Getting Things Done: Introduction

Before I say what Im about to say, let it be known that (A) Ive never been called an exaggerator, (B) Im not known to overpromise, and (C), I read about a book or two a week. There are three books that have had the greatest influence in my life. The first is the Bible. The second is a book called Getting Things Done by David Allen. (Ill write about the third book in a future column.) When I first read this book about six years ago, I didnt connect with it and just didnt get it. Ive been kind of a productivity/efficiency nut for some time, so I went into this book with great expectations -- especially after reading all the hype about it. Long story short; I read it but didnt implement the strategy. I put it in my closet with my stack of other books. Fast forward to about a year ago. As the president of a wealth management firm during the day and someone who capitalizes on my other 8 hours at night, I found that I was drowning in projects and tasks and struggling to keep them organized, and more importantly, moving them forward. I find that when theres too much stuff coming my way I freeze. Even when that "stuff" is good such as writing The Other 8 Hours, getting new clients, starting a non-profit, etc., I become unable to interpret new information and unsure of next actions. Classic deer-in-the-headlights syndrome. That was me a year ago -- lots of incredible projects, ideas, and opportunities, but helpless and unable to determine where I was and what I needed to do to advance them. Poor me, but of course theres a happy ending . . . I came across an article on Getting Things Done online, and started reading it. Then I started devouring it. Then I frantically started searching the back of my closet for my copy of Getting Things Done. Ugh! Couldnt find it. I was going to Vegas for a couple of days and really wanted to explore the book there (like I said, I read a lot). I couldnt find it, but thankfully theres Amazon Prime, and I had a brand new copy in time for my trip.

So Im in Vegas with my wife trying to have a g ood time, but Davids smiling mug on the book cover keeps drawing me in. "The Art of Stress Free Productivity" the tagline promises. "Are you coming down with me to play poker?" my wife asks. "This is a vacation," I think. I glance at my beautiful wife -- anxious to play some poker and have some fun -and then I glance back at David on the nightstand. "Uh, Ill be down in a few minutes," I say. For the next four hours Im knee-deep in Getting Things Done. For whatever reason, it makes sense this time. What was complicated before now feels right. Im reading and underlining. I take notes, mindmap ideas, and think about how I can implement the concepts in my life. Im on a serious mental high and then I get the text, "Im about to win a poker tournament. Get down here!" (turns out she beats 123 other players and wins $765!) For the next three days Im dissecting the book and figuring out which tools Im going to use to make GTD (thats what the cool kids call the system) a part of my life. This is probably the cheesiest thing Ive ever written, but even though I lost money gambling that weekend in Vegas, I hit the jackpot. GTD has transformed my life. Ive gone from trying to keep everything in my head or on notepads, to having a systematic way to address any kind of physical, electronic, or mental information. Plus, I always know where I stand with all my personal and professional projects, what next step is needed to move each project forward, and who needs to get back to me. Nothing slips through the cracks anymore because there are no cracks. There is a place for everything. Now dont get me wrong. GTD takes time, focus, and energy, but it certainly is better than the alternative. Heres a snapshot of GTD: What is GTD? System to increase: 1. Organization 2. Efficiency 3. Creativity

Objectives of GTD 1. Capture everything that needs to get done 2. Put it into a trusted system 3. Review it 5 Steps of GTD 1. Collect 2. Process 3. Organize 4. Do 5. Review If you feel inundated with too much information, if you are juggling projects and worried that youre not making the progress you want, or if you simply want some sanity in your life, get in and hang on. The GTD train is leaving the station. Are you on board?

