Get Everything Done

In GTD, there's the "two-minute rule". Every task in your inbox that will take two minutes or less to complete, you're supposed to do immediately (not at the first moment you thought about it, but when you're processing your inbox). The reasoning is that it will be quicker to just do it than to put it into your system for doing it later.

While this sounds reasonable, it's not exactly compatible with DIT since it introduces additional randomness.

So what to do with those tasks: Just do it immediately or not?

N.B.: There is a blog post here about a "one-minute rule", but as I understand it, that's something different: Put things away when you're finished with them and don't let them become tasks.

Hi Mark,

I wanted to pick up on your point about GTD being more cumbersome. I believe you have also commented before that GTD is 'complicated' or 'quite complicated'. Now don't get me wrong, I am not replying to be critical of the DIT approach because I feel at has some very strong features. However I personally feel that GTD is not particularly complicated and has a logical diagrammatic flow chart attached to it.

I have had difficulties with DIT because in my view the overall process or flow of DIT is not explicit enough for me which often leads me to feeling confused about handling projects and processing tasks and information. I particularly struggle with the differences bewteen 'current initiatives' and 'projects' including having a logical approach for tracking projects, something of which I believe DIT is not specific about. I am also not sure if I agree with doing one organisational project at a time as sometimes this simply isn't possible and it may be the case that 2 similar projects could be rattled off reasonably quickly in a certain context, eg at a Laptop.

I am interested in yours and other readers comments re the above as I am still very much wavering between GTD and DIT due to different strengths and weaknesses in relation to my situation. I personally do not favour blending systems.

I guess I am giving DIT a chance because I like the 'realism' of the system and the ability to audit for backlogs. It can be all too easy (for me) to take on too much with GTD.

Thanks,

Leon.

Hi again Mark and other readers, thanks for the feedback and fair comments Mark. In what sort of format do you keep and track your (list of?) Projects, do you review all your projects daily? Do you have a list of deadlined, continuous and organisational projects in the same place? Do you have a list of Current Initiatives also? I don't mean to be intrusive but would appreciate any general tips.

Unfortunately I'm a little obsessed with all things 'projects' since GTD (2 actions or more = a project - I suppose getting a bus could be a project!). I was similarly obsessed with all things 'roles and goals' with Covey!

PS Sorry to Alex W and others for highjacking the original thread!

Thanks for sharing that Mark. I suppose I'm wondering how I maintain an overview of my 50 or so Client projects not to mention non-Client based projects and home projects! I can see the logic in not reviewing all projects at once as this does generate a lot of work at once. But for me, there is nothing worse than the feeling of a Manager coming up to me and asking 'where are we at with this Client' and me being unsure if I have not done a recent (weekly) review of the Case and determined a next action or a 'waiting for' something.

Another question (sorry) is how will I know when to schedule a future review for a project? Often I have absolutely no idea what stage a project is likely to be at say in two weeks time, what I am saying is that the project could be done and dusted by than or it may not have moved an inch due to unforseen circumstances.

(And finally) in all honesty Mark I am a little confused that you mention not limiting Organisational Projects when (without quoting chapter and verse) I am fairly sure you have previously said that this type of project is best handled one at a time.

I think your DIT System is an effective and realistic approach to time management but I have real difficulty getting my head around approaches to projects within, or along side, DIT.

Hi again Mark, thanks for the clarification and advice - I will give it a go!

Leon - One of the points Mark makes in DIT is the importance of a system. While DIT is itself a fine task- and self-management system, I believe Mark also advocates that you create your own systems to help manage your tasks and your self, whether those systems exist within, outside of, or alongside the larger DIT structure. They have to be particular to your situation and personality, and you do need a bit of distance from the situation to craft a system or process that is both simple and durable.

For myself, I'm a tech writer and often have to help out or track our team's projects, some big, some small. (We're on the hook for about 15-20 R&D tech projects, but only 5 or so are hot and heavy at any one time). I'm also responsible for drafting the monthly reports, updating web content when needed, helping out other folks with ad hoc projects, etc. (And then I resume my master's studies in the fall while working full-time -- fun!)

