10 big ideas from GTD

Here are 10 big ideas from David Allen’s Getting Things Done…

1. If your day-to-day life is out of control, it’s almost impossible to think strategically or plan effectively.

2. Define what being “done” looks like.

3. Mental work has five distinct phases: Collect, Process, Organize, Do, and Review

4. Get everything out of your head.

5. Projects and tasks are two different things: track them separately.

6. Focus on the Next Action required to move forward.

7. Use the “2 Minute Rule” for small tasks.

8. Use Reference and Someday/Maybe files for things that have no immediate next actions.

9. Build a trusted system that helps you keep track of your commitments.

10. Schedule non-negotiable time for a Weekly Review.

BONUS TIP: developing an effective personal productivity system takes time and experimentation.

Nice overview (see the full article for details on each point), and it matches the things I personally like about GTD. Not to say that I actively practice all of them, but I'm trying to get there, experimenting different tools and options, one step at a time.