Category Archives: David Allen

What would you like to have true? Instead of whatever is currently true. And how do you need to reallocate, or allocate your attention, your activities, your resources, to make that happen?

We grow with challenges, so the challenges that we may all be in right now or experiencing in some way, shape, or form they’re going to teach a strength, patience, and tolerance I’ve discovered after my 75 years. That tends to show up and expand, and kind of add to the quality of my life. Add to the relaxation of my life. Add to the focus of my life.

I need to upgrade my computer. I need to upgrade my operating system. I need to upgrade this piece of software. I need to upgrade any of my technology, and any of my tools.

Just say what’s really true right now. Because you need to know what’s the current reality so that you can then move from a ground base of reality. Not from some expectation of that, or generalization of that, or exaggeration of that.

So look around your environment and say, how functional is it? How useful is it? How current is it in terms of the reality of these things and their meaning to you?

Well, you may already have a groove, but I imagine your groove has been disturbed to a large degree by whatever has been going on in the world lately. And especially in turbulent times, it’s going to disturb your groove. Get into a new one.

At some point you just need to laugh, and you need to clean up.

In these kinds of times, that’s actually in retrospect when we find out we’ve learned how to grow. We’ve expanded. We’ve stretched ourselves. We’ve challenged ourselves, we’ve had to look at things from whole new perspectives.

Give yourself permission, for at least a minute, to just pretend that there are all kinds of things to be joyful about. So, be unreasonably joyful.

Anything you can do in less than two minutes, if you need to do it at all then do it right then.

Clean up your computer, if you haven’t done this already It’s like when you get your car washed, or your motorcycle washed, it drives better. Well very much the same thing with your computer.

Revisit or create an overview of your Areas of Focus, Responsibility, and Interests. It’s a different horizon of your commitments. You’ve got actions you need to take, and you’ve got projects you need to finish. But the reason you have actions, and projects is because they respond to or they relate to areas of focus and interests.

Get your cockpit under control. When you sit down, you are ready to fly, you’re ready to go. You don’t have to rearrange anything in order to be able to do your best work.

There are times when one situation, project, or circumstance that’s particularly important to you, you’re not appropriately engaged with yet can color the whole rest of your life, and make it all feel grey, and solemn, and burdensome. Where as it’s really just one situation that you need to get ahold of.

Managing commitments is a whole lot of what the GTD is about to keep yourself clear, so that you don’t feel like you’re constantly having to do all of those.

Who do you owe a thank you to? Who do you owe a communication with to update them? All the best things in my life have actually come from relationships that I’ve had.

What circumstance, situation that you’re in right now, if that were put onto cruise control, or if you were appropriately engaged with that would make the biggest difference?

Do the worst case scenario, get through it, relax, and focus on the best.

If you’re not doing anything else, order yourself a labeler, if you don’t have one already. You’d be amazed at how much of a difference it makes.

This is a tip, that would be nice to have implemented before turbulent times. Catch up on your legal documentations, and life insurance, and wills, and all that other stuff.