"It is not enough to be busy. So are the ants. The question is: What are we busy about?"
-Henry David Thoreau-
In the university that I went to, you can observe three types of students. Academically, students of the first type do not do well. Most of them happen to be the ones spending the least amount of time on studying. Obviously, there is no problem with that as people have different priorities in life, and many of them are very successful later in life.
Students of the second type are walking examples of the term "nerd". They spend a lot of time in library. They do all of their assignments on time. They always go for extra credits. They let nothing get in the way of their study. They can be stressful at time. Unless there is something seriously wrong, these students are mostly successful in university. At least academic-wise.
And then we have the third type - the super stars. These are students whom you will see in sport teams, student councils, club leaders, and music bands. They are everywhere. They attend everything. And, surprisingly, they do well in almost all of those endeavours. They generally match, sometime exceed, academic achievements of the second type students, despite spending all their time running around managing stuffs and volunteering for things.
I am always jealous of the third type, for how they have that kind of energy, and especially how they manage to fit everything into their tight time budget. Therefore, I was always on a search for a better way to get things done. That search only intensified when I started doing my PhD. Over the years, I devised and tried different systems for myself to improve how I work. I tried paper notebooks. I tried digital notebooks. I combined different electronic tools into a system. They worked, to a certain degree, but there was always something missing.
And then one day, I came across a book called "Getting Things Done" by David Allen - an expert in this area. When I learned that even CEOs in forbes 100 list require his training, I realised that getting things done is not only a struggle of young professionals. From that day, I learned and adapted Allen's system, and never looked back. Now, the only obstacle between I and getting things done is myself, not the management system anymore.
In the next few days, I will share lessons that I learned from GTD. If you also struggle with being productive, this series might help. Stay tune!
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Non-FictionMemento Mori - Remember that you will die. Time is an amusing thing. Three minutes standing in front of the microwave oven, waiting for our lunch, seem like an eternity. Yet days and months can pass in blink, without leaving any trace behind. Theref...
