Master the Art of Getting Things Done

Do you ever feel like everything you need to do requires time and resources you don’t have? This is the biggest and most endless puzzle of them all.

That portfolio was due yesterday, your top 3 clients have broken websites, and your biggest initiative has a project delay no one can afford. Sounds dicey – but there’s a way to keep this firestorm at bay and help your teams self-solve (unless escalation is really needed) so you can keep doing what you need to do. 

I’m going to help you systematize your path forward to ‘yes’ when ‘no’ seems like the only option. With resources, odds, and opinions stacked against you, don’t worry, there’s ways to move forward (but keep your mind open to what those ways might be).

Productivity Fallacy

Before we dive in to the tactical solutions, I want to bust the productivity myth that in order to achieve more, you have to do more. 

That sounds like a busy-work mentality a sophomore college professor of mine used. 

In order to move the needle towards your goals, you need to focus on doing the right things. For example, if you’re a CEO, you should not be writing sales memos. There are teams for that. 

If you say that you can’t focus on doing the right things for xyz reason, we’ll get into how to help you with that.

For now, just know that staying busy and doing things to ‘feel productive’ does not equate to meaningful outcomes. 

You need to identify and hone in on the things that will actually move the needle.

Capture Context Relentlessly

Context is going to apply to all the systems we’re about to dive into, so I want to cover it separately. 

Author David Allen wrote a book about systematizing productivity called “Getting Things Done”. In his book, one of his principles is ‘clearing mental clutter’. I love this concept because it’s all about getting what’s in your head out on paper and into systems.

Yes, you are capable of managing many things mentally, but here’s the thing: you don’t have to. 

You do not have to keep track of 100 tasks and 10 strategic initiatives in your head. Think of how much more effectively you’d be able to lead, innovate, and do what you need to do without all of that swimming in your mind. 

Creating mental real estate is a super power to getting things done.

So where does all of this fit into context?

When you get things out of your head and onto paper (shout out to all my list makers), you can capture the context around those thoughts. 

Context like whether or not it is a real problem or a fear, a realistic or dreamy idea, and how important versus urgent it really is. 

Gathering additional context like knowing why you have to do something, noting the estimated energy required, and the time required to do it helps you more effectively prioritize.

This is not meant to be something on your to-do list. This is what you do as you make your to-do list. It goes hand in hand.

Prioritization is a large part of what we’re really getting after here, so let’s dive in more deeply.

7 Key Systems to Unlock Momentum

Memory is not a great way to make sure you remember to do things, especially when your mental real estate is saturated. Systems can be managed, measured, and improved. They provide a structure for repeatability and scalability.

I don’t know a business owner or leader who wants things to get smaller – sales, capacity, skills, and the list goes on. 

So if being able to grow in a sustainable way is key, then you should be using one, some, or all of these 7 systems to unlock your growth.

Systematize Resourcefulness for Problem Solving

I’m not going to get into frameworks for problem solving. However, I will talk about how to systematize being resourceful so that you can solve any problem that you face.

Limitations can be frustrating, but if you know how to be resourceful, it gets easier. You’re able to put the puzzle pieces together in ways other people cannot.

You might be thinking that’s not a very helpful strategy to get things done. Isn’t it though? Let’s look at some practical applications of how to systematize resourcefulness: 

• Start a “Solution Journal”
  • This goes back to making mental real estate that we talked about above. When you are driving, going on a run, cooking, or generally making space in your brain from work, you come up with ideas. Don’t let those great ideas just come and go – jot down those solutions to the challenges you face. Don’t judge them – write them down no matter how far-fetched they may seem initially.
• Conduct a Weekly “Risk Audit”:
  • Dedicate time each week to identify one calculated risk you can take to move closer to your goals (whip out that Solution Journal). Start small and gradually increase your risk tolerance over time.
  • Put it on the calendar – this is part of the system. This can be as short as 15 minutes, but you need to do it so things don’t keep falling through the cracks. (Or add it to the agenda of an existing meeting. Find a place for it, and you’ll be glad you did).
• Hold a Monthly “Innovation Brainstorm”:
  • Gather your team for a brainstorming session focused on generating creative solutions to a specific problem or challenge. Encourage everyone to contribute ideas without judgment.
  • This might seem like a “waste of time”, but remember the productivity fallacy we talked about above.
  • Do keep in mind that this meeting should be small so it can be constructive. When teams have a chance to swarm on something, you might be surprised at how quickly it gets solved. 

