You can’t really keep score if you never get into the game. This goes for getting things done. First of the year, optimistic to really go at it hard, it will be your best year, and boom, it’s the end of the first quarter, and all your best intentions seem to be on the back burner. John Maxwell told a story about asking someone this: “If there were 5 people in a boat and one decided to jump out, how many are in the boat? You guessed wrong. There were still five because there is a huge difference in deciding to do something and doing it”. Too many of us do great planning and have decided to do it, but nothing ever happens.
I have been remiss. I should have done this a couple of years ago. Like so many things in life, it seems that only the squeaky wheel gets any attention. Max told me about this book called Getting Things Done by David Allen about two years ago and I immediately downloaded it on my Kindle. I even read it in one sitting. The tragedy here is that it took me a decade before I accidently realized I had the download and never got around do actually reading it till last week. I have created a mental list for the kids, wife, friends, and clients (as well as myself) that would benefit each person from the lessons taught in this book. Finally, I have gotten around to writing an article, or plagiarizing the books content, to help a few of us who need a little push to get those things done.
David Allen first published “Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity”, twenty years ago. Even though many things have changed in the last twenty years, you will find yourself feeling like he wrote the book just for you. It’s kind of like being in church and feeling like the preacher did the whole sermon with you in mind. Here are some of the keys to the book.
Be able to manage your commitments. In order to keep straight everything you need to do, you need to know what you need to do. So, clear your mind and write down everything, as it comes to you, on a sheet of paper and toss it in your to-do basket. Then determine what you need to do to make progress and remind yourself of what you need to do. This does not mean that you need to write down a to-do list. On the contrary: It just means that you need to write down your commitments and review them every day until you finish them. Be able to manage your actions.
Remember the five steps to deal with workflow. No matter your job title or description, these steps are always the same: Collect things that command your attention, process what they mean and what you should do about them, then organize the results, which you then review as options for what you choose to do. So, be sure to collect, process, organize, review, and do. It’s just five steps. It sounds easier than buying something from one of those late-night infomercials.
In order to get things done, you have to know what getting things done looks like. Remember that Allen advises every last task to be written down, to be moved from your mind to paper (or computer screen or phone). Whenever you finish a task, whenever you send an e-mail, finish a meeting, review a file, be sure and cross it off. Better yet, ask yourself, “What’s the next action or step?” Because there will almost always be a next action. Do you need to forward the e-mail? Schedule the next meeting? Pass along the file to someone else?
Get the book, read it, and apply it. There are too many of us who will wake up one day wondering why we didn’t get more done. We failed to utilize our time and talents. Procrastination and over analysis are way overrated. The race goes to those who start and finish. Just buy the book and get started – today!
Michael Abernathy DDS
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