Effectual Working

I’ve been reading Getting Things Done by David Allen. In it, he presents a concept of asking yourself, “What’s the next action?” when you have a project or task to move forward. What if we applied this to our work? On your assigned tasks, ask this question. On any issue you raise, ask yourself this question. It only takes about 10 seconds and it is really powerful to know what the next physical action you need to take for the work that is in front of you.

Some of the power lies in the knowledge that you have a next action ready to go when you are looking for something to do. Perhaps you have a 10 minute gap of time. Scan your next actions. Is there a quick and easy one in there that you can knock off? What if you are looking at a block of time in your afternoon? Is there a next action that fits that time-slot and your energy level?

Now that you’ve read this, “What’s the next action?”