1. What is GTD and how will you benefit from it?

Transcript

Automatically transcribed and lightly edited. Timestamps omitted for readability.

Morten: Hi, and welcome to the very first episode of the Getting Things Done podcast from GTD Nordic. I'm Morten Røvik, and I'm here with my friend and colleague Lars Rothschild Henriksen. Hello, Lars.

Lars: Hi, Morten. Happy to be here. I've really been looking forward to creating this podcast with you. We know a lot of GTDers across the Nordics and around the world, and our goal with this podcast is to support you in using the GTD methodology to clear your mind, to stay present with whatever you're doing, to help you achieve stress-free productivity. And we hope that you find these episodes valuable regardless of your GTD experience.

Morten: And since this is the very first episode, we decided to focus on what's in it for me, or what's in it for you, the listener. What will you achieve if you get good at Getting Things Done, and hopefully inspire you a little to listen to the next episodes. So I know, Lars, that you have a story you tell when people ask you about why are you doing GTD and how did you stumble into this. And could you share with the listeners what is your story? How did you end up here?

Lars: Yeah, so I graduated back in 2008 as a graduate engineer in software systems engineering, I think is the English term. And I was hired as a consultant in Copenhagen, living in Odense. And I had really been looking forward to this. You know, we were lucky to be subsidized in Denmark when we go to school, go to the university. But of course, the paycheck is rather different when you leave the university. I've been looking forward to that as anyone else and looking forward to working from 9 to 5 and really relaxing after that from 5 to 9, enjoying the weekends and not feeling any pressure or any stress around that as I knew from the university. As anyone else, I experienced that this was really not the case. It was a challenging job, definitely not 9 to 5, also really difficult to disconnect from work. I kept thinking about work when I left the office, also on the weekends. So I was really wondering what— someone else has run into this problem before me for sure. So I went looking and found Getting Things Done as the first thing when I was searching for a way to handle this. The way I found it was a recording of a seminar that David did, I'm sure a long time ago. And so I listened to that for these 8, 9 hours, and the only thing that I picked up back then was to start writing things down. And that just wasn't a normal thing for me. I know when I speak to people today, there's, you know, some people are already good at this. That was certainly not the case for me. I was intentionally not writing things down because I was convinced that the best place to have them was in your head. So I was probably a perfect case for GCD. So I am just picking that up, that habit, started writing things down in meetings, started writing things down when they they popped into my mind regardless of where I was at was really a huge difference for me in how I was able to prioritize my work, remember all the things I had to remember, getting stuff out of my head and then disconnecting when I had left the office. I didn't have to go and remember all the stuff that I was, you know, had learned that day. That really made a huge difference for me. Really, really felt different, felt so much better. So I went out and got the book. And read through and applied the 5 steps that we are certainly going to look into as part of this podcast. And the primary place for me where I needed them the most was in my email inbox. That was already back then, 10 years ago now when we record this podcast, it was really a challenge already. We were a small Danish office, part of a global organization, and a lot of stuff happened via email. So getting on top of email, getting to inbox zero, finding my way to So that was really a big difference for me in feeling that I had the overview of all the stuff that I needed to take care of. But also with the lists, with the system, it helped me create a more, much more sound flow, I would say, in my work. Specifically the waiting for list, as I'm sure we'll dive into at some point, was really helpful for me in making sure that we had this flow of work that we didn't, you know, keep running from fire to fire putting things out, that there was a continuity in my work and and help things happen in a steady pace rather than running around. So both for me and my colleagues, this was a help, I think. The last thing I'd like to mention about my way into GTD was the weekly review. So referring to step 4 and reflect in the 5 steps. So every Friday afternoon when I was heading to the train, so there was about a 2-hour commute from the office to my home. So I had a lot of time on my hands there to, for example, do a weekly review. And back then, that was the best time for me to catch up. So I would print my pages. Back then, it was from Remember the Milk, still around as a list manager. Don't use it anymore, but I still come across people that do. And I would print out those 10, 12 pages if I remember correctly, and I would sit on the train and I would go through those lists and I would, you know, cross things out and I would add new things that came into my mind. Oh, now we heard back from him, so now we can start doing this and really, really clearing my mind, getting all the stuff out of my head, connected online as I was approaching the train station in Örense where I had to get off and had that stuff entered into my system online and then throwing those 12 pages out on the train station when I got off the train, I really experienced the weekend in a whole, you know, totally different way than I had before, really being able to be present with friends and family when we spent time together over the weekend and also You know, on Mondays, it was so much easier to come back to work because I had really enjoyed the weekend, had, you know, stayed present there. And also, I just had to show up and look at my lists and start working. It was so much easier than before. So I really gave this book to bosses, to colleagues, to friends, family. I started the LinkedIn group for Danish GTDers back in 2011, I think it was 2012. And I think that's where we originally found each other. Morten, that you, you, I think you found me in there and we, we talked about becoming a GTD trainer and, and working with GTD in Denmark. And yeah, now, now we're here.

