I've always been an employed worker, working for the public or private sectors in construction. I don't have any experience running a business or being self-employed, so what I will discuss below reflects my full-time job experiences.

We all have ONE life: we experience the world around us all the time regardless of what we are doing: reviewing a spreadsheet at work or reading a book at home. All these experiences affect our lives no matter what. But we can identify our areas of focus: they are the multiple different facets of our lives. They are like the hats we use on our day to day: professional career, family, self-development, health, friends, finances, etc.

So, I've always thought that managing actions and projects of all these different facets should be together in one tool or system. If I'm doing the weekly review, I should be looking at them all at the same time, for example.

But recently I've identified that I needed to create some separation between my work and personal lives.

I noticed that I was not able to rest at the end of the workday or over the weekend. I was constantly feeling anxious about my work tasks, I had difficulty clarifying my stuff and I was feeling overwhelmed. While doing regular therapy/counselling for a year, I realized I needed to do focus on three things:

1. Daily planning: plan my day at work to have a more structured routine.

2. Cut off from work at the end of the day, creating a smoother transition from work to personal activities in the evenings.

3. Create a separation for my weekends: work-week shutdown.

Phase 1: Daily Review: Plan the Day!

I started with a regular Daily Review in the morning to plan the day. I have this as a recurring all day event on my calendar.

After some trial and error, I was happy using Cal Newport's Time Block Planner to help me do this planning. That does not mean I abandoned GTD: I added this tool to my GTD toolset. It helped me create a more structured routine for organizing my day, and since it is linked to blocks of time, I became more aware of my capacity to tackle my next action lists.

Phase 2: Shutdown Routine

Then, after a few weeks practicing Time Blocking regularly, I started to think about the end of the day routine. It's another daily review but focused on shutting down the day. I was inspired by Cal Newport's shutdown routine and that was a total game changer for me. This practice fuelled my time blocking, which in turn optimized the way I organize my tasks and projects.

I could actually have a restful evening at home with my partner, because I knew whatever I had to do at work was clarified and organized and ready for me when I got to work. But I still felt jittery over the weekends, and I wondered what was wrong: enter the weekly review!

Phase 3: Separate Weekly Reviews

Because I was enjoying this work versus personal mindset separation, I realized that I also needed a work shutdown routine at the end of the work week.

I usually schedule my weekly review on Sundays, but I was feeling this huge resistance to do it, mainly because I didn't want to look at my work projects on a Sunday morning! Then I would avoid it altogether, skipping even my personal review. A light bulb appeared in my mind last October: what if I do a work weekly review on Fridays?

Tah-dah! I tried it and it worked!

Conclusion

My journey towards a more balanced and productive work-life dynamic led me to think differently about my routines. Separating these 2 main areas of focus (personal x work) does not mean they are not integrated. I have thoughts or ideas about work when I'm doing the dishes, but I know I can capture them in my inbox for them to be sorted out when I'm at work. And vice-versa, I capture personal thoughts at work that I will process later. That's one of the core principles of GTD!

After practicing GTD for years, I've never had this ah-hah moment about the weekly review: why not have 2 separate reviews? It seems trivial now I that I think about it, but I guess I was stuck with a fixed mindset.

The three tweaks I mentioned brought me more clarity, making my evening more relaxed any workdays smoother, marking a significant shift in my mindset and productivity.

Other related posts:

• Insights and tweaks to my Work Daily Routines
• Some thoughts about Time Blocking and My Work
• My Work Shutdown Routine Checklist
• Daily Time Blocking – Day 1 – ½
• Daily Time Blocking – Day 3
• Daily Time Blocking – Day 4
• Daily Time Blocking: New Planner

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By Noisy Deadlines Minimalist in progress, nerdy, introvert, skeptic. I don't leave without my e-reader.

Photo by Spencer on Unsplash

As I think about what I want for 2024, it's not about big goals to be a different or better person. I just want to keep doing my thing and enjoy the ride. My focus will be SELF-CARE 🍵.

Some thoughts on what I wish for 2024:

• Let this be the year of rest and taking care of myself! My wellness is more important than anything else.
• Do more of what I enjoy!
• Being mindfully present with my leisure time.
• Keep on managing stress. Do less, keep it simple!
• Keep practising my key routines:
  • Morning routine with yoga + meditation + journaling
  • Applying the GTD methodology
  • Time Blocking at work to manage workload and focus
  • Work Shutdown routine to manage stress
  • Exercise regularly: gotta keep moving!
  • Celebrate progress! 🙌

Here's to 2024 being all about taking it easy, looking after myself, and enjoying the little things. 🌈✨

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By Noisy Deadlines Minimalist in progress, nerdy, introvert, skeptic. I don't leave without my e-reader.

