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Part One:

April 7, 2023

From Clutter to Clear: A Guide for Getting Things Done

Why We Need a Process

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To get from here… … to here

Why We Need a ProcessYour mind is kinda stupid

Everything you’ve told yourself you ought to do, it thinks you should be doing right now.

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It’s hard to fight an enemy that keeps outposts in your head– Sally Kempton

The Basic Concept1. Unclutter your mind by

recording everything in a trusted system

2. You can now concentrate on performing tasks, completing projects and getting things done.

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What’s Missing• Automation• Idiot-proofing• A silver bullet• A cure for

procrastination• A causal

commitment

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Not idiot proof

What’s on your mind?Exercise A (2 minutes)

1. Write down the name of the project or situation that is on your mind at this moment

2. Write down, in a single sentence, your intended successful outcome for this project or situation.

3. Write down the very next physical action required to move the situation forward.

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Why is it on your mind?• You haven’t clarified the

intended outcome• You haven’t decided what the

next step is• You haven’t put reminders of

the outcome and next step into a system you trust.

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The ancestor of every action is thought. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

The Objective: Mind like WaterA condition of working, doing and being in

which the mind is clear and constructive things are happening.

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When your mind is empty, it is always ready for anything; it is open to everything. – Shunryu Suzuki

How to Get to Mind Like Water1. Externally collect anything and everything that has your

attention2. Process actionable things discretely into outcomes and

next steps3. Organize reminders in a streamlined way with

appropriate categories based on how and when you need them

4. Keep current with frequent reviews5. Do

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CollectIn your mind, in your inbox, on your voicemail, on your desktop and on your desk are a lot of reminders to take care of tasks. Let’s pull them together into one central repository.

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Collect

What to CollectAnything and everything that is an open loop about which there is an action required to move it to closure.

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Collect

What Not to Collect• Reference

Material• Equipment• Decoration• Supplies

You can only feel good about what you’re not doing when you know what you are not doing.

– David Allen

Collection Tools• Physical in-basket• Sticky notes• Files/folders• Journals/notebooks• To-Do Lists• Email Inbox• Voicemail

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Collect

Use your mind to think about things, not to keep thinking of them.– David Allen

Mind SweepingExercise B (3 minutes)

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Collect

Write down at minimum 20 tasks, projects or ideas that you have that require some action (use the Trigger List for inspiration).

You need to think about your stuff more than you think, but not as much as you’re afraid you might.

— David Allen

ProcessGoing through the collected items to determine if it is actionable, what is the next action and what you consider the acceptable outcome.

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Process

How to Process• Start at the top• Deal with one item at a

time• Never put anything back

into “in”• Determine if an item is

actionable or not

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Process

There is no reason to ever have the same thought twice, unless you like having that thought.

– David Allen

ActionableIf an item requires action:

• Do it (if it takes less than two minutes) or

• Delegate it (feeds “Waiting For” list) or

• Defer it (feeds Calendar or “Next Actions” list)

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Process

Is it actually actionable?

Reorganize the office

Implement new fiscal year

Research relationship with J. Smith Inc.

Get new car

Hire Marketing Director 17

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Process

Success Outcomes(What’s the larger result desired? How will you know when it is done?)

Next Actions(What do you need to do that? Do you have everything you need?)

Call Susan re: source for filing cabinets

E-mail Bill for copy of last year’s budget

Draft proposal ideas for alliance

Research Web sources for cars

Talk to Sean re: job description

Outcome vs. Next Action Verbs

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Process

Action VerbsSuccess Verbs

What’s the Next Action?Exercise C (5 minutes)

1. Place the tasks you just wrote and all the papers you brought into one single “Inbox” stack.

2. Process each item to determine if it is the next action. – If so, decide whether you should Do, Delegate or Defer– If no, determine if it’s a larger multi-step outcome (a Project)

and if there is a next step that is actionable.– If still no, separate it out as a non-actionable item.

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Process

OrganizeFor reference material it’s about how to organize in a way that is retrievable. For actionable items, it’s grouping into the right bucket so we can at a glance determine what actions are available

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Organize

Non-ActionableIf an item does not requires action:

• File it for referenceor

• Incubate it for a possible action lateror

• Throw it away

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Process

Reference• Separate from action area.• One flat alpha (A-Z)

organized system• Whatever name you would

use (and remember)• Typeset labels• Drawers ¾ fullPurge

yearly

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Organize

Incubate: Someday / Maybe list

Add extra porch lightsSee the Grand CanyonLearn SpanishGet new camping gearGet a scanner for home

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Organize

• List of projects that you might want to do, but not yet

• Review periodically to assess whether it ought to be done

• Reassess during Weekly Review

• Can have many sub-lists within this category,

Someday/Maybe (Examples)

Trash• CTRL-D• Press 9 to

delete• Drag and drop

to recycling bin• Throw it away

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Organize

Key Action Categories• Projects• “Waiting For”

(built from Delegated stack and external factors)

• Calendars (built from time/date sensitive items in Deferred stack)

• “Next Actions” (built from Deferred stack)

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Organize

ProjectsEvery open loop in one’s life or work which requires more than one physical action to achieve becomes a Project

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Organize

“Waiting For”

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Organize

When an action has been delegated to someone else or when you are waiting for an external event before a project can be moved forward

CalendarItems that are to be completed on a specific day and time.

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Organize

“Next Actions”Though there may be many steps to complete an item, there will always be something that needs to be done first.

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Organize

“Next Action” Categories

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Organize

Common Contextual Categories

What’s the Next Action?Exercise D (3 minutes)

1. Place the “next actions” you chose to defer into contextual categories

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Process

ReviewThe easiest way to drop this process is to lose trust in your list, and that comes from it not being maintained. Reviewing that everything is collected, processed and organized will keep things clean, clear current and complete.

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Weekly Review (in detail)

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Weekly Review (summary)• Gather and process all your “stuff” • Review your system • Update your lists • Get clean, clear, current, and complete

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You need to spend quality time, detached from the daily grind, thinking about, getting control of, and managing the daily grind.

– David Allen

DoChoosing what to do next based off of context, time available, energy available and priority.

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Criteria for Choosing Actions• Context

(What can I do where I am?)

• Time available (How much time do I have?)

• Resources (How much energy do I have?)

• Priority (What’s the value to me if I do this vs. something else?)

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Horizons of Focus• 50,000 ft — Career / Purpose / Lifestyle

• 40,000 ft — 3- to 5-year Vision / Strategy

• 30,000 ft — 1- to 2-year Goals and Direction

• 20,000 ft — Areas of Responsibility and Focus

• 10,000 ft — Current Projects

• Runway — Current Actions

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Setting PrioritiesExercise E (5 minutes)

1. Fill out your 20,000+ level responsibilities.2. Fill in your 30,000+ – 50,000+ level goals/vision/purpose.

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Process

What Tools Do You Need?

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• A Sync’able Mobile Phone (iPhone)

• Multi-platform accessible To-Do List (Toodledo)

• Bookmarking Tool (Delicious)

• Dictation Tool (ReQall)

• Sync’able Calendar (Google Calendar)

• Filing Cabinet

• Electronic Labeler

•Notebook

•Pen

•Inbox

•Filing Drawer

•Folders

•Labels

My Modifications (Recommenation)Minimalist

Where will this take you?

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Your ability to generate power Is directly proportional to your ability to relax– David Allen

What comes next?Part II Getting Things Done Together

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with Nate McMahon

Tools to help you get the most out of working together right now.

Homework for next class

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Come prepared to talk about a collaborative initiative that you are currently (or soon to be) working on with other Fools.