The most curious paradox is that the human consciousness copes well with the generation of new thoughts, but with the storage of old ones it often fails. Too often we forget even simple information - for example, to buy something in a store or where we put the keys. Are you familiar with this? Well, you are not alone. And if we forget even such simple things, then what can we say about completing tasks and high personal productivity.

At Goalton.com, in our line of work, we place a high value on any method of increasing personal and team productivity. It has become a norm for us to constantly look for and test both the newest methods in this area, and fairly well-promoted old ones. And today we want to talk about the nuances, pros and cons that we experienced ourselves using the GTD approach. As usual, our experts have made the most concentrated squeeze for you, so that by the end of the article you are quite well versed in this issue and could become at least a little more efficient.

Main idea

So, the essence of the GTD method is based on the basic postulate that it is difficult for a person to achieve his goals if his head is busy with the flow of incoming information. There are so many thoughts, tasks and simply external distractions in our lives that it can be extremely difficult to concentrate on the main thing. Therefore, David Allen suggested not to keep a large amount of information in your head, but to free your mind for direct work and try to transfer all the information to an external medium, having previously structured it in a certain way.

The influence of the flow of incoming information according to D. Allen

Goalton.com's team of methodologists believe that this way of looking at work organization is justified. For successful peoplewriting down your thoughts and action list is an indisputable fact, and that is why the notebook and diary have long become symbols of successful businessmen. The first thing you need to do in order to do more is to unload your head. Just transfer the bee swarm of tasks from your head to any external media.

The last decade has given us a new round of development of computers - they have finally become truly personal, light, miniature and you can have access to the global network or cloud services from almost anywhere in the world. The user-friendly software makes recording your projects and tasks simple and visual, whether you prefer using mind maps or creating to-do lists.

To free your head and write down things, just install a convenient task manager for yourself or use a cloud service, such as Goalton, Remember the milk, Asana or Todoist.

We absolutely agree with the author of GTD that a person striving for high personal productivity should take full control of workflow management. This process consists of several consecutive actions - data collection and processing, convenient organization of the collected information on projects, the ability to make periodic reviews and make decisions on the need for certain actions. A little later we will return to this process, but for now we will illustrate it with a visual diagram.

Planning Practice

After you unload everything that has accumulated in it from your head, you need to sort it into piles. Therefore, Allen's second postulate to planning your time is based on the so-called six-level model of reviewing your work. In fact, the author of GTD says that a person should be able to look at his affairs from a bird's eye view. To do this, he proposes to distinguish 6 levels of gaze perspective:

• Current affairs
• Current projects
• Range of duties
• Next 1-2 years
• Five year perspective
• Your life as a whole

The GTD methodology recommends reviewing each level at a given frequency in order to better prioritize your tasks. And although we consider this approach to be somewhat simplified, we still rather agree with this statement. Perhaps the most important recommendation of the Goalton.com methodologists in this regard is that turn this list upside down and start planning your affairs precisely with setting goals for life generally. Is it difficult? And how! But it is precisely such a statement of the question that gives you impetus to a radical change in the vector of your own development. After all, if every day you stubbornly do the same thing, then why should your result change?

A little about goals

Take a look at yourself and try to honestly answer a few questions - are you satisfied with your life? Is its quality high enough? Do you get tired by the end of the working day or, on the contrary, are fueled by additional energy? Would you like to do the same in 10 years? What does the life of an ideal person look like to you?

This is certainly a more philosophical view of your life and it requires a healthy and impartial attitude, but this is your life and in order to experience joy at the end of the road, you absolutely need to set yourself the right guidelines. By such guidelines, we mean the definition of specific characteristics that you should have. More precisely, not just “you”, but “the best you”. Once you realize the concept of "better yourself", you will immediately understand that you will not be able to become better without special actions.

Labels and contexts in practice

But back to the ideas of David Allen. Does the above look like GTD? Unfortunately, only partly. We believe that the Getting Things Done methodology is rather reactive, while the planning approach we propose is more correctly considered proactive. What is the difference?