This is a series of posts with reading notes of the book “Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity” by David Allen.

Chapter 15 – The Path of GTD Mastery

The GTD methodology is a lifelong practice. David noticed that people can have different levels of maturity:

1. Employing the fundamentals of managing workflow.

2. Implementing a more elevated and integrated total life management system.

3. Leveraging skills to create clear space and get things done for an ever expansive expression and manifestation.

We start with the basics, making small adjustments, dealing with our day-to-day reality, and then we progress to look at higher horizons (long term goals and objectives, vision and life purpose).

Mastering the Basics

• Learning to capture EVERYTHING, big or small, into a trusted system
• Using a “Waiting For” category for deliverables
• Using “Agendas” lists to capture and manage communication with others
• Keeping a simple and easy to use reference system
• Keeping the Calendar as “hard landscape”
• Doing Weekly Reviews

Graduate Level – Integrated Life Management

• A complete, current, and clear inventory of projects
• A working map of one’s roles, accountabilities, and interest both personally and professionally
• An integrated total life management system. Custom tailored to one’s current needs and direction, and utilized to dynamically steer out beyond the day-to-day
• Challenges and surprises trigger your utilization of this methodology instead of throwing you out of it

At some point, David says, “projects will become the heartbeat of your operational system”. They will be a reflection of our roles, areas of focus and interests. You might start customizing your system to better fit your needs.

Post Graduate – Focus Direction and Creativity

• Utilizing your freed up focus to explore the more elevated aspects of your commitments and values
• Leveraging your external mind to produce novel value

Once the details of our daily lives are taken care of, there will be more space and focus for more creative thinking. A good example is unearthing items from our Someday/Maybe lists when we feel we are ready.

Conclusion

As David Allen mentions at the end of the book, the GTD methodology validates much of what is common sense. The merit of this book is that it is extremely practical while at the same time explaining the principles behind the methodology. Plus, the GTD methodology is super flexible and can be tailored to fit our own needs and preferences.

After 10 years applying this methodology, I can confidently say that it has had a powerful impact on my life. It has helped me manage day-to-day mental clutter and execute significant, life-changing projects. All of my major life changes were once captured in a Someday/Maybe list.

For me, GTD goes beyond task and project management. It's more about figuring out what makes my work meaningful, living mindfully, and keeping my head in a good space. It's not just about being super productive—it's about making life feel worthwhile.

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By Noisy Deadlines Minimalist in progress, nerdy, introvert, skeptic. I don't leave without my e-reader.

This is a series of posts with reading notes of the book “Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity” by David Allen.

Chapter 14 – GTD and Cognitive Science

In this chapter, the focus is on the intersection of cognitive science and the Getting Things Done (GTD) methodology.

This chapter cites a Belgium academic study that analyzed the GTD methodology using working theories from cognitive science. Essentially, our minds are designed to have ideas based on pattern recognition, but not to remember everything.

The book “The Organized Mind” by Daniel Levitin is also mentioned to illustrate why we need an “external brain” to help store and maintain huge amounts of data. When we use our memory as our organization system, our minds will become overwhelmed.

The Belgium academic paper describes the science behind the act of externalizing our thoughts so that our minds are more effective. Externalizing information, such as using lists and reminders, can offload cognitive demands on memory, allowing the mind to focus on higher-level thinking.

“Your mind is for having ideas, not for holding them.” — David Allen

Another point that has been studied is the relieving cognitive load of incompletions. Uncompleted tasks take up room in the mind, which then limits clarity and focus (scientific paper here). The paper also proves that the completion of the tasks are not required to relieve that burden on our minds: what is needed is a trusted system that guarantees the tasks will be triggered when appropriate.

GTD helps in managing cognitive load by providing a systematic approach to externalize and organize thoughts, reducing mental clutter and enhancing cognitive performance.

David Allen also discusses that the Flow state (or “being in the zone”) is facilitated when we use the GTD approach: having clarity, clear goals, and single-tasking. Other psychological benefits of the methodology involve goal-striving (desired outcomes) and psychological capital (PsyCap). Using the GTD methodology sets us up for more optimism, a sense of self-efficacy, hope and resilience.

Wrapping up, the chapter shows how GTD is like our personal brain manager, helping us sort out our thoughts, clear up mental mess, and boost how well our brain works.

