My projects and tasks needs to go somewhere in my GTD task manager.

I start putting any next actions from my inbox into my task manager’s processing. Doctor’s visit, my kid’s soccer games, and the daily/weekly review are a few commitments that I choose to place into my hard landscape. CalendarĪppointments that I decide to honor. File referenceĪny inbox item that doesn’t have a next action but is used as project notes for a potential future project. Here are some places where I put my inbox items: TrashĪ popular destination for any junk mail that somehow bypasses my spam filter.

I need to find a final destination for any inbox items. If I leave everything in the inbox, it just becomes one long cluttered list of tasks to do, calendar appointments that float around, and notes that are never grouped. Reducing the number of inboxes reduces the stress of wondering whether or not I missed something.

I forward all my email accounts to my gMail account to make it easier to process. I use the iCloud calendar to hold all my appointments instead of switching between Google Calendar, Yahoo calendar, and iCloud calendar. I use my iPhone to take pictures of invoices and items of interest I find when I go outside on errands. Anything that contains text goes into Drafts. I have one physical in-tray at the house and at work. Nowadays, I trimmed down my inboxes to as few as possible. It would drive me crazy because I would have to check every app or the desktop to see where I may have a note that I wanted to capture. I saved text snippets in Drafts, Notes, Evernote, and a whole bunch of other note taking apps. I had multiple notebooks all around the house and the office. In the beginning, I lost track of where I captured my notes. I have Drafts and OmniFocus installed on my Macs for more easy access. I make sure to have at least 1 capture device available for me to capture all my mad scientist ideas when the moment arrives. Drafts and OmniFocus are loaded on all my computers and can be invoked very quickly to capture my fleeting ideas. I have my iPhone with me most of the time. I carry my A5 BuJo and pens in my everyday carry bag. Have you found any one of the five areas in need of a tuneup? Here are some friction points that I had to overcome.Ĭapture I didn’t have capture tools that are easily available. I’m learning to master the 5 phases one phase at a time. Focus on one phase until it becomes a habit. He has a few more steps to follow but it’s generally the same idea. I’ve followed Leo Babauta’s ZTD (Zen To Done) mantra of adopting one habit at a time. If one of the five phases lag behind, it can create friction that slows down a GTD system. Each one presents its own set of friction points I had to overcome. There are 5 phases of GTD that must be maintained. It is a well-oiled machine one day and then a graveyard of stalled projects, stale tasks, and broken promises the next day. But that’s just the Game of Life that we all play in. My GTD system can range anywhere from a smooth operator to a raging dumpster fire. David Allen once surmised that it takes about 2 years to master GTD. It wasn’t easy and that’s why I understand why so many people give up on GTD. I downloaded multiple task managers trying to find the perfect fit for my GTD practices to no avail. I implemented and then forgot about the different tips and tricks I learned throughout the years. I devoured numerous blog posts and watched one-too-many YouTube videos. I’ve always had a difficult time overcoming my friction points in GTD.

Thinking rock vs omnifocus