Getting Things Done: Step 1 - Collection

Its time to tap into your inner squirrel. The first step of GTD is Collection. For me, and for many, this is the most daunting step to start, but it doesnt have to be. Dont get so caught up in the full scope of Collection. Block out a couple of your other 8 hours. Start small and try to have fun with it. If you want to have any sense of control over your ideas, workflow, and environment, you need to know exactly what you have and what youre dealing with. The Collection step is all about capturing anything and everything that has your attention. The anything can be mental or physical. Mental examples include such things as ideas for a new marketing campaign, a blog post you want to write, or milk you want to pick up from the store. Physical examples include emails, documents in your briefcase, and the research reports stacked up beside your desk. The 5 GTD steps are ongoing. The first time you do the Collection step, it may take several hours, but once you do the initial dump, the ongoing commitment is much more manageable. Brain Dump - Initial Mental Collection They physical collection can be a real pain, so lets get some momentum by starting Mental Collection. David calls this the mind sweep, and it is an absolute blast. It may be one of the best investments of your other 8 hours. Heres what you need before you start: - Large stack of 3x5 index cards (if you want to get started and dont have these, just use paper) - Pen - At least an hour of free uninterrupted time Heres the fun part . . . write down every thought, idea, or project you can think of on a separate index card or piece of paper. Yes, everything. Anything that comes to your mind that has your attention needs to be written down. This might feel a little awkward because you are so used to trying to keep as much in your head as possible. No more. The genius behind GTD is that you keep NOTHING in your head. As soon as you think of it, you need to expel it as quickly as possible. Why? The more free your mind, the more free it will be to generate more thoughts and ideas. I experienced this first hand.

Ive always been a list guy, but I was never disciplined. I kept many thoughts and ideas in my head for days, weeks, and even years. As soon as I flushed everything out in the mind-sweep, I found I was flooded with fresh ideas. Its like I released my creative floodgates. These new ideas were just hanging out waiting for room, and once I gave them the room, they came rushing in. Try it; youll see what Im talking about. David encourages you to go for quantity over quality. When you start, it might take a bit for the ideas to start coming to you, but soon they will be popping in your head faster than you can write them down. Dont second-guess anything and dont judge. For example, here are some possible thoughts that youd write down on separate index cards: change oil in car call Susan about a holiday party check in with Joe in accounting on project research a new digital camera think about speech topics for board meeting want to visit Rome plan company retreat buy bread start a non-profit to help kids rent that movie Mike told me about lose 10 pounds put air in bike tires

This is a mental purge at its best. As things come to you whether they are business or personal write them down. In one moment you might have a thought for a new invention that will end world hunger and then the next moment how you need to get a button fixed on your pants. Thats great! No idea or thought is better than another. Just write each of them down and move on to the next one. If youre stuck coming up with thoughts/ideas, David provides a GTD Trigger List to help you with your mind sweep. When youre done, youll have a big stack of index cards. Leave them in a big pile for now well get to them soon enough. Stuff Dump - Initial Physical Collection What you did with your thoughts and ideas youre going to do with your physical stuff. Search your physical environment for anything that doesnt belong where it is and put it in an in-basket or inbox. Id recommend you get a big box (or several) for your in-basket or clear a large area of floor space where youll put everything. The question I get most often when Im telling people about this step? What goes into my in-basket? Quite simply, everything that doesnt belong where it

is. For example, you wouldnt throw your computer keyboard in your in-basket or artwork in your in-basket because presumably these things are where they need to be. But, if you had a broken keyboard in the corner of the room and a painting sitting in your closet, these are fair game and should be put into your in-basket because they dont belong where they are. Do not organize and do not take action on anything you come across -- youll use some of your other 8 hours for this. Your mission is to get everything into your in-basket; not to look at each item along the way and figure out where it needs to go. For example, if you pick up that painting, resist the urge to hang it during this step. Just get everything into your in-basket. There is one exception . . . if you come across something you know for sure you dont need you can throw it out (e.g., the broken keyboard). So, basically you have two piles of stuff -- you have your in-basket and a big ol garbage can. The more you can dump as you go the better off youll be. Ongoing Mental/Physical Collection Maybe Im a little slow, but when I first implemented GTD I didnt realize that the Collection step was ongoing. You do the initial mental and physical dump, which is great, but sooner than later youll have new stuff (ideas and things) to collect. This means that whenever you get an idea/thought or physical document, you need to have clearly defined Collection Buckets in which to put these items. David recommends having as few Collection Buckets as possible but as many as you need. Heres how to think about your collection buckets. Start with ideas/thoughts. How can you best capture these in different settings? For example, if youre watching TV and get a good idea, what should you do with it? If youre driving 65 miles per hour and you have a thought that needs to be captured, how will you do it? If youre at your computer and need to make a note, what will you do? No matter where you are or what youre doing, you need to be able to capture all of these mental thoughts. Remember, you want everything out of your head as quickly as possible. Dont try to retain it until you have a chance to capture it later. The process is Thought Capture Move On.

