Now that you know the principles and the practice of the Getting Things Done program, let’s talk about how implementing this system will change your mental well-being and relationships with others.
Capturing everything you need to do in one system maximizes your mental capacity: When you hold everything in your head, relatively unimportant tasks consume as much mental energy as the important ones, so some items are getting too much attention and others aren’t getting enough. By contrast, when you capture and clarify everything, you can assess how important and urgent something really is and address it appropriately.
The initial capturing process might bring up conflicting feelings: The sheer number of tasks can make you anxious, stressed, frustrated, and guilty. But recording and organizing them will also make you feel relieved and in control.
You’ll know you’ve captured everything when you have nothing left pulling at your attention. At this point you can put all your focus on the task at hand and get into a “zone” with everything you do.
When people around you—at work and in your personal life—see that you consistently and promptly act on items and tasks, their trust in you will grow. In simple terms, think about a friend who always cancels or reschedules your lunch dates at the last minute versus a friend who always shows up or gives you ample notice when she can’t make it; who do you trust more, and does that trust extend beyond the ability to show up for lunch?
By the same token, when you reliably follow the system and stay on top of your tasks, projects, and organization, you’ll have more trust in yourself and you’ll become more confident about the way you engage with the world.
Every time you take on a new task, you’re making an agreement with yourself. And every unfinished task on your to-do list feels like a broken agreement; too many unfinished tasks causes you to lose trust in yourself.
Keep your trust and confidence in yourself high with these strategies:
There’s almost always more to do (or more options of things to do) than can possibly be done, so it’s critical that you learn to filter all the demands on your time by eliminating some agreements and renegotiating others.
When a couple, company, team, or family has a culture of consistent and reliable capturing, it makes the whole organization run more smoothly because no one has to worry about anyone else letting something slip through the cracks.
Many organizations don’t run as smoothly as they can because of hindered communication and action. This can happen when:
However, everyone in the organization benefits from a culture of capturing tasks as they come in. Even families function better when every member has her own in-tray.