I Read - Getting Things Done by David Allen, again
David Allen's Getting Things Done (GTD) is really profound. Yes, it's a productivity "hack"... but really it's a way to be clear about what you're accountable for, therefore clarifying expectations with yourself and others. That frees up mental space. I've felt different the past few days because I'm just CLEAR. I know what I agreed to do, and I'm doing it. The next action to take is clear, the agreements I have with myself are clear. I realized I need to say no to things I don't actually want to do, because I actually care about the projects I have going on. The list of things to do never ends, because it continues to populate, and as you become more and more present, creativity spirals into more ideas.
I've realized in the past couple weeks how much everyone is holding in their heads. Your head is a wonderful idea generator. It does incredible work imagining ways to get what you want. But it's not the best memory bank. We lie to ourselves about it. I've told myself I'll "remember something when the time comes" hundreds of times, and forgotten hundreds of times. I'm done with it! I swear to you, dear reader, that you will catch me writing every single thing I have to do or remember down (in my phone) to be referenced when I need it.
I think any adult will be astonished at the number of things they are keeping track of in only their brain. Dreams, goals, and minor to-dos that float in and out, nag, nag, nag every time you walk by them, but disappear during the times you could actually do something about them.
The GTD process is:
Capture EVERYTHING you want to do, or are responsible for.
Clarify the desired outcome of each thing.
Clarify the next action that needs to be taken to achieve that, for each thing.
Do, defer, or delegate those actions--or delete the whole project if you decide it's actually not worth doing.
Review weekly to ensure things are captured and clear.
Capturing everything will take way longer than you think, because everything means everything. The trick is to get in the habit of writing something down as soon as it comes up. Sitting there thinking of all the things will take some time, but as you move throughout the week, or throughout the house, you'll see more of all the things you want to do, promised you'd do, or wish you'd do. Once they're captured, you can decide whether to do them immediately, to do them at all, if someone else is responsible, or if there's another time that will be better to do this particular thing.
If you plan to do something on a day, but it gets away from you, acknowledge it—reschedule it. Each planned but undone is a broken promise to yourself, but it's okay to communicate (with yourself, but surely others) and renegotiate. Admittedly—and I'm sure there's others like this—in the past I've gotten into the bad habit of breaking promises I've made to myself. Putting things on my list of things to do that day and not getting them done, leaving them there, then becoming numb to the list because it contains a bunch of things you look past. You avoid this by taking a moment to renegotiating the item to a different time, or persevering and doing the thing!
There's a lot more little details, of course.
I think the simplest thing to begin doing that would make the most difference is to write things down. Ideas, things to do, commitments, details. I've been a part of meetings where so many things are discussed, but hardly any notes are taken. Give us a week and we'll all forget. Write things down in one place where you know to look when you need something—anything. The more consistent you are, the more often you'll look, and that will drive everything forward because everything you've thought of to do will be there, waiting to remind you.