If you’ve been on the net as long as I have, you’ve most likely run into the “GTD” acronym before. But, do you know what it means?

GTD is a productivity and organization system that was created by management consultant David Allen in his 2001 national bestseller Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity. Allen calls his system the “martial art of life and work” and he lays out a framework for getting control of your life with his five stages of mastering workflow: 1) collection, 2) processing, 3) organizing, 4) reviewing, and 5) doing.

In October of last year, Allen gave an enlightening presentation at the Google campus on how to create positive results in your work and life by implementing GTD ideas. In a talk titled “GTD and the Two Keys to Sustaining a Healthy Life and Workstyle,” he explains that ‘work,’ in his terms, is anything that you have to get done, and the competitive edge in the information economy is the ability to deal with surprise. Using GTD allows you to focus your mental energies on the your priorities. Drawing a martial arts parallel, Allen describes how the system gives you “mind like water”: allowing you to have the appropriate response to, and engagement with, what is present.

“Your ability to generate power is directly proportional to your ability to concentrate. …Your ability to concentrate is directly proportional to your ability to eliminate distraction. …Distraction is created by mismanaged commitments. …Your mind is limited in its ability to manage commitments, because it is handicapped in its ability to remember and remind.”

That is the problem most of us experience: we constantly fill our minds with things to remember, giving our brain the task of repeatedly reminding us of important to-do items and other pesky little details that we need to remember. Your brain isn’t really suited as a good reminder system, but until it trusts there is a better system, it cannot let go of the job.

That’s what GTD is for–to get all those little pieces of information out of your brain and onto paper (or into your computer), and free up your brainpower for bigger, more important tasks (like problem solving and creativity). In order to get things off your mind, you must know that: 1) you have captured, clarified, and organized your commitments, and 2) that you will engage consciously with them as often as you need to.

“Your ability to refocus, rapidly, on the right things at the right horizon at the right time is the master technique of knowledge work athletics. Perspective is your slipperiest and most valuable commodity. Therefore methods for maintaining perspective are your most important tools.”

So what are these five stages of mastering workflow? As Allen explains it, the five keys to gaining control are to:

1. Collect everything that has potential meaning to you
2. Process the list and clarify the meaning of those things
3. Organize in someplace you trust you’ll see at the right time
4. Review the system to keep it alive and current
5. Do

And the different “horizons” of focus when you’re working out your projects and tasks are on six different levels of work:

• At 50,000 feet are your purpose and principles
• At 40,000 feet is your vision for your career & lifestyle
• At 30,000 feet are your long-term goals for what you wish to be, do, or have
• At 20,000 feet are your areas of focus and responsibility (your body, your relationships, spiritual life, personal development). Most of us have about 15 roles.
• At 10,000 feet includes your current projects (often 30 – 100 projects)
• And of course the “Runway” is where most of your daily progress happens with “next actions” (Allen says most people tend to have between 150 – 220 current to-do’s)

Much like my recent guide to setting meaningful personal and professional development goals, using these frameworks is a great way of brainstorming your personal roles and getting your life and business in order! I’ve discussed GTD here at Thrilling Heroics before, and my past guest and GTD guru “Duff” McDuffee has created a great GTD Mastery checklist if you’re already using the system. If you’re new to it, and considering getting on board with Getting Things Done, WikiSummaries has a useful and detailed GTD quick reference that summarizes the book and all of its principles. Good luck getting things done!