GTD in the Classroom

In the past couple years I can compliment one author with almost single-handedly helping me become the organized and (relatively) productive person that I am today. Anybody who has spent more than an hour on the internet is probably familiar with the Getting Things Done system developed and written by David Allen. In a nutshell, it is a personal management system devised to help people organize and maintain their lives. Allen’s main point is that our brains are great for thinking creatively and solving problems, not remembering things. The basis of his system is that once you have stored your commitments (projects) and to-do’s (next actions) in a trusted system (key word: trusted) then your brain is suddenly free to stop trying to remember things and focus on solving problems. As you can imagine, he goes into much more detail and complexity, but this is the basic gist of the system.

My proposal is that students be required to learn a system similar to this while they are in high school. I think it is absurd that we espouse the need to prepare students for the “real-world” yet many (if not most) graduate high school with no idea about how to keep themselves organized. Sure, many students figure out systems that work for them during high school, but this seems like a large and important enough problem that students should not be left to their own devices. I’m not proposing that high schools across the country become “indoctrination centers” for the GTD philosophy– I really don’t care what brand of management system they want to teach. Heck, I’d be fine with students developing their own systems if they can justify why they are doing what they are and can prove that it works for them.

The main argument against this, I’m sure, is the lack of time throughout the school day to dedicate time to something like this. With the emphasis on standardized testing within the core subjects I can understand that there is very little time left for anything “extra.” However, I know that some high schools have “study hall” periods. Where I went to high school, freshmen were required to take an Academic Center (AC) period in which they were placed in a classroom with a mentor teacher that would provide help with homework. After the freshman year, students were no longer required to take an AC, but it was highly recommended. I see no reason why mentor teachers couldn’t spend two days a week teaching the basics of a personal management system while allowing the remaining three days to be used on homework. Obviously, the mentor teachers would have to be trained in whatever system they would be teaching. Not only would this benefit the students and prepare them for a life outside the classroom, but from what I can tell, many teachers could benefit from some kind of organizational system in their own professional lives.

There are other options for introducing this concept to student including semester long elective courses or perhaps piggy-backing onto other classes (home economics?). I just believe that being able to keep oneself organized and productive is such a crucial part of being a good student and a high-functioning adult that I think it’s about time the public school system provide some guidance and leadership.