Moving into a 2017 is a good time to tidy up the old and prepare for the new.  One way to do this is through a commitment to the weekly review.  David Allen shares in a recent blog post the best time to do a weekly review:

The strength of GTD awareness and ability is knowing that the best time to do a GTD Weekly Review is when you least feel like doing it. The strange force that seems to make these simple but powerful habits so challenging is that we think we need to have the result of the behavior, before we can engage in the behavior.

We feel we need to be in control before we can plan, we need to be organized before we can get organized, and we need to know what’s going on before we can sit down to figure out what’s going on. Strange, aren’t we?

So make one of your new year’s resolutions a commitment to the weekly review.  You will soon wonder how you ever lived without it.  Experience a guided weekly review from a GTD Coach at: http://gettingthingsdone.com/2015/07/podcast-07-guided-gtd-weekly-review/

Read more of David Allen’s GTD Times blog at: http://gettingthingsdone.com/gtd-times/

It is a basic truth that in order to get things done, action of some kind is required.  Often times we fail to take action due to uncertainty about the exact nature of the action that is required.  However, it is not as complicated as it seems.  For anything that comes into your world, you have only four options on how to respond:

• Delete It – Get rid of the item as quickly as possible.
• Do It – Complete the action as soon as possible. The Two Minute Rule applies here.
• Delegate It – Send the action along to another person for action.  Delegation can be in any organizational direction – up, down, sideways, etc.
• Defer It – Store a reminder of the action on the appropriate list to do when time, space, and energy permit.

Run every actionable item through the GTD workflow diagram, found on page 37 of the new edition of Getting Things Done.  You will end up at one of the four “D”s when you do so.  Faithfulness to this process will help bring clarity to your work and increase productivity.  Have fun!

Over the past four years of my GTD practice, I have found that the most challenging idea to consistently apply is keeping an up-to-date project list.  David Allen has often stated that this is the hardest list to maintain, but conversely one of the most important to keep.  Below is an excerpt from an article he wrote a few years ago:

“People started keeping calendars a century ago. Why? Because life’s time-based commitments got more complex than they could trust their mind to manage. If you think that a Projects list is unnecessary, then throw away your calendar and trust life will just let you know what you should be doing, in the moment. Good luck. If you decide you need a calendar, then keep a list of your projects you’re committed to completing, as well as appointments to keep. Otherwise you’re intellectually dishonest.”

Read the rest of the article on the Getting Things Done web site.

How many of your projects are currently languishing?  They are the projects that have a layer of dust on them that you are reluctant to brush off.  It is easy to fall into inaction.  This can happen when life becomes so hectic that the plethora of input leads to a cognitive shutdown.  It can also happen at the other end of the spectrum when life is too slow and inertia has infiltrated the system.  Both states are less than desirable.

One way to move a project forward is to pose a simple question – what is the next action?  Each project on your plate requires a physical action to move it forward, such as making a phone call, writing an email, drafting a memo, walking down the hall to visit HR, cleaning a cabinet, etc.  The question forces you to get real about the project by making it solid and tangible in your mind.  It can create momentum that will move the project to completion.

For more information, I highly recommend reading Chapter 12 of Getting Things Done.  Titled “The Power of the Next Action Decision,” David Allen states that “When a culture adopts ‘What’s the next action?’ as a standard operating query, there’s an automatic increase in energy, productivity, clarity and focus.”

So after reading this post, what is your next action?

Have you done a weekly review recently?  While it is common to face resistance when starting the review, it is very unusual for someone to regret doing it when it is over.  Below is a great quote from one of David Allen’s senior coaches that puts the weekly review in perspective:

“I was taking a cycling class one time and the instructor made a comment that intrigued me.  Between intense bursts of climbing hills she said, ‘recovery builds confidence and strength.’  Whereas part of me wanted to keep a fast pace and just keep going, I took her advice, slowed my speed down to rest my legs and heart.  I was stronger on the next hill I climbed. OK–so you knew there’d be something GTD in this: the Weekly Review is recovery.  It’s my time to relax my mind and body from the frantic pace of the daily grind.  It builds confidence in my system letting my mind know it’s OK to relax and be creative.  It gives me mental strength to make better choices because I’m seeing a clear picture of everything instead of chasing after latest and loudest.”
– Kelly Forrister, Senior Coach & Presenter with The David Allen Company

Refresh your knowledge on the five stages of workflow, of which the weekly review is number four, at: http://gettingthingsdone.com/fivesteps/

In order to accomplish anything at work, you need to take action.  This seems like an obvious concept, but without an organized system to identify and store actionable items it is very easy to become unproductive.

Actionable items are physical steps, such as making a phone call, drafting a memo, composing an email, or walking down the hall to speak to someone face-to-face, that are needed to move projects forward.  All projects are accomplished through a series of distinct physical action steps.  As a knowledge worker, one of your duties is to keep track of the next action needed to move projects to completion. Many people try to keep their actionable items in their inbox or stored in their head, both of which are routes that lead to dysfunction.

The Action folder is a fundamental tool to accomplish this task.  Having everything that is actionable in one place creates a simple menu of items that can be worked on whenever time allows.  It creates efficiency because there is no longer a need to search around your work space for actionable items.  The clarity of mind that comes from knowing where all your actions are stored is priceless.

Read David Allen’s book,  Getting Things Done (2015 edition), Chapter 7 to learn all the best practices for creating and maintaining action folders.

If you don’t get enough Efficient Librarian blog posts to stay inspired about productivity and efficiency, then hop on over to David Allen’s web site to sign up for his podcasts.  There are simple 20-40 minute interviews and conversations that cover many different aspects of GTD practice.

In fact, I highly recommend listing to one podcast in particular: David Allen at the Do Lectures. From the web site: “David gives a unique and inspiring presentation about the power of Getting Things Done to the participants of The Do Lectures in Wales, September 2010.  If you’re new to GTD, you’ll love the fast-paced overview David gives of the entire systematic approach.  If you’re a seasoned practitioner, you’ll appreciate the transparency and authenticity in which David shares a bit more of his behind-the-scenes story.”

Enjoy!