How to Get Things Done!
I went to bed last night and thoughts were swirling like crazy around my head. I immediately thought, I need to do a mind sweep. Well, that was enough to relax me and I fell right to sleep.
This morning as I sat down at my desk, I realized that getting things done without a huge amount of stress and anxiety is an art. Here is how I do it.
Step One: Get clear on your values and the top most important things in your life. What is your big picture of how you want to live your life? This will help guide your goals and priorities.
Step Two: Set your goals. Put in writing what you need to do to live a life like the one you’ve imagined. This is the road map to the big picture.
Step Three: Set your priorities. Go through your goals and your values, and prioritize them for this week. Priorities will change, and while your job may need extra attention this week, your spouse or family may need it next week. It’s important to keep checking in and readjusting as your priorities change.
Step Four: Do a weekly “Mind Sweep” as coined by David Allen, Author of best seller Getting Things Done. A mind sweep is when you sit down at your desk and list everything that must be done. It might need to be done today or it may need to be done some time in the future, but it’s buzzing around your head, so it needs a place to land. Once you’ve done this, you’ll have everything that was worrying you or vexing you on one sheet of paper. Sometimes I like to separate my personal list and my work list on different sides of the paper.
Step Five: Regroup – Take a look at all of your upcoming appointments, and calendars. Get things scheduled. Familiarize yourself with what is coming up. There is no greater anxiety that I feel than when I don’t know what my calendar has on it and someone asks me if I’m free. Part of this is checking in with step one to make sure you are on track with your big picture.
Step Six: Begin to separate tasks from projects. Projects are anything that take more than one step to complete. Think of it as task: buying bananas. Project: making banana bread. Give each project a separate sticky note, page, or electronic task depending on size and scope. Now the magic, for each project list what the very next step you have to take is to move that project forward. Ahh, that feels good and I’m able to jump right in as soon as I have a free minute because I know where to start.
Step Seven: Separate your tasks into categories like; at my desk, at my computer, on my phone, out and about. This way when you are out and about, you can go immediately to the tasks that need to be done while you are running errands. After all, you can’t buy banana’s while you are on the computer (unless you shop on line) and you can’t write a report while you’re out and about.
For an in depth look at how to Get Things Done. Check out David Allen’s website www.davidco.com. Or go to the Amazon books below and get yourself a copy of his book, Getting Things Done.
