I have read David Allen’s book Getting Things Done, okay I listened to the audio book but that counts as reading these days for me. I have actually listened to it a couple of times now and have picked up different things each time. I don’t know that I will ever fully implement his system, but I have certainly utilized pieces of it. I personally like the file folder system he uses for the days of the month. When I had that going I felt more organized than I have in a long time, and it is something I will be looking to implement again with this version of DividuusOne.
The other piece of his system that I have utilized is the mind sweep. It’s really the first step in his system, get everything out of your head. When I was younger I thought I could remember any brilliant idea or mundane task that passed through my mind. I am smart enough now to know that was never really the case and it certainly isn’t true the older I get. Instead I need to capture these things in the moment and then reflect and make decisions on them later when I have the time.
The tool that I have found most useful for this mind sweeping process is Bear. Bear is a note taking application and while I am sure there is more that I can do with it, that’s all I need it for. I have created notes for different aspects of my life and every time something pops into my head I can make a note of it in the appropriate note in Bear. These notes represent the first steps in my to do list process and I am able to quickly pull these actions out of Bear to process them. I find the interface to be simple and aesthetically pleasing which causes less distraction and makes me more organized and productive.
Not having to be constantly trying to remember that thing I was supposed to be doing or the blog post idea I had allows me to be more present in the moment. It creates a state of mindfulness so I can be there with my son and my wife both physically and mentally because I know that I have captured what I needed to capture and can review it later on. While I may never fully implement the GTD system, I am thankful that I have implement this part of it and glad that I found the Bear application to put it into practice.
If you want to check out Bear you can visit:
DividuusOne 