Getting Things Done: Yes, You Can!

How many times have you heard people say "I can't get anything done!" or "There just aren't enough hours in the day"? Productivity expert David Allen has plenty of ideas on how to wade through the stacks of paper and other seemingly endless time-wasters we all face, and his best-selling book, Getting Things Done (Penguin Putnam, 2001) lays them all out, clearly and succinctly.

His website (linked above) is another good place to start, especially since the book can be a bit daunting on first read. But Allen's method can be distilled into a fairly simple notion: get tasks off your mind by putting them on paper (or on a computer or whatever works for you). Not on dozens of Post-Its, napkins and whatever's handy to write on, but in one place so they cannot "get lost." Once all the ideas swarming in your head are recorded in a safe place, stress levels drop, increasing memory and creativity, and accomplishing goals becomes easier. And if you read yesterday's post, you know that working toward a purpose, having and achieving goals and "getting things done" appears to minimize the risk of developing Alzheimer's, a very worthwhile goal in and of itself.