In this article, we summarize a couple of practices that you can steal from David Allen’s Getting … [+]
In the early startup stages, one of the most valuable assets you have as a founder is your own time. Because of this, building practices and habits that help you to be more productive is vital for your success.
Of course, there is more than one way to skin a cat. Еxploring different productivity systems is a worthwhile endeavor, as it could help you find the one that fits your own personality best.
With over 1.5 million copies sold, David Allen’s Getting Things Done (or in short – GTD) is without a doubt one of the most popular productivity books to be published in the last decades.
In this article, we’ll summarize a couple of practices that you can steal from the GTD system to become more productive as a founder.
1. Use An “In” List
In his book, David Allen argues that one of the major reasons professionals with high-intensity knowledge jobs are stressed out is the number of loose ends they carry in their day-to-day life. Any loose end – a thought or problem you haven’t paid the proper amount of time and attention to, is being interpreted by your brain as something that has the potential to turn into a disaster.
To remedy this, it is beneficial to have a collection system that allows you to take those thoughts out of your head and put them down in a list. The “in” list is not a “to-do” list. It is a collection of everything that is on your mind as an open loop – from the most amorphous thought to the most straightforward task or piece of information.
The goal of the “in” list is to put your mind at ease because you would have the confidence that you wouldn’t forget about them, and that you intend to do something about them. Having a collection system lets you focus on the current thing without worrying about all the open loops around you.
2. Use An “Actions” List
At least once a week you should sit down and invest some time to review your productivity system. One of the things you’d do in this process is to move everything out of your “in” list.
The heart of the GTD system is turning the items in the “in” list into concrete, actionable next steps.
The GTD workflow is as follows:
- Get an item from your “in” list. Can you turn it into a concrete, actionable item?
- If no – trash it, or put it in a reference system if it is useful information, or in a “someday/maybe” list if it’s an idea you can’t tackle right now.
- If it is actionable – can you do it in less than two minutes? If yes – do it right away.
- If no, then defer it – decide on the next action and put it in your “actions” list for you to do when you find the time, or delegate it.
- If you delegate it, it goes on a “waiting for” list – so that you can check up later on the people you’ve delegated the tasks to.
It’s very useful to have categories in your actions list. For example, you can group them by location – things you need to do in front of the computer, things you need to do at the office, etc., or any other group you see fit. Most modern project management software have a label/tagging system, which should make this easy. In turn, categorizing your “next actions” will make it easier to pick the appropriate item at the appropriate time when it’s easiest to do it.
3. Use A “Someday/Maybe” List
Startup founders, by definition, are creative people who tend to generate ideas often. While this is necessary for the job, it is also very dangerous as it can dilute your attention. To avoid this, put all of your new ideas on a “someday/maybe” list. Drag them into the “actions” list only if you are certain that you have the spare capacity to handle them. If you can’t handle it on your own but you don’t want to delay testing the idea, then you should think about delegating your new startup project.
4. Treat Your Calendar As Sacred Territory
Only meetings, hard deadlines, and date-specific reminders go on the calendar. Don’t put low-priority tasks you’d like to get done there, because the hassle of updating and reorganizing your calendar becomes too great once unexpected changes (requests from other people, emergencies, etc.) make your plans obsolete.
A productivity system that is a hassle to update is one that easily gets abandoned when things get hectic.