The fact is that the reactive approach, as its name implies, is a reaction to some events. In particular, the GTD method is very actively promoting the use of so-called "contexts", that is, the conditions under which you perform certain actions. There are many kinds of software in the world that suffer from context overload.

What is context? These are some labels with which you mark certain tasks. Actually we are talking about the method of grouping tasks on this basis. Let's explain on simple example- you mark some tasks with the label (context) "John" and when you meet John, you discuss these tasks with him. It looks extremely convenient, because now you will definitely not forget to ask him any of your questions. Similarly, you can tag tasks with the context of a geographic location, such as "headquarters" and deal with certain tasks when you find yourself in a place called "central office".

An example implementation of the GTD methodology at Goalton.com

You can also create a separate grouping of cases depending on the available amount of free time. For example, in the screenshot above, you can see to-do lists broken down by their duration:

• business for 5 minutes
• business for half an hour
• business for 1 hour
• business for 3 hours

Now, if you have half an hour of free time, then following the GTD method, you just need to look at the corresponding “half an hour” section and choose one thing from there that you will take on. For example, you can check the slides in your presentation.

In general, D. Allen's method is extremely simple and therefore has thousands of fans in all corners of the globe. First, you put all the cases in the Inbox (INBOX), and then periodically distribute these cases either by location contexts, or people contexts, or time availability. In separate folders you just put reference materials or useful links that come across to you. In the future, you can always return to them to decide whether something needs to be done with them. If you have assigned a task to a colleague, then simply transfer it to the “Delegated” folder.

As you can see, apply GTD method using e.g. Goalton.com is incredibly easy! And taking into account the fact that the system has a number of directories, such as the address book of your contacts and a built-in calendar, it becomes very easy and convenient to manage your affairs.

Let's talk about the cons of GTD

The proposed method is easy to apply and really gives excellent results from the first day of its use. But let's criticize it a little in order to be objective and achieve greater efficiency in work.

So, if you are a very poorly organized person who has everything falling out of his hands, you don’t have time for anything and always forget to do something important, then the method will certainly be good. He will really put your affairs in order and the results will be visible pretty soon. But remember that this is a reactive method, that is, you react to external events.

AT proactive In the methods that the Goalton.com team adheres to, the central place is given not to the context, but to your Goals (Eng. Goal - goal), regardless of whether these goals are personal or work. In other words, we believe that if you have defined some important goal and assigned it a higher priority, then you should take tasks from your list and perform them, regardless of suitable external conditions, but starting from their priority.

For the example above, this means that you can call John yourself (proactive) without having to wait until you meet him by chance. At the same time, you don’t have to discuss with him all the cases marked “john” - instead, discuss only the important matter that you now have in priority and concentrate solely on it. The situation is similar with the "central office" - why wait for the right context? If you have an important task leading to the goal you need, then go to the central office and solve your issues without wasting time. This is the difference between reactive and proactive approaches. The whole ideology of the Goalton system is subordinated to the primacy of the Goals, and we believe that the grouping of tasks should be carried out precisely according to design and time criteria, and not according to labels and conditional contexts.

“Labels are the enemy of structural thinking. The harm of tags lies in their easy accessibility and outward harmlessness. Often they look good in the diary and have various beautiful colors. They are easy to use and you can mark anything with them. Why do people love labels? Because if there are no labels in the system, then you have to think. Think about where to attribute this or that task, think about how to build this task into the overall chain of actions. Think about how timely or appropriate the implementation of this action will be and whether it is an action at all or just a thought. Without labels, you have to think a lot and often transform your ideas into something more practical or abandon them altogether. But isn't that your goal? Tags are bad habit. Try to refuse them - at first you will be uncomfortable, but then you will see the result.

