Getting Things Done

During my quest to get organized, my brother recommended a book called Getting Things Done by David Allen. I started to read the book, but after a while, it became kind of tedious, and the system is really rather simple when broken down. The idea is that if you have good systems for corralling all the things you have to do, your mind can be more productive and creative because it's not worried about all the things you have to do. This sounded like the perfect plan for me. I always have a million projects I'm working on, and many of them sit untouched for long, long periods of time (e.g. the many, many, many photos which never get developed, put in albums, etc.).

Allen lays out a great system for corralling/sorting through all that you need to do, as well as making it so that you don't forget anything. The first big step in getting the system going is also the most daunting: you have to figure out every, single thing you have to do. This can include day to day stuff, like making certain phone calls, returning emails, as well as really long term projects like make a will, or plan a vacation. After reading a ton of reviews online, it seems like this whole process actually takes a couple of hours, so, in an effort to be "Clutter Free by Thirty" (my motto for the first quarter of the year), I'm going to spend tomorrow afternoon corralling all my projects, tasks, and appointments into Mr. Allen's system. I'll keep you posted on the results.

In addition to my boring Saturday afternoon, I have work to do, a barbecue joint to check out that A.P. has been bugging me about ALL week (if I hear the words "pork" or "shop" one more damn time...), and we are going to an open house for fun on Sunday. Only a grownup would find that fun, no? What are you guys up to this weekend?

PS. Interested in David Allen's GTD system, but don't have the time (or desire) to read a whole book about it? Check out this quick and dirty rundown of the system.