Increase your Productivity Using GTD Method
GTD, also known as ‘Get Things Done’ is a popular method designed by David Allen. It can help you stop procrastinating. It is a really successful method that can increase productivity by managing time and work profoundly. It is more like a time-management model that will help you plan for almost anything.
David Allen came up with this fantastic method in 2001, and since then it has been helping everyone plan their daily life. It enables you to channel your focus the correct way to come up with great plans in a short amount of time, thus saving your time.
The Getting Things Done Method
Getting things done is a five-step model that helps you plan effectively. It is more like a natural process of planning that everyone knows. But most of the people follow the steps in the wrong order which makes the process useless. David Allen referred to the wrongly ordered model as the ‘Unnatural Planning Model’. Most of us try to get things done using the unnatural planning model, which then leads us to failure or wastes a lot of our time.
So, without further ado, let’s get into these five steps and see how it helps us in our planning. The steps of the GTD method are:
- Define purpose
- Visualise the result
- Brainstorm ideas
- Organise
- Get on with it
1. Define Purpose
So, the first thing we need to do is define purpose. If you know why you are doing something, you’ll feel more motivated about doing it.
- What is it that we are planning for?
- What are the actions we need to do?
- What is the purpose behind doing this?
Answering these questions is what comes in the first step. Suppose it’s about fixing a meeting with a client or planning a friend’s birthday party. Then, what you need to do is ask yourself is why you need this meeting for or why are you planning for your friends birthday. Answers to these questions will define the purpose for your planning and help you move on to the next step, which is…
2. Visualise the Result
In this step, what you need to do is visualise taking all the steps needed to get to the end result. Picture what you’re expecting at the end of your work. Visualise what you’re expecting when you have completed your work, what means success for you in this scenario.
If it’s the meeting you’re planning for, then success might mean getting the deal. Or, if it’s the birthday planning, then success might mean making the birthday memorable for your friend. Whatever the result, you want to get in the end, visualising that result is what you need to do in this step.
3. Brainstorm Ideas
It’s more of a step you work yourself rather than something you need to do. After visualising the result, the next step is finding a way to achieve the result. This is when your brain starts doing its work.
To help you achieve the desired result, your brain starts coming up with ideas and thoughts that are connected with the result. This process is called ideating (or brainstorming) when you do it intentionally. These random ideas might not have any pattern, or these ideas might not be complete or adequately structured. That is what you need to do in the next step.
4. Organise
After brainstorming many ideas, what you need to do is organise these ideas correctly. You need to complete these ideas and arrange them in a way that you can work with.
This step is also somewhat natural, and your brain will already be making a structure out of these brainstormed ideas so that you can work with them. All you need to do is put some effort and fuse all crumbs of ideas into one fully functioning plan.
5. Get on with it
After you’ve come up with a fully functional plan, all you need to do is make sure it’s realistic and get on with it. To do that you’ll need to check what the very next step is in your plan, what will get the project going and start with that step. When you do this, go to the step after that and after that, and so on to the part where you’ll get the desired result. If you can come up with a good plan and follow accordingly, you’ll achieve the desired result.
Some Problems You May Face
You may face some problems while following the ‘Get Things Done’ method. The very first problem you may face is not being able to use the technique correctly. Usually, when we try to plan for something, we do follow this method but in the wrong order. A big obstacle is our fear of failing. So, to resist failing, we move away from the GTD method and fail anyway. Sounds obscene but a lot of us do this. Instead, what we should do is use this method regularly in our daily life. When the technique becomes your second nature, you will be able to use the process the correct way and see the expected results when you feel stressed and you need it the most.
How can a psychologist help with psychotherapy to improve your productivity?
Another problem we may face is emotional problems getting in the way of focusing. There might be a lot of reasons why we can’t concentrate, such as overwhelming feelings of sadness or helplessness, drinking or drug-related problems etc. Psychological therapy can be helpful in these cases. Now, some people think that the need for psychological treatment means only one thing and that is that you have a severe mental health problem. But, that kind of thinking is far from the truth. Psychological therapy can help you become a better version of yourself by helping you develop a greater understanding of yourself and the motivations that drive you.
What psychologists and counsellors usually do first is to get an understanding of your situation and help you understand the hidden dynamics and processes that get in the way of achieving your full potential. And when you realise yourself and your circumstances fully in counselling and psychotherapy, life becomes a lot easier. People are often surprised when they realise how many people get expert help by going to a psychotherapist near them for Life Coaching and psychotherapy. Psychotherapy helps someone deal with the emotional problems from the past and to improve their mental health in the process. Life Coaching helps to clear one’s mind from unnecessary and unhelpful thoughts and to increase their productivity.
If you are want to improve both your mental health and your productivity at the same time contact Dr Nick for a free informal conversation. Dr Nick has psychotherapy clinics in Birmingham, Solihull and the City of London. If you’re not ready to see a Clinical Psychologist yet, try reading one of these books on mental health.
