A narrative chapter-by-chapter summary of David Allens Best selling book "Getting Things Done". Highlights the different models and workflows presented by Allen to generate stress free productivity

1. GETTING THINGS
DONE
By David Allen
A Narrative
Summary

2. PRESENTED BY
Abhinav Aditya Arun
Dipak Niharika

6. WHY IS STRESS LEVEL RISING?
1. Work no longer has any clear boundaries
2. Our lives and our jobs are constantly changing
3. Old time management techniques do not accommodate the rigors
of the modern day workplace
4. Too many day-to-day, hour-to-hour commitments distract us from
the primary focus

8. What must this system do?
• Couple big picture thinking with the smallest of open details
• Manage multiple tiers of priorities
• Maintain control over hundreds of new inputs daily
• Save more time than time spent in maintenance
The system should make it easier to “GET THINGS DONE”

10. You must be shapeless, formless, like water. When you pour water in a cup, it
becomes the cup. When you pour water in a bottle, it becomes the bottle. When
you pour water in a teapot, it becomes the teapot. Water can drip and it can
crash. Become like water my friend.
Bruce Lee

12. Basics for managing commitments
• Capture all open loops in a system outside your mind
• Clarify your commitment and what tasks you must do
• Keep reminders and review each task in a trustworthy system

16. TWO BASIC COMPONENTS OF GTD
Defining what “DONE” is
-THE OUTCOME-
Defining what “DOING” is
-THE ACTION-
#1 #2

17. HENCE A BOTTOM-UP APPROACH IS MORE EFFECTIVE

18. Your mind is a focusing tool, not a storage space

21. 5 stages of Getting Something Done
• CAPTURE what has our attention
• CLARIFY what each item means
• ORGANIZE the results
• REFLECT on our options
• ENGAGE with the best suitable option

22. 5 stages of handling a messy kitchen
• Identify the stuff that doesn’t belong where it is
• Determine what to keep and what to throw away
• Put things where they need to go
• Check your recipe book, along with ingredients and utensils
• Select a recipe and start cooking

23. The biggest reason people are unable to stay organized is that
they try to attempt all the 5 stages at once

25. Physical In-Tray
Writing Paper and Pads
Digital and Voice Note taking
E-mail and Texting
Technology integration
Tools for capture

26. Get it all out of your head
Minimize Capture locations
Empty Capture tools regularly
Capturing incompletes

30. For actionable items….
• List all your projects
• Collect and categorize reference material
• Enter calendar reminders for things happening on a specific day
• Prepare a “Next Actions” list for all deferred items

31. …then group the non-actionable ones
• Get rid of the “trash”
• Incubated items fall into two categories:
1. Someday/Maybe- Projects not to be done now but later
2. Tickler system – Projects that need to be done at a specific point in
future
• File reference material categorically

33. 1. Calendar
2. Next Action Lists
3. Projects Lists
4. Waiting for lists
5. Someday/Maybe Lists
Priority of pending tasks

34. Process all your “stuff”
Review your systems
Update your lists
Get clear, current and complete
Review your lists

36. THE FOUR CRITERIA MODEL
• Identify the context in which the task must be done
• Calculate the time available to you
• Calculate the energy available to you
• Engage with tasks on priority basis
This model helps you choose actions in the moment

37. THE THREEFOLD MODEL
• Doing pre-defined work
• Doing work as it shows up
• Defining your work
This model helps identify daily tasks

38. SIX LEVEL MODEL
• Ground level : Current actions
• Horizon 1: Current projects
• Horizon 2: Areas of focus and accountabilities
• Horizon 3: Goals
• Horizon 4: Vision
• Horizon 5: Purpose and Principles
This model helps you determine priorities

40. Key ingredients of relaxed control
• Clearly defined outcomes and the next actions required to
move them towards closure
• Reminders placed in a trusted system reviewed regularly
This is known as horizontal focus

41. Sometimes, you need greater rigor and focus to get a project or
situation under control, to identify a solution or to ensure that all the
right steps have been determined.
This is where vertical focus comes into play

42. THE NATURAL PLANNING MODEL
1. Defining your purpose and principles
2. Outcome visioning
3. Brainstorming
4. Organizing
5. Identifying next actions

44. The unnatural planning model
This is attempting to come up with a good idea before defining your
purpose, creating a vision and collecting lots of initial bad ideas
This is likely to lead to creative constipation

45. The Reactive Planning model
This is resisting planning meetings, presentations and strategic
operations till the last minute
As MBA students…we are all too familiar with this

46. Let us delve a little deeper into the five phases of the
natural planning model

47. 01 Defining purpose
& principles
Purpose provides the juice and the
direction while principles define
the parameters of action and the
criteria for excellence of conduct

48. 02 Outcome Visioning
When we focus on something it
generates ideas and thought
patterns that were otherwise not
possible
Something extraordinary happens
in our minds when we create and
focus a clear picture of what we
want

