Project Management with the Getting Things Done Method: Reviews

Welcome Back Readers! Before you read this post, read the first of this 2-part series: “Project Management with the Getting Things Done Method: An Overview”

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GTD Reviews

To realize the full potential of the Getting Things Done method, you must regularly review your work and personal project lists.

Regular reviews keep your mind focused because reviews allow you to stay on top of what you need/want to do without forgetting a single idea or action step.

Review schedules vary depending on the person. As I mentioned in “3 Project Management Tips That Will Make You a Better, More Prolific Writer,” I conduct the weekly, monthly, and quarterly reviews advocated by Todd Henry in [amazon_link id="1591846242" target="_blank" container="" container_class="" ]The Accidental Creative[/amazon_link], an idea which he borrowed from David Allen’s GTD system.

Henry’s review interval works well for me. Quarterly reviews provide me with a large, but not overwhelming, picture of what I need to get done over a 3-month period. Monthly and Weekly Reviews help me to establish smaller and more manageable action plans for how I will complete my quarterly projects.

Each of my reviews has 3 main components.

Quarterly Reviews

I conduct a quarterly review every 3 months.

1. Project Review: I review of all work and personal projects that I have listed in my Omnifocus app. This step helps me figure out which projects I need to work on and complete over the next 3 months. Quarterly reviews also allow me to see whether I can move any of the projects or actions from my “Someday/Maybe” lists into my active project roster.

2. Calendar Review: I go through my calendar and list any appointments, trips, meetings, or special events that will take place during the upcoming quarter. Listing these events helps me keep them “front of mind,” which helps me plan around them if and when I need to.

3. List Goals: I list goals for each quarter. In most cases they seem like a “wish list,” but for whatever reason making this wish list actually causes some of my goals to happen.

At Todd Henry’s suggestion, I begin each goal item with “It would blow my mind if…”

To get you started here are 2 items from my goals list for the December 2013-February 2014 quarter: “It would blow my mind if I launched my consulting business and landed a client.” “It would blow my mind if I revised 1 chapter of my book.”

Monthly Reviews

I refer to my quarterly review when I conduct my monthly review.

1. Project Review: I select projects from my quarterly review that I will either complete or make progress on over the course of the next month.

2. Calendar Review: I go through both my calendar and my quarterly review and list all of the appointments, trips, meetings, or special events I need to schedule around.

3. Progress Assessment: At the end of my monthly review, I ask myself whether I am happy with the work I am doing and the progress I am making. If I am not happy, I spend a few minutes free writing so I can better articulate why I am unhappy so I can try to fix it.

Weekly Reviews

I conduct my weekly reviews on Friday evening.

I have tried conducting my weekly reviews on Monday morning and Sunday night, but I disliked how Sundays cut into my “family time” and Monday morning reviews made me feel like I was starting my week behind.

Friday evening reviews help me start organized on Mondays and get me ready for my upcoming weekend.

I use my monthly reviews to help guide my weekly work plans.

1. Inbox Review: I use the OmniFocus inbox feature to capture and store all of the ideas that come to weigh on my mind each day. Before I conduct my weekly review, I go through my inbox and assign each idea a project, place it into my work or personal single-action list, or file it into my work or personal “Someday/Maybe” lists. Reviewing my inbox keeps my ideas organized and the action steps I need for each project up-to-date.

2. Project Review: I identify projects from my monthly review and list the action steps I will take to either make progress on or complete the project.

3. Calendar Review: I review my calendar once again so I know when I need to schedule my writing around work and personal events and appointments. I like to schedule my writing time in as many 2-4 hour chunks as possible and reviewing my calendar at the end of each week helps me do that.

Conclusion

Reviews are vital to how I manage my projects and get things done, which is why I schedule them in my calendar. I do not want to forget to conduct them.

This 2-post series has provided a broad overview of how I manage my time, writing, and research projects.

GTD may look like a long, complicated process, but after the initial time you take to get organized, you will find that it becomes second nature. You will also find that you are more productive.

If you would like to learn more about GTD, you should check out [amazon_link id="0142000280" target="_blank" container="" container_class="" ]Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity[/amazon_link] by David Allen, [amazon_link id="1591844118" target="_blank" container="" container_class="" ]Making Ideas Happen[/amazon_link] by Scott Belsky, and [amazon_link id="1591846242" target="_blank" container="" container_class="" ]The Accidental Creative[/amazon_link] by Todd Henry. Allen created the GTD system, but Belsky and Henry explain the system in a way that writers and other creatives will find more practical and accessible.

What Do You Think?

How do you organize your time, writing, and research projects?

