GTD & Present Moment Awareness


Creative Commons License photo credit: hawkexpress

I’m a fan of Eckhart Tolle. He’s most famously known for his work ‘The Power of Now’ and ‘A New Earth’. I agree when he says, that man’s Inner Purpose in Life is to know himself, and one’s true self can only be discovered by living in the present moment. When applying this teaching in our day to day lives, it means whatever task we take up, we should give our best by being in the Present, by being able to focus our attention 100% in the moment that arises.

Now this is easier said that done! The way a 21st Century executive is constantly bombarded from all sides with stuff, it’s easy to get stuck in the busy trap and lose focus in the work that needs attention. I’ve realised, that one’s ability to focus in the present moment is directly proportional to the quality that is given to that work.

This is what I love of about GTD! It’s not so much about Getting Things Done, as much as it is about the art of being focused with the activity that is being performed. I define GTD is a methodology of dealing with work that enhances your present-moment awareness.

Here are some great things GTD helped me achieve:

* Being more present & focused in the work that I’m doing, by getting control over my work
* Perspective: Aligning my day to day actions to my higher Goals
* A clear head! giving more space for Creative Ideas to flow
* Confidence in the choices I’m making regarding the work that I’m doing not doing
* Beat Procrastination!

I’d like to end by a quote from one of David Allen’s client on his experience with GTD when he processed his email Inbox to zero:

“Wow! Now I see all my work inventory in one place! And I now realize that I would let myself spend time on those emails before anything else, because that would seem the easiest choice to make. Now I can assess them immediately within the context of everything to do. They’re not lost, and they’re in proper perspective. I’ve been letting myself get sucked into the easiest being busy thing, instead of feeling better about better choices.”

If you’re new to GTD, I’d recommend the following resources:

* Book: Getting Things Done by David Allen
* Official GTD Website: DavidCo
* Blog: 43Folders.com, also see Getting Started
* David Allen at Google
* Wired: A Guide to GTD

Happy GTD’ing!







4 Comments

  1. Hi
    Sir Assalamualikum

    First of all thankyou for giving me this opportunity to be a part of your blog i still rember that one day you and ali sir were expeling us about this GTD from that day onwords im keeping four different colour of pen to write my daily dairy and this is realy working. Now i will never forget to do my pending work. GTD is realy working and it also making the work easier and faster i think i still need to learn more about this pratic sir if you more dose about this please forward it to me i will raly thankful to you .

    Thankyou
    Allahafiz
    Arif Khan

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