Is your desk is a mess and you spend more time looking for stuff than doing it?

Do you spend more time worrying about something you might have missed than achieving something you want to do?

Have you, countless times, promised to clean up your desk but never got started, or at least, never got more than part way through it?

Or maybe you’ve even got the thing totally cleared up but within a week its all come back, only worse.

What Should You Do?

Here are 5 steps to get you on your way towards nirvana in the workplace.

1.  Buy a copy of “Getting Things Done” by David Allen

Getting Things Done (GTD) is a flexible methodology to handle this type of situation.  It works in all situations if you stick with it and if you find the right implementation for you.

2.  Read the Book Through From Cover to Cover

Whatever you do, don’t jump into this book and try to implement it as you go.  Read it through.  If need be, read it at home in bed, and try not to worry about your situation while you do.  (It’s not going anywhere after all.)

I always feel it’s such a waste when people with incredible potential get bogged down doing stuff they simply shouldn’t be doing. If you want to join with me in this journey you can follow me by rss feed, by email or through Twitter

Know that some of the things you read won’t make sense to you first time through.  Not only is that OK, it’s perfectly normal.

Also, don’t worry if some of it seems overly complex.  This is just how the book is written.  Some people say that GTD doesn’t work for creative people but I suspect it’s just that David Allen is a “logically brained” person and writes that way.  The methodology suits creatives too, so maybe Allen should get it “translated” into their language!

3.  Look at Yourself Closely

  Once again I can’t say this too often. For most people productivity doesn’t work because the system they’re using forces them into a style that doesn’t suit them. Everyone is an individual and we need to take this into account with productivity.

Fortunately GTD is not a system, it is a methodology that can be implemented in any number of ways.

For this reason, before you try and implement it, you need to work out just what your style is.

(Photo by PollyKnit)

My wife loves lists and especially she loves to use paper and pen.  Personally, the thought of “to do” lists gives me the heebie jeebies but by using eProductivity I only have to deal with, say, 4 or 5 items on my “today” page.  So using this tool for me is great because I can forget about the lists that are behind the scene.

My main point here is that you’re going to need to figure out what will work for you.  And even once you’ve figured it out, be willing to be flexible enough to change once you implement until your system fits you like a glove.

GTD works in all situations if you stick with it and if you find the right implementation for you

Some people seem to operate GTD very well using multiple tools but I would recommend you try and implement it with as few as you can get away with.  Simplicity will improve the likelihood of you sticking with it immensely.

4.  Find a Mentor

Find someone who is successful in this area.  It’s not hard to do, you don’t have to actually know them.  With Twitter and Blogs, there are heaps of people who will help you out.

The things they need to do for you are:

1. Answer your questions as you go – or at least be able to tell you how to find the answers;

2. Encourage you; and

3. Hold you accountable

5.  Set Aside a Full Day

Before you cry out, “I can’t do that!” lets deal with your possible reasons why not:

• I’m too busy to put that much time aside.  You’re actually too busy not to.  Using your current way of working you’re probably working at something less than 50% efficiency.  So on this basis alone, the time you put aside will be quickly made up.  Additionally, you’re probably missing deadlines, not answering emails on time and generally over-promising and under-delivering.  If so, you need to do this for the sake of your reputation.

• I don’t have enough control of my workload to do this.  This is a more realistic issue and one that is much more difficult to deal with.  If you can’t do a deal with your boss, then accept that there will be certain things that you will have to do straight away, hence interrupting your implementation.  But make sure you write down what these things are and keep this list next to you as you implement.  If its not on the list, don’t do it!

  Then…

Then get ready to go.  In part 2 of this mini-series we’ll look at the actual implementation and how to overcome the things that invariably come up.

In the meantime, keep on trucking and good reading as you check out David Allen’s book cover to cover.

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