Getting Things Done
Organization is important when you want to get work done. It is especially important for a university student trying to get a degree. Organization will allow you to locate items and remember the tasks you have to complete, so it can increase your performance in the tasks in your life.
There are many ways to keep organized and just as many, if not more, ways to be unorganized. I used to be one of those people who got through life without really planning for anything. I did not plan for the future by making to-do lists or making note of important events. As a result, I sometimes missed those events. I would have continued this way if not for two instances. The first was a time when I missed an important appointment. This made me realize that something had to change. The second was finding and reading the book Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity by David Allen (2001). This book showed me what changes to make.
David Allen’s book covered many topics, including work ethic, delegation, and, most importantly to me, organization. His book offered many tips and tricks for organizing one’s workload. One of his tips was to divide your incoming items into one of two categories: non-actionable and actionable (Allen, 2001). Actionable items are further organized into subcategories defined by the length of time needed to complete them. Some actions may only take two minutes, while others may need a longer length of time. Items taking two minutes or less should be completed right away, while items taking more than two minutes should be either delegated or deferred to later. Non-actionable items are organized into one of three categories: trash, tickler file (someday/on hold), or reference (retrievable when you need them). These tips inspired me to organize all the files on my personal computer into proper categories. Once this was accomplished, I found myself spending little to no time looking for documents when I needed them.
This book also suggests that your calendar be limited to time-specific actions, day-specific actions, and day-specific information (Allen, 2001). This information allows you to know what needs to be done on any specific day and at a specific time. I was able to organize each of my assignments for my summer classes into an easy to manage schedule.
These are just a few of Allen’s tips that I have adopted. Following his advice, I am more organized than I was before. The problems I used to have getting things done have disappeared, leaving me with more time for myself. Organizing my work, school, and personal tasks has led to a more enjoyable life. All the important events I barely kept track of are now organized into both a daily schedule and a monthly calendar. Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity is a book that I would recommend to anyone who wants to improve their productivity and organization.
William Ebmeyer is a psychology major at UNLV. He joined the Interactive Measurement Group in Spring 2015. William is interested in quantitative psychology and plans to graduate in Fall 2017.