Better's Blinkist

Your brain is great at thinking but terrible at remembering things.

Knowledge workers in particular spend their days juggling dozens of tasks and projects at once, while being constantly bombarded by still more. To survive this onslaught, most people cram everything into their heads, trying to keep important information, appointments and upcoming tasks "on their mind." Unfortunately, this approach squanders the brain’s wonderful capacity to think by cluttering it up with a jumble of information.

18 December, 2019 01:13 Share

These are open loops – they haven’t been brought to closure – and your brain will constantly remind you about them, whether you want it to or not. This is distracting; you can’t possible focus properly when thoughts like "Remember to pay this month’s electricity bill" keep interrupting your flow.

18 December, 2019 01:13 Share

To fully implement the GTD system, you need the right workplace, tools and filing system.

You’ll also want to set up identical workspaces at home and in the office so you can be equally effective in both. If you spend a lot of time in transit, you may want to think about a mobile setup that lets you get things done even while on the road. Never share workspaces with anyone, not even your partner, because you don’t want to have to spend time setting up your workspace to your liking every time you arrive at it.

18 December, 2019 01:18 Share

Of course, in your digital system, you can also search for the information, but it still makes sense to have the information organized in a way that is helpful. Last but not least, make sure you purge your files at least once a year to avoid the system becoming a bloated mess. This purge not only makes the system more usable, it also gives you peace of mind since you know that you can file things away even if you’re not sure you’ll need them, because you’ll be doing some house-cleaning later when you can throw things away.

18 December, 2019 01:20 Share