49. 03 Brainstorming
Always write down or capture
these ideas in an external way. This
helps boost productive output and
thinking
External brainstorming not only
helps capture original ideas but
helps generate new ones as well

50. Look I’m going to give you as many ideas as you feel you can effectively use. If you are not
collecting them in some trusted way, I wont give you that many. But if you are actually doing
something with the ideas- even if it’s just recording them for later evaluation- then here, have a
bunch! And oh wow! That reminds me of another one and another…
Sincerely
Your Brain

51. 04 Organizing
• Identify significant pieces
• Sort by sequences/priorities
• Detail to the required degree

52. 05 Identifying next
actions
• Decide on the next actions for
each of the “moving parts”
• Decide on the next action in the
planning process (if any)

53. If you need more clarity at any stage, shift
your thinking up the scale
If more action is needed at any stage, move
down the model
Navigating the model

55. Time

56. Space
• Set up space at workplace, home and in transit that are identical
• Don’t share your space
• Eg:- Use cloud computing

57. Tools
 3 paper holding trays
 Stack of letter size paper
 Pen/Pencil
 Paper clips
 Binder clips
 Stapler
 Staples
 Scotch tape
 Rubber bands
 Automatic labeler
 File folders
 Calendar
 Wastebasket
 Recycling bin
 A-Z filing system

59. Collection: Corralling your Stuff
• Gather all things before ‘processing’ and ‘organizing’
• Paperwork, business cards, notes …
• Mental ‘mind sweep’ to detect anything in ‘psychic RAM’
• Don’t worry and focus on quantity
• Don’t leave items in the in box’ for too long
• Move on to the next step

61. Focus on the
Next Action
required to
move forward
Big projects have many steps.
Just focus on the very next physical action you
need to do to move the project forward
The key is not to focus on everything that has to be done
(that’s a great way to freak yourself out)

62. It may be looking up a piece of information,
making a phone call,
or accomplishing the smallest of the task.
Whatever it is, it’ll move you closer to completing the project.
Focus only on what you can do right now.

63. After collecting everything, you need to process it.
You should:
• Trash what you don’t need.
• Complete any less-than 2 minute actions.
• Delegate stuff you can’t complete to others.
• Sort into your own organizing system reminders for actions that will take more
than two minutes.
• Identify any larger commitments, or projects, that you have.
• Identify things to save for later and use as reference material only.

64. How to do it ??
Here are the rules of processing:
• Process one item at a time
• If it takes less than two minutes,
do it now
• Never put anything back into 'in'

65. For every item, one of the following
must be done:
Identify the next action to be done
The action must be the absolute next
physical thing to do
No next action? Then: trash, incubate
or file it in your 'reference system'

66. Once the action has been decided, do one of the following
Do it
(if requires
less than 2
minutes)
Delegate it
Defer it
(do it later,
schedule when &
put it in a trusted
calendar system)

67. The Reference System
Having a good reference system is crucial
Need to be within arm's reach
Needs to be quick to file an item (<< 60 seconds) and to find an item

68. Incubate
Put into a calendar that will remind to do the item when appropriate.
Can also use a 'someday/maybe' list if there is no specific time to start the task
Misc Tips
• Learn to touch type
• Learn keyboard shortcuts
to your programs

70. Incubate
Put into a calendar that will remind to do the item when appropriate.
Can also use a 'someday/maybe' list if there is no specific time to start the task
Misc Tips
• Learn to touch type
• Learn keyboard shortcuts
to your programs

71. Allen identifies 7 basic categories of things you have processed
and will want to keep track of:
A projects list
Project support material
Calendared actions
Next actions
A “waiting for” list
Reference materials
Someday/Maybe list

72. The obvious danger in
setting a lot of separate
buckets is not review
them often enough
(which obviously needs
to be done in order for
the system to work)

73. Project List
List of the ongoing projects.
Unlike other lists, it may be OK to review only once a week.
When concrete steps need to be taken in order to progress,
the steps should be copied to the 'next actions list'.
The projects can be organized in different sections
(ex: personal, professional).

74. Project Support Materials
Resources to support project's actions.
Do not use as reminders
(use 'next actions', calendar or 'waiting for' instead).

75. Calendar
Things to be reminded of in the future
(such as events, deadlines and periodic reminders)
Putting an item in the calendar does not mean
it has to be done;
It is just that attention must be brought on the item at a
specific time.

76. Next Actions List
Organized by context
(at home, at work, errands, in person meeting, with boss)
Keep a 'read/review' list, need to have useful things
to read at hand whenever there is a
little bit of free time

77. Waiting For
Next actions that are waiting for a trigger
(ex: waiting for someone else to complete something).
If there is a known date put in calendar instead.

78. Reference Material
Items that have no action required
If an action is required, it belongs in an 'action' list
that will be reviewed frequently.
It means that it contain important information.

79. Someday/Maybes
Items that do not need to be done now,
They do not have a specific deadline in the future
(if they do, they belong on the Calendar)
but would be nice to get around to do at some point.