Same holds true for your stuff. What should you do with receipts? What about a magazine you want to read? Business documents? You need a place to dump all of this stuff. (Read what tools and tricks I use to GTD Capture my thoughts and things.) Now that youve got a bunch of stuff, its time to process and organize it

Getting Things Done: Step 2/3 Processing & Organizing

Now that youve Collected, you should have a huge stack of stuff as well as a bunch of index cards. At this point, you might start to freak out a bit. What am I supposed to do with all this stuff? This doesnt feel like Im getting organized! GTD should stand for Getting Things Disorganized! Hang in there. Processing and Organizing involves getting everything out of your temporary Collection Buckets and putting it where it belongs. At the end of Processing & Organizing, youll have nothing in your in-basket and all of those index cards will be gone. Of course, so will several of your other 8 hours, but trust me when I say its worth it. Start with either the index cards or the physical stuff. Pick up one thing or card at a time and answer this question:

Is it actionable?
The answer to that single question seals the fate of the idea/thing. What to do if it is NOT Actionable There are three possible outcomes: 1. Trash. I LOVE trash. Its such a great feeling to get rid of something. If its junk, its junk. The more you throw away the less you have to Process and Organize. 2. Reference. You might pick up something that isnt actionable but that is important. For example, a map, manual, or reference sheet. Since you dont want to throw this out, it must go somewhere. Hum, where should it go? If you have physical stuff, you can create a filing system. Or, if you want to get fancy, you can scan most of your physical stuff into your computer and organize it in folders digitally. Even if you digitize most of your physical documents, there will still be some stuff you either cant scan in or that will be too cumbersome (e.g., printer manual). 3. Incubate. Huh? I didnt understand this at first. Trash I got. Reference I got. But incubate? Heres the lowdown . . . if an item/thought isnt immediately actionable and its not trash or reference, it goes here. For example, lets say a friend tells you to check out a new restaurant in New York. You first Collect it (you could keep a small notebook with you, write it on a

Post-It note and drop it in your Inbox, or use some pretty cool electronic GTD tools like I do). Now three days later youre Processing and Organizing all of the stuff youve Collected over the past few days. You come across this Post-It note and ask yourself, Is it actionable? Well, if I was going to be in NY next week it might be but it wont be actionable until later. Do I throw it out? No. Is it Reference? Not really. It could go on a generic Someday/Maybe list where I put everything, it could go on a Restaurant List, or if I travel a lot to different cities it could go on a Restaurants NY list, or maybe I drop the Post-It into a Restaurant folder. Whatever your poison, youre getting the Post-It out of your Inbox/Collection Bucket and putting it in its home. Wont you forget about this if you stuff it away on some list or in some folder? Come on now; Uncle David wouldnt let that happen . . . but well get to that later.

What to do if it is Actionable Action. Doesnt that word just make you want to get up and do something? If whatever youre holding is Actionable, you have a few outcomes: 1. Projects. If your thing/idea requires multiple steps to complete, its probably a project. For example, you might have Have a garage sale on your Collection list. While it would be lovely if there was just one step to this, there are dozens. Therefore, youd tuck this item in a generic Project list/folder, or better yet, youd create a separate list/folder titled Project Garage Sale. 2. Do it. For small tasks that you can knock out in less than two minutes, you might as well just do them. For example, your friend highly recommended the book The Other 8 Hours: Maximize Your Free Time to Create New Wealth and Purpose (I couldnt resist!). If youre at or near your computer you could quickly go to Amazon.com and buy it in less than two minutes. 3. Delegate it. Why do today what you can get someone else to do? Get as much off your plate as possible by giving it to others who are just as capable. For example, if you GTD correctly, youre going to need several clearly labeled file folders (e.g., Projects, reference folders). If you have someone you can delegate this task to, go for it. Delegation is fantastic if its done correctly. Heres how not to delegate: Joe, can you create these six file folders? If Joe is conscientious youll get your folders, but what if Joe is GTD-less and forgets? What if you forget to remind Joe? You must delegate effectively by creating a reminder mechanism for all of the stuff you ask other people to do. Heres how to GTD Delegate: a. Single Waiting For List. You can create a single list of all of the stuff youve delegated. If you dont delegate much, this could work

