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Capture, Categorize, Calendar.
Simplifying David Allen’s “Getting Things Done” System
A reader asked:
“How to stay on top of my big volume of tasks and not feel overwhelmed?”
Think of tasks and information just like physical clutter: how do you solve that problem? Everything important goes into the right place. (What’s not important should be given away, recycled, or eliminated.) Then create a system for reminding you where the important stuff is.
Similarly, here is how I organize my ideas, my wishes, my don’t-forget-to’s, and everything else that’s important:
Capture > Categorize > Calendar
In other words:
- Write down what seems important.
- Park it in a system.
- Have a reminder to work on it at the appropriate time.
This is an idea I borrowed from David Allen’s famous book Getting Things Done .
Without a system, it is easy to be in constant overwhelm, trying to keep everything in our head and wondering when we’ll finally get to work on important things. Even new ideas can be the source of anxiety.
Capture > Categorize > Calendar … This practice ends the question of “When are you going to work on this?”
