Getting Things Done
January 4, 2011
Some of you know that in a former life I was Promotional Director at a large independent bookstore. The bookstore, Vroman’s, was in Pasadena, just north of Los Angeles, and we had an incredibly busy events calendar. Great authors, big-name celebrities, Nobel Prize-winners (we were only blocks away from Cal Tech, after all), men who walked on the moon. (Really. At one time I had Buzz Aldrin’s home phone number in my rolodex. You remember rolodexes, right?)
I learned a ton in that job, and because I hosted most of the events there, I got to hear some truly brilliant and creative people talk about the work that they do. One such person was David Allen, whose terrific book Getting Things Done is about as no-nonsense and practical a book on organization and productivity as there ever has been.
Back when Getting Things Done came out, I attended David’s workshop and made some serious adjustments to the way I managed my job. But it seems that once I stopped having a 9-5 job, I forgot everything I learned.
Recently, I started feeling a harried. Things were slipping through the cracks. (I mean, how many times can I forget that it is my day for kindergarten snack?) I wrote to a friend: All day my head races with lists of things I need to do, plane tickets equal in my head to making school lunches and balancing the checkbook and writing the next novel and working on my NESCBWI workshop. All the same. All undone. And repeating constantly because I’m afraid I’ll forget something. And I do forget things … And it makes my stomach hurt.
In the spirit of the New Year, I picked up Getting Things Done again and I cannot tell you what a difference it is making for me. I have files again! I have a filled-in calendar! (no weird notes on the backs of receipts shoved into my wallet: Don’t forget the 11th! Eleventh what?) I have a Projects list and a Next Action list (and I actually worked my way through it today - including writing this post!). And I’m checking those lists according to schedule, often enough that my brain is certain I’m not going to forget anything. Amazing the space that opens up for things like, say, working on a new novel.
For any of you who are feeling a little overwhelmed or who have made the resolution to Get Organized, I recommend checking this book out. You can get a little bit of a feel for it by visiting the Getting Things Done website: www.davidco.com
Let me know if it works for you.
Some of you know that in a former life I was Promotional Director at a large independent bookstore. The bookstore, Vroman’s, was in Pasadena, just north of Los Angeles, and we had an incredibly busy events calendar. Great authors, big-name celebrities, Nobel Prize-winners (we were only blocks away from Cal Tech, after all), men who walked on the moon. (Really. At one time I had Buzz Aldrin’s home phone number in my rolodex. You remember rolodexes, right?)
I learned a ton in that job, and because I hosted most of the events there, I got to hear some truly brilliant and creative people talk about the work that they do. One such person was David Allen, whose terrific book Getting Things Done is about as no-nonsense and practical a book on organization and productivity as there ever has been.
Back when Getting Things Done came out, I attended David’s workshop and made some serious adjustments to the way I managed my job. But it seems that once I stopped having a 9-5 job, I forgot everything I learned.
Recently, I started feeling a harried. Things were slipping through the cracks. (I mean, how many times can I forget that it is my day for kindergarten snack?) I wrote to a friend: All day my head races with lists of things I need to do, plane tickets equal in my head to making school lunches and balancing the checkbook and writing the next novel and working on my NESCBWI workshop. All the same. All undone. And repeating constantly because I’m afraid I’ll forget something. And I do forget things … And it makes my stomach hurt.
In the spirit of the New Year, I picked up Getting Things Done again and I cannot tell you what a difference it is making for me. I have files again! I have a filled-in calendar! (no weird notes on the backs of receipts shoved into my wallet: Don’t forget the 11th! Eleventh what?) I have a Projects list and a Next Action list (and I actually worked my way through it today - including writing this post!). And I’m checking those lists according to schedule, often enough that my brain is certain I’m not going to forget anything. Amazing the space that opens up for things like, say, working on a new novel.
For any of you who are feeling a little overwhelmed or who have made the resolution to Get Organized, I recommend checking this book out. You can get a little bit of a feel for it by visiting the Getting Things Done website: www.davidco.com
Let me know if it works for you.