Obviously, David Allen himself understood that the method he proposed, although good, was not perfect. That is why he devoted part of his wonderful book to “atypical cases” that require deeper thought and reflection. As a result, in addition to the horizontal method of planning, his methodology was supplemented by a vertical one, in which he included such aspects that are extremely important from our point of view, such as:

• Determination of goals
• Creating a Vision
• Brainstorming
• Definition of specific actions

Based on his proposed classification and methods of storing information, Allen greatly facilitated this process, although he presented it in a somewhat confused manner. The basis of the confusion is the lack of clear algorithms and the same notorious use of contexts, which the author never abandoned, believing that they allow “to get an idea of ​​the next specific actions, receiving the right reminders in right time and in the right place." Well, let's not judge him too harshly for that. In the end, all people are slightly different from each other in their psychotype and personality characteristics. Probably, for some people, it is the reactive approach to doing business that suits better.

Concluding our review of the methodology Getting Done However, I would like to draw your attention to one positive point. The author of the method made perhaps the most valuable contribution to the development of personal productivity by proposing a fairly simple and well-structured scheme for processing incoming information. As can be seen from the figure, this scheme describes a step-by-step guide on what to do with incoming information in order to unload your brain from remembering it.

David Allen's How to Get Things Done

Our experts largely agree with this scheme and consider it an excellent tool for people who want to achieve great results. However, we feel it our duty to warn you that the scheme contains a very important flaw that the Goalton.com team strongly disagrees with. The fact is that the scheme has a logical branch that implies the need to give priority to small tasks. "It takes less than 2 minutes? - do it right away" - this is the motto of GTD. We understand what Allen had in mind when he introduced this element - he wanted to save people from the small tasks that are sometimes annoyingly spinning in your brain. However, there could also be a big bomb here.

In our article on the One Thing Principle, we covered in some detail issues related to concentration, focus, and willpower. It is willpower that allows us to do the chosen thing, keeping us from trying to switch to something else. But induring the day, willpower, as well as your mental energy, is depleted. So does it make sense to spend them on small two-minute cases? We think not. In no case do not start your day with tidying up the little things - always start the working day with the main task!

The fact is that in addition to determining what you should do in principle, HOW exactly you will work on the task is also very important. Majority scientific research unambiguously say that the greatest enemy of man is his inability to concentrate on a task. By the way, for those who are interested in this particular aspect, we recommend reading about tomato techniques. We sincerely believe that the ability (and acquired skill, habit) to work on a specific task for a certain period of time without being distracted by anything else is critical to success. However, if you take into account the GTD instruction that tells you to do short tasks first, you run the risk of doing only these short tasks all day long.

One might ask: What's wrong with that? Firstly, what at first seemed short to you can actually take a considerable amount of time. Secondly, important tasks (that is, those that have a high priority due to their value) must be done first, and not short ones. Thirdly, the energy reserve of any person is limited, which means that by doing ten short tasks, you can spend all your strength and inspiration on them. And do not forget that switching between tasks is also an energy-consuming part of the work of your brain. We talked in detail about the cost of switching between tasks and the dangers of multitasking in a previous article.

Our findings

Getting Things Done is a time management technique founded by David Allen and described in his book of the same name.

The main idea of ​​the method is that a person needs to unload his head from unnecessary routine information by transferring it to an external medium, whether it be paper trays, a diary book or.

David offers some algorithm that can be used to efficiently process a large amount of information to organize your time.

According to the GTD method, it is better to work with incoming information in several stages:

2. Processing.

3. Organization.

5. Actions.

Let's dwell on these stages in more detail.

Collection

The main idea is that any task, idea, information, etc. you need to fix it on some medium: on paper, in the mail, in a laptop or a pocket computer. Maybe you will use different tools to record different incoming information. It's not the point. The main ideas are the following:

You won't forget anything

You will unload your head from a large amount of routine information.

Information written on paper can be collected in trays, files or emails in certain folders, and so on, depending on the collection tools.

In order for this scheme to work, the input trays must be processed at some period, for example, once a week. When processing trays, you actually empty them.

For example, you can record all tasks, ideas, notes in the “Tasks” section of the online organizer with one click.

Organization

The processing of the collected information (basket, tray, Inbox container) proceeds strictly according to the following algorithm:

We take the next top element of the basket “Inbox”.

If an element requires an action, and it takes a little time (up to 5 minutes), then we immediately execute it.

