Ironically, I had never heard of David Allen and his Getting Things Done™ system when I originally came up with the idea to start a “mental RAM” website. The timing was incredibly weird too: I registered this domain in May of 2001, and David published his book in February of the same year. I suppose it’s possible that my subconscious heard about David’s new book in which he talks about not storing your to-do list in the “RAM” in your head. It is rather a central theme in his book.

Whatever. I have no memory of such an event; haha, and that’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

However, since I intended all along for mentalRAM.com to eventually be a website that reviews products for getting organized, improving memory, relieving stress, and increasing productivity, GTD is a slam-dunk to be my first review.

Score: 100 RAMbraincells on a scale of 1-100

Review Summary:

In fall 2011 when I first listened to CDs 1-3 the information David was preaching went right over my head. I realized eventually that my multitasking was making me a bad listener. Yep, sitting still to listen to the discs proved the path to GTD enlightenment.

I listened to CDs #4 through #6 last week, and today, to celebrate the new year, I listened to #7. Twice.

Then I listened to #4 some more, where he spells out just how to corral your stuff.

OK, *now* I get GTD!

I think I’ll go back and listen to #1-3 again to be positive I understand this stuff well enough to review it! But something definitely clicked when David Allen mentioned the word “funnel.” Suddenly I could visualize everything in my life from now on having to enter through a gigantic funnel that empties into an equally gigantic in-basket.

This CD set was released in 2004 or 2005, so I knew that whatever software David recommended would be obsolete by now . Surprisingly, though, he didn’t have rave reviews for any technological solutions. I haven’t checked his website thoroughly, but I would hope by now he’s commissioned Getting Things Done™ software to be created. Or a custom app for smart phones.

Another thing that surprised me was the fact that David doesn’t make one feel ashamed for being a packrat. His philosophy seems to be “Hey, if you have room for it, go ahead and store reference material. As long as you know where it is if you ever need it!” Well, now, that’s the whole point of getting organized, isn’t it?

I feel more organized than I’ve been giving myself credit for, actually. I’m seeing some little things that I’ve been doing right, according to the GTD roadmap.

But we’re still on the subject of surprises.

Paper: Don’t just write To-Do lists. Write each To-Do list item on a sheet of paper and place it in your inbox. Egads! How wasteful is that! I can’t even bring myself to write on the spiral-bound 3×5 notecards I bought to help me get organized years ago! I actually agonized over cutting each sheet of paper into 4 mini-sheets.

I don’t even know yet if this is the method I will use. I’ve also figured out a way I could harness technology yet in a very simple way. But for starters, I do like going low-tech.

And paper, well, I’m eco-girl — it WILL get recycled. It will probably get reused over and over before it does, so I am now OK with using a whole sheet. Last week I started writing To-Do list items down this way. It is a pretty good way to capture a project idea that goes floating by… in fact, what if I could see at a glance…

No, David says on the CD as if he can hear my thoughts, Don’t try to use color-coding. It’s a waste of time.

My inbox, I decided, will be in my office. At first I thought I was going to be setting up inboxes in every room of the house and also compartmentalizing my personal and professional lives. Nope. Another nice surprise!

I notice that ideas are coming at me in a barrage lately whenever there is a piece of paper and a pen nearby. David did mention this effect. I can see how this simple action is paving the way to a win for me. Get every thought onto paper and out of mentalRAM!

But I already knew THAT! What I really needed was a super-simple system for capturing the minutiae and stuff of my life and sending it onto the main conveyor belt for processing.Then another even simpler system for processing it so I can find whatever is needed whenever it’s needed, finish projects I started, keep appointments and agreements with others, honor promises I make to myself, and free up mental and physical energy to forge ahead with new projects!

That’s the beauty of GTD. David knows the key is getting wins for you right away so you’re more enthused to follow the system.

It’s like going to WeightWatchers and finding that 10 pounds was actually deducted from your body just for signing up.

I feel more productive already!

I’m hearing from my extremely smart, middle-aged women friends that staying sharp is becoming more difficult the closer we get to menopause. One of them is recovering from “chemo brain” (cancer-free for 4 years) and blames her cognitive decline on that, but since she’s in her late 50s, I wonder…

I remember a joke about an elderly woman’s interest in the “hereafter” — as the old saw goes, she goes to another room to get something but once there she asks herself, “What am I here after??”

I’m constantly writing things down these days, but it’s kind of ironic when I have to search for pen and paper and then can’t remember what I was going to write down!

Fuzzy-brain is what I call it. Some days are worse than others. I need to start keeping a journal so I can correlate factors such as a sleepless night or eating certain foods. That way, whenever I feel mentally sharp I can hopefully figure out how to make it happen again!