Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity pdfdrive com

The Basic Requirements for Managing Commitments
Managing commitments well requires the implementation of some basic
activities and behaviors:
• First of all, if it’s on your mind, your mind isn’t clear. Anything you
consider unfinished in any way must be captured in a trusted system
outside your mind, or what I call a collection bucket, that you know
you’ll come back to regularly and sort through.
• Second, you must clarify exactly what your commitment is and decide
what you have to do, if anything, to make progress toward fulfilling it.
• Third, once you’ve decided on all the actions you need to take, you must
keep reminders of them organized in a system you review regularly.

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An Important Exercise to Test This Model
I suggest that you 
write down the project or situation that is most on your mind
at this moment
. What most “bugs” you, distracts you, or interests you, or in some
other way consumes a large part of your conscious attention? It may be a project
or problem that is really “in your face,” something you are being pressed to
handle, or a situation you feel you must deal with sooner rather than later.
Maybe you have a vacation trip coming up that you need to make some major
last-minute decisions about. Or perhaps you just inherited six million dollars and
you don’t know what to do with the cash. Whatever.
Got it? Good. Now describe, in a single written sentence, your intended
successful outcome for this problem or situation. In other words, what would
need to happen for you to check this “project” off as “done”? It could be as
simple as “Take the Hawaii vacation,” “Handle situation with customer X,”
“Resolve college situation with Susan,” “Clarify new divisional management
structure,” or “Implement new investment strategy.” All clear? Great.
Now write down the 
very next physical action required to move the situation
forward
. If you had nothing else to do in your life but get closure on this, where
would you go right now, and what visible action would you take? Would you
pick up a phone and make a call? Go to your computer and write an e-mail? Sit
down with pen and paper and brainstorm about it? Talk face-to-face with your
spouse, your secretary, your attorney, or your boss? Buy nails at the hardware
store? What?
Got the answer to that? Good.
Was there any value for you in these two minutes of thinking? If you’re like
the vast majority of people who complete that drill during my seminars, you’ll
be experiencing at least a tiny bit of enhanced control, relaxation, and focus.
You’ll also be feeling more motivated to actually 
do
something about that
situation you’ve merely been thinking about till now. Imagine that motivation
magnified a thousandfold, as a way to live and work.
Think like a man of action, act like a man of
thought.
—Henry Bergson

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If anything at all positive happened for you in this little exercise, think about
this: What changed? What happened to create that improved condition within
your own experience? The situation itself is no further along, at least in the
physical world. It’s certainly not finished yet. What probably happened is that
you acquired a clearer definition of the outcome desired and the next action
required.
But what created that? The answer is, 
thinking
. Not a lot, just enough to
solidify your commitment and the resources required to fulfill it.

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