If the task requires a lot of time, then we delegate to someone or postpone it.

If the basket item “Inbox” does not require action, then we discard this item, put it in the tray (list) “Someday maybe” or leave this item somewhere in the archive as reference information.

To organize work on those tasks that require further action, David Allen suggests breaking such tasks into several lists:

The following actions

You should have a list of further specific actions to take. Only in this case, you will be able to work as efficiently as possible, “grinding” a large number of affairs.

In the TimeMaster online organizer, a similar list is represented by a todo list.

Projects

Tasks that require more than one action to achieve their goals are essentially projects. For example, to prepare for a presentation, you need to call the organizers, pay the bill for the room, etc. For each project, a follow-up action must be determined.

With the TimeMaster online organizer, you can split tasks into subtasks in seconds.

deferred

If the task was delegated or can be completed a little later for some reason, then such tasks should be placed in a separate list.

The TimeMaster online organizer has contacts that you can use to manage your task lists.

Someday maybe

There are tasks that are not relevant at the moment, it is not clear whether they will be relevant in the future, but there is such a possibility. Such tasks are placed in a separate list.

In the TimeMaster online organizer, you can organize such lists in seconds using contexts.

David Allen recommends abandoning the classic rigid planning of the day, when the whole day is scheduled to the minute. Such planning is rarely practical, as you can be distracted at any time, and plans can change.

David believes that tasks are divided into hard and flexible.

Flexible Tasks go in a simple list. These are tasks that can be completed at any given time, so they can be completed in order. Most of the tasks of the average person fall into this category.

Tough tasks- these are tasks that are tied to a specific time. For example, meeting, conference, scheduled call, task is about to expire.

It makes sense to leave only tough tasks on the calendar. At the start of the day, you review your calendar list and to-do list. It is most convenient when the task list and the calendar are located on the same page. It's easier to plan that way. If there are no hard tasks planned at the beginning of the day, then you can perform flexible tasks in order: depending on the availability of time, energy and resources, you perform tasks from the highest priority to the lowest priority. Once it's time for the hard task, you break off, do the hard task, and then go back to doing the tasks on the list. This is the most flexible, simple and convenient way to plan when dealing with a large number of cases.

David mentions top-down planning in his book as well. He uses the analogy of reviewing goals, projects, and tasks “from the air”:

1. current affairs;

2. current projects;

3. terms of reference;

4. coming years (1-2 years);

5. five-year perspective (3-5 years);

However, as David himself admits, in his book the main emphasis is on describing methods for processing current affairs and projects, and strategic planning should be given separate books. By the way, Steve Covey, a no less famous world expert in the field of time management, described the methods of strategic planning. This is discussed in the article on strategic planning.

You can read more about the GTD methodology in David Allen's Getting Things Done book of the same name, or learn how to put this and other methods into practice using an online organizer and other tools in our video course.

Looking for ways to work less and accomplish more? Have you taken on two dozen projects, lost control of the situation? Maybe fatigue has simply accumulated: work, home, fitness, healthy lifestyle, friends, parents, family, children?

In this case, David Allen and his GTD method will help you. This is an anti-stress inoculation that will teach you how to manage time and consciousness.

The essence of the GTD method

David Allen developed and tested a personal effectiveness strategy aimed at getting the maximum benefit with the minimum effort. He described a way to effectively allocate time between important and necessary things. The name of his method - Getting Things Done (GTD) - is translated as "bringing things to completion", although the meaning is more suitable "how to put things in order." The principles are simple:

1. All unfinished business is transferred from the head to an external drive. Information is collected and recorded in a list. Everything is brought in: even the smallest thing. The list should be available at any time, you need to constantly look into it.

2. Explanations are recorded so that in the future you do not waste time thinking about the problem.

3. A list reminder system is being created. They need to be regularly (daily, weekly) updated: cross out completed tasks, enter new ones. Control is carried out: horizontal - over the entire list of cases; vertical - for each specific case (what has been done and what are the prospects).