Systematize your Networking

Sounds a bit robotic and cold, but it’s not, trust me. As an introvert, I have to systematize this or I’ll run out of social energy. 

What I mean by this is making sure you’re thinking ahead about the connections you want to make and relationships you want to cultivate. That way, you can make sure you are:

• Fostering an active network of relationships (professional ones you simply like and those you might actually need).
• Scheduling them on a regular cadence instead of remembering to reach out from time to time. 
• Spending the amount of time that feels appropriate making new connections (a.k.a reducing the overwhelm of networking if it’s something that you prefer to avoid). 

Here are some tactical things you can start with to create better, and more regular, systems around building and fostering relationships: 

• Schedule Coffee Meetings:
  • Regularly schedule coffee or virtual meetings with new and old connections that you want to have. If you don’t like coffee, just put some time on your calendar and theirs, and make it recurring. Boom done, that was easy, and now you have more mental real estate to think about other things. (I’ve done this for loose connections I’ve made over the years, and this has led to some of the most fun professional connections I have!).
• Create an “Ally Map”:
  • Use this as a tool to help you remember the people you want to connect with most in those coffee conversations. Identify people within and outside your organization who can support your goals or initiatives. Map out their interests, priorities, and potential areas of collaboration to tailor your approach.
  • I keep notes from every conversation I have so I can reference it the next time I meet with a person. It helps me remember personal details and warm up the conversation quickly, and actually get to know them. 

Build a System to Influence Without Authority

This seems a bit weird at first. How do you build a system to perform a soft skill that requires situational context? 

Think about the different types of context we talked about above – deciding if something is a real problem or not, how important versus urgent it really is, and here’s a new one: deciding if it can help your marketing.

As you know, marketing is influencing and showing authority in a specific space. If you can do this authentically to your customers, or whoever you interact with, then you build trust. (I wrote a post on a proven framework that will help you convert more customers).

How do you systematize something so, squishy? Here are some ideas:

• Offer Value First:
  • Before asking for support or buy-in, find ways to provide value to whoever you’re talking to – your stakeholders or customers. Offer assistance, share relevant resources, or provide insights that demonstrate your expertise and credibility.
  • Do this by creating self-serve resources if you work with internal teams or free downloads for external customers. Putting this in place systematizes the display of your credibility to influence how you’re perceived. 
• Share Success Stories:
  • Collect and share success stories from similar projects or initiatives to illustrate the potential impact of your proposals. 
  • Systematize this by including a feedback option at the end of meetings, setting up meetings for feedback, or adding reminders to your calendar to send surveys on a regular cadence. You get the idea. 

A System to Prioritize and Focus Efforts 

Everything we’ve talked about up to this point is helping you take a lot of tasks off of your plate to better prioritize. The ability to focus your efforts on the high impact actions is going to move the needle forward in meaningful ways.

So how do you systematize prioritization? 

There’s a lot of ways that we can do this, but we’re going to review just a couple options here. 

When resources are limited, prioritization becomes paramount. Here are some tactical takeaways to implement:

• Use the “Critical Path Method”:
  • This is just a fancy project management way to say “determine the most important tasks to achieve your goals”. You know what is critical and what is fluff on the way to achieving your goals. When push comes to shove, you know what you can cut to meet the deadline. 
  • Make this a part of your planning strategy by adding it to your planning documents or meeting agendas. This is going to help you and your teams get very clear on what has to happen versus what is nice if it could happen. 
  • It helps sharpen your timelines and keep everyone focused on the non-negotiables to meeting (or beating) the deadline. 
• Conduct Regular “Priority Reviews”:
  • Just like we talked about above with the ‘Risk Audit”, schedule regular reviews to reassess your priorities and adjust your focus based on changing circumstances or new information. As an example, for product people, this is backlog grooming. 
  • Make this a part of a regular routine that makes sense for your team. Whether that is weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly, you’ll want to re-prioritize tasks based on their impact and urgency.

