This is the beginning of a post that I will most likely add to over time…

Mostly, what I wanted to do is share a powerful “resource” I found a few months back. It’s a methodology that has literally changed my life for the better – “Getting Things Done” by David Allen.

A quick antecdote

One of the things that I learned from David’s methodology is that there are multiple steps in the process of going from disorganized to organized. Seems simple enough, but the thought that I had to do everything at once was crippling me.

My office was a complete and total MESS! Every horizontal surface on 3 desks was piles high with mail, papers, notes, business cards, faxes, office supplies and other random stuff that I didn’t have time or energy to figure out what to do with.

The thing that was keeping me locked in this mess what that I thought I have to figure out exactly what to do with every piece of this mess in order to get started on cleaning it up. And that was simply too big of a task to every undertake. So I did nothing and the mess got bigger and bigger…

Until I found GTD

What I learned from “Getting Things Done” (aka GTD) is that the first step in the process was to “collect” all my “stuff.” Which meant just gathering it all together into an “inbox” and then I could complete the rest of the steps over time. David recommends setting aside at least 2 days to get through the whole process at once, but just tackling the collection step immediately improved my office conditions by 50% or more.

Then I found it much easier to complete the rest of the process and in short time my office was completely clean and organized. And it’s stayed that way. I keep on top of everything now AND it’s easy! It’s easy because I have a system, and I use the tools in this system to manage everything for me. This leaves me free to be present in what I’m doing without the burden of keeping track of all my “stuff.”

• Stuff is a term from GTD that you’ll learn in a minute…

The benefits I’ve experienced

Since implementing this methodology in my life I have less stress and more time. It’s incredible how much time is freed up just by not having to keep track of your stuff. Letting a system do it for you frees your mind to work on creative aspects of your life and business. And it feels so much better to know that everything is in order, so you can let go of it and just relax.

Recommended Action

1. Check out the GTD overview on wikipedia. This is not a replacement for the book, but it’s a nice overview and a good summary for review in the future.
2. Buy and READ cover-to-cover Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity. Reading the book and really understanding the methodology make implementing the system a lot easier.
3. Get Things for the Mac and / or iPhone. I researched extensively and tested 5 different GTD-style software tools. This one was the best I found. (If you’re on a PC and don’t have an iPhone – sorry, you’ll have to do your own research.)
4. Share your success with GTD below!