A-B-C's of Getting Things Done

Someone recently pointed out that three of our major approaches to thinking about time come from the A-B-C's of time management. They were referring to:

• A--David Allen of Getting Things Done--who contributed "next-action-step thinking."

• B--Tony Buzan who has popularized "mind-mapping" as a premier project management approach.

• C--Stephen Covey whose seven habits force us to "begin with the end in mind" when planning anything.

When I was a boy,  my grandmothers were always telling me to "mind my 'p's and q's."* 

Today I'm encouraging all of us to "mind our A-B-C's." That leads to well-rounded planning and execution of things that are important to do and to get done!

* I understand that the term came from the old practice of setting type from trays containing all the letters. Since the "p's and q's" on the type blocks were backwards from how they would appear in print, the typesetters could easily be confused about which piece of type should be used to spell the word correctly. So the expression came to mean, pay attention to the details of your work.

Leading Up

Sometimes we have difficulty in getting people who don't work for us to respond to us. This is especially true (and sensitive) when these people are over us in organizational authority.


One possible way of dealing with someone whose approval or response is necessary for me to continue with my work is to phrase your request like this:


"Unless I hear from you by Friday noon, here is what I'm going to do. If you want me to change or cancel this action, just let me know."


Often others are unaware of the impact their response time has on our work schedules. This gives them the opportunity to weigh in to adjust or postpone your action, while assuring you a response that will keep your workflow current.