Systematize Talent Growth 

This one is to be done with the long game in mind and is not usually a quick ROI. However, this investment will pay dividends down the road as you scale. Chip away at this overtime or schedule an offsite to swarm around it. Making sure you have the systems and processes in place to focus on your and your team’s growth is going to make your company stronger. 

How do you start? Here’s a couple ways:

• Conduct a “Skills Inventory”:
  • You first need to know the skills required for where you are going, so take some time to get clear on that first. 
  • The next action is to take stock of the skills and expertise within your team. Identify opportunities to leverage existing talents to tackle new challenges, pursue growth opportunities, and maybe even realign role responsibility based on this assessment.
• Establish a “Resource Sharing System”:
  • This is a big favorite of mine and something I’ve done at many organizations. I never want to be the bottleneck to someone coming in behind me, and I certainly do not want to create my own ceiling. If I don’t help others learn, I won’t grow, and neither will anyone else. 
  • Create a formalized process for sharing resources and expertise across teams or departments. Encourage collaboration and knowledge sharing to maximize resource utilization.
  • This can look like creating a file where reference materials are organized, a short SOP (standard operating procedure) for cross-training or onboarding people, and a calendar reminder to update these documents regularly. 

Systematize Learning and Feedback

In dynamic and resource-constrained environments, the ability to learn and adapt quickly is essential. Here are some tactical takeaways things you can start doing:

• Foster a Culture of Feedback:
  • Ask for it in every (appropriate) meeting. When you ask for it, and have level-headed responses for feedback, the flywheel will start to move.
  • Make sure there is follow up and action on this feedback, or there won’t be trust in the system. Create safe spaces for dialogue where constructive criticism is welcomed and valued. 
  • Develop timelines for reviewing this, communicating follow up actions, and progress on the follow through.
  • Do this through after action reviews, surveys, or any other mode of feedback. Make sure you communicate the importance and follow ups from what you hear.
• Stay Informed and Stay Agile:
  • Hold regular panels or meetings that share trends, impacts to your industry from emerging technologies, and discussions on market shifts that may impact your business. Have fun with it so your teams know this is something that’s important and encouraged. 

Build a Repeatable Way to Celebrate (Even Small) Wins 

This one is so often missed, it’s painful. Even for the people who don’t like the soft and fluffy stuff, there’s usually broad acknowledgement that these types of things are really nice. We’re human, and we like to celebrate things. We should create ways to do it that are regular and scalable, not an afterthought.

Here are some ways you can start:

• Establish a “Win Wall”:
  • Create a visual representation of your team’s achievements, such as a bulletin board or digital dashboard. Celebrate milestones, big or small, to foster a culture of appreciation and recognition.
  • Refer to this regularly so people are acknowledged and know that others see this. Make it matter.
• Schedule “Victory Meetings“:
  • Set aside time each week or month to celebrate successes as a team. Use these meetings to recognize individual contributions, share lessons learned, and recharge motivation.
  • This can be at the top of a call where people share kudos or shout outs to people who have helped them recently. This goes a long way, even to the non-softies. 

Go and Get Things Done (GTD) 

These things might sound silly, small, or over-simplified. That’s exactly why they often get overlooked and why you end up running around doing “stuff” but not actually getting anything done.

These small changes in your systems might be the magic needed to press teams onwards towards achieving real outcomes. 

Get started by choosing one or two things, implementing them, and iterating on them. Try it out, practice some of these, and see what works for your teams. These are so customizable and can help remove busy-ness because your teams will actually be focused on outcome producing activities and not remembering to update that SOP or feeling like things get re-prioritized every week.

Simplify, systematize, and make strides towards moving projects across the finish line.