Getting things done for students: The principles and how they apply

My intention here is not to cover the fundamental principles of David Allen’s approach to personal productivity. That’s what the book is for. Go and read it. Instead, I’m going to be discussing the types of modifications I think will be necessary for GTD to work for a student while walking you through my own attempts to implement it in my life.

The principles

Just as a quick reminder, the fundamental principle of Getting Things Done is this: collect everything (and that means everything) that is in your life into one physical place, decide what you need to do about it, implement a trusted system which you can be 100% certain will remind you of it all, and then do it, based on the time, place and situation you are in, reviewing the whole system on a regular basis to ensure nothing is missed.

This all sounds very simple and common-sensical, which it is. David Allen has simply created a system which ensures that everything is captured, processed and organised quickly and simply. The beauty of it is its flexibility and applicability to pretty much everything in your life.

There are a few points, however, that I think could become an issue for students trying to implement the process.

One of the major difficulties I foresee (and to some extent have already experienced) is physical reference storage and filing. Most students move ‘house’ at least once a year, and some will move several times during the academic year if living in halls. Even for those who have a more permanent abode, space for personal filing and storage can be very limited. I will be moving into student accommodation in a little under one month, and I will need to make sure that I take all my important files with me. Obviously, this makes things like filing cabinets rather impractical. When thinking about storage, therefore, a major consideration is going to be ease of transportation.

Second, I will need to put some thought into how lectures, practicals and assignments fit into the project/next action structure that Allen proposes. Does one treat each module as a big project, or sub-divide into smaller sections? How should the paperwork be filed? Sorting this out will to some extent be trial and error, but I’ll be devoting a future post to thinking about the goals of lectures and how to incorporate into GTD. Thinking about the goals of studying should help to clarify how to go about organising best.

One of the most obvious things about Allen’s book is its focus on businesses and, in particular, overworked and stressed executives. However, there is no reason why the principles in it can’t be applied to overworked and stressed students! I foresee a greater degree of emphasis on setting own deadlines and the importance of keeping work flexible to fit around the busy, often on-the-go lifestyle of students. These are things I’ll be exploring over the coming weeks.

The benefits of using GTD principles and methods are already becoming clear to me. By getting all this ‘stuff’ out of my brain and on to paper, it should leave my mind more clear and able to think about higher-level research and study. I look forward to it!

Next up: How I collected and processed - baby-steps forward.