How to Never Lose a Thing Again

Recently I posted my new twist on the excellent GTD system, Zen To Done (ZTD): The Ultimate Simple Productivity System. This is the sixth in a series of posts exploring each of the 10 Habits

This is one of the oldest organizing truisms around, but it is probably the most important of all: a place for everything, and everything in its place.

Why is it so popular? Because it works. Read below to find out how to form this habit and never lose a thing again.

5 Simple, Effective GTD Tools

Every Monday is Productivity & Organization Day at Zen Habits. Recently I posted my new twist on the excellent GTD system, Zen To Done (ZTD): The Ultimate Simple Productivity System. This is the fifth in a series of posts exploring each of the 10 Habits.

Are you a fan of GTD? What’s your trusted system? GTD, and my twist on it, ZTD, recommend that you keep your task in a series of lists based on different contexts. And while many popular GTD tools (Kinkless, stikkit, Outlook, Remember the Milk, etc.) make things a bit complicated, the truth is that all you need are lists.

Many followers of GTD get caught up in fiddling with the tools, with creating complicated systems, changing tools and systems every week or two, instead of actually getting things done. But ZTD asks you to use the simplest tools possible, and then forget about them. ZTD is about the doing, not the tools.

ZTD Habit 4: Do

Recently I posted my new twist on the excellent GTD system, Zen To Done (ZTD): The Ultimate Simple Productivity System. This is the fourth in a series of posts exploring each of the 10 Habits.

4 do (focus)

Habit: do one task at a time, without distractions.

This is one of the most important habits in ZTD. It’s the doing part of the system. All the other parts are useless if you don’t do the doing part — so emphasize this the most. The tools, the system, the planning, the to-do lists … none of that matters as much as the doing (well, as long as you’re doing the most important things).

Ask the readers: Zen To Done - minimal vs. full version?

OK, you’ve read the original Zen To Done (ZTD) system, and you’ve read the Minimalist ZTD system … now I’d like to know which you, the readers, prefer.

In order to help make this site better, I need your help with the following questions:

1) Which do you prefer: Full ZTD or Minimal?

2) I’ve been planning to write a post on each of the 10 Habits (which I’ve already started doing) and wanted to write them all at once, to get them out of my head and move on to other subjects … but I don’t want to overwhelm you with too much ZTD, and too much in your feed reader inbox. So: should I post all the ZTD stuff over the next day or so, or spread it out over a week, with other topics mixed in?

3) What topics (including ZTD) have you found most useful on this site? Any others that you’d like to read about? The request line is open!

So give me an earful, my friends! Answer one, two, or all three questions, and you can be assured that I will be listening.

ZTD Habit 3: Plan

Recently I posted my new twist on the excellent GTD system, Zen To Done (ZTD): The Ultimate Simple Productivity System. This is the third in a series of posts exploring each of the 10 Habits.

3 plan

Habit: set MITs for week, day.

Each week, list the Big Rocks that you want to accomplish, and schedule them first. Each day, create a list of 1-3 MITs (basically your Big Rocks for the day) and be sure to accomplish them. Do your MITs early in the day to get them out of the way and to ensure that they get done.

This is one of the simplest of the ZTD habits, but also one of the most important. Why? Because it gives purpose to your day and week. Instead of just trying to crank out a bunch of tasks on your to-do list, you are trying to do the most important ones. Sure, you’ll also do other tasks on your list, but you’re identifying the ones that you really want to accomplish — the ones where you can look back on your day and feel proud of accomplishing something. Often we work hard and do a lot, but when we look back on our day, we haven’t really accomplished anything.