I. What Is the Getting Things Done System?

This exploration is for those who, for some reason of their own, have not yet taken advantage of the Getting Things Done system. The system is designed to increase people’s productivity in the office and in their personal lives. It is a method of managing one’s time, a method that is also called as the GTD method.

The method is based on the assumption that to-do smaller tasks and bigger things like projects can be moved out of the mind to be recorded externally into notes. This allows one to break these tasks and see them as more actionable work pieces.

The method benefits mainly by freeing the user of the need to recall details of tasks and allowing them to focus on doing actions on the tasks at hand.

David Allen, author of the GTD system, believes that prioritizing tasks play a major role in the management of time. Allen developed the system with the belief that implementing perspective and control is the ultimate key to maximizing productivity. He constructed a process of workflow that makes it possible for anyone to gain control over commitments and tasks.

To improve on the area of perspective, he built a system that allows one to focus on six “horizons” or levels of doing things.

This horizon system is based on the idea of an airplane taking off from the ground. The first focus is compared to the runway level with the sixth or last level compared to the air level of 50,000 feet or more. As observers have noted, this Allen system is contrary to the theories that emphasize goal-setting should be of the top-down type.

For Allen, it is the opposite way that is more productive. He theorizes that it is harder for individuals to fix their eyes on big goals if the smaller tasks leading particular to the big goals are not sufficiently controlled. For him, there is a need to define and clarify the normal workday and freeing up space in the memory for one to be able to move up to the ladder or the levels of focus.

GTD, in particular, operates to improve one’s ability to store, track and retrieve details and information. Allen thinks that people experience mental blocks because there is lack in planning in advance and in generating actions that can be undertaken later without requiring more planning. He further said that the “reminding” structure of our brain is not efficient in reminding us of the things that need to be done at the time and position where it is not impossible to do them.

With the GTD system in place and with it relying on outside memories, the brain’s reminding inefficiency is compensated and the reminders come when they are needed, a hypothesis that is expressed in the brain theories called “extended mind” and “distributed cognition”.

The GTD system allows a review of tasks that can be done on a weekly basis. This way, the user can have a better perspective of what to do next and what should be prioritized. In every review session, the user is expected to study the circumstances around the tasks and categorize these tasks for better handling. A user, for example, can categorize important meetings, calls to make, follow-up on supplies related to certain projects, and errands to do while in the supermarket under appropriate listings.