One summer, my father made me agree to read the Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. I tried desperately but found it incredibly boring and my father kept repeating that he just wanted me to get to Ben’s statement on resolution: “Resolve to perform what you ought; perform without fail what you resolve.”

At the time, I mocked my father and the quote, but these days, it’s become a more and more important mission statement. Until a few months ago, every day felt like a battle against my inbox, trying to keep up with client requests, participating in six hours a day of calls/meetings but still needing to get work done, and, simultaneously trying to live a happy life (seeing friends and family, managing finances, getting exercise, etc). I kept thinking back to the Benjamin Franklin quote and realized I needed to do two things: first, reduce my number of agreements and promises and second, find a way to more effectively manage my workflow so that I can do everything I resolve.

My current weapons?

• Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity - I first heard about David Allen six years ago from some clients, but put the method into practice in mid-December after a slight meltdown. I took myself offline for two days to get set up and spent most of the Christmas holiday getting my approach in place. It’s fundamentally changed my life. My quick pieces of advice for you:
  • Read the book. Then put it down and start small.
  • Write everything down.
  • Reduce the number of places you write things down and put slips of paper.
  • Process your email inbox to 0 once a day. Mine is back at 120 by end of day, but I process again that night or first thing in the morning.
  • Don’t beat yourself up. I’ve given myself a full year to feel like I’ve got it together. I’m more than three months in and feel the most in control I ever have.
  • Commit time daily to processing work and figuring out what you need to do.
• Omnifocus as a list manager- It’s overpriced and I bought it for three devices, but I have one list manager with great features that works across my iPad, iPhone, and Mac. And everything I need to do is in it. My quick pieces of advice for using a list manager:
  • Don’t define the item while adding it — it’s easy to get bogged down putting tags and deadlines on and suddenly adding something to your to do list takes minutes instead of seconds. Deal with that when you’re processing work, not when you’re capturing.
  • Use the inbox. I sometimes just add a word or two and make the task or process later. It reduces paper and weight on my mind.
  • Take full advantage of a Someday/Maybe list – anything you’re not tackling right now should go on this list. If you review weekly per GTD, you won’t ever lose anything as long as you have it on this list.
• A filing cabin. I bought one. Like a grown up.
• My team – You know the best way to get something off your plate? Delegate it. By making better, faster, and more accurate staffing requests, I’m able to actually resolve to perform what I ought.