Better Time Management: Creating an Action Plan so Things Get Done

Most professionals feel overwhelmed at their jobs. There’s so much to do and so little time to do it in. If you’re running your own business, either full or part-time, that sentiment is probably one you can empathize with. Most small business owners have a daily To-Do list that plagues them with worry and stress.

David Allen is a productivity trainer and consultant as well as the founder of the David Allen Company, which offers executive and productivity coaching. In 2002 he published a book, Getting Things Done (GTD), which details his time-management system of the same name. GTD consists of a 5-step system designed to help professionals accomplish more. Here’s a quick summary:

1. Collect

The first step in this process is to gather everything that requires some action on your part. David suggests taking at least two days to round these things up and try to physically place them in some type of “inbox.” These items can be anything from scratch paper, post-its, emails, files cluttering your desktop, mail, business cards with notes scribbled on them, voice mails, and random items in a junk drawer. If you can’t physically place the item in your inbox (say, a vehicle in need of registration), create some type of note so it can be added to your complete To-Do List.

Now you must record all these items, and those still clinging to the rafters of your mind, in one place. In chapter five of his book, David lists 200 topics to help you remember all those commitments you’ve either made or would like to make. Included in this list are the following: policies/procedures, forecasts/projections, training/seminars, community/civic duties, etc. [Note: included in this collection process should also be pleasant commitments like a vacation, pottery lessons, or attendance at your kid's soccer games.]

2. Process

This requires you to go through your complete To-Do List and process each item. Determine the desired outcome you wish to see and the next step or action you must take in order to move closer to that outcome. This doesn’t mean you must complete the action then (although David suggests you do if it takes less than 2-minutes), only that you articulate and note that next action. At this point you may be able to eliminate some of those items you’ve collected.

3. Organize

Now you must organize all these items and action plans in places where you can easily access them. Remember, at this point your organizing those action items that will help you fulfill all your commitments. “Take load of garbage to the Goodwill,” “Consult with lawyer about starting an LLC,” “Make lunch reservations for meeting with Client X,” etc. David suggests finding a method that fuses both a calendaring system and a list of action reminders.

4. Review

Once you set-up this system by doing steps one through three, a weekly review of action items will help you keep it up-to-date. This will require you to update and revise tasks or add new items to your list. If you don’t take the time to review you’ll find yourself getting stuck in the first three steps, never reaching the step where you actually “Do” your action items.

5. Do

All the steps build to this one final step: DO! After you’ve reviewed the list you can begin to fill in your weekly planner (or daily To-Do List) with actions items. David says this should be determined by a variety of factors, including which you feel is most important, which you have the time to do, and whether or not you currently have the energy required to complete particular tasks. As you schedule in these action items, you’ll find your big list of commitments will become smaller, allowing you to add more and take an active role in determining how you spend your time.

Initially, this process will take some time to establish. But once you’ve invested that time, and continually work to update your lists and run through these five steps, you’ll find yourself saving time and purging your life of unnecessary stress and anxiety. Maybe you, like many of David’s clients, will find that you’re getting more done in much less time