“You must use your mind to get things off your mind.”
World renowned productivity consultant David Allen suggests that the first step towards Getting Things Done is to “Capture” what has your attention. While this methodology has served me well in terms of enhancing productivity, it was the reduction in anxiety that proved to be the catalyst for my raving fanaticism.
“Did you ever stop to think, and forget to start again?”
The simple act of capturing my thoughts with an “in-tray,” a repository for ideas that have yet to be organized, has virtually eliminated the bouts of anxiety I used to experience when I would forget about important tasks or ideas. To this day I still occasionally find myself repeating “School, work, money, house, business” which was my “system” in college for recalling such bits of information.
Today, when the realization occurs that I have a task to complete or an idea to explore I immediately transpose that thought into my collection tool, Trello. No longer is the processing of these thoughts left to chance based on my rather disappointing short term memory recall.
Ponder the following and then give the GTD system a shot, I would love to hear about your experience in the comments!
How many thoughts or ideas do you have on a daily basis that could potentially enhance some aspect of your life?
How many have you forgotten about and what are the potential consequences or costs of those missed opportunities?
Bonus: Check out my article on Medium, 3 Quick Tips for Getting Things Done with Trello, for additional insight as to how I use this phenomenal free tool.
Further Reading
Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity by David Allen
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