okay, but its not ideal. b. Multiple Waiting For Lists. Each person you delegate to could have their own Waiting For list. For example, youd have a list titled Waiting For Joe with all of the tasks youre waiting for Joe to complete for you. Note: when I say list, it doesnt have to be a physical list. It can be a Word doc list, or if you want to get fancy, you could use some of the cool GTD applications I use. c. Email Waiting For Lists. If you get nothing from this article or entire GTD series, remember at least this. This single email tip will revolutionize how you handle tasks via email. I live and breathe email. Over 95% of my delegated tasks originate from an email I write. For example, Ill send an email asking, Ann, can you make sure Susan gets a copy of my book. Her address is below. Whos to say Ann is actually going to send the book to Susan? I used to just hope and pray it got done, but not anymore. Ive created several folders in Outlook titled @WAITING . For example, I have @WAITING O8H for all tasks related to my Other 8 Hours book. I have @WAITING PWA for all tasks related to my wealth management firm (Pacifica Wealth Advisors). I have @WAITING LIZ for all tasks related to my wife. And on and on. So far so good, but were only half-way there. Once I created these folders, I then created a simple Outlook Rule that says whenever I copy myself on an email that I send it should automatically be moved to my general @WAITING folder (see end of article for how to create this rule in Outlook). Now whenever I send an email with some sort of followup required (maybe a reply to me, a task that needs to get done, etc.), I copy myself on the email. Seconds after sending the email, I get a copy of the email and it is automatically moved to my general @WAITING folder. I can then leave it there or I can move it to one of my more specific @WAITING folders. I then religiously go through my @WAITING folders to see whos slacking and if I need to send a reminder email (this can be done in about 10 seconds by opening the email, clicking the dropdown menu Actions, then clicking on Resend This Message). 4. Defer it. Why do today what you can do tomorrow? There are two possible outcomes:

a. Calendar. Anything that has to be done on a specific day, you put on your calendar. For example, while going through your Collection list, you come across a note to call a client about an order. You know hes going to be leaving the country on Friday, so you would put an appointment on your calendar to call him on Thursday. Since its not a scheduled call with a set time, you can just make it an all day calendar item in Outlook. b. Next Action. This is the holy grail of GTD. Put everything and anything that has a physical and visible activity associated with it on the Next Action list. For example, put air in bike tires, update Smith plan, sketch new homepage design, call sister, complete marketing proposal, etc. All of these require a physical action and none require more than one step. You get all of this? It sounds more complex than it really is. Once you do it a few times you wont even think about what goes where -- it will just happen naturally and effortlessly. It would be nice if someone developed some kind of flow chart graphic for this process . . . oh wait, they did. See the beautiful chart below (Renoir has nothin on David Allen). Up to this point, youve been doing a lot of collecting and sorting, but this is where the rubber meets the road. The D in GTD is Done. The next article will show you how to get things done efficiently and will explain everything you need to thrive using a concept called GTD Context. How to Create GTD WAITING Email Rule in Outlook Tools --> Rules and Alerts --> New Rule --> Start from a blank rule --> Check messages when they arrive --> select both "where my names is in the Cc box" and "from people or distribution list" --> click the link "people or distribution list" and enter your email address or select it from your address book --> move it to the specified folder --> click the link "specified" and select the WAITING folder you created

Getting Things Done: Step 4 Context & Doing

Youre not quite done organizing yet. One of the very cool things about GTD is this concept called Context. Your Next Action list might contain 50, 100, or even more next actions. Whenever you have a free moment, I suppose you could look down this list and find something to do, but if your list is long, you might spend more time reading and re-reading this big list than actually doing anything. Most time management and productivity programs have you organize your tasks by goal or due date. For example, youd put all of your actions related to having a garage sale under Garage Sale. Actions on that list might be: Clean garage Place ad on local newspapers website Call brother to see if he has anything he wants to sell Buy price labels Talk to wife about selling bikes Print color flyers Waiting to hear back from neighbor about partnering on garage sale And many others