You mentioned not having the status of a project ready when your boss asks about it. To me the question is, how precise and detailed does the status have to be? Do you need a spreadsheet of milestones and dates or is a "back of the envelope" estimate good enough? I often find that "good enough" is good enough for our contacts.

For my manager, who has to manage a bewildering number of tasks, I help him construct a spreadsheet we call the "punch list" that details tasks he needs to handle this week, in the next 2 weeks, and (here are the two important categories) tasks/projects he needs to monitor and tasks/projects that are recurring.

The monitored tasks are things that are out of our queue and in someone else's, but we still need to keep an eye on them because we might be asked about them. Or we're waiting for further developments, etc. My manager refers to this list in his weekly meetings with our clients, and they're often surprised when we review something they've forgotten. It's just a simple list but it works wonders.

For the recurring, it doesn't matter if a task only happens quarterly or monthly, every week we review the list and look at that task. We also plow through his diary notes for the past week, his diary for next week, his pouch of email printouts that he uses for reminders, and our master list of projects (we just scan the list and depend on our brains to pop out "where are we with this?" or "yeah, that's going all right"). All those reviews either create tasks that go on to the punch list or reassure us that things are proceeding.

A full review in a busy week will take 2 hrs, but slow weeks will only take about 30 minutes. Ebb and flow. I feel reassured when i see that we have more tasks monitored and recurring than we do immediate tasks.

My own planning isn't that detailed, and my manager is a special case, which is why I went into detail on that. I created that review system for him and work with him as a partner on it because that's the system that helps him stay on top on things (another key Forster idea--can you honestly say that you feel on top of your projects? If yes, then you can relax. If not, then that's the cue that you need to implement systems and habits that will keep you on top.)

re Current Initiative. That's just a project that needs jump-starting or extra focus. I have a major document due at the end of the month that will require extra reviews by other people. So even though that project's folder was stacked with all my other active projects' folders, it got the attention at the start of the day. (A good thing too, as we were hit with a critical time-sensitive project this week that soaked up a good bit of time, as did numerous meetings.)

My own personal rubric is to get stuff out of my queue and into other people's queues ASAP. I want *them* to be the bottleneck. This also gives me time to work on other projects while they're doing their part.

So a good bit of my CI on the project was compiling a major to-do list for that project and then parcelling out emails targeted to the folks who could answer them. Answers trickled back. I was then able to update about 85% of the document in an afternoon, rather than doing it piecemeal. I sent it out last night for review, and now it's in their queues rather than mine.

And I use other tricks/systems too, like timeboxing tasks, batching similar tasks, using a web-based reminder service like MemoToMe to send me regular reminders of recurring personal projects, etc. Were I to document everything I do, it would be even longer than this post is! But they're all a part of my personal landscape, so i don't think too much about them anymore.

In your case, I'd see about dedicating specific times of the week -- every Friday after lunch, say -- to scanning your client and project lists, see if any new tasks pop out from that review, write them down in your task diary to check on or handle for the next week, and then see whether that makes you feel on top of your duties.

HTH! meb

Hi Mike, thanks for your advice...You sound pretty busy! If you are managing projects successfully with DIT as your time management system then I'm sure I have a good chance. I see what you mean about crafting strategies and approaches that suit your individual circumstances. I have started perceiving DIT and GTD as 'Operating Systems', a framework for actioning my work.So, I have to actually think about and select what inputs will go into it.

After some indecisiveness I am now back online with DIT. Part of the reason I struggle with dealing with projects is because a) I keep switching systems! And b) My staying power is not so good with optional projects, which are generally home orientated ones.I normally have no problem completing compulsory projects. These are probably a couple of elaborate Procrastination strategies that I have set up for myself in order to avoid doing the work.

Thanks for the advice!