What’s Your Next Action?
I was reading another book (yes, I know!) - Getting Things Done, by David Allen and I had (yet another?) revelation. As you can probably guess by the title, he talks about productivity, but in a stress-free way. Jane, from Janes Agenda says that every planner babe or guy should read this book at least once.
After having read it, it makes me want to jump into the project of organizing all the things in my life - namely, referring to pages 116-120 in the book. You basically go through every single thing in your life that you can think of, or actions that need to be done for those projects and/or goals and/or tasks. You basically do a brain dump of all those things and then spend a good couple of hours organizing them where you think they belong.
I think it’s a great system, and without even reading the book until now, I found that I already do a lot of the things that David mentions in his book. For example, keeping a physical inbox and a paper (and Digital) filing system. I however have found other methods that work for me within the planner system I’ve come to trust. (My Franklin Planner!)
The main point I want to make here is that yes, this blog is written from someone who already plans. My goal is to convince the non-planners that they should also read this book, or at least read enough of it to make the systems David Allen talks about work for your life and to help you get organized!
I find that a lot of people in my life (family and friends and even some past colleagues) don’t use a planner to get organized and keep track of things. (The planner girl in me is reeling at that, because why wouldn’t everyone want a planner??) How does anyone get anything done, especially when they can’t remember or if they’ve lost their post-it note from the fridge? I think in a lot of cases, they don’t! (Or they have a really, really good memory!)
I think a lot of people coast through life, hoping for the best, and they get by, but barely. They might get a lot of reminders from their friends and family about yet another family get-together they missed! Also, these may be the people who actually have a list of things to do, but have no idea where to start. Maybe there are so many tasks on your list that you’re starting to feel overwhelmed and that in turn makes you want to give up before you’ve even started.
When you think of one thing you could be doing, what about that task is so hard that you keep procrastinating it? For example, people might write down “computer” as a reminder to fix their broken computer. The problem is, that word is a noun and doesn’t tell you what needs to be done. If you were to say instead, “Call Memory Express to get an estimate on looking at my broken computer” - that’s an action item!
David Allen is asking you to think of the next action you could do to get the ball rolling forward. If you were to do that for each item on your task list, think of how much you could get done! He claims that for every single thing you need to get done during the day, ask yourself this question, and then do that thing. If you can’t do it right away, write it down for the appropriate time and make sure it gets done. This action will ensure that you are clear about what you have to do and when it needs to be done (clarity), you are taking responsibility for your actions (accountability), you are getting things crossed off your list (productivity), and makes you feel like you are taking charge of your life (empowerment).
Of course, this doesn’t take into account the time you may feel unmotivated. With all the times I felt unmotivated or lazy, I completely understand and empathize! In cases like that, I’d say give yourself a day or two to relax, and then get back to it. If you really feel like yuck, you may need that extra rest or family time. That rest will make you feel better for when you are ready to tackle your to-do list.
I highly recommend this book, if you haven’t already read it! There are parts that are a little dry, but if you are in need of a motivation boost to start getting your stuff organized, this book will get you there! Maybe you’ll also be motivated to do a re-vamp of your life categories and start brainstorming things you might want to take care of. In that case, I’d say read pages 116-120!
Thanks for reading and I’ll see you next time!
Sandra
