This post is based on section 3 of my book Chaos to Control. Click here to read about Section 2: Awareness
In the first two sections of my book I cover the importance of knowing where you want to go in life and understanding where you currently are. These two elements give you a road map for reaching your personal and professional success. In this section I look at the benefits of getting organized and implementing a system. How without action and personal organization, the first two sections will be of no use to you.
Benefits of Implementing a System
Implementing a personal productivity system was probably one of the best things I ever did for myself. I regularly speak about how life changing it was. I went from being totally disorganized, chaotic, frustrated and underachieved to accomplishing a lot of my life goals and dreams in just a couple of years. Setting goals is fantastic but if you don’t follow through with action and hard work they won’t amount to anything. Creating a productivity system allows you to follow through. It facilitates the accomplishment of all that needs to be accomplished.
What is a Productivity System?
A productivity system is a way of working. It can be a workflow management system or it can be a selection of positive habits that enable you to work at your best. You can choose minimalism and only work on the things that are most important to you, or you can chose GTD and try and get as much work done in as little time as possible. Having a system is a way of organizing yourself and your life.
GTD
The most popular system and one I’m sure most of you are aware of is GTD, Getting Things Done by the great David Allen. If you haven’t heard of it check it out. If you don’t us it; Start today. If you need someone to help you implement it; Call me. It is by far the best way to organize your life. It’s not the easiest system to implement. It takes time and dedication. But believe me it works.
GTD and Evernote
When I first started to use GTD, I used it with Outlook. I stored all my tasks categorized in my task list, I kept all my appointments in the calendar and used notes for all my reference items. At that time I used a Blackberry and everything synced nicely. I later started to use an iPhone and things didn’t work so well. I persisted for a while as I was working for myself and my workload was manageable. But I knew I was missing out that I wasn’t being as efficient as I could be. I had been using Evernote for a while but hadn’t quite figured out what it was everybody was raving about until I read Daniel Gold’s book “Evernote; The unofficial guide to capturing everything and getting things done”. I loved it so much I became an affiliate for it. Click here to view more details
Quick Guide to setting up a system
• Clear the Clutter
• Organize your computer and desktop
• Organize your desk and workspace
• Use a Calendar
• Use a task management system (like evernote or RTM)
• Implement a simple A-Z filing system
• Persist
Whatever system you chose to set up, persist it is worthwhile. It changed my life and it could do the same for you.
If you want to buy a copy of Chaos to Control or learn more about the book – Click Here
