Our everyday life is a series of commitments and projects we need to complete. Deadlines and to-do lists overwhelm us to the point we feel like we are caught up in a whirlwind. Getting Things Done- The Art Of Stress-Free Productivity, by David Allen, a national bestseller teaches you how to hunker down your daily to-do list without getting overwhelmed and anxious, without clogging up your brain with worries about what needs to be done, but hasn't been done yet. The ideas in this book are simple, yet if you follow them, you can do more in less time and avoid analysis paralysis.
"Your mind will keep working on anything that's still in that undecided state".
Our brain brings up reminders of backlogs while we are focusing on some other task, which stays in the background, constantly chanting a list of unfinished tasks, in a loop. This adds to the restlessness and stress of day-to-day commitments. The first thing to do, to free yourself from those nagging loose ends, is to write down all your thoughts on paper. That's right! Empty out your brain. Your brain is not meant to store up all the things that you need to be doing. It shuts down like a computer with too many tabs open. When you write your thoughts on paper, you gain clarity and free up the space in your mind.
"Why keep thinking about something that you make no progress on; It only adds to your anxieties about what you should be doing and aren't".
Write down anything and everything that's bothering you on a piece of paper and ask yourself what you can do about it. Is it actionable or not? Is it something that you can do something about or not? If the answer is, no, direct it to the trash. If it's actionable, ask yourself, "Is it important? Is it my priority right now? Is it something only I can do, or can I delegate it?". If possible delegate as much as you can, and if it's not your priority right now, defer it. If it's important to you right now, and it's something only you can do, then ask yourself "what can I do about it?".
"The winds and waves are always on the side of the ablest navigators" -Edward Gibbon
Write down all the action steps that you can take to finish the task. Then, analyse which action step if taken will help you achieve the task, the most. And then, start hunkering down. If it's a task that needs to be done, later on, put it for incubation. Where you can retrieve it in the future to review and take action on it. Now, that you have put your thoughts on paper, cleared your mind, gained some clarity, and assigned tasks to each of these headings, the next step is to write down reminders of actions that need to be taken on a calendar- the ones that need to be taken on a specific day, at a specific time, and the things that need to be done as soon as possible.
Time-specific actions are your appointments. Maybe you have to attend an online class at 10am every day. So you set reminders, that tell you to attend the class at 10 every single day. Day-specific actions are things that need to be done on a specific day, but not necessarily at a specific time. For instance, I allot Mondays and Fridays for doing laundry and buying groceries. Day-specific information is not necessarily actions that you need to take, but rather a piece of information that is useful on that particular day for a specific task.
For instance, if you have a Dentist appointment on Friday at 5pm, you would want to know the directions to reach the Dental clinic or if your friends are coming over for dinner on Saturday, you would want to plan out the menu and the things that you will need to buy. Now, that you've placed a system in place, review your list weekly and update them if need be. Don't dump everything on your brain and don't trust your memory. Write everything down, as we don't know when our memory will fail us and when our default mode will kick in and take over and do things contrary to the system in place.
THE SIX-LEVEL MODEL FOR REVIEWING YOUR OWN WORK:
Current action: the actions you need to take now. E.g., 4hours of focused studying and preparation
Current projects: short-term outcomes you want to achieve. E.g., acing a test
Areas of responsibility: key areas in which you want to achieve results. Eg., getting good grades
One-to two-year goals: taking on new responsibilities. E.g., If you want to become a doctor, you need to start preparing for 1-2 years for the entrance exam.
Three-to five-year vision: A compelling vision that pulls you forward. E.g., If you want to specialise as a surgeon and crack the PG exam, then you need to consistently put in the work and start preparing from your UG.
Life: big picture view. Why do you exist? What is your calling? E.g., If you become a successful surgeon, you can save many lives, and your work becomes a service to many people.
Now, that you know THE FIVE STAGES OF MASTERING WORKFLOW:
Collect your thoughts on paper
Analyse/Process the tasks
Organise them according to importance, urgency, and actionability
and Review your list
The next step is to Do
If an assignment keeps popping up in your head, it indicates- the lack of a trusted system put in place, to finish the assignment/ lack of decision and inaction. In other words, the more it's on your mind, the less action you have taken; it's inversely proportional. So let's get into THE ART OF DOING. To bring your plans to life, you need to set up-time, space and tools. SET UP TIME: you need to set a time for working on your goals/projects. If you don't schedule it, chances are high that you would fill time with something that takes you away from your goals. TIME ALLOCATION = COMMITMENT.
SET UP SPACE: you must have a focused work space, to crank out your assignments. Your work space is your holy grail. It's sacred. It has to be free of noise/disturbance. It must be clutter-free, organized, and help you get in the flow state. SET UP TOOLS: be it books you need/references/laptop/good lighting/a cup of coffee, having all the tools needed to help you finish your daily goal is essential. For instance, I study for 4hours each day from 5-9pm, in my study room, at my study table, with all the books I need, my laptop, water bottle and a cup of coffee. We don't want to be shifting and getting out of the workspace often, as it might take us out of the FLOW STATE.
Next, you need to CLEARLY DEFINE YOUR OUTCOME. It's hard to measure success/progress without a clearly defined outcome. Knowing what the outcome required is for a particular project and reverse engineering the steps that need to be taken to achieve that outcome is key. Play your game from the end goal in mind. This way, you can measure your progress, compare it against the outcome required, and analyse and alter the system in place, if need be.
In conclusion, the takeaway message is to not use the brain as a dumpster, by putting all your thoughts and to-do lists on paper, analysing/processing the tasks, organising them into- trash/incubate and review later/delegate or take action now, reviewing them weekly and updating them, setting reminders for the things to be done, setting up- time, space, and tools to crank out the work, and by clearly defining your outcome.
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