GTD Insight #33: Maximizing Email Happiness

How often to you check your email?  If you work in a techcentric environment, this question may seem odd as email becomes akin to breathing, an unconscious act that continues throughout the day.  I'd like to suggest that there is a pleasure to email that overchecking can dullen.  Read on.

Email can be pleasurable when it's surprising, when it delivers an anticipated response or when it relaxes the reader.  Unfortunately, when we check email over and over again, our sense of email pleasure softens, making email another mundane task that takes up our time.

Today's GTD Insight is very simple- check email several times during the day but don't overcheck.  The GTD practitioner knows how to strike the balance between getting his work done and still enjoying the little things, like a piece of good news delivered via email.

GTD Insight #20: Do More by Chatting Less

If you could measure how much chit-chat goes into an average workday, would you then keep it up or cut down on it?  When four veteran employees were fired last May
due to excessive gossip at work, people were outraged.  At the end of
the day, it was a good reminder that productivity does matter.  It
appears that the high school girls who ruined your reputation in 10th grade have grown up and not kicked the habit.

If GTD
has done anything for the productivity world, it's enhanced our
awareness of the need to stay focused at work, do one thing at a time,
and handle interruptions with ease.  Today's insight is simple: do more
at work by talking less to those around you.  I'm not advocating a sort
of monasticwork-flow where we light candles and speak for only an hour
after lunch.  Rather, it seems to make sense that we talk when we need
to rather than as an escape from our work.

I see many people who
stay in a conversation just a bit longer than they need to.  It's a
sort of luxury that folks enjoy in order to delay work.  Fascinating
but true.

Some suggestions for getting things done today while using fewer words:

• Keep your door closed for one solid hour while you crank out some work.


• Go for a walk around the block after lunch instead of chatting by the water cooler.


• Buy a pair of headphones and use at your discretion.


• Put a sign on the back of your chair that says, "Please do not interrupt- power hour in process."

Resources for the Road
Gossip Tops Biggest Workplace Pet Peeves
NY Times: If You Can't Say Anything Nice
Become a Workplace Superstar: Tame the Gossip in You

GTD Insight #9: More GTD = More Salary

Want to increase your salary by 30%?  Practicing Getting Things Done might be just the thing.  If David Allen has taught us anything, it's to be prepared for the items that come your way.  Handle them well and good things will follow:

If you want to catch fish, and really enjoy the
sport, you will maintain your lures and line in some organized fashion.
The best at it will always have their tackle ready.
(David Allen)

Having your tackle ready implies that you've got a system in place.  This system can handle the schedule, interruptions and chaos of a given day.  Ok, but how does this impact one's salary?  Read on.

All of us should ask ourselves from time to time the following question, "Am I worth what my salary?"  Here are some components of determining what we bring to the workplace:

• Professionalism: am I conducting myself in a professional, effective and competent manner?  Is my appearance, speech and communication a reflection of an excellent worker?



• Purpose: do I move through the day with swiftness, action and produce results? 



• Posture: am I someone whom others respect and admire?  Do I carry myself with confidence and pride?



• Presence: am I a leader and facilitator of problem solving?  Can I be counted on when it counts most?

People who practice GTD produce results.  They get more things done because they appreciate systems enough to handle the "now" so that they can then move on to the next thing.

GTD Insight #9: Productivity and Cell Phones

Cell phones provide a great way to be productive on the go.  They are also a huge expense if you don't watch it.  One girl in Great Britain even had an "injury" due to too much text messaging.  As is often the case, all things in moderation.

Staying productive on the go is a prime GTD principle and the use of cell phones is another arrow in the quiver.  As my own contract is up in less than a month, I've been gearing up for another round of smartphone study.  Here are the contenders for peak productivity:

• Apple iPhone: this is sexy and has a magical interface.  The con is that it costs a boat-load of money and runs on ATT, which may not be optimal depending on location.    With WiFi and the Mac appeal, the iPhone makes any buyer consider leaving their current network and jump ship towards ATT.  It's that good.

• Palm Centro: this is the cheapest smartphone and latest edition from Palm.  With a full keyboard and slim design, the Centro is designed for the "first smartphone" buyer.  One con might be its use of Sprint, which as usual is hit or miss depending on your part of the country.  The Centro is hip and light and super easy to use. 

• Samsung i760: while not the sexiest model of our three, this phone has a slideout keyboard and WiFi (always a plus).  Best of all, it runs on Verizon which is often the most reliable of networks.  A negative is that VW has a ridiculously expensive data package.   The i760 is a strong contender nonetheless.

Resources for the road:
Mobile Productivity Toolbox:  100 Resources to Keep You Productive on the Move
How to Save Money on Your Cell Phone Bill
CNET Smartphone Review Guide

GTD Insight #14: Be Productive by Making Someone Happy

Blinding flash of the obvious: you've got to enjoy making others happy if you're in the customer service business.  In other words, in the space between frustration and a problem solved, you're willing to stand in the gap and be a part of the solution.

Why is it then that so many customer-service types are so anti-customer?  With so many jobs out there...gee whiz!

Today's GTD Insight is quite simple: being productive, at some point, will involve serving others. But here's the catch- you actually enjoy the ride.  Someone once said, "If you want to do something quickly, do it yourself.  If you are in for the long haul, involve others." Well said.

Being a GTD practitioner is about being smarter in work and life, knowing that happy people make for the best company and serving their needs returns the favor ten-fold.   

Teaching GTD to Young People

Each Wednesday, TDS hosts The GTD Cafe where we look at Getting Things Done.

I first learned GTD from a 7th grade teacher who instructed me to write down my daily homework on a simple piece of paper.  I was to track my assignments and then check them off as I completed my work. Not a bad system for a middle schooler, especially since my 7th grade teacher hadn't heard of David Allen, much less a weekly review or mind dump.

Since becoming a teacher myself, I've taught this same system many times over.  Write down one task at a time.  When you are finished with it, cross it out.  Keep your little piece of paper with you wherever you go.  While many students want to go out and purchase something more hip than a piece of lined paper, simple is good and very GTDish.

My advice to helping young people practice GTD:

• Encourage super-simple systems. Avoid PDA's and Blackberry devices and stick to a simple notepad and pencil.


• Preach, one thing at a time. Especially during homework time or when your child would rather be doing something else, the ONAT (one thing at a time) rule still applies.


• Reward list making. Kids are great at making Christmas lists and wouldn't David Allen approve of getting something out of your head and onto paper?  Cultivate this skill throughout the year.