A typical question I get is, “What’s the one thing that we do that gets in the way of us being productive?” It’s not one thing, but five, all wrapped together: People keep stuff in their head. They don’t decide what they need to do about stuff they know they need to do something about. …
Continue reading “What Gets in the Way of Being Productive?”
Someone recently asked David Allen to share the underlying principle to Getting Things Done® (GTD®). He said: There are several, but the main ones are: 1. CLEAR YOUR HEAD – Your head is for having ideas, not for holding them. In other words, build and maintain an “external brain” to hold all your significant reminders …
One of the greatest traps in growing a business is also a pitfall for self-management: If you don’t trust your system, you can’t let go of operational details and you’ll limit your ability to create at a bigger level. Many successful entrepreneurs I have worked with over the years could be characterized (and have been, …
David Allen on the best ways to deal with stress: Understand first that you’re actually IN stress Determine what’s causing it Clarify what you’d like to have true in the situation—what’s your desired outcome, at least in terms of how you’d like to be feeling? Decide if there is a next action you can take …
The concept of daily or weekly to-do lists is as outdated as rotary phones. We need to have a total, holographic view of everything we want to accomplish, and all the actions required to start any of them. And we need to have access to views of those actions whenever we actually might be able …
Q. What do you recommend for lists if I am just starting with GTD? A. One of the biggest challenges that I see when people are setting up their lists initial in their GTD system is they are not really sure what contexts to use. Typically what I recommend is starting with really basic contexts; Agendas to hold the …
What are your biggest GTD® improvement opportunities? Do you ever fall off the wagon? Join David Allen & Meg Edwards as they discuss what “Black Belt” GTD is, some of its biggest hurdles, and how you can overcome them. Listen Now Subscribe or Download iTunes Stitcher Libsyn Google Play Music Spotify SoundCloud Podcast Transcript …
We discovered Rosalie Gale’s love for GTD on Facebook. We interviewed her so our community could hear her story. Enjoy! 1. How did you hear about GTD? I used to be the queen of making to do lists. I would write them out over and over again and become very overwhelmed by everything I needed …
One of the best ways to implement Getting Things Done is to follow our expert advice in configuring one of the many tools we have found to work well for GTD. See a sample or buy a Guide now. Here are the current GTD Setup Guides available to support you: GTD & Outlook for Windows GTD …
Where are you in the 5 I’s? David Allen explains the 5 stages you can expect with GTD: Please accept statistics cookies to watch this video. If you’re not at “Integration” yet, here are some ideas to continue on the Path of GTD Mastery: Read (or reread!) the Getting Things Done book. David Allen has often …
I assert that it’s actually less effort to maintain your email inbox at zero than to maintain it at 300 or 3,000. Will it take effort? Of course. But there is gold to be mined there with a trusted practice that will have ripple effects across your workflow and motivation.
Your GTD system, with a current and complete inventory or your commitments, helps you manage yourself effectively regardless of time’s alterations.
Get a notepad and inbox, capture everything that has your attention. Decide the next actions on each and all of them. Review that total inventory, keeping it current, at least weekly.
While many of our enthusiasts love the systematic approach of GTD, we’re seeing more and more creative types embracing Getting Things Done, including musicians, comedians, and television writers.
People must ask: What does this mean? Is this actionable or not? What is the outcome that I am committed to?
Where do you stand, today, on the matrix of self-management? In less than two minutes, GTD-Q will give you a visual representation of where you fit in terms of the two critical elements of self management—control and perspective.
If you need to get on top of your Microsoft Outlook® email, calendar, and tasks by implementing GTD, this is the webinar for you. You’ll learn the best recommendations for building a GTD system in Outlook to seamlessly handle your work and personal commitments.
How to get organized? First step is to capture into a simple ‘bucket” all of those things that are not on cruise control – anything that has your attention. Write it all down.
With the GTD approach to getting email under control, you can stay connected, or take a vacation away from email, and trust that your decision is healthy.
There’s always something new in GTD Connect. You can easily access all this content through the free trial.
© 2026 David Allen Company, All Rights Reserved.
GTD, GETTING THINGS DONE, GTD Connect, GTD-Q, GTD Weekly Review, Mind Like Water, Ready For Anything, & Your mind is for having ideas, not holding them, are registered trademarks of the David Allen Company.