” ... when all of our potentially meaningful things are captured, clarified, organized, and reflected upon, the more mature, elegant, and intelligent part of who we really are can show up at the table. That produces experiences and results that can't be beat.” — David Allen

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By Noisy Deadlines Minimalist in progress, nerdy, introvert, skeptic. I don't leave without my e-reader.

This is a series of posts with reading notes of the book “Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity” by David Allen.

In Part 3, Chapters 11, 12 & 14 David Allen gives more insights about the power of the key principles: capturing, next-actions and outcome focusing.

Chapter 11 – The Power of the Capturing Habit

One of the most powerful habits I've learned with GTD is writing things down, either manually or digitally. In this chapter, David lists all the benefits of this practice and explain why uncaptured open loops take up mental space. We feel negative feelings (overwhelm, anxiety, guilt) when we see our incomplete to-dos because we are breaking agreements with ourselves. And the book presents ways to prevent these broken agreements:

• Don't make the agreement: in short, just make fewer commitments, practice saying “no”
• Complete the agreement: just do it! Use the 2-minute rule as much as you can
• Renegotiate the agreement: lower your standards, keep the agreement, put it on a someday/maybe list

“A renegotiated agreement is not a broken one.” — David Allen

The act of doing a mind sweep always make me feel better. And that's because when I unload all those thoughts, I'm automatically renegotiating my agreements with myself. I probably didn't notice the full potential of this habit when I started, but now I know how valuable it is. I've recently discovered that if I do a quick mind sweep at the end of my work day, I feel much better! As David Allen suggests:

“I suggest that you use your mind to think about things, rather than think of them”. — David Allen

Chapter 12 – The Power of the Next-Action Decision

Always ask this question: “What's the next action?” Why? Because if forces:

• Clarity
• Accountability
• Productivity
• Empowerment

It's a quick exercise to define what doing looks like. I identified myself when David Allen mentions that the most creative, sensitive and intelligent people are the ones who procrastinate the most. Because we tend to fantasize scenarios about what is needed to complete that project, along with all the negative possible outcomes! We freak out and give up!

Another interesting note is that we might be repelled by our to-do lists:

“… not because of the contents per se, but rather because sufficient appropriate thinking has yet to be applied to them.” — David Allen

Chapter 13 – The Power of Outcome Focusing

The key message of this chapter is that we can't define the next action until we know what is the desired outcome in the end.

And it can apply to small, mundane things or to big life goals. Some good questions to always have in mind:

• What does this mean to me?
• Why is it here?
• What do I want to have be true about this? What's the desired outcome?
• How do I now make this happen?
• What resources do I need to allocate to make it happen (What's the next action?“)

The challenge will always be: defining what done means and what doing looks like.

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By Noisy Deadlines Minimalist in progress, nerdy, introvert, skeptic. I don't leave without my e-reader.

This is a series of posts with reading notes of the book “Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity” by David Allen.

Chapter 10 – Getting Projects Under Control

This chapter is all about informal, straightforward planning and the tools that can assist us in this process.

David identifies 2 types of projects:

• Projects that Retain Attention: These are projects that continue to demand attention even after determining their next actions. They require a bit more advance planning.
• Projects for which ideas just show up, ad hoc: These are projects where ideas spontaneously emerge. They need a designated space to store these ideas for later use.

Next Actions about Planning

Some projects will need next actions to trigger more in depth planning. David outlines potential next planning steps:

• Brainstorming: Useful when the project is unclear. A potential next action might be on the @computer or @anywhere list: “Draft ideas about Project X.”
• Organizing: If there are scattered notes about the project, the next action could be: “Organize Project X notes.”
• Setting Up Meetings: Often, scheduling a meeting with involved parties is the next action that propels the project forward.
• Gathering information: Sometimes, reaching out to someone or researching a topic is crucial. Next actions like “Call X regarding his thoughts on...,” “Look into the topic of X...,” or “Review reports understanding X...” can capture these tasks.

Thinking Tools

Write things down!

Regardless of the method, it's important we have a means to capture thoughts. David suggests various options: paper and pads, easels and whiteboards, digital tools (text, outliner, mind mapping apps, spreadsheets, etc).

An interesting point from David Allen is that larger screens are better for planning:

“I suggest, however, that the value of smartphones and the like is for the execution of the results of thinking – not for generating creative thought. For that I want more space, not less.” — David Allen

Project notes can be stored in various locations, from a paper folder for loose-leaf pages to digital tools like mind mapping and outlining apps or the Notes section of a task manager. Whatever works!

My thoughts and lessons learned

I've always struggled a bit with project planning and notes. I tended to skip the “planning” step and jump into execution right away. Format and location were challenges too; I thought I needed a rigid process for capturing thoughts. I believed that all projects should have a Master Project Note, in a specific format, stored in a specific folder.

