Friday was Miguel Umanzor's turn.
Tomorrow is Heredes Ribiero's turn.
Today is my turn. Welcome!
So who is this guy & what's this book?
Featured in Fortune, and labeled by Fast Company as “the guru of personal productivity,” this is David Allen's bestselling book, GETTING THINGS DONE: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity.
**Below, my thoughts in red; the author's wisdom in black.**
1. Chap 1 Summary
One of my axiom's is "Be a Commitment Maker not a Commitment Breaker." In this chapter, it was the author's 3 Basic Requirements for Managing Commitments that really caught my eye:
1. "Anything you consider unfinished in any way must be captured...in what I call a collection bucket, that you know you'll come back to regularly & sort through."
2. "You must clarify exactly what your commitment is & decide what you have to do..."
3. "Once you've decided on all the actions you need to take, you must keep reminders of them organized in a [collection bucket] you review regularly."
A collection bucket...I like that! For the nights where I couldn't sleep because I had hundreds of reminders & to-do's swirling in my head, a collection bucket would've been super!
2. Chap 2 Summary
I'm a loose-cannoned, scatter-brained, daydreaming thinker. So anything that comes in stages is very good for me. In this chapter, he gives 5 stages we go through as we deal with our work:
"We (1) collect things that command our attention (2) process what they mean & what to do about them (3) organize the results, which we (4) review as options for what we choose to (5) do. ...The quality of our workflow management is only as good as the weakest link in these 5 stages."
3. Let's Talk, Shall We?
In your work-life, when it comes to these stages, which stage is your strength? your weakness?
Click HERE to comment! I'll leave my answer in a comment too. Thanks for stopping by!
15 Comments Here:
I'm pretty good about #1, collecting things that command my attention. But I SOOOOO stink at #3, which is organizing them. EEKS!
I'm a great organizer (in fact, I'll often spend way too much time just organizing things when I should be just doing them)...so, even though that's what I do the most of, I would consider that my weakest link.
my strength is #2 "process what they mean & what to do about them." my weakness, definately #4, "reviewing and choosing keeps me up at night.
My collection bucket is in the form of Sticky Notes on my desktop ! I currently have 16 stickies of different colors! Thats where Stage 1 happens i guess... (I also love sending myself voice memos with ideas and thoughts) Has helped me stay organized .. although my wife thinks im crazy for talking to myself.
Oh .. I tend to delegate stage 3 out and have others organize em based on their strengths ... then I'll come back in on stage 4 to review .. and many times delegate stage 5 again ... if that makes any sense ...
Thx for the short review HP ...
-H
Hmmm.. i think this is going to be one of those hard books for me.. ;0 i almost want to say i relate to Mo.. i can organize stuff... actually i think i take forever to organize it when i should really just start... and Heredes, i don't mind that you talk to yourself..i just don't know how you can work from your laptop.. i just want to take it and organize and clean it up... ;)
thanks HP...
Like Mo, I am extremely organized. Sometimes I drive myself crazy...I think being organized is one of my strengths, but can def be a weakness as well.
I am a note person. I always have notes in places where I know I will see them because I write things down as I think of them...I have one of those big desk calendars on my desk that I can write thoughs down, I also put notes in a book I'm reading as a book mark and I usually always carry a journal with me.
just bought the book to follow along - hope it helps me get things done . CV
Hey Mo, Ann, Jena, Marcy, Heredes & Chris - you all added such amazing dimension to this post. Thank you for sharing your experiences, insight and wisdom here, today.
I think that #1 may be my weakness...I have a need to do everything with the same amount of intensity all at once and while I can accomplish all the other stages, it leads to taking on a lot at once and really long work days and weeks when I don't prioritize.
I'm a big visual organizer - sticky notes are my preference... So, my collection bucket is definitely desktop (literal wood desktop, not computer!), and an old fashioned to-do list which spans several days. I love to delegate out like Heredes, but mostly can't at this point!! So,I make notes on my list as progress is made, until I have to write a fresh list (with hopefully only a few carryovers). I also love index cards, and am experimenting with them...
Thanks for the recap, Heather!!
Definitely a processor and organizer! LOVE DOING THAT STUFF! give me anything and I'll set up a process for it! weakness would probably be #4. Maybe a little #1 as well. Sometimes I need someone to catch and point for me...then I will take off!
Crystal, Barby - i feel like i just got to learn sumpin bout u i never knew. Thx 4 sharin' - helpful, useful, insightful
April - Hey girl, Welcome to my crazy blog. Thx for stopping by AND commenting. You rock!
My GTD process tends to break down in the "decide which action to take" phase. I tend to be some what indecisive when it comes to handling tasks. I don't have a problem doing tasks but rather, deciding which tasks to do. I like to do everything.
I currently use a GTD project management software called Omni Focus. It takes the GTD process and makes it really easy to follow. Even cooler, it has an iPhone app that syncs with my desktop app so that I always know what projects, inbox items, and next actions I have available.
Peter? Peter Fitton? No. It can't be? Duuuuuuuuude! Welcome 2 my stinkin' blog!! Thank you SO much for swingin by and sharing your wisdom and heart here. Loved what u shared.
My weakness is definitely #1 in collecting up the random thoughts... you know how you are on your way to do something and then another thought crosses your mind and you stop and go do the other thing, while the first thought gets lost in translation? I have been known to walk in circles at work just because I have so many things running through my head... I gotta learn to focus on one thing at a time!
The only thing that saves me from being a complete disaster is my 'notebook-that-tells-me-when-to-breath' that I carry EVERYWHERE.
I also find that the busier I am, the more I accomplish... wonder what MR. Allen will have to say about that!!
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