Getting Things Done or GTD, is an emerging trend. More than a tool to help organize the working man or woman, it has become a niche in itself. GTD spans the genres of productivity, work-life-balance, and even lifestyle design. People nowadays realized that throwing one's life into work just isn't worth it anymore. And for the overworked and underpaid working class who have a choice, GTD tools and lifehacks help give life better boundaries.
More and more people are realizing that 18-hour workdays are killing their families. Working too much leaves a man or a woman little time to see the kids grow up. Working too much also causes men and women to lose touch with their spouses. By the time they hit 10 years of this overworked madness, divorce or annulment papers are all that's left on the kitchen table.
That is why there is a need for us working class to keep improving in our working methods. We need to learn how to create boundaries with work so as to not let it rule our lives, and we also need to find new ways to work that would allow us to give the best that we've got when we're on company time.
Here are our picks of the time management, lifehack and GTD websites on the Web:
- Lifehacker
- Lifehack.org
- Time Management Ninja
- The Four Hour WorkWeek
- Escaping The 9 To 5
- Freelance Folder
- GigaOm/Web Worker Daily
Here are our favorite GTD tools, that help you with keeping in step with your tasks:
Motivation and consistency tools:
Worth noting among the productivity tools is Don't Break The Chain. It's not so much a task manager or tracker as it is a consistency/accountability motivating tool. According to the website, its rationale comes from Jerry Seinfeld's system to pressure himself to come up with his jokes. If you're on a progressive goal, say losing weight, or you're counting down the days to a product launch, this is a tool that may be able to help you stay on-task with your goal.
Joe's Goals has a similar rationale, but it's more of a combination of a Don't Break The Chain system combined with a task tracking system. Much like a todo list crossed with Don't Break The Chain, this one has a goal tracking system that allows you to assign points for how well you did your task or how well you hit your goal. Nifty, especially for the achievement junkies!
Project Managers that can also serve as your personal organizers:
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Personally, I use Project Pier to assess where I am in the different life areas important to me: where am I in my career, where am I in my goals, how is my progress with my bucket list, and so on. I can even store my bucket list in the Project Pier installation I have in my host.
But my biggest fave among the Project Management software that I've turned into personal management software is Wedoist. It's like having a goal tracker with lists and a Facebook-like status message area. It even has a chat application and comments system which allows you to collaborate with someone. Whether it's a life goal you're working with a Significant Other, or a weight loss project you're doing with a friend, Wedoist is a fun tool to use.
I use Project Management software because task managers could be so limited with their functionality. Plus, I have yet to find software that can do everything I wanted in a tool.
Lastly, here are calendar schedulers that are worth using:
While I am a heavy Google Services user, Google Calendar just has too many "knobs" (functions) for me to be comfortable with. That's why I prefer 30 Boxes and iCal. Besides, my Google Tasks, TaskFive, Todoist and Ta-da Lists have sufficed. I also have whiteboards, paper planners and notebooks to help me keep track of my life.
These tools are all about helping you manage your time. There is no cut-and-dried way to manage life, but these tools at least help you keep track of what you need to do, and thus to get your time under control. Enjoy!
For more resources, here are other articles:
- Top Ten Personal Productivity and GTD Web Sites
- Top Productivity Sites - The Best Productivity Sites on the Web
- 50+ Personal Productivity Blogs You’ve Never Heard of Before (and about a dozen you probably have)
- Free Web Tools - The Top Ten Free Web Tools You Shouldn't Go Without
- Five Best To-Do List Managers
- 8 Free Web Based Project Management Systems Reviewed
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