“Clear your mind. It is more useful than emptying the stomach. ”
~ Michel de Montel
Today I will talk about the chips GTD technologythat will allow you have more time, less tired, increase the efficiency of their own work, reduce the amount of stress and increase satisfaction with life.
Do you know that your consciousness will constantly remind you of those deeds and tasks that you thought you would do, but left unattended?
Surely in your brain thousands of unfinished tasks, unprocessed processes that consume your internal resources, strength, energy, and you don’t even know it hang dead weight. All this creates stress and deprives you of strength. You are worse at doing new tasks because your head is full of old ones.
How to finally clear your head of all this information, improve your work and life, I tell in this article.
Most likely you have heard the abbreviation "GTD", which stands for Getting-Things-Done ("Taking things to completion", "How to put things in order"). This philosophy or technology has become very popular, also thanks to media coverage. A journalist from the Guardian newspaper called David Allen, the author of the GTD philosophy, the man who is supposed to bring order to the universe.
GTD is not just a time management system required for top managers without personal life. This is a system for optimizing and organizing not only labor, but thinking, consciousness, which gives instructions on how to “clear” the mind of unnecessary mental burden, open space for creativity, new ideas and create psychological prerequisites for comfortable and organized labor. This system is designed for a businessman with a million projects, and for a housewife who needs to look after children, leaving time to read fiction, and for a schoolboy who is preparing to go to college.
Despite the fact that this phenomenon is well known, not everyone knows what it is and how it can help you personally. Therefore, today I’ll literally tell you what it is on my fingers. After reading this article, you will be able to bring order to your life and thinking today and almost immediately you will see a positive result from these life innovations.
What prompted me to start organizing my affairs?
Anxiety and guilt do not arise because of excess work. It appears automatically when you break an agreement with yourself.
~ David allen
Not so long ago, I was faced with the need to organize my own work schedule, in which I discovered a lot of bottlenecks. About 10 years ago, due to my concentration problems, it was extremely difficult for me to perform any kind of work for a long time. Over time, I began to work on improving my attention and discipline. I began to learn to relax and fulfill my promises. It bore fruit.
I was able to create my own project, unleash it, leave hired work and start working for myself, as I dreamed. I was in a sense of progress in working on myself, which was reinforced by the striking contrast between my present and my past. Some time ago I could not cope with my studies at the institute and simple hired work, but now I worked disciplinedly for the benefit of my own project and the people whom it benefits by working day by day, on my own, and not "under the lash" .
Only then I noticed that this is not the limit. The feeling of success at the time hid from me those problems that were formed in the organization of my work.
I have a large variety of work: letters in the mail, articles on the site, comments, work with students of the "NO PANIC" course, etc. etc. All this requires good organization. I understood about its absence due to the fact that there was a mass of unread letters in the mail, but marked as "important". Vordovskie files with "plans for 2015", "tasks for February 2016" were scattered across the hard disk. In the boxes were notebooks with notes, ideas, and, again, with a description of the tasks that I have to perform. Needless to say, I very rarely opened these files and checked with these lists. And this happened not so much because of my lack of discipline, but because of the fact that it all had some kind of uncomfortable appearance, causing an internal sense of the futility of all these planning activities.
I realized that I still did not have much time, although I could have done more.
In general, attempts to make an organized list of tasks and, most importantly, follow it, fell through time after time.
Of course, I carried out urgent daily affairs, but at the same time I felt how many “tasks” and “ideas” are suspended. All this resulted in the fact that I began to feel less satisfaction from work. There were days when I allowed myself to finish earlier. I went out on the street, got on my bike, but instead of enjoying my free time, which I wouldn’t have if I worked in the office, I was haunted by the feeling that I hadn’t done something, something wasn’t managed. Perfectionist attitudes began to emerge in my thoughts: "I have to do more," "I do not work much." But I understood that the problem is not in the amount of work, but in its organization.
So I decided to start organizing all my work space. I picked up the excellent book of David Allen - “How to put things in order”. I've heard about the GTD system for a long time, but only now I decided to get to know it better.
