My Evolving GTD System Part 3 [Organize IT]
It’s been a while since I talked about the productivity system I use so I thought I would bring everyone up to date as a lot has changed and I learnt a few things about developing a system that really fits your needs. You can read my previous posts on the topic here and here.
The problem I have always had with any system I have used for being productive, was that it never seemed to stick. Often after only a few weeks, lethargy would set in and the system would fall apart. I would then default to scribbling to-do lists in a notepad.
So I decided to sit down and really work out what I wanted from my system and why previous approaches had not worked out for me. The issue that stood out for me with my other systems where I used folders or a Moleskine was that they were very neat (and in the case of the Moleskine, expensive) packages, so I was loath to scribble anything down on them.
The second issue I had was that I ideally wanted to be able to see all my projects, next actions, goals, roles and responsibilities in a simple way, and using as few sheets as possible. Most of my previous approaches usually had one project or goal per page. That was not practical for looking at the big picture.
With these points in mind I created a single sheet template largely inspired by the chart from the 7 Habits Of Highly Effective People book (if you have not read it, then I highly suggest you do). I can see the entire state of play for my life on one sheet and because I print a new one out every week I can be as scruffy as I want with it as it will ultimately get binned. It also means I can tweak it every week and really edit it to my individual needs.
A prime example of this is the section were you can put time specific next actions. When I originally did the chart this section was a lot larger but I found it rarely got used so I made it smaller and gave the extra space to the basic next actions section.
I would be interested in hearing your thoughts on this subject. Check out the current version of my chart and let me know what you think. Do you have a similar approach? It’s interesting that my systems are slowly drifting away from the typical GTD approach into my own model. Have any of you noticed this as you developed your system?
Original post here: SpiKe
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