Is there a part of my system that you would like me to explain in greater detail?

Project Management with the Getting Things Done Method: An Overview

Would you like to know how to better manage your time, writing, and research projects? A reader who took my reader survey asked me to explain how I manage my time, writing, and research projects. So by reader request, this 2-post series will broadly explain how I use the Getting Things Done (GTD) method of organization and project management.

Getting Things Done

The main idea behind GTD is that you need to free your mind of anything that draws your attention away from what you need to do. The easiest way to free your mind is to set aside time to brain dump on a piece of paper, in an Evernote note, Word Doc, or a GTD-optimized app such as OmniFocus, IQTELL, Asana, or Todoist.

Initial Organization: Brain Dump & Action Steps

List every project you need to complete and everything that is weighing on your mind.

Do not limit yourself to work related-ideas, write down everything weighing on your mind.

When you have finished writing down all of your to-dos and ideas, look over your list.

Your list may look like a mishmash of words: “Elkanah Watson,” “pharmacy,” “speed read.”

Turn this jumble into actionable steps by adding verbs to the items on your list: “Write article about Elkanah Watson,” “Pick up prescription at the pharmacy,” “Learn to speed read.”

Adding the verb is important because it transforms your mental note into a defined action you can take; verbs turn to-do lists into action lists.

Next, sort your action steps into projects and single-action items.

Single-Action Item: “Pick up prescription at the pharmacy.” I need to go to the pharmacy once to complete the task.

Projects: “Write article about Elkanah Watson” and “Learn to speed read.” These items are projects because I must complete smaller tasks before I finish these larger tasks.

For example, my action steps for “Write article about Elkanah Watson” may include: • “Read Flick Dissertation about Watson” • “Consult Watson’s Men and Times of the Revolution” • “Brainstorm what aspect of Watson’s life to write about” • “Draft outline of article” • “Draft article” • “Edit article” • “Submit final article to Journal of the American Revolution.”

All of these steps will help me complete the larger project, “Write article about Elkanah Watson.”

Take the time to brainstorm the actions steps you need to complete each larger project on your list. It will likely take you several hours to brain dump, organize your single-action steps and projects, and create action steps for each of your projects, but it will be time well spent.

Work vs. Personal Lists

If it will help you stay organized, you can further organize your projects into 4 different lists: Work, Personal, Work: Someday/Maybe, Personal: Someday/Maybe.

Place your work-related projects on your work list and your personal projects on your personal list. The Someday/Maybe” lists are all the items that you wish to accomplish in the future. They could be places you would like to travel to, skills or languages you would like to learn, topics you would like to write about.

Keeping Your Mind Focused

Aside from your action-step lists, GTD has 2 other important parts that you need to manage your projects and keep your mind focused: 1. Write down every idea that comes to you and store them in an “inbox-type” folder (physical or electronic) and 2. Frequent Reviews.

Inbox

In order to keep your mind focused it must be free from distraction. Every time you have a thought that springs into your mind you need to write it down and store it in a place where you know you will not lose it. This action will give your subconscious the security it needs to let go of the distracting thought.

A trusted place can be a notebook you carry with you, an Evernote notebook, or a note taking or project management app on your smartphone. The trusted place should also be something that you have ready access to whenever you need it. I use Omnifocus on my smartphone as my trusted inbox.

Reviews

Reviews are reminders. They keep your mind focused on the tasks and projects you need to complete by giving your brain the peace of mind it needs to focus. Reviews involve looking over each project on your work and personal lists and reviewing the action steps for each project. Reviews help you stay on top of what you need to/want to do so you do not forget.

By reviewing your project lists and inbox every so often, your mind will be able to focus on the projects you need to get done because it won’t have to waste time trying to remember everything that you need/want to do.

Conclusion

Reviews are essential to getting and staying organized and focused. Since they play such a vital role in how I manage my projects, I will devote tomorrow’s post to how I conduct my reviews.

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Stay Tuned  for “Project Management with the Getting Things Done Method: Reviews.”

3 Project Management Tips That Will Make You a Better, More Prolific Writer

Do you have too many research and writing projects going on? Are you tired of trying to manage these projects with calendar and to-do apps that leave their promises of an easier, more organized life unfulfilled?

I used to feel the same way. I had too many projects and not enough time for the project I most wanted to work on most: my book proposal. Or so I thought.

My search for solutions led me to Todd Henry’s book [amazon_link id="1591846242" target="_blank" container="" container_class="" ]The Accidental Creative: How to be Brilliant at a Moment’s Notice[/amazon_link]. The book promises to “help you establish enough structure in your life to get the most out of your creative process…to stay engaged and prolific over the long term.”