What is GTD?
“The unfinished business actually remains unfinished in two places: in fact, and in your head. The unfinished business in your head absorbs the energy of your attention, because it bothers your conscience. ”
~ Brahma Kumaris
When I just got this book, I expected to read in it some trivial tips on time management, which I met in other sources, such as "divide things into important and not important", "delegate what can be delegated."
But the author speaks of such a standard approach of "Time Management" as limited and, in many respects, not effective. I liked the fact that David Allen is no longer referring to considerations of "effective labor", but to the possibilities and limitations of human consciousness. In order to organize their own affairs so that they do not come into conflict with the peculiarities of our thinking. The GTD approach is entirely based on conclusions about how our brain works, how it accumulates information, how it handles unsolved problems.
The most basic psychological premise of this philosophy is the fact that any vital tasks, be it the completion of an important project or a trip to a monastery for a course of meditation, our brain perceives as unresolved, keeps in mind, causing mental stress, if we do not formalize these tasks in the form of specific following actions within the framework of external information storage system.
Do not be alarmed and do not need to reread this paragraph! Now I will explain what it all means. A good example is given in the book "How to put things in order." Say, ten years ago, you promised yourself to clean up the closet, but today you have not done so. How has your brain stored and processed information about this task for all these ten years?
The fact is that psychologists are sure that our consciousness in the context of setting tasks has no idea about the past and the future. These ideas exist only conceptually, but they are not in the algorithms of information processing inside consciousness.
If you promise yourself to take the car to the service next week and at the same time try to keep this commitment in mind, your mind will think that you have to do it right now, today, constantly reminding you about it. And tomorrow it will also be considered the same.
Your mind cannot simply save information about it somewhere in the archive, to be reminded of it after seven days.
The task will be in the status of "immediate solution is required" every day, until you go to the service.
Returning to the example of the mess in the closet, we can say that in this case you have been cleaning the closet 24 hours a day for the last 10 years! Your consciousness regarded this task as incomplete, leaving it a place in the space of your memory, creating tension and dissatisfaction due to unfulfilled work.
And in order to free up your memory and free your mind from unfinished processes, reminders of which your mental resources are devouring (just as background processes on a computer consume processor and memory resources, making the machine slower), two key actions are needed.
- Transfer the task from the internal memory (your brain) to the external (your computer, notebook, tablet, phone)
- Decide what the next concrete action will be about the task. For example, the global task of “repairing a car” can consist of many simple steps. The very first action may be: "find suitable parts on the Internet."
In this case, your consciousness will release the internal memory and stop constantly reminding you that you have not done it yet. After all, you have transferred all these tasks to the external system.
These are, in principle, the key points of the GTD technology on which everything relies. If you understand this principle, then you already have a general understanding of what GTD is. This system is effective case management, creating ideas, which relies on both the external organization of tasks within records, calendars, reminders, and the internal optimization of the work of consciousness.
Moreover, these two levels are interrelated. External order is a prerequisite and a tool for organized and "pure" consciousness. A clear mind allows you to work more efficiently * and less tired.
(* Although I use the word "work", it does not relate solely to professional activities. In this context, work concerns any business at all. Planning vacations is also work. Just as thinking about the problem of relations with your second half).
Next, I will talk about a few simple features of this system.
Feature 1 - Decide what the next action will be.
“When you plan your activity (intention of implementation) and decide what actions you will perform in what context, you are almost automatically tuned to the desired behavior instead of gathering all your will into a fist and forcing yourself to do something.”
~ D. Allen
If you read the book "How to put things in order", then you will understand that this is simply the golden rule. The author constantly comes back to him. Moreover, he is obsessed with teaching the whole world to think about the next action!
Yes, the rule is important, but it takes time and discipline to make it a habit.
The fact is that we, as a rule, argue about problems in general and abstractly. "It is necessary to make the child learn better," "I need to be calmer in order to participate less in conflicts." Of course, the big picture needs to be kept in mind, but in order to bring things to execution, you need to move to the next level of planning, namely, to think about the next action.
