Imagine a school that allowed every student to grow, learn and prosper. That was the initial desire behind the No Child Left Behind act of 2002 and while NCLB is controversial, it has proven successful in at least one area- keeping schools accountable.

Now imagine a school in which Getting Things Done was implemented.

Course units might include:

Time management

The weekly review

Setting up a tickler file

How to close open loops

Capturing ideas, then integrating them into your system

Mastering the projects list

Life goals from 10,000-40,000 feet

Is this vision that far from reality? My colleagues in education would laugh at the sight of such courses and yet I wonder how Algebra I prepares one for life any better than a course in life goals or time management.

The secret of course lies in integration. It's not that we need a school for GTD. Rather, we need people who can integrate GTD into what they're already doing. Teachers and parents who see the value of putting ideas onto paper and out of the mind. Administrators who actually maintain a healthy set of lists and projects. Students who can actually remember a deadline because they wrote it down.

I recently had a friend ask how I got so much done in a week. Surprised, I had to scratch my head and wonder if GTD had something to do with it after years of practice. Would your colleagues wonder about your secret to productivity? As in any classroom, the moment when someone asks is of course the moment in which you know you've set an example. Now that's GTD!