Its neat that all of these actions are in one place organized by goal/project, but theres a much more efficient way to organize theseby Context. Context is a specific physical or mental location. For example, here are my Contexts: Brain. Any next action where I need to think or brainstorm, I put here. For example, outline a new speech, come up with a new logo, sketch new website, etc. Calls. Anyone I need to call that isnt already on my calendar. For example, I might have Call brother to see if he has anything he wants to sell at the garage sale. I dont need to call him on a specific day or time, but I do want to call him, so this would go in my Calls Context. Computer. Everything that needs to be done on the computer goes here. For example, email Sarah about meeting, get contact info from company website, buy book from Amazon.com, place ad on local newspapers website, etc. Grocery. Here I put that gallon of milk (actually , I drink rice milktry it!) and everything else I need to get at the grocery store.

 Home. Stuff that I need to be at home to do. Id put clean garage on this list. Liz. Anything I want to talk to my wife about I put here. For example, Id put Talk to wife about selling bikes on this list. Office. Some things can only be done at the office. For example, review Smith project with assistant, mail report to Sarah, or print color flyers for garage sale. Out. Stuff I need to do or buy while Im out. For example, drop off dry cleaning, go to post office, deposit checks at bank, or go to Staples to buy price labels. Waiting. Most of the things I delegate I do via email so I can track them by the @WAITING system I discussed in the GTD Processing/Organizing step, but for those tasks I dont delegate I put on this list. For example, hear back from neighbor about partnering on the garage sale. Now, instead of doing my Next Actions by goal, I do them by Context. If Im at my office, I go to my Office list and take care of those items. I dont look at or worry about my Home Context because I cant do anything on that list while Im at the office. If Im in the waiting room at the doctors office or driving to a meeting, Ill look at my Calls Context to see if there are any quick calls I can make. If my four-year old daughter wants me to watch Dora the Explorer with her, no problem. I pull up my Brain list and can hang out with my daughter while noodling a Brain action. Do you get this? Your physical/mental location (Context) determines what Next Action you tackle, and when you Process and Organize you must make sure you are placing the Next Actions in their appropriate Context bucket. Knowing What to Do At this point you may be asking, Thats great I have all of this stuff organized and I have a solid list of Next Actions, but where do I start? What you do at any point depends on these four criteria: 1. Context. What can you do based on where you are? 2. Time. If you have an hour of uninterrupted time youll be able to tackle different Next Actions than if you only have five minutes. 3. Energy. Dont try to do a 9:00am project at 4:00pm. Some Next Actions

require more energy and focus than others. 4. Priority. Is one Next Action due before another? If you are in the appropriate Context and have the time/energy, focus on that action first.

Getting Things Done: Step 5 Review

One of the most important and often neglected steps in GTD is Review. I struggle with this one, too. I nail the daily Review, but get hung up on the Weekly Review. Heres why. I get so efficient with collecting, processing, organizing, and doing that I just want to do some more. I dont want to take the time to step back and plan. Im getting better but Im not perfect. Dont make the same mistake I made, er make. Make the Review process a part of your daily AND weekly routine. Daily Review 1. Calendar. Look at your calendar first to see what has to get done (remember, the only items on your calendar are those things that absolutely have to get done on that specific day and/or time). The number and length of meetings and tasks on your calendar will set the direction and pace for the day. 2. Next Actions. Check out your list of Next Actions you could do in your current Context. Weekly Review David Allen suggests you do this on Sunday nights and that you allocate an hour or two. Ive got a lot of things going on but its never taken me two hours, so just commit to an hour and see how much progress you make. 1. Loose papers. Find any errant papers that have accumulated over the week and put them in your Collection inbox. 2. Process your notes. Review any journal entries, meeting notes, etc. and Process/Organize them by putting them in projects, on your calendar, in Next Actions, etc. 3. Calendar data. Review past and future calendar dates for any Next Actions. 4. Brain dump. Think of anything that is floating around in your head that you didnt Collect yet and get it out of your head. 5. Projects. Go through each of your projects to ensure you are on course and that you have Next Actions for each so you can move them forward. 6. Waiting. Go through your Waiting lists and Waiting email folders and mark

