Today’s Homemaker

Well guys, we’re wrapping this thing up. I’ve got one more post re-capping everything for you, but other than that, onward! Tomorrow we’ll be back to our daily challenges and other fun stuff. Of course, I’ll continue offering ideas about how to implement Getting Things Done into your life. If you’ve just been dipping your toe in without jumping in, I’m going to take a minute to tell you why the splash is worth it.

• You will get things done. You will have a plan for getting the things done that you want to get done. And not just the “urgent” stuff. Not just the “important” stuff. But everything that means anything to you.
• It makes it easier to say no. When you’ve got all of the things in your head written down, it makes all of your commitments tangible. You don’t have to feel bad about saying no. You can honestly say that you do not have time for new commitments.
• It frees you to do fun things without feeling guilty. Since you are writing down everything (even things you like to do), you can choose at any moment what is the best use of your time. You know that it will all get done with your plan. You don’t have to feel bad about taking a break.
• It doesn’t take much time to keep current each day. The time you spend to set up your system in the beginning will reward you a hundred-fold. Even if you forget to make your daily plan, you still have lists to go by that make it easy to get things done WITHOUT a plan. You can’t fall off the wagon very easily, unless you ignore your binder altogether.
• You will gain back hours of your life. Because you’re going to be focused in your work, you are going to have a lot more time to play. This system makes you more conscious of how you spend your time so that less of it falls through the cracks. That doesn’t mean you have to be “productive” all the time. It just means you are going to get the most out of your life, whether working or playing.
• It doesn’t cost anything. Just paper and ink, really. Computers are great, but it just feels better to hold a list and cross things off. It feels like more of a commitment, since it’s less easy to delete it entirely. You wrote it down. You’ve changed a piece of the earth. Now you must go forth and do.
• You will learn to relax. Finally. It will take time to create a habit of writing incoming “stuff” down and throwing it in your inbox, but it frees your brain so much. You become confident that you are on top of everything without even thinking about it. Your binder does the thinking for you. I’ve also found that I’m more creative since I don’t have all of these nagging thoughts of things I need to be doing. It’s a beautiful thing.

Getting Things Done Wrap-Up >>