A Deeper Dive Into GTD Clarify and Organize – TPW443

In this episode we continue our GTD® short series with a discussion of the Clarification and Organization steps. Under the GTD we've captured our tasks, commitments, and ideas; now it's time to clarify and organize them Earlier this month, in episode 440, I started a short series on David Allen’s Getting Things Done® productivity system with a brief overview of the system. Then in episode 441, in response to a listener request, I did a little more detailed review of the first step in the GTD system, which is capture. This week I’m looking more closely at the next two steps: clarify and organize.  I need your help! Before we get into that, though, I want to remind you of my request from last week for your help in preparing an upcoming episode about the tools we use for capture (and the other GTD® steps). Whether or not you purposely follow the GTD system, most of these steps show up in any productivity system--we all have to capture information and then clarify and organize it so that it’s usable. As I mentioned last week, I’ve had some requests to talk about the various types of tools for capturing and managing tasks and commitments. I would love to include your input on this. Would you share what tool or approach you use to manage tasks, commitments, and information, including why you’ve chosen it, what you like about it, etc.? You can share your thoughts by email--either type it up or just record a voice memo on your phone and send it to me at [email protected]. Or you can go to theproductivewoman.com and click on the “Send Me a Voice Message” button on the right-hand side. If you send a voice message, either by email or through that button on the website, I’ll be able to include that recording in the actual episode, so be sure to let me know who you are--first name is fine-- “Hi, this is Susan from San Diego” or “I’m Leanne from London”--and keep your message to a minute or so. The Clarification Step The clarification stage of the GTD method is essential for processing and understanding the tasks you've captured. By asking specific questions, you can identify the desired outcome and the next actions needed to progress. Here's more about this aspect of GTD. Purpose of clarification: Clarifying your tasks helps you gain a clear understanding of what needs to be done, the desired outcome, and the steps required to achieve it. This process promotes effective decision-making and prioritization, enabling you to focus on the most important tasks. On the FacileThings blog, writer Maria Saez says it this way: “In this phase, the captured stuff gets defined and a decision is made as to what to do with it.”  Remember at the capture step, we are not editing ourselves or processing things. We’re just getting everything into our system. According to the GTD website, the clarify step is where, for each of those things we’ve captured, we answer the questions, what is this? and what am I going to do about it?