Getting Things Done by D. Allen. Applied it? How?

[HS Mom in NC]

If you have read Getting Things Done by David Allen and applied it to your homeschool, household and life, how exactly have you adapted it and implemented it?

[thessa516]

I am not the queen of organization, but I'm always trying. :) With that said, I used Evernote for one full year. I went fully digital and had most everything organized into Evernote folders. After giving myself that year, I've gone back to a paper system. I purchased a lovely Filofax after Christmas. I use a week on two pages layout and A-Z tabs (as opposed to the 43 file folders).

 

- All of my date specific events get recorded in the Filofax. I don't have too many people to call so I lump all actionable items together rather than having separate lists.

 

- My general events get put on a sticky note and placed on the first day of the month.

 

- Everything else gets filed in the A-Z tabs. I have a "Waiting For" list. It gets filed under W. My clothes shopping list is under C for clothing. I have "Books I've Read" and "Books I Want to Read" both under B for books. Each list is on its own piece of paper. As I come up with new lists, I file them under the appropriate letter that makes sense to me. For example, no matter how much I KNOW that my son is taking Tae Kwon Do, his lesson schedule and contact info gets filed under K for Karate because that makes the most sense to me.

 

- For educational and online resources I make a note of it in Google Drive and/or Pinterest. (Although, now that I'm thinking about it, I should really start a list of the sites and keep it in my Filofax).

 

- I do a weekly review and update each Sunday.

 

- I review my A-Z tabs about once a month. It's normally while I'm waiting at the doctor's office. I just flip through each tab, updating as I go along, tearing out old lists no longer needed.

 

It's been about 5 months with my Filofax, and I LOVE it. Much smaller and portable than a home management binder! I just have to remember to brain dump regularly. I can never remember on my weekly review each Sunday, so I have to write down things right away! Sometimes it's just a post-it note until I can really think through a project on my weekly review.

[Woodland Mist Academy]

I use a combo of file folders, cloud planning tools, and a paper planner. Each serves a purpose, and for the most part they play together nicely.

 

I actually need to do a fresh brain dump and a reboot. Great timing for the thread.

 

ETA: I use a big combo of GTD, Julie Morgenstern, FranklinCovey, and others.

[Plink]

My favorite GTD tip: if you can do the task in less than two minutes, don't write it down, just do it. I've found it especially helpful when working to keep my e-mail inbox at zero.

[laughing lioness]

Mystie Winkler has a whole series on GTD. Here is my response to how I implemented it a while ago.

[Mystie]

Thanks, Lisa! I do think the principles in GTD can be so helpful to homeschooling moms because we have to keep so many plates spinning.

 

I actually just got contacted by the David Allen Company asking me to rename GTD for Homemakers because they're tightening up their copyright on the acronym. When I get a few hours this weekend I'll be taking care of that and I've decided to just pull it down for now. I'm working on a "get organized" type program called Simplified Organization and I'll just incorporate that information into my new project. So, if anyone wants just GTD for Homemakers, now's the time. :)

 

I also write about that sort of thing at my new blog: www.simplifiedorganization.com. I write once or twice a week there, and it's not just for homeschooling moms, but since I'm a homeschooling mom, everything I write does apply well to our situations. :) In a couple weeks I'm going to start a series on doing reviews David-Allen-style. I think doing daily and weekly reviews are really crucial to peace of mind.

[Murmer]

Power of Moms has a specific program called Mind Organization for Moms that is GTD based (she got permission from the author).  I have read it (and joined the newest program that is debuting soon) and think it is really awesome!