“Making It All Work” by David Allen
I started reading “Making It All Work” by David Allen this morning. I became familiar with his GTD (Getting Things Done) methodology a few years ago from his book of the same name and started using parts of his schema to organize my life. One basic thing in his office is the concept of a well-labeled file folder. At the time, I was a staunch supporter of the hanging file folder. I liked the idea of all that metal inside my file cabinet drawer and the well-organized look of the folders as they hung in perfect vertical rows. But after much chagrining and waffling between hanging and ordinary file folders (which David Allen recommends) I made the switch to ordinary (but no less colorful) file folders which are labeled with a Brother P-Touch label maker attached to my office iMac. This process is efficient and yields a container that is easy to find and take along to meetings, stack in a pile for temporary projects, and recycle when needed.
Besides adopting his idea of well-labeled file folders (which I had done earlier but not consistently), I have casually adopted his other more-important ideas. The concept of “Someday/Maybe” is a good one, and I have put that to some use especially where online purchases are concerned. I like to shop online, and I can usually justify any purchase with a good reason to have it now. Later I look back and realize I could have waited or avoided the purchase altogether. Thus, the “Someday/Maybe” file. In GTD it goes beyond a single folder though. It’s a way to organize lots of things, even projects, and I have not delved into the development of project-level organization or the weekly review. Or the inbox. I just open my mail and do the stuff whether it take two minutes (the GTD threshold for doing it now or putting it off until later) or not. If I had a “trusted system” I could have better use of my time and waking energy.
So I’m reading his latest book for some inspiration. I have some things in place and I already understand the methodology. Using it will be the real work, and perhaps now with focus being a problem in my life, GTD could shed some light. Back to reading!
