The book Getting Things Done offers lots of tricks and tools that can help do just what the author promises. Frankly, I found the paper-based system to be outdated in this digital world; I am far too often on-the-go, rarely work at the same desk, and don’t own a filing cabinet all of which are requirements for his paper-based system. However, I have some great take-aways from this book that DO work for me in our digital world. First up, the weekly review: In a weekly review, you, essentially, clean up the week that just ended and plan for the week to come. I especially like this approach as I find it helps me to transition more easily into the weekend and sets me up for success for the following week. I find that my weekends are much more enjoyable and relaxing when I know that I have tied up loose ends from my workweek. This article offers a fantastic list of what you can include in your weekly review. Fans of Marie Kondo and Gretchen Rubin will appreciate how the process also includes a cleaning up of one’s physical work space, too. I typically look back at my calendar to see what meetings I was in and make sure that I have either completed the tasks that were assigned to me during the meeting or do any follow up that may need to happen such as asking for meeting notes, scheduling the next meeting, and so on. I also look to the week ahead and make sure that I have either provided or requested agendas for all of the meetings on my calendar. Great tip–if there is not an agenda consider carefully if it is worth your time!
As a minimum, on Fridays, I try to use at least thirty minutes to review my calendar for the upcoming week, prioritize my to-do list, and use the Getting Things Done trigger list to help spark my memory of things that may be in the back of my mind or loops that may need to be closed. I don’t have a perfect system but this helps to make sure that I stay on top of my activities. Plus, I find that by using the Trigger List that I end up clearing my mind of all of these little things that I’d subconsciously been keeping track of. I would love to hear your suggestions about how you optimize your time and make sure that we honor our commitments.