In the framework of the examples we reviewed, this could be:
- "Find articles on the development of willpower, discipline and struggle with laziness on the Internet. Or find a book on this topic in a book."
- "Read about what relaxation techniques are."
- "Schedule a conversation with his son about his learning problems."
The next action need not be exactly the physical action. “To think about whether I should go to college at all” is also an action. You can just think about the task, not necessarily proceed. But having designated only this step, you will already release part of your brain.
Not all the problems in our lives we can solve. Therefore, it is important to understand that the decision "not to do anything" is also a decision.
This event allows you not only to unload consciousness, but also to recharge yourself with motivation. Many tasks, when we present them in our mind, seem to be impossible or very difficult. "My God, I will have to disassemble my entire summer cottage, this is work without end!" But it will be much easier for us to get down to it if we outline a plan in the form of the following actions: "Find the right tools on the Internet." It's easier now, isn't it? And when we do this, we will feel satisfaction coming closer to the final goal.
Chip 2- Transfer to the external system
As you already remember from this article, relying on memory is not only unreliable, but also not effective in terms of using your brain's resources. Therefore, David Allen strongly recommends that all tasks be transferred to an external system in order to free up memory.
The external system can be a tablet, phone, notebook, computer, notebook. Any convenient carrier with which you can work.
As the author notes, many people, having collected all their affairs and projects for the first time, feel a great relief, a feeling of liberation, although sometimes it borders on horror because of the understanding of how much to do!
By the way, this is how my task list looks after preprocessing. I removed from there a lot of unnecessary things, which I have already done or decided not to do at all. That is, at the very first stage and before the application of the “two minutes rule” (about it below), it was much more.
It would not be superfluous to say that the task list should be organized, convenient, accessible from any place at any time. It is necessary to constantly keep it up to date and refine as necessary. You need to contact him to check with him about the status of the implementation of your projects.
(That is, not the way it was with me (and maybe with you): piles of sheets and notebooks in different places in my work space, which I have never addressed.)
And of course !!! Each task must be recorded as the next step!
Amen.
Feature 3 - Organize tasks by context
“Not much strength is needed to do something. Much more effort is needed to decide what to do. ”
~ David allen
I did not notice the book giving direct recommendations on how to sort tasks by priorities. David Allen is sure that the importance of various tasks for our consciousness is not so critical, since both large and small concerns take place in our consciousness and we need to fulfill them all (or decide not to perform). Not done a pushover, information about which is stored in the mind, can distract you from the more "important" things. However, it provides an excellent method for organizing tasks by context or by energy level.
Once I partially came to this method intuitively, but then I forgot about it because I did not formalize it and did not make it a habit. For example, there is a large list of tasks. Some tasks require a lot of energy.
For me, this is "Responses to comments and support for students," "Articles."
For some it is not enough, for example, "payment of a hosting", "work with electronic accounts". I can do this easily when I don’t have enough time for articles.
Decisions about what to do now, took away from me, firstly, a lot of energy, and, secondly, they had a negative effect on motivation. I could not choose a lesson optimally suited to my energy level, and because of this I quit my job, ending the working day with the notorious feeling that I had not done something. Now, if I have little strength, and I have a lot of time, I can just do the work that does not require large amounts of energy. I can just look at the list with the name "low energy" and make something out of it. All ingenious is simple!
You can also organize your task list by context, for example, “at the computer”, “in the store”, etc. Many other ways of organizing are presented in the book.
Feature 4 - Rule of Two Minutes
Pretty simple, but extremely effective rule. If we organize information about our affairs within the list of reminders, we can be horrified by the size of this list. Fortunately, there is a good and easy way to thoroughly clean it up.
You do not need to record yourself: "reply to a friend's letter, how will your free time be," if this answer takes you less than 2 minutes!
Just answer right now and free yourself a head and a list of tasks from this case. When, after reading the book of D. Allen, I began to rake my mailbox, I found many unanswered letters there. Of course, once upon a time, I ticked them off as important tasks, but then I forgot about them.
