Getting Things Done: "It is a toolset to help people focus on their energy strategically and tactically without letting anything fall through the cracks." - David Allen, productivity consultant and author of "Getting Things Done"
Collecting Your Open Loops: "Most people's productivity system consists of incomplete lists of unclear things." - David Allen
According to GTD, it is believed that stressed is called by 'inappropriately managing internal commitments." Should, need to, or ought to - are good indicators for what the incomplete lists are.
What are open loops? Open loops are things like a paper that you have due tomorrow, a household task you've been putting off for too long, or even something that you want to do - like reading a book, painting, playing an instrument etc. Tiago Forte brought up an interesting analogy for this, open loops are like open programs on a computer - they use up RAM, they take up resources which end up leading to reduced productivity. Your brain is the computer, and every open loop is using up energy and focus.
How do you control these open loops? The answer are called 'containers' or inboxes - these are email inboxes, task managers (electronic to-do lists), mobile apps, and notebooks. There are three rules for collection containers are: 1) every open loop must be captured in a collection container 2) you must have a few collection containers as possible, and 3) you must empty them regularly.
If you're using Mac, I recommend (as well as the course) Things - it's a task list manager that allows to organize your open loops all in one place. It's minimalist, and effective. I've been using it for a few years, so I definitely recommend it. If you're in education - you can save 30%, so click here!
The challenge is to now list all of these lovely open loops - there's no limit, so it's okay to have a larger list but jot everything down. Below is my daunting list of open loops (limited amount shown) - oh dear!
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