Step 1 - Clear your head
"First, if it's on your mind, your mind isn't clear. Anything you consider unfinished in any way must be captured in a trusted system outside of your mind, or what I call a collection bucket, that you know you'll come back to regularly and sort through."
David Allen, "Getting Things Done and the Art of Stress-free Productivity"
My wife always laughs at me and says I'm like a Windows Operating System with default settings - I recognize only 16 basic colors (to me rose is a flower, not a color) and I pretend to be a multi-tasking guy... where I can actually do one thing at a time.
Jokes aside, I must admit there is some truth in that. Just like David Allen says in his book, when your mind has too much to think about, you can't actually get anything done when you're thinking about so many things. I can't work productively when my mind is being distracted.
This is why I created Nozbe and put all my stuff in there. Whenever I think about something I need to do, I just change my active browser's window to Nozbe and use the "Quick Action" button to add the thing into the system and focus on my work.
Clear your head, put stuff in a system you trust.
The goal is to clear my head and mind. Put the stuff I'm thinking about to a system I trust and review it all at a later time. I won't forget anything - it's all there - in my system.
I created Nozbe for this very purpose and I'll briefly explain how I work with Nozbe to achieve just that.
Quick Action button
As I wrote in the example above - I use "Quick Action" a lot as I can add an action to any project or context without actually opening it. If a task has to be done today, I typically mark it as "Next Action" in order not to forget it.
The "Inbox" project
My first project is called "Inbox" and it's not a project as such. It's more of a container, a "bucket". Whenever I want to add an action, task or to-do and I don't want to think at this very moment where it should belong to, I typically add it to my Inbox project and skip the context and just add it.
Once it's in my system, I'll have a chance to review it later. It will not be forgotten. I can always move the action between projects and contexts.
Import more actions at a time
Nozbe has this great feature to add more actions at a time and I use it quite a lot. Again, I'll decide on the project and context part later, the important thing is to have all my "stuff" in the system already and this function works really great for this very purpose.
Notes... for note-taking.
Whenever I'm on the phone with someone, especially my business associates, clients, etc. I use the Notes part of Nozbe a lot to jot down ideas, write down stuff, remember facts...
This is an even more basic thing than adding actions, as after such a Notes-session the actions may arise later - now it's all about not forgetting anything and having it all in one system.
After such a phone call I usually dedicate a couple of minutes to process the note and maybe create actions, tasks or projects based on what I've written.
Attaching files
Whenever I get an email from someone with a document file I need to process later, I'd just upload it to my Nozbe and add an action for processing it.
Again, everything would be in one system and whenever I have the time to process the action associated with the file, I wouldn't have to look for it - it would be right there - in my Nozbe.
Setting due dates and calendar events
Nozbe has this great feature of setting due-dates for actions and even defining how they should be repeated in time. This really helps me clear things off my head.
Pay a bill next Wednesday? I'd just add an action in Nozbe and set due date on next Wednesday and get back to what I'm working on. On Wednesday the action will become "next action" and will be visible to me just as I log in to Nozbe. No need to think about it now.
Same goes for repeating actions. I pay most of my bills by 6th day of each month. Whenever 6th comes, I see the list of actions (payments) I need to perform on my "next actions" list and I go with it.
We are even currently working on reminder features for Nozbe so that I'd be reminded by email or text message whenever the moment comes to do something.
Nozbe is my system - your mileage may vary
I use Nozbe as my getting things done system but it's all up to you. To me, the most crucial thing the ability to quickly get stuff off my head, off my mind and put them in a system I keep close to me. I'm logged into my Nozbe account at all times. This guarantees I would never forget anything and this habit would free my mind to move on with my current task.
Don't let the distractions take over
Whenever a thought comes to my head that is not related with the task I'm doing at the moment, I write it down, put into my trusted system (Nozbe) and continue my task.
I notice a great improvement in my productivity with this trick - I no longer am thinking about all the irrelevant tasks I'd need to/should perform in the future. It's all in my Nozbe where it won't be forgotten.
What if I'm far away from my computer?
I add actions and notes using my mobile phone or just write them down on a sheet of paper and later add them to Nozbe whenever I'm back in front of my computer.
The bottom line:
Clear your head to keep your mind focused. Put the stuff into your trusted system like Nozbe and review it all later. Don't let the distractions and loose thoughts take over your time and influence your personal productivity.