I made a list yesterday of everything I have to do. It felt liberating at the time, and it still does now. Here’s the why and how.

The most important lesson I took from Getting Things Done was that the key to productivity was to get your thoughts out of your head and into a system. For instance, while you’re working on a proposal it doesn’t help to think about the bills you have to pay or the presentation you’re delivering in an hour. Those items belong in a system that you can trust–so that you won’t forget your bills or your presentation, and you can focus on the task at hand. David Allen referred to this as Mind Like Water.

Yesterday my mind was not at peace–it needed to be emptied. I felt I had to write a blog post, to work on AwayFind, to organize my photos, to work on taxes, to see a movie, to read–I was stuck and overwhelmed. So I went through the exercise–I started with blank 8.5×11 sheets of copy paper and listed, line-by-line, everything I could think of that I had to do. I didn’t categorize or order anything, I just purged. When I felt I had everything I could think of, I looked around my house, and then at my Outlook and Basecamp calendar and to-do lists–I didn’t want to miss anything. Four pages later I felt in control.

That afternoon I tackled a few easy things on the list and crossed them out. This morning I’ve completed more, placed a bunch on my project list, scheduled a few as appointments, and delegated many of them. I even came up with and planned an idea that some of you might appreciate: Continue reading…