It’s September, and change is in the air. While January is of course the big season of new beginnings, we find that a lot of people think of September in a similar way. You have a holiday season behind you, the kids are starting a new school year, and you’re re-established in the rhythm of your working life.
September is also, perhaps not surprisingly, one of our busiest months. We find that lots of people use the new season to explore how they can improve their effectiveness, and the core promise of Getting Things Done – that effectiveness can be increased at the same time that stress-levels are reduced – has lots of appeal.
So in the spirit of this season of change, I am going do something different with my blog. Over the next couple of months, I’ll be publishing three different blogs with selected list entries from your lives. My goal is to provide you, my readers, with the chance to learn from and inspire each other. To reflect on what you have accomplished, and to look forward to what you’d like to accomplish. To acknowledge your unfulfilled dreams. You can blow your own trumpet a bit, and at the same time understand at a more fundamental level what kinds of things GTD is inspiring and enabling you to do.
So have a look through your lists and send me your favourites. Send me your coolest, most inspiring, most meaningful things. You can use the form here to send me your entries. I’m looking for three types of things: projects, next actions, and someday/maybe entries.
The first blog will highlight projects. For those of you who are new to this (or those who need a refresher), a “project” in GTD is any desired outcome that takes more than one step to accomplish, and that you’re planning to complete within a year. Maybe your favourite project is a dream realized, a major purchase, or some professional achievement. When you send it, please do let me know whether the project is something you’ve already completed, or something you’re planning to complete.
In the second blog I’ll share the most inspiring, intriguing, or downright quirky “next actions” you’ve sent my way. A good next action is something physical and visible; something we could see you doing. Maybe it’s an important conversation you need to have, something cool you need to do online, or an important email to send. Whether you’ve actually completed it or not, if you’d like to share it, please send it my way using the link above.
In the final blog I’ll highlight the best “someday/maybe” entries I’ve received. A someday/maybe is something you think you might like to do someday, but that you have no definite commitment to. The trip of a lifetime? An outrageous purchase? A life-changing new skill you might like to develop? Send me the ones you find inspiring, and you may get the chance to inspire others too.
Oh, and there’s a prize. From all of the entries I publish, we will choose one person at random who will get a free seat at one of our scheduled 1-day public seminars at any location in the UK or Ireland.
At its most fundamental, GTD is much more than the decisions we make, the lists we create, and the cool technologies we use. It’s about enabling the achievement of things beyond our expectations. Send us your entries, and we’ll celebrate together what GTD has made – and will make – possible.