To optimize work, set a specific time and date for the task to be completed. Use a planner or calendar. Listen to what David Allen advises. Perform all actions sequentially.

Shall we practice?

1. Transfer. Highlight in your mind and write down on paper in one sentence the first situation / task / project that pops up in your head. It doesn't matter if the aspiration is professional activity, family or individual. This should look like a successful work result. For example:

Go on vacation to the Maldives together / with the whole family;

· Launch a factory/chain of stores in Chelyabinsk;

· Bake a cake/pancakes according to Grandma's recipe.

2. Explanations. Write down the specific physical action that must be performed to advance in this project. What can be done right now? Where to go? Who to call? What to write? With whom to talk?

· Call the travel agency to pick up options for routes;

Send prepared request to e-mail;

· Buy flour, butter, eggs at the ABV store.

3. Think about how it recommends doing
David Allen. What has changed after a moment's reflection? As a rule, highlighting a specific task not only increases control over it, but also allows you to relax. Because a specific image of the desired result has been formed, the first steps towards its achievement have been outlined, and the necessary resources have been determined.

Don't think about the problem, think about how to solve it

Thinking and defining tasks is your intellectual work. The productivity of intellectual labor is determined by the answer to the question: "What are the expected results of work?" The more clearly defined the result, the higher your intellectual productivity.

The problem turns into a specific task that needs to be solved. The process is broken down into simple steps, the nearest of which is executed immediately. A person does not sort through tasks one after another: I want to learn how to sing someday, I urgently need to make a project, pick up a child from kindergarten. It takes a list and walks along the path of performing specific actions:

· To learn how to sing, you need to call a tutor - it will take 2 minutes. I'm calling right now;

· For the project, you need to go to the store to buy materials according to the list in order to make a model tomorrow, and pick up the child on the way.

Thanks to the GTD system, the head is not filled with feverish thoughts about unfinished projects. The list is already in front of you. You can relax and move on to the next step.

It's like a supermarket

You can walk around and keep in mind the products that you need to buy. It takes all the strength, but still something, let it be forgotten, or you will gain a bunch of extra.

Or you can come to the store with a list written on paper (smartphone): in this case, brain resources are spent only on optimizing the process. Looking at the list and seeing milk there, go and buy it, paying attention to the variety, manufacturer, date of manufacture, price. This brings more benefits to health and family budget.

When the result is determined, the person moves in the right direction, constantly asking himself the question: “What is the next step to take in order to get closer to the goal?”

Turn intangible thoughts into physical actions

David Allen offers a set of auxiliary tools that allow you to free your brain from routine to work on global projects. The list of tasks can be stored using for example:

• diary;

• trays for paper sheets;

• folders with stickers;

• electronic organizers or gliders;
• task managers (see ours).

Many huge projects consist of a collection of small actions, each of which takes 1-2 minutes. In this case, you just need to do and forget. This is the principle of two minutes - one of the key in GTD. Turn it into a habit - with a simple tracker (we wrote about such).

The electronic version of David Allen's book "Getting Things in Order" can be downloaded from the links: bookscafe.net, Book Search, FB2LIT.

However, if the majority electronic libraries offer an introductory fragment with a link at the end, where you can download the entire book after payment (price from 170 to 400 rubles), then bookscafe.net offers two of David Allen's 7 books for free.

You can learn modern life hacks in time management in ours.

An excellent selection of free self-improvement tools: planners, organizers, diaries, checklists - at the link " 40 + lists to help put your life in order".

You can buy a paper version of the book "How to put things in order" in online stores: Ozone, Labyrinth, book24.

Conclusion

Have you dreamed for many years of learning how to manage your life? The time has come. Make a breakthrough: increase your own efficiency, make it easier for yourself to do any job. Free your mind from routine, become a creative person.

Start today. Don't just read a book, use GTD techniques. Personal practical experience is more useful than dozens of books read. Set yourself a goal: 40 days to apply GTD. Why 40? Because it is during this time that a person manages to master, get involved, evaluate new activity. The GTD method optimizes intellectual work in the professional and personal fields. There will be order in business, there will be order in the head and in life.