Morten: The rest is history, as they say.

Lars: Exactly. So what about you?

Morten: Well, yeah, my, my story is similar to yours. That has similarities. Back in 2006, I started in a new job as a managing director for an IT consultancy here in Norway. And I was hired because I was reckoned to be a rather organized person in the first place. But I understood very quickly that if I said yes to this job, I will have a lot more difficult time keeping on top of things. And I said just yes to this job knowing that I would be quite stressed because of all the, you know, the the stuff that life hurdles towards you. So when I started the job, I also, I think maybe the first week I started there, I stumbled upon the Getting Things Done methodology by David Allen in a podcast called This Week in Tech. This is, by the way, still around. So if you want to look at or see a good technology podcast, I I recommend This Week in Tech. But they talked about— there was a guy there who talked about Getting Things Done and all the, you know, the moving parts of the methodology so that you give an overview. And I was thinking that, hey, this sounds interesting. Let me learn something more about this. So I looked up online. I could find the book online. And I found it as an audiobook. And so I downloaded that. And listen to the book when I start commuting to work. And I listened maybe one week and then I started implementing what the book said. And then I reread or reheard the book and I implemented some more. And I immediately saw a difference in my own experience of reality in the way that I just started in a new job, a lot more to do than I had before, a lot more people to be managing, and more and more complex projects to handle. And at the same time, I felt more on top of things with a clearer head. And this is kind of counterintuitive. So I started working more and more with the methodology, starting emptying my head on a regular basis, and felt the fresh breeze of clarity blow through my head and thinking, oh, I must continue doing this. And when I did my reflection time, the reviews, the weekly reviews, I felt really on top of things and more in control than ever before. And then started my dream of— and my question, actually, my question was, why is this not part of the school? Why don't we learn this in school? Why is this not available here. It's available as a book. I later learned that in Norway the book was available, but the translation was not very good. So, and that started the dream of starting, you know, what's become now the GTD Nordic for Norway, Sweden, Denmark, and Finland. We are now present in these countries. We are now 13 people in addition to me who works with this. And this is a dream come true for me. And I really, really couldn't think of a day I could survive without GTD now because it's become such an integrated part of who I am and how I operate. Just stop keeping things in my head has helped me tremendously to be present in the moment and also giving me some advantages in the things I do. Both professionally and personally. I feel more present with my family when I'm with my fiancée, when I'm with my son and with my colleagues and clients. I feel more present. I am more focused. I'm not one of those who you see glance over and you understand there's nobody home. I think we all have seen those in meetings or in your family. You know, when you're in your family, you understand suddenly your mom or dad or your son is not there because they're— your children are not there because they're somewhere else in their mind. They go— the mind doesn't wander. It's pulled into some problem or worry they have in school or work or personally. So I'm happy I'm not one of those. I'm more present in what I do. And I can handle a lot more both ambiguity and unclarity than I did before because I don't have to have all the answers. I just have to write down what I want to achieve with these problems and trying to identify that these issues that arises. So I worry a lot less than I did before and Believe me, to run or to help run, you know, 4 countries, companies in 4 countries, is, well, it's complex and it's diverse and it's a lot of moving small parts that you need to keep track of to make sure you make meaningful progress of the most important things. So that's what is in it for me. More clarity, more space, more overview, more control., and improved and increased productivity. I make more of the right stuff. So that's me.

