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Saved by 19 people (-7 private), first by anonymouse user on 2007-10-04


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fatigue-induced pseudo-work, where your free time mashes in with your work time, and the whole thing becomes a jumbled mess of exhaustation.

Highlighted by cherylive

The GTDCS approach emphasises relaxation. You wake-up. You see what’s on your plate for the day, make a plan, then follow it. During the work hours you work, otherwise you relax. When new obligations get introduced into your life they’re immediately collected and soon processed. Many students identify the first few days of the semester as their favorite. Why? Because there are no obligations yet. No deadlines or due dates have been injected into their life. You can relax, and enjoy the sense of possibility. GTDCS aims to make every day feel like the first.

Highlighted by cherylive

In GTD, you do a big picture review once or twice a year. In GTDCS, we designate the beginning of a new semester as the ideal time to accomplish such introspection. This is a perfect time to reflect both on the big questions — e.g., “Am I doing the things that are important to me?” — as well as the longterm — e.g., “I need to start searching for an internship this semester?”

Highlighted by cherylive

A final note: for long-term assignments, such as term papers, that require more than a week to complete, you should introduce them originally as a traditional project, allowing you to make progress on them in advance. When you enter the last week before their due date you can then treat the remaining work as a weekly assignment and schedule as above.

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Furthermore, by planning the full week in advance you are able to spread out your work intelligably — avoiding work pile-ups when multiple deadlines coincide.

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Break up each of these assignments into specific actions, each requiring no more than 1 to 2 hours.

Highlighted by cherylive

Here, once again, however, we must move beyond GTD to handle some issues specific to the student lifestyle. First we must engage the question of when to do the weekly review. Unequivocally, the answer is: Sunday morning. Drag your sorry, hungover self out of bed, get breakfast, then tackle your review while fueled by that wonderful first cup of coffee. The reason you do it in the morning is that you have a full, empty day ahead for you to catch-up on work. (The reason you do it Sunday instead of Saturday is because if you’re working all day Saturday

Highlighted by cherylive

At least once a day you need to process the items that built up in your collection bins, review the date-sensitive tasks on your calendar, make a run-through your next actions list, and, in general, get updated on your action landscape. This daily refresh is crucial to keeping the system effective.

Highlighted by cherylive

Make no distinction between work and personal life. Stuff is stuff…it has to get out of your head.

Highlighted by cherylive

Materials

Highlighted by viv2004

  • Three collection bins: your e-mail inbox, a physical inbox on your desk, and a small notepad you carry with you everywhere.
  • A calendar
  • Next action list
  • Project list
  • A filing system

    • Highlighted by viv2004

    Materials

    Highlighted by beautyegg

    Three collection bins: your e-mail inbox, a physical inbox on your desk, and a small notepad you carry with you everywhere.

    Highlighted by beautyegg

  • A calendar
  • Next action list
  • Project list
  • A filing system

    • Highlighted by beautyegg

    Collection

    Highlighted by viv2004

    when new “stuff” enters your world you need to immediately place it in one of your three collection bins.

    Highlighted by viv2004

    “stuff” enters your world you need to immediately place it in one of your three collection bins

    Highlighted by beautyegg

    Processing

    Highlighted by viv2004

    the only difference being that we skip some options (such as delegate, or the more complicated Tickler File, that are less relevant to students).

    Highlighted by viv2004

    1. Decide if the action requires action on your part. If it doesn’t, either discard it or, if it’s something you need to hold on to, file it. Otherwise…
    2. Identify the specific next action required by this item. If it requires more than one action then identify the first of these actions and make a note of the bigger project on your projects list. If this action can be completed in two minutes or less, do it right now. Otherwise…
    3. If the action needs to be completed on or by a given date, record it on this date in your calendar. Otherwise…
    4. Record the action on your next actions list.

    Reviewing

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    Decide if the action

    Highlighted by beautyegg

    Identify the specific next action required by this item

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    calendar

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    next actions

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    the daily review (”runway level” in GTD speak), the weekly review (”10,000 foot level”), and the big picture review (”the 30,000 foot level”).

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    The Daily Review:

    Highlighted by viv2004

    in your collection bins

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    once a day

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    date-sensitive tasks on your calendar

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    next actions list

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    get updated on your action landscape

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  • Check your calender to see if any date-specific actions remain. If so, tackle these first. Otherwise…
  • Turn to your next actions list and choose something appropriate.

    • Highlighted by viv2004

    designate to be work hours

    Highlighted by beautyegg

    The Weekly Review:

    Highlighted by viv2004

    Once gain, trust me here: the less work you do at night, the better

    Highlighted by beautyegg

    now is the time to process everything and get your mind free once again. It’s also a time to review your next action lists and clean them up where necessary (consolidate actions, add some, delete some)

    Highlighted by viv2004

    The GTDCS approach emphasises relaxation. You wake-up. You see what’s on your plate for the day, make a plan, then follow it. During the work hours you work, otherwise you relax. When new obligations get introduced into your life they’re immediately collected and soon processed. Many students identify the first few days of the semester as their favorite. Why? Because there are no obligations yet. No deadlines or due dates have been injected into their life. You can relax, and enjoy the sense of possibility. GTDCS aims to make every day feel like the first.

    Highlighted by tellio