# Getting sh-t done. Ridiculously simple paper-based time management *I started "GSD" as a way to organize my days, and put it on my website. It grew to help thousands of people. People around the globe, from high school teachers and product designers to TV producers and astronauts, use GSD to get things done.* ![[gsd-banner.jpg]] This is the full English article. You can also read the [[gsd simple|simple English article]] or [[gsd en español|en Espanol]]. "This system is so simple ... almost no overhead. I love it." "Probably the first productivity / lifehack plan I have actually finished reading" "A wonderful, slightly irreverent, lightweight system for those not interested in ... the GTD cult." "I'm a TV producer in NYC and ... I just produced a whole season of shows using GSD" "The holy grail of organizational techniques?" ## How GSD got started For years I tried to shove my life into a series of devices and apps, trying to **flatten the texture of an analog world** into the rigid strictures of digital 'productivity' tools. I was a model digital citizen, tapping away on tiny virtual keyboards, agonizing over priorities and due dates and hashtags, synchronizing across platforms and devices, and staring bleary-eyed at time-stamped, prioritized, and algorithm-optimized lists of **things that I had not, and would not, accomplish anytime soon**. It was all just so ... involved. Instead, I **ached to scribble in the margins**, to draw fat circles around things that suddenly became important, to flail lines across the page to link ideas together, to furiously cross out mistakes and things I had given up on. I **needed to scratch an itch that no digital device** – not even one with a magical stylus carved from the horn of a glittery technicolor unicorn – **would ever let me satisfy**. ![[gsd-stationery-store.png]] But then a chance lunchtime stop one sunny April day at a random stationery store in Palo Alto happened to change my life forever. For real. Browsing the shelves next to the giant plate glass window, **I found nirvana in a notebook**. No longer was I going to be trapped in a digital black hole, for I was going full-tilt analog, armed with a paper notebook and a shiny new ballpoint. Over the following months, I developed, iterated, and refined a dead-simple paper-based method for personal organization, and called it "Getting Sh-t Done", or GSD for short. It didn't require batteries, special pens, or hours of planning, and **it kept me focused on my tasks instead of the task of organizing**. And, you know what? It worked. ## Why GSD clicked Looking back, the reason why GSD worked was because it focused on three simple principles: 1. **Writing by hand**: Reduces distractions and intentionally slows you down, helping you to think more clearly. Proven to improve recall significantly over digital notes. 2. **Focus on individual tasks**: Emphasizes breaking projects down into individual tasks which can be completed, not intangible ‘goals' that just sit on your to-do list mocking you. 3. **One place for everything**: Provides a single place for all of your tasks, and a simple way to do them, so things get done and don't slip through the cracks. ## Getting started with GSD ### Step 1: Create your Daily List Early every morning, I close my laptop, turn off my phone, and sit down with my notebook, opening it to the next blank page. I write the day and date at the top, and pull forward the [Post-It tab](https://www.amazon.com/Post-1-Inch-Yellow-Dispenser-686-AYPV1IN/dp/B00HNW7EUM/ref=sr_1_4?dchild=1&keywords=post-it%20tab&qid=1612459155&sr=8-4) that I use to mark the current page. Then, I create a **stream-of-consciousness list** of everything I can remember that needs to be done. It doesn't need to be comprehensive, and I don't worry about prioritizing it or organizing it. For each one, I put a small square to its left. The key is to make sure that each item is a single, granular task that I can actually do. Not "dishwasher broken", but "check dishwasher filter", "check spray arms for clogs", and "run a cleaning cycle". Otherwise, items just sit there on the list, mocking me, and never actually get done. Next, I go back to previous days and **look for unfinished items**. For each one I find, I draw a diagonal line through its box (indicating it's been moved forward), and rewrite it on today's page. It's a bit tedious, but rewriting it (a) gently chastises me for not getting it done yesterday, and (b) helps imprint it in my head as part of today's tasks. The goal is to move the open items onto the current page, and eventually have every box on prior pages filled with a check mark ("it's done"), a diagonal line ("it's moved"), or an X ("I'm punting and will never do it"). Once I've moved everything forward from a prior page, I put a check mark in the upper corner of that page to show it's been processed. ![[gsd-key.jpg|A checklist on paper|800]] ↑ A useful part of GSD is being able to quickly scan a page to see the status of everything on it ### Step 2: Work the Daily List Next, I look through my entire Daily List, pick the top 3 or 4 most important items, and put little dots in their check boxes. Then I get to work, grinding through them and checking them off as they are completed. Once I've completed my priority items, I go back and put dots next to the next-most-important items, and work on those ... and so on. The key, however, is to make sure that I'm only working on things that are on the list. If something new comes up, I add it to the list - but continue working on my existing tasks unless the new one is super important. For good measure, I sometimes take a moment or two during the day to go back to Step 1 to revisit my Backlog (see Step 3) and Daily List, making sure I'm still focused on the most important things. ### Step 3: Maintain a Backlog List As I go along, there are always extra things that don't fit onto the Daily List. Perhaps it's a task I can't start yet because it depends on something else, or it's a bigger activity like "Learn how to play backgammon." Or perhaps it's