Do you ever struggle with managing competing priorities and don’t know how you’ll get it all done? Join David Allen for a conversation that’s packed with practical GTD coaching advice on how to deal with competing priorities–from getting a higher perspective on your life and work, down to trusting your moment-to-moment action choices. Listen …
Continue reading “Episode #45: Dealing with Competing Priorities”
Keys to the GTD® Methodology People often ask us, “So, what is GTD?” If you’re new to GTD or have been looking for a succinct way to explain it to others, check out this short video where David Allen shares the keys to the Getting Things Done® methodology. Hear why GTD can help you feel …
David Allen shares his thoughts on what a good GTD Weekly Review is and isn’t, as well as some valuable tips and tricks from his years in the trenches. This episode pairs well with Episode #7, the Guided Weekly Review. David has said that the Weekly Review is the “critical success factor” in making your …
Continue reading “Episode #43: The Power of the GTD Weekly Review®”
QUESTION: Is there something else besides GTD worth exploring in the area of personal process management? DAVID ALLEN: Frankly there is nothing in the area of “personal process management” beyond the GTD process itself. Many people mistake GTD as something that has to have all the suggestions in the book in some format; and most …
If you pass one tiny piece of paper on the ground, without picking it up, you’re fired. At least, that’s the story I heard once about a standard for employees at Disneyland. Apparently they had figured out how many less human resources they needed to keep the place clean, if it was kept spotless. Think …
Most people are trying to manage much of their life and work in their minds, but your head is a lousy office! Recent cognitive science research has proven its limitations for remembering, reminding, and prioritizing. In this humorous TEDx talk, David Allen emphasizes the need to keep track of any and every thing that we …
Question: Why does Getting Things Done® focus on the “weeds” rather than the higher-level stuff? Why don’t we start with goals and vision and then make our way to day-to-day work? David Allen: I appreciate your question. The professional and personal self-help training programs consistently emphasize higher-horizon focus—clarity of purpose, values, vision, goals, etc. I agree that …
Continue reading “Starting with where you are, not where you should be”
When people discover the level of personal organization I work within, they often ask, “Wow, does this guy ever have any fun?! He’s so organized!” My response is usually, “Who’s not having fun?” Frankly, I organize for freedom, not for hard work. Much of my personal system of organization was built and is constantly being …
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?”
How do you unhook from the pulls and pressures of your world? It would be nice if you could just shut your door, or go into the garden, and the harpies in your mind—all the niggling things to do and deal with—just went away. Or, if you could just finally get it all done, so …
It’s all connected. You can’t really define the right action until you know the outcome you’re after, and your outcome is disconnected from reality if you’re not clear about what you need to do physically to make it happen. You can get at it from either direction, and you must, to get things done. –David …
Imagery is powerful. Consciously exercising the direction of your imagery is a hallmark of mastery—in sports, business, or frankly any aspect of your life. Mental pictures, combined with rich emotional texture, have proven to be highly effective tools for enhancing perception and performance, whether on the track, in the boardroom, in relationships, or simply your …
David Allen welcomed Blinkist into his apartment in Amsterdam for a casual conversation about GTD, writing the book, and his love for clear space. Please accept statistics cookies to watch this video.
How many thoughts and ideas do you have daily which represent useful things to do or potentially enhance or improve projects, situations, and life in general? How many have you had and forgotten, and forgotten that you’ve forgotten? “I ought to call Susan and ask her about where she stayed in Hawaii…” “I need to …
The new year is always a great excuse to zoom out and recalibrate how your system is running, and a year-end review is an excellent way to do exactly that. In this conversation that first showed up on GTD Connect, David Allen & Coach Kelly Forrister give us some quick and practical tips for successfully …
If you’re not willing to commit to keeping your head completely empty, it’s not worth trying to make any “personal management system” work. Give it up. Don’t kid yourself. Throw your productivity tools away. OK, I’m becoming more direct and succinct. (At 72 I think that serves us both, and I choose not to beat …
Continue reading “Get a Grip on Your Process, or Give It Up”
David Allen and Coach Meg Edwards give expert coaching on wrangling your priorities. The discussion includes three common challenges: competing priorities, mapping day-to-day priority choices to your higher level goals, and prioritizing as a group. Listen Now Subscribe or Download iTunes Stitcher Libsyn Google Play Music Spotify SoundCloud
Over the years, it has become more and more helpful in my work to help people understand the ecosystem of GTD® (particularly priorities) by framing their thinking and decision-making around my altitude model: GROUND: Calendar/Actions – The nitty-gritty this-moment doing level. Call Fred. Buy tires. Draft proposal. Email Susan. HORIZON 1: Projects – The things …
In this first installment of a two-part episode, David Allen shares an in-depth, sweeping overview of GTD® to an audience in Milan, Italy. Learn best practices, as well as what you can expect to have happen in your life once you start applying them. Listen Now Subscribe or Download iTunes Stitcher Libsyn Google Play Music …
Continue reading “Episode #29 – David Allen GTD® Keynote in Milan – Part One”
© 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.