So. What is your next step?

Have you been thinking about reading a book about productivity for a long time, competently planning your time?The book, which will be discussed today, will enrich you not only with new information, but also give a real impetus to action. Author David Allen. Stress-free productivity is possible with the GTD SYSTEM claims the author. This book is GOOD FOR EVERYONE who needs to get their affairs in order, both at work and in their personal lives.

David Allen, in his book Getting Things in Order: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity, offers a unique system for organizing things.

This is not a classic time management, but a system for bringing all cases to completion - Getting Things Done (GTD).

• What to do if you don’t have time to do anything, your nerves are at the limit, you clutch at one thing or another, but you always miss something important?
• How to be more efficient in business, but at the same time be able to relax?
• How to "curb" the routine?
• How to learn to separate minor things from important ones and set goals correctly, distribute priorities?
• How to work with incoming information and tasks?

Find answers to all these questions and more in David Allen's book Getting Things in Order: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity.

A new version of the book (2015), revised taking into account today's realities of the world of information technology.

The simple tools outlined in this book not only help you achieve efficiency, but also teach you how not to overload your brain with various distractions and thoughts.

A lot has been said about habits here, too, because in order to implement the GTD system in practice, you need to

David Allen. Stress-free productivity for everyone

The main idea of ​​the book:

Unload your brain. Clarity of consciousness and orderliness of thoughts - that's what is important for full concentration and productivity.

Stop layering thoughts on top of each other, chewing them up, constantly returning to them and, as a result, not making any decision.

What to do?

To do this, you need to "transfer" the lists from your head to an external medium. When the brain stops holding on to this data, it will stop worrying and can concentrate on the immediate execution of tasks.

Thoughts will constantly swarm in your head like restless bees until they find their hive. When the head is full of different thoughts, what kind of productivity can we talk about?

The main rule from David Allen - any thought should be written down, placed on the inbox shelf.

"Inbox" is all incoming ideas, receipts, reminders, meeting notes, etc.

The book contains a clear algorithm for working with this information.

Following.

This is a model of the natural method of planning.

Making some decision

What to do?

1. Think of a solution, following the diagram:

• why do I need it;
• what result do I need (what should happen);
• imagine your success.

2. Further brainstorming, generation of ideas focused on the desired result. Ideas need to be written down, not immediately assessed for suitability, namely, write down everything that comes to mind. Quantity matters here, not quality.

3. Then we choose the best ideas, group them and organize them into one scheme. It is possible in a handwritten version simply on paper or in a service, such as Xmind.

4. Determine the next specific action for each idea.

5. We do.

Your mind goes through five steps to complete almost any task: defining a goal and how to achieve it, visualizing the result, brainstorming, organizing the decisions received, and determining the next actions. — David Allen

GTD methodology and David Allen - productivity and meaningfulness in everything!

GTD Methodology - Real Instruction for those, It is not just organizing and planning things, increasing productivity and productivity, but also fundamental solution how to perform all tasks meaningfully while maintaining (and this is important!) psychological well-being. Moreover, this applies not only to work, but also to personal life.

Anyone can apply this technique.

The book itself consists of three parts.

First part- this is short review system, as well as an explanation of its uniqueness and relevance.

In the second part- the principles of the system, as well as their step-by-step application in everyday life.

The third part- these are the results that can be achieved if you implement this system in your personal life and work.

GTD system closely related to . And they, as already proven by scientists, can be trained and improved.

One of the available ways to TRAIN THE BRAIN, maintain its normal functioning and development are brain simulators. You can study for FREE >>>service wikium free exercise equipment

Cognitive (cognitive) functions include: memory, thinking, attention, perception, intellect, speech.

All of the above abilities are associated with the activity of the brain. Therefore, with insufficient development of the brain, with malfunctions in its work quality of cognitive functions decreases. A noticeable decrease in quality is called cognitive disorders (disorders).

Cognitive impairment negatively affects a person's achievements in the most different areas his life: everyday, household, educational, professional, social.

That is why it is important to train your brain, and at any age.

