I’ve always been curious about productivity tools and techniques to try. But when I read a book written by David Allen, it amazed me. I finally found a framework that could replace the to-do lists I was rewriting every day! Let me share the most beneficial aspects of GTD.

Free mind space

This is the biggest advantage of GTD ever. Most to-do applications and productivity tools focus on improving efficiency and productivity. But the primary goal of GTD is different. It’s releasing your brain space through building a system that handles unnecessary noise. The thing is - the human brain doesn’t differentiate between important and unimportant actions. A task to do is a task to do. And in the reality, 90% of what we do is not life-changing: shopping, repairing stuff, calling someone, etc. Tiny items occupy the mind, not leaving the space for important ones (and often not allowing us to fully focus on something). A reliable system, which handles all stuff happening around, is the GTD solution. It releases the brain from the unnecessary load, which leads to high productivity without stress. (Actually, the subtitle of the book is “The Art of Stress-Free Productivity”). One can concentrate on how to do something, instead of recalling what.

I find this aspect of GTD especially beneficial for my work as a programmer. First, I don’t have to worry about emails, Slack notifications, or context switching when I code. I have a defined way of handling all incoming stuff, so I know I won’t miss anything important. Second, I have a mental space that allows me to focus only on coding. David Allen (and others) call this state ‘flooding mind’ - when a person can focus on the activity, forgetting about the outside world. Work done in this state is innovative, original, and very productive.

Flexibility

I love the fact that the system can evolve and adjust to changes in your life. When I started using GTD, I mainly needed to organize my data from university studies. Then, I added some personal life sections. Finally, I created a completely new section in my notepad dedicated only to work. Expanding the system into more and more sections of my life was done at almost no cost - the structure stays the same, just a new environment to create. When you have all strategies and habits of one part, you can reuse them in new contexts. Like with a well-written software application: you can deploy it to one more server with a new database, but the codebase is the same.

Another thing is the level of GTD rules you want to use. How deep you go with applying GTD rules, depends on your needs. When I was at university, I needed only a few pages in my OneNote Notebook and system reviews every 2-3 weeks (my life wasn’t very organized, must admit). Today, after almost ten years, I have a much, much more complex notes system divided into sections. Some of them I’m reviving every week, and some once a month or less frequently. But it’s all up to you and your needs.

Extendability

Extendability means that I can use other productivity-related methods together with GTD. While GTD gives clear rules on how to handle current actions and projects, it hardly advises on planning long-term goals or growth. Thus, I’m using OKRs for defining them and treating them as extra projects in my GTD notebook. I can easily define the next steps for fulfilling them and check the progress during weekly GTD reviews, which I do anyway.

One more helpful technique for programming is the well-known pomodoro. When defining actions in my GTD system, I often use pomodoro as a time measurement for some activities - e.g. spend three pomodoro a week on a pet project. This way, I can divide complex tasks into smaller chunks, which are easier to start and execute.

Summary

These are the most important advantages that decided GTD is the framework I’m using for almost ten years. In the next posts, I will share more of my practical experiences and will give some advice on how to start implementing them in your life. I hope you give it a try!