Getting Things Done

Inspired by Sarah, I've been trying to be more mindful about how I use (or rather, don't use) my time. She's an incredible physician and mom and you should really check out her blog, the SHU box.

One thing I learned about from Sarah is the Getting Things Done time-management method, developed by productivity consultant (who knew that was a thing?) David Allen. Although I'll admit I haven't read his book, from what I gather a main idea is this:

Get actionable items out of the way

I've been doing this all week -- asking "can I do this in 2 minutes?" multiple times a day. Surprisingly the answer is more often than not yes. Things that I got done in less than 2 minutes today, that I probably would've otherwise put off, included:
   -sorting through my receipts from the week
   -cleaning the shower faucet
   -scanning and emailing a document
   -wiping down the windowsills

I did run into a couple tasks that would have taken longer than 2 minutes -- these went into my planner, either on a floating "to do" list or scheduled onto a specific day.

Touch it once

I need to work on this one -- the idea that when you come across a new task (an email, form, full trashcan), you should deal with it (per the above flowchart) at your first encounter. Touch it once, then get rid of it.


I think this is a great way to frame tasks: get the quick and easy things out of the way as they crop up and schedule anything remaining so that it's not forgotten. No less room for procrastination :)