Getting Things Done by David Allen is the holy grail for productivity.
The most popular axiom from the book is about processing information. But not for me. Of course, I find it helpful.
So what stood out to me?
Capture.
Yes, capture.
Allen says to capture every idea, task, note, etc. when it enters your brain. Get it out as soon as possible. And most importantly into an inbox that you MONITOR.
A common mischaracterization is it has to be into one inbox. It doesn’t have to be one. You can have multiple inboxes. But you must monitor them routinely.
This was immensly helpful to me years ago when I first read GTD and continues to be today.
My inboxes have changed over time.
Today, I have four inboxes I monitor daily.
- Slack
- Project Management app
- Apple Notes
I end every day by reviewing my inboxes and running through the processing steps of GTD.