As a result, after reviewing, I answered a lot of old letters, and it took me not much time. Some of my readers received a response from me a year later! Do not be offended, please, at me, this is the result of a crowded mailbox and unimportant organization of affairs. Теперь я стараюсь отвечать сразу, если понимаю, что процесс чтения и обработки письма займет не менее 5-ти минут. 2 минуты - это не строго, пускай каждый сам определит максимальный временной промежуток для себя.
В общем, "правило двух минут" формулируется так. Если в ходе обработки списка задач вы обнаружите дело, выполнение которого займет меньше 2-х минут, просто сделайте его.
Фишка 5 - Записывайте идеи
Наверняка вы замечали, что самые лучшие идеи по поводу вашей работы приходят вам тогда, когда вы не работаете! Поэтому Д. Аллен советует всегда иметь под рукой что-то, что поможет вам сохранять идеи: блокнот, электронный планшет и т.д. Дело тут не только в том, что это поможет вам не забыть ценные идеи и освободить свою память от информации. Да, это тоже важно.
Аллен уверен, что "форма определяет принципы". По его словам, у человека "Может возникнуть подсознательное нежелание думать о чем-либо из-за того, что вам негде записывать возникшие идеи".
Я проверил это на себе. Когда я путешествовал в Индии, я всегда носил с собой или блокнот, или телефон, куда я мог записать мысли и идеи. И мое сознание просто фонтанировало ими. Я записывал мысли во время тряски на сиденьях индийских поездов, на вершинах живописных холмов, в развалинах старинных храмов, лежа под Солнцем или под вентилятором в гостиничном номере.
Я был спокоен, во-первых, от того, что мне было, где зафиксировать возникшие идеи, а, во-вторых, благодаря тому, что мне не нужно было всеми силами удерживать идеи в памяти, я знал, что всегда могу к ним вернуться.
Конечно, важно не только сформировать привычку записывать свои идеи, но регулярно просматривать этот список.
Цитаты, ценные правила от других людей я теперь, кстати, тоже записываю, а не пытаюсь удержать в памяти.
Фишка 6 - Не разделяйте жизнь и работу
«Несобранные открытые вопросы уравниваются с точки зрения напряжения, которые они вызывают и внимания, которого они требуют».
~Дэвид Аллен
Как я уже писал, для нашего мозга нет большой разницы между задачами: "закончить проект по работе", "обсудить проблему в отношениях с женой". И та, и другая задача занимает нашу память и расходует психические ресурсы, где бы мы ни находились, в офисе, дома или на отдыхе.
И практический вывод из этого принципа стал для меня большим открытием. Раньше я, принимаясь за работу, откладывал обдумывание личных и жизненных проблем на потом. "Ведь сейчас я работаю! Мне не до этого!" - думал я.
Но на самом деле, тот факт, что эти задачи "висят" в сознании, может мешать мне сосредоточенно и эффективно работать (здесь я имею в виду работу в обычном понимании, как профессиональную деятельность). И самое плохое, что мы можем сделать, это оставить их "висеть". Поэтому иногда имеет смысл решить какие-то срочные семейные дела, рутинные задачи, даже подумать о "философских вопросах", которые вас очень беспокоят перед тем, как сесть работать.
Понятно, что тут есть свои проблемы. Можно так надолго погрузиться в это обдумывание, что к работе так и не приступить. Поэтому необходимо подходить к этому принципу осторожно и осознанно. Другим хорошим решением будет записать себе в список задач: "подумать о смысле жизни" и освободить себе голову от напоминаний об этом.
Фишка 7 - Польза для психотерапии
«Бесплодное и бесконечное прокручивание в голове какой-то мысли снижает способность анализировать и действовать».
~Дэвид Аллен
Я не мог не подумать о применении этой технологии к области психологии и психотерапии, профилактики неврозов, навязчивых состояний, деструктивных установок.
Существуют разные методы избавления от навязчивых, негативных мыслей. Некоторые психологи рекомендуют подвергать такие мысли тщательному логическому анализу. Другие - использовать успокаивающие и реалистичные установки-аффирмации.