Convinced that this book would fall short on its promises, just like my calendar and to-do apps, I borrowed it from the library. However, Todd Henry proved me wrong.

The Accidental Creative lived up to Henry's billing. Using Henry’s practices, I have become an effective project manager and a better, more prolific writer.

Synopsis: The Accidental Creative

In The Accidental Creative, Todd Henry outlines the creative process. He asserts that “by building purposeful practices into your life” creatives can “stay engaged and productive over the long term” and “increase [their] capacity to do brilliant work, day after day, year after year.”

The book has 2 parts: Dynamics (Part 1) and Creative Rhythm (Part 2).

Part 1 describes who creatives are, the kinds of work they do, and why many creatives burnout.

Part 2 lays out Henry’s 6-step plan for managing creativity, which will help a creative avoid burnout.

The heart of Henry’s plan is conscious recognition. Creatives must be conscious of all of the information they take in, the time they spend consuming information, meeting with other people, and creating.

Once creatives become conscious of the information, experiences, and time they consume, they can manipulate those factors into productive creative time.

3 Project Management Tips from The Accidental Creative That Will Make You a Better, More Prolific Writer

1. Notation: Write down all of your ideas, even if they are not immediately relevant to your current project.

Henry advises readers to keep an idea notebook and to regularly review it.

Henry's 4 Tips to Optimize Idea Notebook Organization and Review Time

1. Keep the first few pages of your notebook free for the “Idea Index.” 2. Number the pages of your notebook. 3. Each time you write down an idea, flip to the index and record a brief summary of your idea and note the page number where you wrote down the full idea. 4. Take a few moments each day to scan your “Idea Index” as old ideas may help you with your current project.

2. Checkpoints: Take time each week, month, and quarter to conduct a checkpoint.

Checkpoints are written action plans or schedules that you create on a weekly, monthly, and quarterly basis.

Henry offers a specific checklist of items you should think about when you conduct each type of checkpoint in Chapter 9.

Checkpoint Basics:

• Set aside time: Weekly Checkpoints: 20-60 minutes; Monthly Checkpoints: 60-90 minutes; Quarterly Checkpoints: 4-8 hours
• Identify the projects you want to complete and the tasks, research, and meetings you need to accomplish them.
• Recognize and take into account all non-work related projects and familial, friendly, and professional obligations when you create your project schedule.

3. Pruning: It is okay to "prune" or let go of activities and commitments that "inhibit your ability to effectively perform."

Pruning doesn't mean saying "No" to every project that comes your way, but it does mean letting go of time-consuming projects that do not add to your overall professional and creative goals.

Success

Todd Henry's "Accidental Creative" practices work.

These 3 valuable techniques have helped me better organize my projects and my work.

Keeping and reviewing an idea notebook has relieved my mind of the burden of trying to remember the ideas I have for my various writing, research, and consulting projects. The notebook holds my ideas until I need them.

The practice of conducting weekly, monthly, and quarterly checkpoints has provided me with the roadmaps I need to complete my projects. Knowing exactly what projects I must complete each week ensures that I make time for them.

I have more focus because I have eliminated time-consuming projects that do not help me get to the “Freelance Historian” life I envision.

The best part: Following Henry’s advice has enabled me to be a prolific writer. As a result, I accomplished my goal: I finished my book proposal.

What Do You Think?

How do you manage your projects? What methods work, or don't work, for you?

Have you read The Accidental Creative? What practice do you find most helpful?

Work Flow: How I Organize My Research and Writing

On Friday September 27, from 10:30am to 1:30pm, I will teach an interactive course at Grub Street called “How to Organize Your Writing, Ideas, and Research.” This seminar will show writers how they can use Evernote, Zotero, and DEVONthink to better manage their ideas and research. Preparing for this seminar has caused me to think about how I use Evernote, Zotero, and DEVONthink to organize my research and writing.

My Work Flow

Zotero

Zotero is a free, easy-to-use tool that helps researchers collect, organize, cite, and share their research.

In 2006, I started using Zotero as a bibliographic and citation tool, and as an organizational database for my dissertation research. I liked the fact that Zotero was free and that it was less tedious than the notecard system my advisor had introduced me to. I also liked that Zotero made my research portable via my laptop and searchable with tags and keywords.

Zotero served me well for my dissertation. It helped me organize my data, collect bibliographic information from the web, format my footnotes into the Chicago Manual of Style, and generate a bibliography.

However by 2011, I found that I wanted a more powerful program. Zotero became slow and ‘clunky’ to use as my database surpassed 16,000 entries.