However, I've learned that project planning can take various forms, depending on the project. Sometimes, jotting down ideas by hand on a notepad works best, while other times, creating an outline with the necessary steps is more effective. The key is flexibility. This took some time for me to learn.

Now, for more complex projects, I still create a Master Project Note. It includes the project's start/end dates, related focus areas, and notes using the Natural Planning Model as needed. However, for most projects, I rely on notes in Nirvana or none at all. It's all about using the available tools as we see fit.

I think the ending of this chapter encapsulates the idea:

“The key is to get comfortable with having and using your ideas. And to acquire the habit of focusing your energy constructively, on intended outcomes and open loops before you have to.” — David Allen

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By Noisy Deadlines Minimalist in progress, nerdy, introvert, skeptic. I don't leave without my e-reader.

After spending some time using a Time Block planner and paying closer attention to how I kick off and wrap up my workdays, I've had some cool insights:

• Apps Aren’t the Culprit: The problem is almost never the apps I'm using, it is how I'm using the system and my own habits.
• Review Regularly: Things will fall through the cracks if I don’t do my reviews periodically.
• Time Blocker Magic: Planning the day with the Time Blocker has been a game-changer for maintaining focus. It’s totally fine to tweak the plan multiple times during the day (just like Cal Newport suggests).
• Shutdown Ritual: The end of day shutdown routine is non-negotiable—it guarantees a smooth transition from work mode to relaxation.
• The Nirvana app works like a charm for me, it's distraction-free, simple, light and powerful.

I renamed my start and end of day routines and now they look like this:

Morning: Plan the Day (do my Daily Review)

• ☀ Open physical notebook and insert the day
• ◕ Check Calendar: what do I need to do today? is there anything I need to prepare for?
• ⛳ Process Inboxes (E-mail, NirvanaHQ): Clarify: Is it actionable? What is the context – Organize: is it part of a project? Energy? Time?
• ✅ Check Next Actions List and move items to Focus list
• ⭐ Check and update my Focus List
• ⏰ Open my Time Block Planner and plan the day. Schedule time for defining work if needed
• ⚡ Engage: Filter context and begin work!

End of Day: Shutdown Routine

• Capture: Quick mind-sweep of tasks I failed to capture and add them to the Inbox.
• Process: Meeting Notes from the day.
• Check off any completed tasks.
• Review my Calendar for tomorrow: Do I need to prepare anything? What things do I want to achieve tomorrow? (Flag them to the ⭐Focus list, add notes on my Time Block Planner)
• Say to myself “Shutdown Complete!” and mark the checkbox on the Time Block Planner.

I added the morning Daily Review and the Shutdown routine to Nirvana as a daily recurring task. They show up in my Focus list every day:

Snapshot in time: What is on my Focus list today

These routines are inside the notes section in Nirvana as a checklist so I can check them off if I want to:

On some days, things go smoothly, and on others, chaos reigns.

On the good days, I take a solid 30 minutes to plan my schedule down to the nitty-gritty. But when chaos strikes on the bad days, I glance at my calendar, block off meeting times, and dive headfirst into urgent tasks. After lunch, I do a quick ‘post-mortem’ assessment, tweak my time blocker, and figure out where to focus my energy for the rest of the day.

I’ve learned that aiming for perfection is counterproductive. While checklists serve as a helpful template, I play it by ear and adapt as necessary.

One of the best insights I had this year is to embrace flexibility while still having some structure.

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By Noisy Deadlines Minimalist in progress, nerdy, introvert, skeptic. I don't leave without my e-reader.

I’ve had some rough weeks these couple of months in terms of dealing with my own anxiety. I’ve had ups and downs: one week I’m thriving, the other I’m overwhelmed. The past two weeks I’ve been feeling everything is great: I’m not feeling overwhelmed, I’m sleeping well, I have no pain or aches, I’m not having racing thoughts, and I’m not drowning in worry.

In my therapy session this week, my therapist asked me why I was feeling better, and what has changed that made me feel this way now?

I looked back at my journal entries and my weekly notes and came up with 4 reasons:

1. Journaling in the morning and protecting my morning routine: I skipped some of this routine and my days became out of focus, filled with anxiety and stress. My morning routine became my rock, I really feel out of wack when I miss it. It consists of moving my body (usually Yoga, but also stretching and body weight exercises), meditation and journaling. These 3 combined give me a push to start the day mindfully.

