I am linking you to a blog post from the Zen Habits blog entitled Seven Productivity Tips For People That Hate GTD. I am doing this because, while I do not always follow my own advice, I think that keeping things as simple as possible is hugely important for any business owner. There is so much coming at us all the time, so many things both big and small that need our attention and follow-up, that an effective, simple system for staying on top of it all is a key to success. We all know that by just following up in a timely way with customers and prospects, that we are putting ourselves ahead of most of our competition. Hard to believe, I know.
I have come across friends and associates over the years that have implored me to read and implement David Allen’s GTD system. I have dabbled, but it was obvious it was not up my alley. GTD stands for Getting Things Done, and if you are not familiar, it started out as a book written to describe a system for keeping on top of all of your tasks, and it has now evolved into something more akin to a religion for it’s legions of adherents. And I am not taking anything away from those it has helped, but as Jonathan Mead points out on the Zen Habits blog, it is clearly not for everyone.
My biggest beef about GTD, as well as the offspring it has paved the way for, is that it is too complicated for most people. (Like any good religion, there are several variations that have splintered off from the main movement.) My take on these systems was always that you spent more time setting up, worrying about and maintaining your ‘workflow’ than you did getting your work done, and that is obviously counter-productive. This is something I have thought a lot about, and I keep coming back to the same theme: simpler is better.
So I guess this post would not be complete if I did not offer my suggestion to managing your ‘workflow’. (more…)
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