Do you remember the last time you felt a sense of being in total control, you felt no stress, you were focused like a laser on the task before you and time just seemed to disappear? In karate this is often referred to as “mind like water.” An athlete might describe this state as “being in the zone.”
What if I told you there is a method that can help you achieve this highly productive state on a consistent basis? Would you be interested to learn about this? It is called the “Getting Things Done” (GTD) method and millions of people have used it to become highly productive while reducing stress.
In this short series of articles for the 212 Health Newsletter, I would like to introduce you to this method so you too can learn this stress relieving method that can help you be more productive and healthier. Let’s get started with a short introduction.
There is one thing we can do, and the happiest of people are those who do it to the limit of their ability. We can be completely present. -Mark Van Doren
How often have you found yourself trying to concentrate on a task only to be continually interrupted with some other nagging issue(s) in your mind that just will not go away. The GTD method refers to these as “open loops.” An “open loop” can be defined as anything pulling at your attention, that does not belong where it is, the way it is. Throughout this series of articles, I will discuss five simple principles that can help you get rid of these distracting “open loops” so you can be completely present for the tasks at hand.
To get started the GTD method suggest a two-minute exercise that goes something like this. Write down an unfinished task or project that keeps nagging at you. Choose something that you feel you must deal with sooner rather than later. Now, using a single sentence write down your intended successful outcome for this task. To say it another way, what needs to happen for you to be able to check this task as done?
Next, write down the very next physical action required to move the situation forward. Did you find any value in this little exercise? If so, what changed? Do you now feel at least a tiny bit of enhanced control and focus?
We will kick off the next article with another little exercise that is the key to getting started with the GTD method. Step one of the GTD method begins in the next issue of the 212 Health Newsletter.
Your partner in productivity,
Terry Deckard
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