2. Planning on Mondays: I noticed how important it is for me to do a longer session on Monday mornings to plan the week. I've been using Cal Newport's second edition Time Block Planner, and it's been great! Lots of space to plan the week. And I’m also changing my Monday mindset: Mondays are for planning and catching up, I don't need to accomplish any big tasks on Mondays and that's okay. This helped go through the past 2 weeks handling 5 concurrent projects at work that I thought I wouldn’t be able to manage.

3. Realizing that I need a Work Weekly Review on Fridays: It needs to be separate from my personal weekly review, and it needs to be before the weekend, so I don't stress about work when I don’t want to. This was huge! After years practising GTD I didn’t realize that I could have 2 separate weekly reviews, and that it would make such a difference to my mental health.

4. Having the new car situation resolved: It was a relief to be certain that I could maintain my morning routine now that we solved the issues of our morning commute. Not having to leave earlier because of the logistics of taking buses and carpooling saved me a lot of mental stress. I didn’t realize how much this worry was weighting down on me. My morning routines are the rocks of my day! Can't miss them!

So I’m basically back in my groove, writing things down, planning my days and weeks and doing my shutdown routine at work. These routines allow me to be more focused at work and allow me to be mostly stress-free.

All these reflections led me to also rethink my GTD tools (more on that later)😉

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By Noisy Deadlines Minimalist in progress, nerdy, introvert, skeptic. I don't leave without my e-reader.

This is a series of posts with reading notes of the book “Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity” by David Allen.

My notes on Chapter 08: Reflecting: Keeping It All Fresh and Functional

The GTD methodology aims to have information organized in a such a way that we see all the actions we NEED to see, WHEN we need to see them.

Recommendations on What to Look at Daily:

1. Look at the Calendar first: check all the day and time specific commitments

2. Look at the Action Lists: review the lists so that we feel confident we are not missing anything critical

But these lists can become a nuisance if they are not kept up to date. So this chapter dives deep into the famous “Weekly Review”.

Very simply, the Weekly Review is whatever you need to do to get your head empty again and get oriented for the next couple of weeks. — David Allen

The Weekly Review has 3 parts:

• Get clear: process all collected stuff
  • Collect loose papers and materials (add all to the Inbox)
  • Get “In” to empty: process all inboxes
  • Empty your head: capture anything that pops up
• Get Current: review calendars and check if all lists are up-to-date
  • Review Next Actions Lists: mark off any completed tasks, add next actions if needed
  • Review Previous Calendar: look at the past 2 weeks to see if there's anything you still need to act on
  • Review Upcoming Calendar: check for any upcoming travel, meetings, events, reminders, etc. to prepare for them
  • Review the Waiting-For list: check if follow-ups are needed, check off completed items
  • Review Projects List: check status of projects, goals, outcomes.
  • Review any Relevant Checklists
• Get Creative: add any new ideas
  • Review Someday/Maybe lists: is there anything to activate? is there anything that can be deleted?
  • Be Creative and Courageous: after doing this full review it might be easier to capture any new, crazy, thought-provoking idea into the system.

For reference there is a checklist available here.

When and where to do a Weekly Review

For a typical 5-day work week, David Allen recommends blocking off 2 hours on the last workday for the review.

This is something I realized I have not been doing well in my work routine. Because I have my personal weekly review on the weekend, I kinda neglect the review at work, thinking “Oh, I will do it with my personal one at home”. And that never happens. When I'm doing my personal review I'm in another mode, a different mood, and I don't really want to look into work related stuff.

That being said, I now blocked off my Calendar on Fridays, from 3:30pm to 5pm to dedicate exclusively on my work weekly review. My personal review will continue to be on Sunday mornings.

Until then, do whatever you need to, once a week, to trick yourself into backing away from the daily grind for a couple of hours—not to zone out, but to rise up at least to the horizon of all your projects and their statuses, and to catch up with everything else that relates to what’s pulling on your attention. — David Allen

For people with non-typical 9 to 5 jobs or different lifestyles, the review can be done on long plane or train trips, in a favourite coffee shop, during their children's weekend activity (like choir practice), etc.

At the end of this chapter David Allen mentions that it probably takes 2 years of implementing the GTD methodology to get to a point where we are confident about all our horizons (including visions, values and objectives). This might seem daunting, but it really is a long term practice because GTD has the potential to touch all levels of our lives, if we want to.

The next chapter is about “Engaging” and I'm curious to know what have I missed about it when I read it before. I can say that deciding what to do every day is one of my biggest challenges nowadays.

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By Noisy Deadlines Minimalist in progress, nerdy, introvert, skeptic. I don't leave without my e-reader.