off completed items and send reminders to those who havent completed their tasks. 7. Someday/Maybe. Remember all of the items that werent actionable and that werent Trash or Reference? Those Incubate items are on your Someday/Maybe lists. Go through these once a week or once every couple of weeks to see if you want to move a Someday/Maybe item to a Project. Let me give you three examples of the power of GTD. Idea to Dr. Phil Through GTD, I was able to write a 75 page personal finance ebook in my other 8 hours, design and oversee the development of the books website, record and produce the audiobook version, and one more thing . . . get on Dr. Phil and share my counterintuitive financial tips to the nation. Web Application For a long time I had on my Someday/Maybe list to create a internet browser add-on. A month ago I moved it off of my Someday/Maybe list and turned it into a Project. It will be completed next week. National TV I came up with a cool financial TV segment about the other 8 hours that I thought would be perfect for a well-known national show. I emailed the pitch to my PR person so he could pitch it to the producers at the show. A couple of weeks went by and I didnt hear anything. When I reviewed my WAITING folder I realized Id never heard back from him. I sent him another email and he emailed back the next day saying the producer loved the idea and wanted me on the show. This is the power of GTD. Now its your turn. What are you going to get done?

Getting Things Done: Best Technology to GTD

Ive got a bone to pick with David Allen. I spent weeks researching, testing, and implementing what youre about to read. Why? Because David is intentionally non-committal when it comes to recommending specific GTD tools and applications. I get that. He doesnt want to push fancy gadgets if that would scare readers, but since I had no interest in using a tickler file, paper lists, or carrying around a little Collection notepad, I could have used a little guidance. If you want to implement GTD as efficiently as possible and use all of the cool technology of the day, heres everything you need to know. To save time and energy, I Collect, Process, and Organize in one step instead of three. If youre new to GTD, this may not seem like much, but its huge. The first thing I did was to determine all of the areas I could be where I might need different Collection buckets. Here are mine: Computer. I spend a great deal of time in front of my work and home computer, so I knew I needed something solid here but also cloud based. In other words, the data couldnt live on any single computer, but had to be internet based so I could access the same data whether I was at the office or at home. o Toodledo.com (free). This is basically an internet site where you can put all of your Next Actions categorized by Context. So not only am I Collecting the information, Im also Processing and Organizing all at the same time. No matter what computer Im on, I can quickly see all of my Next Actions. This is good, but it gets a whole lot better. o Toodledo Firefox Add-On (free). Im constantly thinking of Next Actions throughout the day at my computer. Instead of navigating to Toodledo.com, logging in, and then entering the Next Action, I bypass the first two steps by using Toodledos Firefox AddOn. Heres how it works. I can be on ANY website and simultaneously press Ctrl-Alt-A on my keyboard and a little pop-up box comes up where I can quickly add the Next Action, the Context, and any Notes about the action. So far so good, but trust me, it gets even better.

o Evernote (free). For all of my projects, lists, goals, and ideas that are not immediately Actionable, I put them in an application called Evernote. When I was preparing for the Dr. Phil episode, Id put random thoughts and notes in a Dr. Phil category in Evernote. I also have an Italy category where I can put travel tips, notes, must-see places, great restaurants, etc.. My largest category is titled Blog. I have 291 ideas for blog posts that I store in Evernote and can access from anywhere. Pretty cool, but it gets better. o FileCenter ($49.95 to $179.95). I try to be as paperless as possible. Most physical documents I get I scan and convert to digital PDF files. All of these files could get hard to organize and find, so I use a content management application by Lucion.com called FileCenter. Anywhere. If Im not in my car or at my computer, how do I Collect my thoughts/ideas? Lets say Im at the grocery store and I get a great idea for a blog post or Im at the movies and remember I have to call a client? Should I wait until I get home to put these in Evernote and Toodledo? Should I write them down in a notebook and then when I get home transfer them to Evernote and Toodledo? Surely you jest. o iPhone. I whip out my iPhone to Collect these ideas. Like the Apple commercials say, Theres an app for that. Appigos ToDo ($9.95). This is a slick iPhone app where I store all of my Next Actions by Context. But wait, I said earlier I store all of my Next Actions in Toodledo. So do I use Toodledo or ToDo? Yes! Even though these two apps are from two different companies, they synch. That call I remembered I had to make to the client that I typed in my iPhone at the movie . . . it will be in Toodledo. All of my Next Actions I type into Toodledo are accessible from my ToDo app on my iPhone. Theres no need for retyping, re-processing, or re-organizing. So if Im at the dentist and have a few extra minutes, I can pull up ToDo from my phone and see who I need to call (Call

