One of the basic principles behind David Allen’s Getting Things Done productivity cult book is that you should mostly use your brain for what it’s good for: thinking, analyzing, and creating. You can free up the mental energy to do these kinds of high-priority and high-reward activities if you stop using your brain as an information storage and retrieval system, things that it generally is less skilled at. Now, obviously, we all have certain kinds of information well stored and easily retrievable in our brains, and you could train your brain to perform all sorts of memorization feats. But unless that in and of itself is your goal, it’s generally more efficient to store some pieces of information outside your head.
Grocery lists are a familiar example. Most of us could easily keep track of 2-5 items that we had to pick up at the store. But increase that number to more than 7 and the average person’s memory starts to become less reliable. Yes, you can train your mind to associate the items with particular images or locations in the store, and if you worked with a list of 10 items long enough before walking into the store, you’d probably be able to recall them. But say you’re cooking on Tuesday and use up the last bit of cinnamon. Your shopping day isn’t until Saturday. What are the chances you’ll remember on Saturday to pick up some more? So you start a list and add to it throughout the week, so that by Saturday you’ve collected reminders of several items you need to purchase. Doing this saves your brain from constantly reminding you “you need to get cinnamon,” and saves you from the energy of trying to keep this reminder fresh enough in your mind to be useful on shopping day.
Much of the GTD methodology is about making sure you collect all the various pieces of information (whether inputs (notes, emails, other content), actions, or deadlines) in your life, and then store reminders about them in some kind of system that will enable you to act upon them when needed. So, for example, the time of your next committee meeting should be entered into your calendar, so you don’t have to keep thinking to yourself “remember there’s a meeting next Wednesday.”
Many of the pieces of information in our lives that trigger actions are external, even tangible: bills to be paid, emails to be answered, papers to grade. But in addition to physically collecting all of these items, Allen recommends what he calls a “mind-sweep”: sit down with a pen and some paper and start writing down all the things that occur to you that you should or want to do. Don’t worry about entering them into your task list or calendar yet; you just want to collect them, as rapidly as possible.
This is a tremendously powerful exercise, whether or not you follow GTD methodology. For myself, I find it more generative to do this longhand, rather than on the computer, but do whatever feels right for you. Especially when you’re feeling stressed or overwhelmed, there’s a good chance that some of your intended actions aren’t yet recorded anywhere. That means that your brain keeps turning them over and spitting them back up as reminders, usually at inopportune moments. Try setting a timer for 5 minutes, and just jot down whatever comes up. Afterwards, you can take another 10 minutes to sort the items on your list and record them in the right places. Sweeping out your mind of all this detritus (“return recalled library book,” “fix the dripping faucet,” “look up budget numbers for Tuesday’s meeting”) and putting it into a system that will remind you of it at the appropriate time and place lets you focus your time and energy on creative thinking, instead of just trying to keep track of so many things.
Love/hate GTD? questions? ideas? let us know in the comments!
(cc licensed image by flickr user kaiton)
Comments
1. Rana - February 25, 2010 at 10:17 pm
I like the idea of mind-sweeping, but I don't think I could manage it in a 5 minute period. I'd forget stuff and remember new things to add later.
What I find is more effective for me is to carry a small notebook with me everywhere, so I can write stuff down at the moment it occurs to me. I do need to get better about transferring the contents of the notebook into my Things list, however.
2. Tria - February 26, 2010 at 07:08 am
I do that, too! The person I learned it from called it "parking your cars." The idea is to keep a running list going so that you could focus on whatever you're doing but still remember those other little notions that often interrupt your brain when you're trying to work. At meetings, while lecturing, whenever, I'll have paper handy to list things on as I work, and then I transfer to a master list as needed.
I don't GTD but do manage to get things done, with the exception of minor details like housecleaning. My 12-14 hour workdays this semester (I work 2 jobs and am heavily involved in an art collaboration) don't leave me with enough energy to clean anything but my plate and myself.
3. Lisa Zawilinski - February 26, 2010 at 11:18 am
Natalie, you mention that you "find it more generative to do this longhand, rather than on the computer," which sparked my thinking about my academic writing. Although this is off the GTD topic, my question relates to writing manuscripts etc. I am wondering if you also "generate" drafts longhand as well. I am working on my dissertation and have found that when writing manuscripts or the dissertation, I can't draft through typing as well as I can through pen and paper. What works best for you or the readers of this blog?
4. Rana - February 27, 2010 at 03:08 pm
That's a really good point, Lisa! Personally, I do most of my writing on the computer, for the very simple reason that I can't keep up with my thoughts when I write longhand, but come close to it when I'm typing. However, when I'm taking notes, or trying to work my way through writer's block, I find handwriting to be preferable. As I tell my students who share my preference for visual/kinetic learning, the difference between a typed "h" and "j" is small on the keyboard (tactilely speaking) but it's much larger when handwriting. So you can literally "feel" what you're writing, and, in my case, remember it better.
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