I recently read Getting Things Done by David Allen, after first seeing it on MoneySavingMom’s site. The title had me. After all, who doesn’t want to get things done? This book is definitely geared toward the business world, and I knew that going into it, but I wanted to see if I could glean a few useful tips from it anyway. Honestly, I got a little bogged down in all the corporate lingo he threw around, and I thought parts of his “system” were a little too complex for my needs. But there were several good points. Without giving a run-down of his entire system, I’ll just share a few things I came away with.

I need to be better about collecting all my “stuff.” Stuff is everything, and I mean everything, in your life that on some level you think isn’t like it should be or requires something of you. At any given time, these things pop into your head, cause stress, and prevent you from focusing on what you need to. I think I have a dentist appointment coming up soon; when is it again? I need to remember to ask David to hang the new curtains. Oh yeah, that toy needs batteries. What’s for dinner tonight? I’d really like to play the piano more. The washer stopped, time to switch the load over. We really should have people over for dinner more often. Did I remember to charge my cell phone? It would be great if I could learn Spanish. You get the idea. The important and the unimportant, the exciting and the mundane, the “must-dos” and the “would-be-nice-if-I-coulds” all float equally in and out of your head. I’m not ready to totally overhaul my system and start from scratch with the “collection system” he outlines in the book, but I do want to re-think my planner to make sure I have a place to capture everything. When something comes up, I need to know it’s covered so I don’t keep worrying about it.

Another helpful tip is the “two-minute rule.” If something requires action, and that action would take two minutes or less, just do it now. Now I can see how this could be taken too far; I could easily whittle away my entire day doing little things that take two minutes or less. But I see his point. If you receive an e-mail that only requires a quick reply, just go ahead and send the thing and get it out of your mind (and your inbox).

For “projects,” which he defines as anything that requires more than one action step, it is important to visualize the outcome and specifically identify what a “done” project would look like. Only then should you start brainstorming ideas, and then organize those ideas in a way that will get you to your goal. Often, people start throwing around ideas before they’ve really put into concrete terms what they are trying to do.

It is crucial to identify a tangible, very specific next action step on everything you need to do. He gives the example of a guy who needs a tune-up on his car. But what he actually needs to do is get the car to the garage. But first he needs to call the garage and make an appointment. But he doesn’t have the info; he wanted to use a garage his friend recommended. So he needs to call his friend. “Get tune-up” isn’t a next action; “call Fred for number to garage” is. Often all it takes is 10 seconds of thinking to identify a specific next action to get one of your to-do items “unstuck.”

Overall it is a pretty good book. I ended up skimming some of it quickly because it seemed repetitive at times. But it gave me some things to think about and implement, and I’d call it a worthwhile read.

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I got Anna a “Big Sister” shirt a while back, which she has been wearing proudly. Recently, while shopping at Rhea Lana’s consignment sale, I happened upon the exact same shirt with “Little Sister” on it in Sarah’s size. I couldn’t pass that up now, could I?

And one more, not in “sister” attire, but kind of funny:

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It will be hard to top last year’s Snowpocalypse, as it came to be known, but we got an inch or so a couple of days ago—enough for Anna to don the now-too-short snowsuit and get out in it. And the parenting medal goes to David for getting out there with her while I stayed inside and took pictures from the window. :)

I woke up in “snow day mentality,” in which I basically throw off all attempts at productivity and goof off. I even stayed in my pajamas. That lasted until about 10 A.M., when I just had to get dressed and put on some makeup. The girls managed to stay in theirs all day though.

It’s much better from in here, right Sarah? :)

(I know that would be a better picture if the window weren’t so filthy. With 2 kids and 3 dogs, it stays clean for about 5 minutes after I Windex it.)

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