Five Tips To Reduce Stress (GTD)

I encounter people on a weekly basis who say the following:

“I don’t have time.”

“I’m so stressed out.”

“I have a million things to do.”

“If only there were more than 24 hours in a day.”

You get the idea. I'm sure you hear the same thing as well, and likely are also saying it on a weekly basis.

These things may be true, but my approach is to not make this a day to day mantra. Instead, create a trusted system that helps you take action on the million things in your head. 

I think people can learn a lot from David Allen’s book Getting Things Done. A lot of people aren't jumping to read the book as it does go into a lot of depth and encourages a pretty big life transformation in order to truly master the art of getting things done. 

I love the book, and I think there are a some important ideas that can help people feel like they are getting more things done and feel less stressed. Skip the book if you're not into reading it and take note of these tips:

1. Write everything down - everything that's in your head that you have to do. Stop right now and write it down. When you think of something else, write it down.
   
2. Have a fun system in place to input and check off all these things you're writing down, ensuring the "thing" is listed with a verb in front of it to encourage action.
   
3. Don’t forget to routinely check your system in order to avoid pile up, keep the list going with new items and to be sure your brain trusts that this system actually works/helps to remember items and do them (this is what truly helps you stress out less).
   
4. If you start to hate your system, change it until you find one that works.
   
5. Patience is key. We all are not going to excel at getting things done all at once. Take your time and chill out. 
   

Has anyone read Getting Things Done? Do you implement this system into your work/personal life?