Productivity blog The Daily Saint offers some tips on Teaching GTD to Young People. GTD stands for “Getting Things Done”, a productivity system developed by David Allen and detailed in his aptly titled book, Getting Things Done. GTD emphasizes simplicity, keeping the mind clear by keeping lists of tasks that need to be done, and keeping yourself oriented towards your goals. In The Daily Saint’s language, this means simply:

Write down one task at a time. When you are finished with it, cross it out. Keep your little piece of paper with you wherever you go. While many students want to go out and purchase something more hip than a piece of lined paper, simple is good and very GTDish.

I’ve tried to get my stepkids to make and plan how to reach goals; writing down tasks and crossing them off is the next piece of the puzzle. Kids have a lot on their mind, and are often easily distracted — making lists is useful for them. Our favorite list-making place at the moment is the bathroom mirror, where we use dry-erase markers to write down what they need to do each morning before they leave for school. What The Daily Saint’s vision of kid-friendly GTD offers is the experience of taking responsibility for their own list and, by extension, their own tasks.

I’ll definitely be pushing this kind of list-making from now on, as the kids find themselves getting busier and busier with school, after-school activities, sports, and their longer-term goals.

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One Response to “Helping Kids Stay Organized”

1. Mike St. Pierre Says:
   November 6th, 2007 at 7:36 pm

   Thanks for this link and shout out to my site. I really like the work that you are doing and only recently discovered your site.
   Thanks again,
   Mike

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