Comments on: David Allen on dealing with interruptions https://gettingthingsdone.com/2011/09/david-allen-on-dealing-with-interruptions/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=david-allen-on-dealing-with-interruptions David Allen's GTD® Methodology Thu, 15 Sep 2011 18:47:07 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9 By: Andre https://gettingthingsdone.com/2011/09/david-allen-on-dealing-with-interruptions/#comment-3699 Thu, 15 Sep 2011 18:47:07 +0000 http://www.gtdtimes.com/2011/08/30/#comment-3699 @Arun & Sander,

I didn’t see if this was addressed in subsequent replies, but there’s never been a rule in canonical GTD about only processing once a day. If it’s practical for you to block out time in the morning for processing, so be it, but that doesn’t prevent you from processing items that accumulate later in the day if you have a window of time.

Regarding the “never put anything back in your in-basket” rule, that only applies to the initial set-up the system–to prevent novices from avoiding processing. If it takes two to six hours to set up a GTD system, it helps to enforce a one-way valve in the workflow; otherwise people wind up stacking open loops rather than closing them. Once you understand how to process an item, there’s no danger in using the in-basket as a buffer for interrupted work, because your workflow is still a closed loop–i.e. you’ve set yourself up to return to any interrupted tasks, and there are no leaks in the system.

]]> By: Gorby https://gettingthingsdone.com/2011/09/david-allen-on-dealing-with-interruptions/#comment-3698 Thu, 15 Sep 2011 14:15:16 +0000 http://www.gtdtimes.com/2011/08/30/#comment-3698 Hoping for more of these videos. It’s like David Allen is on my side.

]]> By: Mick https://gettingthingsdone.com/2011/09/david-allen-on-dealing-with-interruptions/#comment-3697 Sun, 11 Sep 2011 22:29:29 +0000 http://www.gtdtimes.com/2011/08/30/#comment-3697 The greatest thing in this video form me is the habit of writing down date/time before you take notes at the phone. Will follow!

]]> By: Judy Clees https://gettingthingsdone.com/2011/09/david-allen-on-dealing-with-interruptions/#comment-3696 Sun, 11 Sep 2011 20:41:33 +0000 http://www.gtdtimes.com/2011/08/30/#comment-3696 THANK YOU!!!!!

This has been one of my boggest issues at work. I am going to try a modified version of this starting tomorrow. Since we cannot have an actual “inbox” I will create a virtual one and use that. I think this will save my sanity as well as keep my clients happier.

]]> By: Bob https://gettingthingsdone.com/2011/09/david-allen-on-dealing-with-interruptions/#comment-3695 Sun, 11 Sep 2011 16:02:02 +0000 http://www.gtdtimes.com/2011/08/30/#comment-3695 That was fantastic – very helpful!

]]> By: John https://gettingthingsdone.com/2011/09/david-allen-on-dealing-with-interruptions/#comment-3694 Sat, 10 Sep 2011 04:42:59 +0000 http://www.gtdtimes.com/2011/08/30/#comment-3694 Hi Oxana,

Secure.davidco.com has a Secure Sockets Layer certificate issued by Network Solutions. You can trust the site’s security. Firefox has been known to issue the warning page even for a secure site.

— John

]]> By: (a different) David https://gettingthingsdone.com/2011/09/david-allen-on-dealing-with-interruptions/#comment-3693 Fri, 09 Sep 2011 19:53:35 +0000 http://www.gtdtimes.com/2011/08/30/#comment-3693 One interesting thing I noticed in this video is that the inbox queue is LIFO (last in-first out) rather than FIFO (first in…)
I would think that one would want to work on the items in the original order rather than in the reverse order. So my suggestion is to put items into the Inbox FACE DOWN.
Then when you pick them back up, you have to turn them over, and now you’ve got the first thing you were working on at the top of the pile. (Of course based on priorities, you might choose to re-order the pile.)

]]> By: Thomas McEvoy https://gettingthingsdone.com/2011/09/david-allen-on-dealing-with-interruptions/#comment-3692 Fri, 09 Sep 2011 19:15:33 +0000 http://www.gtdtimes.com/2011/08/30/#comment-3692 Great video and reminder to KISS! I attended David’s seminar way back in 1998 when everyone was using Palm Pilots! Eventually people would start recommending their Palm Pilot addon, what we would call an App today, to make the GTD process ‘better’. It really seemed to escalate out of control. I think the video approach is perfect.

]]> By: Angie https://gettingthingsdone.com/2011/09/david-allen-on-dealing-with-interruptions/#comment-3691 Fri, 09 Sep 2011 16:46:27 +0000 http://www.gtdtimes.com/2011/08/30/#comment-3691 I create document for many clients. Some of these client projects get put on hold. I then put all that project’s documentation in a four-sided box the size of a ream of paper, label it, and store in in one of those mail-slot sorters that have 16 slots for paper-size storage. (I made the boxes using cardboard sheeting.) I also have a rule that only one project on the desk at a time. This prevents one client’s document from ending up in another client’s hands. If I am interrupted when working on one project, the current project documents go back into the box, the box is stored and then the new project is dealt with or also put into a box. Sometimes the documentation is too big for the normal project box. I found some square tubs that stand on top of the mail-slot storage unit and those hold a year’s collection of receipts and such.

]]> By: Nigel https://gettingthingsdone.com/2011/09/david-allen-on-dealing-with-interruptions/#comment-3690 Fri, 09 Sep 2011 12:20:34 +0000 http://www.gtdtimes.com/2011/08/30/#comment-3690 Heard about your 3 sided in tray from one of your productive talk podcasts but didn’t quite get it. Seeing the video makes it so much clearer.

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