Lars: And I think it's worth mentioning that on top of the 4 countries, you're also the master trainer for the Nordics. So any GTD trainer in the Nordics is also trained by you. So that's an added workload as well to your day-to-day life. And just to also reflect on the what's in it for me, I think when I talk to people It really changes over time, or at least it has for me, what's the most valuable. So initially, for me, it was great to be able to disconnect from work and also to help me become more productive, doing more of the right things, as you just said, because I was very career-oriented. And now reflecting on what's also valuable for me in GTD is definitely, as you say, to stay present with the family. I became a father a bit over 3 years ago now, and the ability to stay present when I'm with him or with my other son, you know, sitting on the floor playing with the Duplo train and not being, you know, worried about last week's sales meetings or next week's presentations, whatever it might be, that I can actually stay present there. That's probably the most valuable part of GTD for me now.

Morten: Yeah, I can totally relate to that. Absolutely. Absolutely. I think maybe now is the time for us to give the listeners bit of an overview. What is this really? And what is GTD? And we kind of told you what's in it for you before we tell you what is it really. So let's, I will try and start us off with a definition of Getting Things Done and maybe you can walk us through the 5 steps. Sure. Yeah. So this is a methodology which is, you know, a set of best practices that is interlinked and holistic. They are interlinked in the way that they have one core principle, underlying principle, is that your head is fantastic to get ideas, not holding them. Your head is made for reflection, creativity, problem solving, not as a system for all your to-dos. Remember, buy cat food, 2 milk on the way home, call Bob on Thursday to make arrangements for weekend, sign the contract before you go home. And this methodology is then devised around how can we keep our heads as empty as possible so that we get the most problem-solving in the moment. And it is The set of best practices is helping you to keep your head clear, but also make sure you do the right things, because it's in a two-axis. We're going to talk about the 5 steps, which is one axis to make sure you have control, but you also need perspective. So you need to understand where you're going to make sure you're doing the most, the most of the right things, just not doing most, which is a problem if you're just doing. You don't know if you're doing the right thing, so you know you need to know where you're going. So the methodology is devised around these two axes, and you can then move freely into doing the things you think is the most appropriate in the moment when you have some spare time to do things. If it's nothing on your calendar, what do I do? There's a lot of people ending up procrastination or doing, you know, silly things that's not maybe the right things to do in the moment. I know I did before and I still fall into that trap every now and then, but I know how to get out of it really fast. So, but Lars, can you walk us through the 5 steps and give us an overview of why is this important?

Lars: Maybe. Yeah, exactly. So, so just to also continue that, that train of thought, I meet a lot of people in, especially in our seminars and coaching, that, that, you know, when they describe their day, they are really run by what shows up in their inbox rather than actually working on what, what's most important. So a good starting point for a lot of people, including myself, was these 5 steps to help you gain control. The first of the 5 steps is called capture, and that means to capture all of the stuff that shows up in your world, in your mind, whatever comes into your life through the various inboxes, and place that in specific areas that you know you will return to at a later stage. So we would, for example, set up inboxes that you know you would get to the bottom of to make sure that your mind trusts that you you have this, this under control, so it can let them go. But that is, of course, only the first step. So to be sure that it's off your mind and to make it more easy to work with, we have the next two steps: clarify and organize. And the second step, clarify, is about making decisions. So picking up everything that's in your inbox one by one and figuring out what does this mean to me, what's really in this, figuring out, you know, the next actions, the projects for those of you already familiar with GTD. And that leads us gets to the third step, which is organize. So now we know what we're dealing with here. Now we can set up the appropriate places, the appropriate categories for us to use for each of these things. So now we have the list. So the fourth step would be reflect, and that means to take a step back and get an overview. And you can reflect on a specific list. You can take a step back and reflect on your week. You can make even bigger reflections, but the most common one we look into is the weekly review, and It's really a practice that is so helpful. That's also very crucial to GTD. And it's also, as I mentioned in my story just now, it really made a huge difference for me in my ability to trust my work and to get everything out of my head and being able to stay present. And last but not least is engage, just doing, getting all the stuff done. And we have various models, perspectives on your work, helping you decide what to work on, on a moment-to-moment basis. That's the fifth of the five steps.

