GTD – which is short for “Getting Things Done-The Art of Stress Free Productivity” is a very popular book by author David Allen published in 2001. The book went on to the New York Times Bestseller list and has been one the best-selling business books ever since. In 2005, Wired magazine called GTD “A new cult for the info age”. An appropriate description considering the cult like enthusiasm and following for the GTD methodology among internet savvy information age workers.
At the time of writing this article I did a simple Google search for “Getting Things Done”. There were 653 million results! I then searched “David Allen” and got 331 million results! For comparison, I Googled – “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People” and got 7.3 million results and for the book’s author Stephen Covey – got 6.6 million results. Now keep in mind that 7 Habits is one of the best-selling books of all times having sold more than 25 million copies worldwide and translated into dozens of languages.
The popularity of this GTD and its author David Allen is mind boggling. There are hundreds of different software and applications that are based on GTD. There are also thousands of websites and blog articles discussing the GTD philosophy and its application to manage work and life in the information age.
So what is GTD and why is it so popular? I will attempt to answer these question in this article.
“It is possible for a person to have an overwhelming number of things to do, daily, and still have a relaxed control over the workday” – David Allen
GTD says that stress is not caused by the number of things that you have to do – but by constantly juggling these things in your mind. The key is to take “stuff” off your mind and put it into a trusted system. The whole philosophy of GTD can be summarized in four steps –
1. Get things off your mind & into a trusted system
2. Discipline yourself to make front end decisions & figure out the next actions instead of back end
3. Organize the information in comprehensive & trusted system
4. Review the system frequently enough so that nothing will slip through the cracks
Although this is common sense, it is hardly common practice. The first part of the book outlines the four steps of the GTD method by following a five step workflow process. Collect, Process, Organize, Review and Do. The rest of the book describes how to setup such a system using your own choice of tools – high tech or low tech.
Here in lies the immense popularity of the GTD system. It does not believe in “one size fits all” kind of system. It allows you customize your choice of tools – from a simple notebook to high-tech software programs and digital notebooks. The simplicity, flexibility and adaptability of GTD is responsible for its huge popularity amongst the tech savvy internet users worldwide. If you would like to know more about GTD you may visit wiki summaries at http://www.wikisummaries.org/Getting_Things_Done:_The_Art_of_Stress-Free_Productivity or do a Google search and find thousands of sites detailing the GTD method.
Although GTD is immensely popular worldwide, there are hardly any systems or training agencies that apply the GTD principles in India. We at Outstanding Productivity, have a special module OPM, that includes the best of GTD system using tools like Microsoft Outlook or Lotus Notes, that most corporates already use in India. Our unique methodology and free customization of these tools allows our corporate clients to make their employees highly effective and efficient in managing their tasks, projects, commitments, delegation, work and life. Visit www.outstandingproductivity.com for more