Author: David Allen
_David Allen_
Reading time: 21 minutes
Synopsis
In So kriege ich alles in den Griff (How I Get Everything Done), David Allen shares his new way to be more productive. He explains how you can focus on projects that are truly exciting and good. This means you need a tidy desk and a clear mind. You also need to remove all the things that stop you.
What’s in it for you: build and keep an organized life.
David Allen’s book Wie ich die Dinge geregelt kriege (Getting Things Done) is very popular. If you have read it, you will want to read So kriege ich alles in den Griff too. But even if you haven’t, these summaries will give you a good look at the famous productivity guru’s ideas.
So kriege ich alles in den Griff is based on David Allen’s popular newsletter about productivity. In it, he often shares ideas, tips, and new tricks with his fans. For example, he answers questions like: What is the best way to handle all those annoying small daily tasks? What is the problem with unanswered emails? And why should I feed my dog before I steal the Mona Lisa?
But behind all these questions is one big question: How can I really focus my full energy on the most interesting projects and finish them well? After you read our summaries, you will be much closer to your goals. You will also see parts of your daily life in a new way.
Blink 1 – To be creative, you need a clear mind.
We all know those tasks that are so easy we could watch TV at the same time. For example, filling out a form, writing a report, or answering the same phone call for the hundredth time. Being creative is different. Creativity is not just drawing and making colorful things without a plan. It means doing hard thinking work.
Creativity means solving problems in a new way. Imagine someone writing the story for a TV series. We might think, “That’s easy, just use your imagination.” But it’s not true. The writer has to think about many things: All the characters must grow in interesting ways. There must be a scene at the end of each episode that makes you want to watch the next. There cannot be too many filming locations, or it will cost too much. There must be a special look for the show, like rain when something sad happens, and much more. Also, the writer needs to research many things to make the story feel real.
Creative people generally have to think about many things at once. To show how we do this, we can think of our brain like a computer with limited memory. This memory holds everything that is important in the short to medium term. This goes from small daily tasks to big creative ideas. If we have to remember all day to buy milk, tomatoes, cheese, bread, and toilet paper in the evening, pick up a prescription at the pharmacy, and call a friend, we will probably be less creative. This is because our brain can only process a certain amount of information at one time.
So, the first step to solving problems creatively is to clear your mind. This helps you focus on what is truly important.
Blink 2 – How to be more creative: Good organization is key.
Organization, structure, routine – these words don’t sound very creative. But it’s true that the more organized we are, the more creative we can be.
This is because we get more done when we are well organized. This does not mean writing down everything that comes to mind on many random to-do lists. If we did that, our desk would be covered with messy lists at the end of the day. And if we tried to work through them the next day, we would probably start with less important things. For example, we might put a name tag on the stapler, just because that task happens to be at the top of the first list we see.
The trick is to order and prioritize our tasks. This way, we always know what needs to be done, when it’s due, how important it is, and how much time it will take. The faster we finish our tasks, the more time we have for creative work.
Tasks that take less than two minutes should always be done right away. This way, we don’t have to keep them in our minds, where they can distract us from more important things. But if we have a difficult task that needs a lot of creativity, we should do all the small annoying tasks first. This helps us focus all our mental power on the big task. For example, if we are planning to steal the Mona Lisa, we should answer all our emails first and not forget to feed our dog!
Blink 3 – Too much organization makes you less flexible.
In the last summary, we saw that sometimes we organize things the wrong way. But there is another danger: too much organization. For example, if we have a very complex system that guides everything we do, we might spend too much time on the system itself. Then, we have no energy left for the actual tasks.
For example, someone who wants to lose weight and get fitter might think about getting some organizational help. It’s tempting: we download a fitness planner and spend three hours every day writing down our calories, looking for low-calorie recipes, and perfecting our workout. How many push-ups did we do in the third set? What was our heart rate in the seventh minute on the treadmill?
For any system we use to organize our tasks, remember: it should work easily by itself. If we have to focus on managing the system itself, we should find a different, simpler one.
When we try to control every small detail, we not only waste a lot of time but also become less flexible. We might miss some good chances just because they are not in our detailed project plan. For example, an interesting conference that we hear about at the last minute, and we don’t want to add it to our very strict plan.
So, we should always keep some extra time free. We can use this time for unexpected things that come up and look promising. And the less time we spend organizing our tasks, the more time we have for these sudden extras.
Blink 4 – Writing down ideas has three big benefits.
We now know that keeping too many things in our mind at once stops our creativity. This means it is good to write down new ideas right away. This frees up space in our mental memory, instead of trying to keep them all active like too many open windows on a computer.
Another reason to write down ideas is the risk of losing a good idea among all our “open mental windows” when we try to find it. If there’s too much, our brain starts to delete things. But unlike a computer, it doesn’t ask us first. So, it can happen that an idea that might have made us rich one day just disappears. This might happen while we are trying hard to remember if we turned off the stove.
Also, ideas become clearer for us when we see them in writing. The act of writing helps us make them real and decide if they are good. For example, if we plan to do something, we often keep it vague in our thoughts – we want to “exercise regularly again.” When we write the idea down, we usually notice this vagueness. If we are serious about our goal, we make a clear plan: “Sign up for the Monday evening yoga class” might be the note we write on our list.
So, writing down all your ideas has three big benefits: You have more space for creativity, you don’t forget them, and it’s easier to make them real.
Blink 5 – If you know your tasks and priorities, you can make better choices.