David Allen - productivity through personal inference

The remarkableness of the book also lies in the fact that there are not just dry conclusions and formulations presented by the author, but also a lot of "live" examples.

What is meant?

The essence of its GTD methodologyDavid Allen reveals and demonstrates as an example, situations, meetings and consultations with their clients.

Shows the problems of people, companies, exposes their mistakes and radically changes the situation in better side, showing how the technique of time management actually Getting Things Done (GTD) helps and learn to live without stress.

"Have you ever wondered where the last 5 years have gone?"
Viktor Pelevin

Very often in the life of every person there come such moments when it is simply impossible to cope with the volume of accumulated cases. And while working at the moment on the implementation of their next task, a whole string of unresolved problems is constantly spinning in my head. Constant thoughts that you do not have time to do something important, do not allow you to focus on the current task. And when the number of unresolved cases begins to grow like a snowball, it already acquires the scale of a catastrophe.

But in fact, the problem is not as complicated as it might seem at first glance.

How to get things in order. Time management basics

To solve such problems, there is a method of rational organization of time, or in other words, time management. Time in modern world is even more valuable than money, because, unlike money, time cannot be returned or accumulated. The skills of managing one's working time will help a person achieve his goals and objectives much faster and at the same time find enough free minutes to communicate with friends and his spiritual development.

The GTD method, which is one of the directions in time management, will help to understand this.

Getting Things Done (GTD) published in 2001 and has been translated into 23 languages.

The classic model of time management has certain strict limits, implies a clear planning of your affairs, recommends calculating steps and setting priorities. A new method proposed by expert David Allen helps manage time much more flexibility and choose things on your own, rather than being tied to a rigid daily schedule, which greatly facilitates the task and moves you faster in the implementation of your goals. This method can be suitable not only for large businessmen who care about the fastest execution of their plans, but also for ordinary housewives planning time for housekeeping.

This system is based on David Allen's suggestion that free thinking is necessary. In other words, you need to free your mind from all extraneous thoughts that are spinning in your head. And then the current work will be done much faster and more efficiently. On this score GTD system gives clear instructions, following which you can not only identify the problem, but also quickly solve it. As a rule, people spend a lot of time on meaningless reasoning that slows down the process of completing tasks. By clearly following the recommendations proposed by the method, your mind will always remain clear, and the effectiveness of the work will be 100%.

We make a list of tasks, tasks, problems

The first thing to do, according to the author of the idea, is to transfer all your anxiety and thoughts that occupy you at the moment to paper. Write down everything that is spinning in your head right now - all the big things, small things, important and not very important, in general, everything in general. Free your mind for the implementation of the task set at the moment. Recordings can be made in a chaotic manner, simply writing down everything that comes to mind. It is not necessary to immediately classify cases in order of importance. If you skip or don't add a task to the list, it will constantly swirl in your head, making it difficult to concentrate.

Now the to-do list has been drawn up, now what to do with this list?

Asking the Right Questions

The second step can be called the analysis of the list you wrote.

Mentally ask each item on the list a question: "What is it?".
This question allows you to classify cases according to their importance.

The second question goes like this: "Does this require action?"

If the answer is negative, the following actions should follow:
- to postpone the decision until better times;
For now, forget about the case that is not worth your attention;
- put in the archive for a while.

With a positive response to question asked it is necessary to go directly to execution and outline a practical solution to the problem. Study the problem, if it takes a certain amount of time to implement it, then it automatically goes into the category of projects. This entry can be made on a separate sheet. And if, when considering a current case, a way to solve it immediately suggests itself, then it makes sense to do this business right away so as not to accumulate a bunch of unresolved problems.

When one step is not enough to achieve the goal, several options for getting out of the current situation arise:

- write down the case in the diary before the deadline for its execution,
Put it on your to-do list so you can get it done at a time that suits you.

Having passed successively all the steps proposed by this theory, you can learn how to set priorities correctly and build a clear system of values. And you can do all this on your own, without even having some special talent. And the question " How to get your affairs in order will no longer stand in front of you.