Morten: Okay, thank you, Lars. And to add on, on the 5 steps is that I can say something about how often do you do the different steps there is that when you capture things, you captured everything all the time. Something is captured for you all the time, like your email comes automatically into your inbox. But you also capture things that it has your attention. You remember something, oh, my you know, there's an odd sound in my car, maybe I should do something about that. Instead of having that roaming around, you write it down. So you write things down all the time when things show up. And then you do the clarify and organize. You do that— well, we say at least once every 24 hours. Most people would do it maybe 3 times during a workday, or maybe less. I don't know, it depends on your workload and how your your Workday is set up, but clarify and organize things in your system maybe once at least every 24 hours. And then the Reflect review part where you look at things, we say that you should do this as often as you must to keep things off your head, out of your head, but at least once a week. We call that the weekly review. And then the Execute part, the Do part, the last step is you do that whenever you have some free time. Nothing is on your calendar, you have 1 hour free, what do you do? And you do then have a set of predefined tasks you've given yourself. They're called next actions, so it makes it easy for you to pick. And that's how the 5 steps work together to make your head empty at all times and appropriately, appropriately.

Lars: Engaged.

Morten: We're getting on to 21 minutes here, Lars, and maybe it's time to wrap things up.

Lars: I think so. We have a lot to talk about, a lot of cool episodes coming up, and I'm really looking forward to sharing all this information and to hear back from all the listeners out there. For those of you who have not visited us or are not aware of all the various places you can find us, a good starting point is GTD Nordic www.gtddirectlink.com. So that links out to all the different countries that Morten mentioned, and for each of those countries you can find us on Facebook. We have the usual pages, but we have also groups of communities where with, for example, Danish GTDers and the same in Norway. We have GTD meetups across the countries. So in Stockholm, in, not in, but in Copenhagen and Aarhus and in Oslo and in in Finland, I guess it is in Helsinki as well, where people meet up and share their knowledge of GTD and help each other become better GTDers. There are so many different places where we can help each other out.

Morten: Yes. And how long time will it take before they can hear from us again? We haven't set our frequency yet. What we talk about, one episode every 2 weeks, is that our goal now.

Lars: Or where are we? I think that's, that's probably our goal. Yes. Uh, try to, try to see if we can do this every 2 weeks. Uh, uh, it, it, I guess the workload varies across the year. So let, let's see if we can stick to that schedule. I would love to do that. At least, uh, it's, it's, uh, I love doing these, uh, podcasts.

Morten: Yeah. Okay. So if you, the listener wants us to do it more frequent or less frequent, let us know in a comment in iTunes or anywhere else where you can find your podcast, or write us an email. You can find us if you go to gtdnordic.com. You'll find the gtdnordic.dk and gtdnordic.no, and you'll find us there. Send us a message, reach out to us, tell us what you'd like to hear. If you have some specific— sorry, subjects you would like us to to address. Maybe we'll make a special episode for that if we get some, some interesting questions we can answer. So should we say this is a wrap-up?

Lars: I think so. Thanks, Morten.

Morten: Thank you, Lars. And to our listeners, looking forward to, to hear from you. And until next time, have a great day.

Lars: Bye-bye.

Morten: Bye-bye.