Imagine a media studies professor gets an offer to work on an exciting documentary film project. How does he decide whether to accept the offer or not? He must first be clear about his tasks at the university. What classes does he have this semester? How many exams does he need to prepare and grade, how many students does he supervise?
The same is true for the professor as it is for all of us: We should always have a list of all the tasks we need to do now or in the near future. This helps us in two ways. First, it helps us estimate how much time we have for other projects. Second, it helps us find out which tasks we can give to others. Maybe a PhD student could take over a study group or supervise some student papers?
Also, it’s important to prioritize our tasks: “What things are truly important to me?” This is the main question. To answer it, we first need to know our main focus. This could be our job, for example. If we were the professor and the film project would take too much time away from our professor duties, we should not say yes. But if the film project is more important to us, we could try to ask for a research semester to focus completely on it.
For every job and every life situation: We decide our priorities. If a steady income and safety are important to us, we should try to keep our job and maybe get promoted. But if our personal growth is more important, we can take on a new and exciting challenge.
No decision we make is good or bad by itself. It can only be the right or wrong one for us personally and at that specific time. If we are clear about our tasks and priorities, it will be easier for us to make the right choices.
Blink 6 – Problems happen everywhere.
It doesn’t matter what kind of work we do – Murphy’s Law is true everywhere, and something always goes wrong. The skill is to guess what exactly might go wrong and be as ready as possible for it.
The sooner we think about problems and difficulties that might come up during our project, the better. A simple example is a garden party: If we think beforehand that it might rain, we can get a tent ready or think of some fun indoor activities. If the weather then turns bad, our party won’t be ruined.
But if we are *not* ready and it rains, everyone will get wet and cold and go home. They will only want to come to our next garden party if there is almost no chance of rain.
A good plan has a solution for possible problems. And it also includes something else: extra time for them. No matter what project we are working on, delays can always happen. We rarely know what kind of delays they will be, but we should plan for them.
For example, an exhibition builder has to finish a stand for a company. He could technically finish it the night before the exhibition opens. But what if the paint doesn’t dry, or the electrician is sick, or a table leg is missing? It’s always smarter to plan some extra time. This not only saves stress but usually helps the project turn out better.
So, the trick is to always think at the start of a project about what could go wrong and how we can react. We just need to plan enough time for all possible problems – and then a little extra time for the impossible ones.
Blink 7 – Every small step helps you reach your big dream.
Each of us has a big dream, but most people don’t believe they can make it happen. They think they don’t have enough time or money. But here is the good news: Everyone can do it! No matter what it is. Open a surf school in Hawaii? Become an actor? Travel the world? All of these are possible.
Most people never start these kinds of projects because they seem too big. They ask themselves how they can find time and money to work on such dreams, next to their job and busy daily life, and they give up. But the answer is very simple: step by step. The first step is the most important.
Take a teacher who wants to write a novel as an example. She already has some characters and first ideas for the story. But she never starts the novel because she is too busy teaching, grading homework, and meeting parents. She thinks she needs several completely free weeks to start the book. But that’s wrong. She only needs to take the first step. And that step won’t take more than five minutes.
This is because every project can be broken down into simple, small steps. The teacher could, for example, plan these steps: sketch a rough story outline, research the setting, collect title ideas, write the first paragraph. She can do each of these tasks on a weekend or in the evening after work. And if not, she can break them down into even smaller tasks. Step by step, she will finish her novel.
This is true for all of us: No matter what the dream is – once we find the individual steps, we can start turning our project into reality!
Blink 8 – If a team struggles, communication is the answer.
Let’s be honest: Nobody can do everything alone. Most of us work in a team, and even for private projects, we often need help from others. So, it’s great if we are very organized and have everything under control ourselves. But what can we do to make *others* work well together too? For example, when a colleague doesn’t share important information we need for our work, or when the boss keeps forgetting to make a key decision?
The best thing to do is look for communication problems. A team must be able to talk to each other effectively. Everyone needs to have the right information to work and plan well. So, communication is very important, but it doesn’t always go smoothly. Its shape can be compared to a bottle – if there is a blockage, it is almost always at the top.
If one or more team members don’t communicate well, it stops the free flow of information for the whole team. It’s like a bottleneck stopping a liquid from pouring out easily. We can often find such people by looking for emails with “Urgent!” in the subject line or sent with high priority. These emails usually go to people who often take too long to reply.
These team members need coaching or training. We must show them how important good communication is for the whole team. They need to understand that they should tell their colleagues what tasks they can do and when. And they generally need to be reachable by email.
This way, a team’s effectiveness and work atmosphere can be improved fairly quickly and easily. And it is definitely cheaper and takes less effort than forming a new team!
Summary
The main message of this book is:
We can achieve anything we want – we just need to approach it the right way. This means organizing our tasks well and understanding when and how we can be most creative. We need to plan our projects carefully and stay flexible. We also need to ensure good teamwork. Then, nothing can stop us.
Clear your mind.
Do all tasks that take less than two minutes right away. Write down all other tasks and ideas in an organized way. Then you will have enough free space in your mind to be creative and work on exciting projects.
Plan for problems.
When you plan a project, think about what could go wrong and how you would react. Be ready for problems and always plan a little extra time for unexpected situations.
Plan your projects flexibly.
If you spend too much time organizing your tasks, you will have less time for the project itself. And if you plan every minute of your day, you won’t be able to grab sudden chances. So, always leave a little free time in your calendar for unexpected things.
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Source: https://www.blinkist.com/https://www.blinkist.com/de/books/so-kriege-ich-alles-in-den-griff-de