Getting Things Done

Several years ago I read the book titled "Getting Things Done" by David Allen. The book is geared towards business professionals and gives detailed instructions on how to process an inbox and current projects and determine what you should actually be spending your time on, and specifically the "next thing" to do.

I gleaned a lot from the book, and it's a good read, but motherhood involves way more "urgent" interruptions than most business professionals deal with on a daily basis, and I found parts of it difficult to apply to my current life. However, there were several things learned from the book that have stuck with me in the 4-5 years since I read it.

Keep Your Actions Consistent with Your Priorities
Don't spend your time on things that are not important. This is much easier said than done. And of course, the first step in this process is identifying what your priorities are. I highly recommend the series on Mission Statements for Moms from Kat at Inspired to Action. Once you've identified your priorities, it's time to start analyzing your day-to-day activities. As many times as you can throughout the day (maybe set an alarm for every hour) stop and ask yourself, "Is what I'm doing RIGHT NOW important? Am I focusing on one of my top priorities?" It's easy to get caught up in menial tasks that do not actually support our priorities. Also, if you are doing something that fits with one of your priorities, make a note of which priority you are focused on at that moment, and after a couple of days analyze which priorities you actually spend the most time on.

I am one that can easily get caught up in housekeeping. I LOVE having a clean, uncluttered space, and I frequently spend more time picking up and organizing than I should. While homemaking is one of my personal priorities, motherhood is a higher priority for me, and I don't spend nearly enough time focusing on my children, reading them stories, listening to their thoughts, or helping them with projects.

Be Okay with the Things You Are NOT Doing
This is an important step for aspiring minimalists. A mile-long to-do list can stress anyone out. There is rarely enough time in the day to accomplish all that we would like to do, or feel we need to do. David Allen specifically recommends writing a "project list" of all the multi-step projects we are working on, or would like to do. Then he recommends moving projects we don't plan to work on right now to a "Someday/Maybe" list. He guesses that a typical person could easily have 100+ things on a "Someday/Maybe" list.

When I created my project and someday/maybe lists, I realized that it would be impossible for me to complete everything on my lists in one lifetime. Just looking at the project list of things I wanted to be working on, I realized that I would never have enough time in my day to complete these projects on any kind of schedule, even if I didn't have children and was able to spend 40+ uninterrupted hours per week on these projects. Currently, I can count on about 4 hours per week for my own personal projects... and that is usually full of interruptions.

Understanding that I would never be able to do everything on my list, it was time to prioritize again. This is approximately the time when I got rid of my old t-shirt collection. I knew I would never have time to actually make the t-shirt quilt I wanted to make, and there were dozens of other projects on my list that I would rather spend my time on instead. I started asking myself questions like, "What do I want to spend my time on?" and "What finished projects do I want to have in my house?" These questions helped me eliminate project ideas that I determined would never actually be completed. Once I knew a certain project would never be done... it was easy to get rid of an materials and supplies I was hanging onto for that particular project. The t-shirts left, some broken furniture I intended to restore left, yarn that I didn't like the color of left, and several other boxes & bags of crafting things left, along with several pieces of memorabilia I realized I didn't actually want to display in my home.

There is great peace in seeing the to-do list shrink. In understanding that without these things around, you won't be constantly reminded of what you could be doing, or making mental lists of the things you might want to do someday. Instead, live in the present. Spend your time on things that you want to do, and surround yourself with things you enjoy that actually uplift you.