Category: “Getting Things Done - GTD”

Time management is a challenge for anyone. However, if there is one type of professional that faces it as a challenge and an obligation at the same time, that is the independent one.

One of the most common mistakes when implementing GTD, not only at the beginning but also after having practiced the method for a long time, is the tendency to mix the stages of collecting and processing (or capturing and clarifying, as David Allen call them in his recent review and update of the GTD book.)

Being present means fully enjoying the moment that you are in. It is the moment when you are calm and you know exactly what you want. You are focused on what you’re doing without thinking about anything else. That’s when life is more real. For how long have you not been present, living the moment you’re in, feeling the now completely?

When it comes to focus on doing what’s really important, it has always been completely logical to me to do it from top to bottom. That is, first I reflect on what I want to achieve and why; then I create in my mind some kind of objective or goal; next I define one or more projects that I ought to do in order to achieve that goal; and finally I decompose those projects in concrete tasks upon which I can act (at least the initial tasks which will help me get started.)

Last week it was released the revised and updated version of Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity, David Allen’s handbook for personal productivity on which FacileThings is based. David Allen has revised the text from beginning to end and changed any contents that, 14 years later, might be incomplete or outdated. He has also added new stuff that he learned in the process of disseminating the method over the years.