care if people stared at the custom painting he did on our old van or the special shells he built to haul mail with. He built our first house too, though it didn’t look odd. He could be very messy, opinionated, and stubborn. He played guitar and keyboard and loved to fish, bowl, golf, camp and cook. He loved the SciFi and History channels and loved to teach. He loved the theme song from Kelly’s Heroes, “Burning Bridges.” There’s a newer picture, but this one so captures who he was. He was only 49 when his heart gave out on him.

If you love someone, always let them know, don’t take them for granted, treat them right, act lovingly. Put them first, not necessarily always before yourself, but maybe sometimes. Not necessarily always before the rest of your family, but most of the time. And pretty much before anything else. Know that choices always have consequences, and sometimes the results can’t be undone, no matter how much you wish you could go back and get a do-over.

I grieve that I will never again hear from him or see him. I grieve that our son has lost a wonderful father, his parents a wonderful son, his brother a wonderful brother, his students a wonderful teacher. I grieve. He will be so missed.

The How of the Story

I’ve been reading a book that says there are only so many plots for stories. But not to worry, the thing that interests us is the how. How will the guy get the girl? How will the hero triumph?

I have read some things about the law of attraction that say the how of something will take shape once we have defined what we want and imagined how we will feel when we have it. The Masters of the Secret with Bill Harris says that when you focus on what you want, you develop ideas about how to get it, you notice resources that could help, you become motivated to act and develop inner qualities. At times this may seem effortless, but it’s not.

The thing that interests us is the how. How can we accomplish the desired goal? What actions do we need to take?

Discovery of the Day

I’m something of a movie buff nerd, so I was thrilled to discover Reel Life Wisdom via The Occupational Adventure. The author combines quotes and scenes from movies into thought-provoking inspiration.

Skimming the Cream

Ideas that are captured, then left to languish and starve on a dusty Someday/Maybe list, buried under piles or filed away and forgotten are wasted.

Continually review and evaluate ideas to choose the best ones to act on.

• Why is this a good idea? Does it fit my goals?
• Which ideas provide the best return on investment?
• What resources would be needed?

Imagine your idea list like a Netflix Queue where you can rearrange the priority levels with a flick of the wrist. What’s at the top?

Skim the cream: concentrate on the top ideas, projects, and goals.

Plant ideas, but don’t bury them: give them enough time to germinate, but not so much that they turn into compost.

Don’t plan ideas to death: How to Grow Your Ideas at LifeDev.