Evernote

In 2010, I began using Evernote in conjunction with Zotero.

I use Evernote as my digital filing cabinet. In fact, I got rid of 5 physical filing cabinets by scanning my records and filing them into Evernote. Evernote is where I keep all of my journal articles, manuscript photocopies, teaching materials, notes from various projects, seminar and conference notes, and my research notebook. I also use Evernote to organize my household records.

The Evernote app for my smartphone allows me to take my filing cabinet with me wherever I go. The ability to carry my filing cabinet with me has been immensely useful. Not only can I look up an article on-the-go, but I can also immediately record any ideas I have or research leads I find into Evernote.

I believe Evernote is the “Goldilocks” of organizational tools. Users can electronically store their research materials and find what they need with a click of a tag or a keyword search. Evernote’s new enhanced OCR search can even locate some handwritten documents.

Despite its great capabilities, I have not been able to wrap my head around the idea of using Evernote as my research database. Part of the reason for that is that I need a database that allows me to manipulate my notes to appear chronologically or by topic.

After reading rave reviews about DEVONthink on the web and in the AHA’s Perspectives early last year, I started to play with DEVONthink Pro.

DEVONthink Pro

DEVONthink manages information. The program archives e-mails, PDFs, scanned documents, MS Word documents, PowerPoint slides, iWork files, and websites.

I started using DEVONthink in February 2013. I find that it excels as a large database. I use Smart Folders to manipulate my notes so I can view them any way I need to.

DEVONthink’s artificial intelligence feature helps me write. When I look up a note or document transcription, the A.I. feature recommends other records with like content that I have stored in the database. (Recently, Evernote added a “Related Notes” feature at the bottom of its notes that performs a similar function).

Also, DEVONthink is fast. DEVONthink searches faster than Evernote because it is based on my hard drive. Although I could use DEVONthink as a digital filing cabinet, I don’t because it lacks the portability of Evernote.

Summary of Work Flow

Presently, I employ all three programs to organize my research and writing. I use Zotero for bibliographies and citations, Evernote as my filing cabinet, and DEVONthink as my research database. My method may seem cumbersome, but my brain likes knowing that my research is separate from everything else. Moreover, by the time Evernote came out with its “Related Notes” feature and OCR search capabilities, I had already paid for and started to use DEVONthink.

What Do You Think?

What does your work flow look like? What software do you use to organize your research and writing?

Increase Your Productivity with Wunderlist 2 To-Do List Software

Increase your productivity with Wunderlist 2 to-do list software. Like most historians, I have a long to-do list. I need to keep track of tasks for my article projects, conference proposals, book revisions, and blog posts. I must stay mindful of books and manuscript collections that I need to look at and read. I also have daily goals that I try to meet. Wunderlist 2 helps me stay on task and remain aware of everything that I must accomplish. It is the best to-do list software available and it's free!

To-Do Lists

Wunderlist 2 allows me to create separate to-do lists for each of my projects. This feature has improved my productivity. Rather than become distracted or overwhelmed by my global list of to dos, I concentrate only on the tasks needed to complete a particular project.

I use the due date and notification features to make Wunderlist push me. Nothing spurs me to action more than failure. When I miss a deadline, Wunderlist reminds me with a red, past due notice. This motivation has helped me to accomplish my daily reading and writing goals on a consistent basis.

Recurring Task Feature

The recurring tasks feature enables users to determine how often they would like Wunderlist to remind them of a task. For example, I update my blog every Monday and Friday. I created 2 items for blog posts and set a weekly recurrence for each. Now Wunderlist reminds me to post to my blog every Monday and Friday. Users can also set daily, biweekly, triweekly, or monthly recurrences for tasks.

Cross-Device Syncing

To use Wunderlist, users must create a Wunderlist account. This account enables the software to sync users' to-do lists across platforms and devices. I find this feature helpful. No matter where I am, I can access my to-do lists from any computer, tablet, or smartphone device.

Add to Wunderlist Button

The "Add to Wunderlist Button" adds an extension to your web browser. Similar to Evernote's Web Clipper, the button clips website information and places it in your to-do list. This feature lacks consistency.

When I used the button to add a book from the Boston Public Library catalog to my to-do list, it did not collect the information I wanted, namely the call number and location of the book. I had to add that information manually. But, when I used it to clip information from the New York Public Library's manuscript catalog, the button captured all of the information I needed: the name of the repository, title of the collection, call number, and other information from the catalog.

I hope that the software developers work out the kinks in this feature. I would love to use it to prepare for research trips.