Calgon Take Me Away – GTD and Super Busy Moms

I have been scouring the web and the book Getting Things Done the Art of Stress Free Productivity for the simplest explanation of David Allen’s productivity system. I am going to tell the you that it is like hunting down a Tic Tac in a 5 pound bag of jelly beans.

But I did find a couple of good ones that worked great for business moms, and a mega-million for business dads.  But for incredibly overwhelmed moms there is not much out there.

So, I am going to give this to you in as few words as possible.

What the heck is GTD?  

GTD is a method by David Allen.

GTD means Getting Things Done

GTD is a system that when implemented can help to make your days less stressful.

GTD can help organize your crazy mommy commitments, phone calls, countless school papers, room parent responsibilities, and reach  both your personal and work goals.(Yes, as moms this list could easily be 20 pages long, The truth hurts doesn’t it?)

In Short: GTD can help you find your Mom Groove.

But how could this possibly happen?

By placing your stuff, ideas, lists, commitments, projects into a trusted system that you enjoy.

And then what happens?

Then we learn how to trust the system we created and spend a bit of time each day keeping it current.

 What?I  am a busy mom!  I don’t have any free time. (at this point you can tell I am kind of talking to myself)

That is why we are just going to take tiny, tiny steps.

From the magical feeling of an empty email box to the first step to reaching the craziest goal we ever thought we could reach as crazy, busy moms, we are going to do it all in tiny, tiny steps.

But wait, what about Calgon Taking Me Away?

Relax, part of the system is achieving something referred to as a Mind Like Water.

But every time I read about it, I kept thinking of how awesome a hot bubble bath feels and how relaxed I am after a nice long one.

That,my friends, is kind of like the concept Mind Like Water.
When we  can work on projects one step at a time without going all Crazy- mom if there is an interruption while we are working,we are kind of in a Calgon- Take Me Away mode. (peaceful, happy, awesome)  And that mommas, is what I call an awesome life, work and home management system.

Truth be Known: My Personal Experience with GTD

As stated in the last post I have been a GTD’er for a few years. And I can tell you even in the most trying and heart-breaking situations I was able to keep most all of my balls juggling at a steady pace.
When my brother was hospitalized last year I was able to do everything I could from 2,000 miles away to stay in touch with my family and speak with the nurses to get the facts  and to keep me from going crazy with my dad’s sugar coated explanations. My brother is okay now and if I met David Allen ( I have a couple of times, but you know he wouldn’t  know me from Adam) by accident at a restaurant one day, I would thank him. Because, Lord knows, last year was tough and I could have crumpled up in a ball and cried every minute of every day. But, bless his heart, he gave me the tools I needed to make things work and even the idea that it was okay to take time out of my day, guilt-free, just to sit and think about my brother and his family.

If you would like David Allen’s explanation about his work-life management system check out the link below.

http://www.davidco.com/about-gtd

If you did not read 6 Reasons Why Moms Need GTD
Click This Link 

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7 Comments

  1. This is awesome information! I feel so overwhelmed with all that I have to do lately and there are some things that I don’t enjoy doing that always end up being pushed off to the next week (and the next, and the next). Thank you for sharing!

  2. Hello there! You do know that you are one of my favorite mommas, right? 🙂 I love this! I love anything that can help you become more efficient which is why I recently started reading Zenhabits. After reading one article I somehow feel refreshed and relaxed (I kid you not). Now, I will definitely check out the links you gave, just need to get a few things done today. Hugs!

    1. Thanks for stopping by Anne. I did Zen Habits as well, but I am too much of a perfectionist to even try his methods. lol

      Pam

  3. Such great tips! I’m not even a mom. I don’t know how you ladies do it! My sister has 4 kids under the age of 6 – she is the hardest worker I know.

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