GTD and mindfulness are to the mind as cardio and weights are to the body.
Tag Archives: Mind Like Water
How to effectively use your mind
“Use your mind to think about your work, instead of thinking of it. Your mind does not remember or remind very well, compared to what a good system can manage. What it does do well is review options and available information and then put together “how-tos.” It’s not free to do that if it’s trying …
Being more productive without the Type-A personality syndrome
Seems there’s an eternal question about how being more productive can happen without adding to the Type-A personality syndrome of ever-harder, ever-more, ever-faster. Read my essay in Productive Living with yet another spin on that age-old issue. It’s not about fast or slow. It’s about how you’re involved, which is a much bigger context. – David …
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Free Guided Mind Sweep with David Allen
Clear your head with the man himself… This is an GTD Connect, with more added every week. Hook into the most active Getting Things Done community in the world. Check out a free guest pass (no credit card required and we won’t nag you when you’re done!)
Should there be a GTD for Dummies?
In response to our recent Productive Living newsletter, a GTD implementer wrote to David Allen and said: Please provide a less complex version of the basic GTD chart/system for me and the hundreds of thousands of organizationally challenged managers just like me who have tried and failed to maintain the GTD system. Simpler is better. …
How a martial artist gets things done
GTD showed me how to bring balance back into my busy personal and professional schedule. More specifically, I was able to customize the GTD workflow process to handle the crush of Emails I get from prospective students who want to join my martial arts studio. Furthermore, I also customized the GTD Outlook 2007 “Waiting For” …
David Allen on what contributes to success
For the most part, people who master the ability to stay clear and focus 100% on what most calls their attention, seem to be involved in what appears the most sustainable, long-term life- and career styles that reflect successful accomplishment. -David Allen
You can't fool your mind
You can’t fool your mind. It’s an expert on your current personal management system, and it knows whether you can be trusted to look at what you need to at the appropriate time. It knows if you’ve decided what the next action should be. And it knows if there is a reminder of that action …
Are you living in your zone or stumbling into your zone?
[HTML1] (The tool David mentions at the end is eProductivity for Lotus Notes. It’s what he uses personally to manage his projects and actions. If you’re a Notes user, you can learn more about David’s setup in the free Webinar on April 28th.)
David Allen shares the Essence of GTD
[HTML1] Want to see more videos of David? Check out GTD Connect.
Having room to think
“What I need is more real estate in which to think, and tools to facilitate the process. I need it to be systematized intelligently so that when I engage with it I’m stimulated, not stupefied.” – David Allen David Allen was on a roll this month with his having space to think and create. He …
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 …
When do most people feel best about their work?
“When do most people feel best about their work? Just before a yearly vacation. They think it’s because of their upcoming vacation. I disagree. It’s because in order to take that vacation they’ve cleaned up, clarified, organized, reviewed, and renegotiated all of their agreements with themselves and others. They’re highly motivated to be able to …
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Why things crawl back into your mind
Clearing the mind is one of my favorite things with GTD. You cannot lose. To me, it’s one of the quickest ways to feel better if I’m stressed out, feeling overwhelmed or trying to mentally manage the ankle-biting things that have my attention. In a short period of time, I can sweep my brain of …
Next GTD Twitter Class – Clearing your mind
I will be hosting another free GTD Twitter class this Thursday, October 15th at 9am Pacific Time. Just 30 minutes of clearing your mind. Here’s the scoop: What: It will be a working Twitter session. I’ll guide people through the GTD Mindsweep process through a series of Tweets. Mindsweep is part of the Collect phase …
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Turning personal problems into resolvable projects
If you received David’s latest Productive Living newsletter, you know the theme for this month is about mind like water and paying attention to what has your attention. We received this heartfelt letter from Jay, who asked that we share his journey and experience with GTD. GTD is more than a task management system, it’s …
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I'm sure I'll remember…
“The short-term memory part of your mind–the part that tends to hold all of the incomplete, undecided, and unorganized “stuff”–functions much like RAM on a personal computer. Your conscious mind, like the computer screen, is a focusing tool, not a storage place. You can only think about 2 or 3 things at once.” – David …
Zen and the Art of Task-Management
A GTD Times community contribution by Paul Lavender The idea for writing this article came from the talk by Thay on the History of Engaged Buddhism in Mindfulness Bell No. 49. Specifically, when Thay talks about the future and mentions there will be courses held for businesspeople. I would like to share a practice that …
A True Life Saga of GTD in Action Meets a Review of MIAW
Venkatesh Rao is a quintessential GTD’er. Seven years in the trenches and he’s probably forgotten more about GTD than most people every learn. He’s also one of those individuals gifted with the intellect and the energy to manage a level of productivity that few people even aspire to, let alone achieve. In a mammoth post …
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