So my friend Michelle Lin was kind enough to solicit a "How I Work Smarter" piece on her excellent ALIEM blog. One of the things I mentioned in that piece was a book called Getting Things Done. I've since gotten a bunch of questions and comments about the book. I'd like to take a brief diversion from the main topic of EMCrit and discuss a bit about the book and productivity for docs and resuscitationists.

The Books

* Getting Things Done by David Allen (A new edition, the first in years will be out in 3-4 months)

* The Organized Mind

The Philosophy

A clear mind eliminates stress and allows creativity, so...

Capture all the things that need to get done into a logical and trusted system outside of your head and off your mind, and...

Discipline yourself to make decisions about all the inputs you let into your life, so that you will always have a plan for next actions that you can implement or renegotiate at any moment

(altered from Mindzone Wiki)

Problems with the Book

* Mindset of the Author

* Based on an erstwhile paper-based world

* Can be read as Dogma

The Steps of GTD

Collect/Process/Organize/Review/Do

1. Collection/Universal Capture

* Index Cards

* Drafts for IOS

Inbox(es)

* Email

* Paper Landing Station (The Traditional/Actual Inbox)

* Pocket for Web and IOS

2. Process

What is it?

Is it an action, spam, or something non-actionable you want to keep?

Action Processing

* Decide if you want to Do it, Don't do it, Delegate it, or Put it in your system

* Is it a project?

* What is the physical next action that must occur to bring you 1 step closer to completion

Next Actions & Projects

Reference Processing

Things you just want to keep or references for actions

Eliminate Paper!

* Evernote

* Scansnap Scanner (this item will change your life)

 

3. Organize-If you are not doing it right now, put it in the system

* NirvanaHQ or Omnifocus

* GCal with Fantastical

* Add all reference material as links in your system

Calendar

Only things that absolutely must happen at this date/time

Lists on Task Management System

Especially important to have a someday/maybe list, a waiting list, and have a thorough understanding of scheduled events.

4. Review

Daily

* Try to process all email

* Kill all paper

* Clean off Desktop

* Look at Calendar

* Look at Focus and Inbox

* Make a To-Do Card

* Pack for next day

Weekly

(this list is from Mindzone wiki)

* Loose Papers

* business cards, receipts, etc.