08/17/2010 – We now have a GTD & BlackBerry Setup Guide! Visit the David Allen Company store to get your copy. It’s loaded with tips, tricks and expert coaching advice of applying GTD to your BlackBerry. A pretty common question we get from BlackBerry users is how to integrate Outlook Tasks with their BlackBerry. For …
Tag Archives: Tips and Tricks
How to choose tools for GTD
Looking for a tool for GTD? The mistake we see many new GTD’ers make is expecting to find a tool to “do” GTD. A tool doesn’t do the thinking for you, it stores the thinking for you. So, then does it even matter what tools you use when it comes to implementing GTD? Sure. You …
How to get to Inbox Zero
A new GTD’er wrote to David Allen and asked: My dear husband thinks you keep your Inbox to zero by not posting your email address on the internet and/or by having assistants respond to your email. I disagree. What say you? David responded: You keep your Inbox to zero by dealing with whatever shows up …
GTD & OneNote
This is a community contribution by Ryan Oakley. For me, GTD has always worked extremely well for those small(er) tasks and projects. You know – those little things that used to fall through the cracks but, with the help of GTD, are now easily tracked and moved on until completed. These smaller projects don’t need …
Using a Virtual Assistant
Jeff Widman, a man of many talents (including helping us create our GTD Facebook Fan page) has a fantastic article about using a virtual assistant. It’s a great read, with many useful tips & templates for a building and maintaining a successful virtual team. Here’s an excerpt: What I’ve learned from having a virtual assistant: …
What is or isn't a project?
A computer programmer implementing GTD asked David Allen about projects: I’m confused about (and I’m sure you are extremely bored with this question, but from the books I couldn’t work out the answer) – how do you size projects? I’m continually having problems working out what is or isn’t a project – and getting lost …
Radiate efficiency
Elle magazine chatted with David Allen. Read some of the timely tips for refreshing your systems. One item that came up in my sweep was that for weeks I’ve been putting off answering a publicist’s e-mail asking if I’d write about one of his clients—my failure to reply is gnawing at me. My hunch is …
How can you trust your GTD system?
A new GTD’er asked: Once collected, how do you learn to trust the integrity of the system and not spend a lot of time trying to remember whether you put something down? David Allen’s reply: Trust comes with consistent use. The Weekly Review, plus reviewing the appropriate action lists when you have any time that …
Tips for taking meeting notes
Michael (who calls himself a GTD implementer for two years and counting), wrote to us with this question: Curious if anyone has any tips/symbols or shortcuts for notetaking. I tend to write circles next to actionable items when I’m taking meeting notes and starring important items, but always looking for a better system. Here is …
Embracing Your Perfectionism
Q: Do you have any pointers for perfectionists? David Allen: Just focus on doing the next action perfectly, which is a lot easier than trying to be perfect about how you approach something bigger. Be as retentive as you want. The only problem is when it stops action. Be a perfectionist about the process, which …
Tracking Projects
Dear DavidCo: After working with the GTD system for quite awhile, I find tracking next actions in Outlook to be pretty easy. The harder part is tracking projects. Where do you do that and how do you move from the 10,000 ft. level to the runway? Wayne Pepper, a senior coach and presenter with David …
Finding Your Motivation
In David Allen’s latest Productive Living newsletter, he wrote about the tricky business of motivation. Here’s more sage advice from David on that topic… Q: How does one get motivated to do these things? Yes, I can put pressure on myself; know that I SHOULD do them, but there is pain and suffering that takes …
Tricks for capturing Waiting For emails
One of the key buckets in your GTD system is Waiting For. So what’s the biggest creator of Waiting For? Sent emails. Sure, you could slog through your Sent folder for which ones you actually need to make sure to track, but that’s like searching for a contact lens on the beach. Good luck having …
David's tip for traveling with batteries
David Allen shares a tip in the category of what he calls “dumb-dorky-things-to-do-that-work.” Rubber band your charged ones I’ve been slightly bugged for years in places like hotel rooms, looking the next morning at my unpacked stuff, wondering which batteries I had run down and which ones were still charged. I finally found a solution …
Working with file attachments in Outlook
Often, your project support will include documents on your computer like Word or Excel files. You can attach the actual document, but what happens if you update the original? How can you be sure you have the latest attached? We got this very question from a GTD’er and thought it would be useful to pass …
Be your own post office
A longtime stalwart of David Allen’s personal GTD setup is his Tickler File System. This 43-folder system is like having your own post office to mail things back for your attention and awareness–exactly when you need to see them again. “The Tickler File demands only one-second-per-day new behavior to make it work, and it has …
When email becomes a two-headed monster
Q: I think email is becoming a two-headed monster. It is vital but more and more people ignore them, don’t read fully etc. How can we move forward with accomplishing goals in this environment? Are there ideas you can offer regarding effective corporate communications and task handoffs? David Allen’s answer: Essentially email is no different …
GTD & BlackBerry
08/17/2010 – We now have a GTD & BlackBerry Setup Guide. Visit the David Allen Company store to get your copy. It’s loaded with tips, tricks and expert coaching advice of applying GTD to your BlackBerry. Wayne Pepper, one of the senior staff at David Allen Company, uses a BlackBerry device in his implementation of …
A way to manage project steps
Community Contribution from Yolanda Otero, an HR Compliance Coordinator from AmerisourceBergen in Orlando Florida I been doing the GTD for the last 6 months and this has changed my day completely in a way that I’m more proactive, organized, and I have full control of work time due to the way that I manage my …
