trappleton

Thousands of people love to use David Allen’s Get Things Done system to organize their lives — particularly the helpful folks at Lifehacker — but it’s never really done the trick for me. After a long time of trying to create a system that does work well for me, I think I’ve done it.

Despite the convenience and ubiquity of Web apps, I find that sometimes, nothing works quite as well as good old pen and paper. Thus, I’ve created a neat and tidy document that I use for my weekly work flow at my day job. And now,  it’s completely free for you to use, too! Behold:

It’s fairly straightforward, but I’ll offer some explanation as to how I use this sheet. Every week, I start it anew, whether I’ve completed every item on the list or only one, so I’ll date the document every week.

Current is a list of items I must complete within that week. These are usually fairly simple and easy to knock off the list, such as editing a document and posting it online.

Long-Term is a list, as you might expect, of projects outside the scope of the current week, but still require frequent attention. An example from my day job would be reworking the navigational structure of a Web site.

Recurring is a list of things you do every day, week or month. They’re probably tasks you’re so used to doing that you don’t even think about them — which is precisely why I like to maintain their visibility.

I have left the lower-left list with a Blank Header to account for the idiosyncrasies of your job. For instance, in any given week, I have to photograph a number of pre-planned events, so I keep track of them in this field under a header that reads, “To Shoot.”

Enough chatter! Here’s the file for you to download. I’d love to hear what you think!

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