In today’s busy world it is very easy to get distracted.  There is simply too much demand for our attention, from television, to cell phones, to email, to satellite radios, etc.  The list just goes on and on.  Nowadays it is very easy to get overcommitted with work that follows you everywhere you go, endless activities for the kids, community involvement, attending to the needs of loved ones, etc.  It seems that the entire world is always trying to take time away from you.

In a world where multitasking is the norm, it is very easy for us to spend the great majority of all mental capacity going from one meaningless task to another.  We are always moving from one commitment to the next, never finding the time or the energy to do the things that really matter or that can have a significant positive impact in our lives.

This problem gets exacerbated if you are not well organized and have trouble focusing.   In order to get control over your life and not always feel overwhelmed and out of time you need a well managed system.  That is where David Allen, the productivity guru and author of the best-selling book Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity, comes in to help.  Allen has recently published a new book called Making It All Work: Winning at the Game of Work and Business of Life.

According to Allen, many of us use our minds the wrong way.  We spend too much of our brain cycles remembering and reminding.  People are good at coming up with ideas but not at holding them.  When something is weighing heavily on your mind you are less likely to get anything really done on it.  In other to overcome this problem what you need is a trusted system that holds your commitments so that your mind doesn’t have to do it.

By getting control over the mundane things that need to get done, you free up your mind to focus on more important things like making big plans and setting new visions.  Anything that is pulling on your psyche and making you feel out of control has a negative impact on your ability to accomplish big things, so the trick is to get all the day-to-day worries into a system and out of your mind so that you can focus on the big picture.

If you are looking for a way to be more effective and achieve a higher level of success in your life, here is Allen’s 7 step process to a more productive and stress-free living: 

1. Make a comprehensive list of all your commitments.  This may be overwhelming at first, but once you get it under control you will realize that it is not really all that bad.
2. Use in-baskets to collect all the things that need your attention and empty them regularly.  Never put anything back in the basket – make a decision and deal with it right there and then.
3. Always think about the next step.  What step can you take next to move any project, no matter how small, towards completion?
4. Use the two minute rule.  If you know you need to do something that can be done in two minutes or less, don’t put it off – do it immediately.
5. Setup a tickler file with a folder for each day of the month and one for each of the next 12 months.  Place in the files all your commitments and to-dos, like doctor’s appointments, projects steps, bills to be paid, or other things that you want to revisit on a particular date.
6. Get a labeler for your file folder.
7. Set a time to review all outstanding commitments for the week and monitor the progress made during the week.

You don’t necessarily need to follow Allen’s 7 step process above exactly the same way.  You can come up with your own tickler system or other processes that you are already comfortable with.  If you are comfortable working with computers, there are many great software tools to help you stay organized.  For example, Microsoft Outlook can be a great tool to help you manage your schedule, contacts, and to-dos.  Quicken is one of the best tools to help you get your finances in order and to automate the mundane process of paying bills.

 

Regardless of what process or system you use, the important thing is to fit it into your way of living so that you can eliminate as many mundane tasks from your mind as you possibly can.  Instead, focus your mind on setting a vision for your life, making big, strategic plans, and following through on the tactical goals that will help you get what you want out of life.