just a series of tasks I know I won't be able to accomplish in a day. For these, I maintain a separate Backlog List for things that aren't "right now" priorities. If I eventually decide not to do one, I mark it with an "x", and if I get stuck on a particular item and just can't get started on it, I try to break it down further into even smaller tasks. I make sure to check my Backlog List every few days, and pull from it into my Daily List when I'm ready to tackle getting them done. ### So that’s it: GSD in a nutshell. One place for all your tasks, a quick-and-dirty way of managing them, and no need to buy complicated apps or spend your Sunday evenings fighting with a cumbersome prioritization scheme or a desk full of stickers, colored markers, and glitter. And you're done! Stop reading and get at it! ## Extra thoughts Still here? Great! Here are some more things about GSD that might be useful... ### 1. When you're stuck ![[gsd-timeladder.png|A vertical timeline, with tasks connected to various times|800]] From time to time, even the little dots don't work for prioritization, especially when I'm up against multiple deadlines at once. In that case, I'll draw out a time ladder: start with the current time, map out the hours through the end of the day, and then map activities against it in rough 30- or 60-minute blocks. That usually works for about half a day, then the whole thing goes to hell and I just wing it. And that's ok. ### 2. Calendaring ![[gsd-calendar.png|A traditional calendar, hand-written in a notebook]] Several people have asked me how I do calendaring. My primary calendar with weekday entries is through my work email. However, I've started putting a small calendar in the front of each notebook to keep track of major upcoming events. It's a nice way to think 'big picture' about the future (but prepare for lots of rewriting/mistakes/changes as life evolves!). ### 3. Carrying forward One GSD user (who wanted to stay anonymous) told me that she uses Post-It notes to capture various lists, such as things she hopes to complete in the coming week, urgent tasks, or other short lists of various types (to-do lists from meetings, sub-steps for larger tasks, etc.). Then she can easily move the Post-It from one page to the next in her notebook as she goes through her week. And as a bonus, she mentions, "if the list is shorter/longer I can use a smaller/bigger sticker (psychological benefits, hahaha)." ### 4. Handwriting I love to write by hand. I've spent years refining my script, and wasn't really happy with it until well into my 30s. But you don't need to have good handwriting to GSD, as long as you can more-or-less read what you write. If you're not happy with your handwriting, try slowing down and forming the letters with a bit more care - you may find it helps you with planning and recall as well. ### 5. Paper When I first started GSD, I used the 6-inch x 8-inch 300-page [Miquelrius notebook](https://www.amazon.com/s?k=miquelrius%20flexible%20300&ref=nb_sb_noss) with a black cover and grid rule. However, as I purchased additional copies from them, it seemed like quality had started to suffer, both in terms of the paper and the binding. I ended up moving to a smaller format notebook that I can always carry in my pocket. My family gave me a subscription to [Field Notes](https://fieldnotesbrand.com/) notebooks, and I find that their standard-size notebook fits perfectly in my front left pocket along with my phone. Each notebook has 48 pages - just enough for about a month of GSD. I love their dot grid design, because it's just enough guidance to keep my writing straight without the overbearing imprint of a lined grid. ### 6. Pen Honestly, any old pen will work as long as it's reliable. A pencil or the basic Bic works perfectly well. That said, I really enjoy the [black uni-ball Vision Elite Micro](https://www.amazon.com/uni-ball-Vision-Elite-Rollerball-Micro/dp/B00006IE9I/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=uni-ball%20Vision%20Elite%20Micro&qid=1548012008&sr=8-1) pens. They start instantly, lay down a consistent line (no drop-outs or ink globs), last forever, and do not bleed significantly to the back of the page. ### 7. Indexing ![[gsd-back.jpg|Paper notebook on a desk|800]] If you use a thicker notebook, you may want to create an index on the edges of the pages: **Step 1**: Inside the front cover of your notebook, make a small index, with one line per major project. Then, put a black mark on the edge of the page next to each project name. Make sure your black marks go right to the edge, so you can see them when your notebook is closed. **Step 2**: Also write your project names onto the edge of your notebook, creating a 'key' so you can see them without flipping to the first page. A lot of the work I do is client-confidential, so I'm using abbreviations instead of the full project name. **Step 3**: Whenever you create a page that's related to the specific project, put a small black mark on the edge of the page (in alignment with your key). Then, when looking for pages related to that project, just slightly fan your book and you'll see them all at a glance. ## Elsewhere The [Autofocus System](http://markforster.squarespace.com/autofocus-system/): an approach that "uses both the rational and intuitive parts of your mind" The [Bullet Journal](http://www.bulletjournal.com/) method by Ryder Carroll: interesting, but more complex The [Gene of My Life](https://www.flickr.com/photos/hawkexpress/189967397/?fbclid=IwAR2OvUtyZrhMaKpxqjPmolFdRRp-S3JSLOYv_E1PxtlbjFydLg4075rzSgs) method: another interesting method for tagging individual pages A fantastic bit from [Gray Miller](https://graymiller.medium.com/before-you-try-out-that-new-note-taking-system-make-sure-you-have-this-one-thing-ccd6c47c4011) on note taking; I particularly loved this part: "And if you’re an environmentally minded person, you can even convince yourself that you’re somehow saving the world by going ‘paperless’ and using lithium batteries and fossil-fuel generated electricity instead of killing a tree." ∎