Я же, хоть и использую эти подходы в своей практике помощи людям с паническими атаками, понимаю то, что возможности нашей логики в состоянии тревоги и паники весьма ограничены, и всегда существует шанс, что подобный анализ будет обращен против того, кто его применяет. Поэтому я в основном рекомендую просто терпеливо не реагировать на навязчивые мысли.
Но я также думаю, что принцип "обозначить следующее действие" и "концентрироваться на цели" может быть очень хорошо использован в отношении навязчивых мыслей и негативных установок.
Скажем, вы страдаете ипохондрией.
Вы думаете: "у меня страшная и смертельная болезнь".
Хорошо, теперь подумайте: "А какое следующее действие?"
"Наверное, надо сходить провериться. Но я ведь уже был у врачей на этой неделе, анализы не показали ничего страшного!"
Все встало на свои места, не так ли?
Или у вас социофобия:
"Люди меня не принимают, я никчемный человек"
Какое следующее действие?
"Я буду работать над улучшением своих социальных качеств и начну я с… ." или/и "Я научусь принимать себя, таким, какой я есть и начну я с… ". Чаще всего требуется как первое первое, так и второе умение в комбинации для решения проблем неуверенности в себе, социофобии и т.д. Формулировка следующего действия не только настроит вас на цель, но и покажет, что достижение цели возможно!
А даже если оно не возможно, то следующее действие будет: "Я ничего не буду делать с этой проблемой. Потому что ее невозможно исправить. Раз так, зачем о ней думать?"
Данный подход поможет вам думать не о проблеме, а об ее решении! Тревожные, мнительные, беспокойные люди часто очень сильно зациклены на проблемах. "У меня мало друзей", "страх не покидает меня", "все обо мне думают плохо" и т.д. Они больше задают вопросы: "почему", чем, "что с этим делать", что только формирует новое беспокойство и ощущение беспомощности.
Но вопрос: "какое следующее действие?" сразу настраивает вас на путь решения проблемы (или решения ничего не делать), что может освободить вашу голову от целого вороха негативных, бессмысленных мыслей о проблеме. В общем, попробуйте!
Чего можно достичь благодаря GTD?
«Проблема заключается не в отсутствии творческого начала, а в том, чтобы устранить барьеры для естественного потока творческой энергии».
~Дэвид Аллен
Применение методологии GTD выходит далеко за рамки повышения эффективности труда. Поэтому, реализовав хотя бы отдельные аспекты этого подхода на практике, вы почувствуете не только увеличение производительности, но и большую ясность сознания. Цель этой системы не только в том, чтобы вы работали лучше, а в том, чтобы вы освободили свою голову от ненужных мыслей о работе, невыполненных задачах. Чтобы вы легко смогли отпустить мысли о том, чего не можете изменить или имели наготове решение для того, что нуждается в вашем действии.
У человека, который наведет порядок в своих делах, появится порядок в голове, ему будет легче концентрироваться, генерировать идеи и расслабляться.
Стоит лишь перестать судорожно вспоминать о своих обязательствах, держать в памяти массу невыполненных задач и необдуманных проблем, как наше сознание расчистится, и у нас появится больше энергии, больше сил, больше простора для творчества и новых идей. Возможно, это поможет даже и медитации? В голове будет меньше забот и проблем, следовательно, концентрация и спокойствие в медитации будут глубже. Не даром Д. Аллен использует фразу «сознание как вода» на протяжении всей книги.
GTD, по словам ее автора - это глобальная технология самосовершенствования, а не просто способ тайм менеджмента.
Лично я только недавно начал ее применять. И могу сказать, что у меня появилось большее чувство контроля над делами, большее чувство удовлетворения по поводу работы. Я стал ощущать большую радость от выполненных дел и вышел из ощущения "постоянного, нескончаемого проекта". И главное, для меня открылся большой простор для совершенствования своих дел и своей работы.
Да прибудет с вами сила записывания следующего действия в рамках внешней системы напоминаний!