Context) or what I need to think about (Brain Context). Evernote. Guess who has an app for the iPhone? Yup, Evernote. So when Im at the gym and get a great idea for a blog post, I type it into my iPhone Evernote app and it synchs to my office and home Evernote applications. o BlackBerry. If you use a BlackBerry, youre in luck. You can still GTD. TaskJot.com ($14.95). This does the same thing that the iPhone ToDo app doesyou can enter all of your Next Actions by Context and it synchs with Toodledo. Evernote (free). Create and retrieve all of your projects, Someday/Maybe lists, etc. from your BlackBerry. Car. I knew there was no way I was going to try to write anything down or send myself an email at 80mph, uh, I mean 55mph. So heres what I use: o Hand held digital voice recorder ($50). The best and most economical Ive found is the Olympus VN 6200PC (I have an older version and love it). o Jott.com ($12.95/month). This is a very cool service. You call a toll-free number, leave a message, and usually minutes later your voice message is converted to text and emailed to you. Great way to capture ideas on the go. They have an iPhone and BlackBerry app, but you can use it from any phone. Voicemail. Do you scratch phone messages on Post-It notes? No more. I created a voicemail template form that I keep next to my office phone. If I get a call or listen to a message I Collect it on this form. I can then easily Process and Organize this data later. You can even create a voicemail form that you use at home. No matter what comes my way, I have the perfect suite of Collection buckets for my needs. Now its your turn. Use what I use, or develop and test your own Collection apps and tools.

Getting Things Done: Best GTD Resources

Free Online Articles 1. https://secure.davidco.com/store/catalog/Free-Articles-p-1-c-254.php 2. www.yourother8hours.com Books 3. Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity 4. Making it All Work: Winning at the Game of Work and the Business of Life Weekly Podcasts 5. www.davidco.com/podcast.php Audio 6. www.getgtdnow.com Websites 7. www.davidco.com 8. www.gtdconnect.com 9. www.yourother8hours.com 10. www.other8hours.com

Newsletter 11. www.davidco.com/productive_living.php Twitter 12. www.twitter.com/gtdguy

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Books Image http://www.flickr.com/photos/luisbg/2072134438/ Poker Cards and Chips Image http://www.flickr.com/photos/banspy/3887914439/ Pen and Paper Image http://www.flickr.com/photos/kristiand/3223920178/ Light Bulb Image http://www.flickr.com/photos/aloshbennett/540105576/ List Image http://www.flickr.com/photos/timparkinson/4109406429/ Cardboard Boxes Image http://www.flickr.com/photos/jamuraa/2069645859/ File Folders Image 1 http://www.flickr.com/photos/dnorman/2428626374/ Trashcans Image http://www.flickr.com/photos/chego101/3403512046/ Sticky Notes Image http://www.flickr.com/photos/designandtechnologydepartment/3972595343 File Folders Image 2 http://www.flickr.com/photos/crazyneighborlady/411869140/ Calendar Image http://www.flickr.com/photos/pcb85/4258475681/ Grocery Cart Image http://www.flickr.com/photos/darinhercules/532490354/ Desk Image 1 http://www.flickr.com/photos/tsk/2192969453/ Clock Image http://www.flickr.com/photos/laffy4k/367822192/ Laptop Image http://www.flickr.com/photos/tomtomsuites/4124127503/ Television Image http://www.flickr.com/photos/dailyinvention/497294952/ Keyboard Image http://www.flickr.com/photos/spadgy/313251515/ iPhone Image http://www.flickr.com/photos/johanl/2968794599/ Dashboard Image http://www.flickr.com/photos/p0psicle/3727714492/ Desk Image 2 http://www.flickr.com/photos/tarksiala/3141437972/

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