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 …
Category Archives: Productivity Tips
Getting Started with GTD
Check out this 5 minute podcast from David Allen on what he suggests for getting started with GTD. If you’re not yet a subscriber to our free podcast series, here’s how to get started.
Why it's important to keep your system current
No matter how consistent the system is, if it is not current (i.e. completely up to date with all items in a category) it still can’t be trusted in a way that relieves the psyche of the job of remembering and sorting. You’ll look at a list and some part of you knows it’s not …
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A vast majority of professionals are in “emergency scanning” mode
David Allen has a regular column on Wired UK these days. One of his recent articles, Focus on the Unimportant, is a great read for those of you who are still looking for more guidance on the priorities piece of GTD. “A vast majority of professionals are in “emergency scanning” mode. Their self-management consists of …
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How David Allen uses mindmaps
Dean, an architect, wrote to David to ask for detail on using mindmaps in his GTD system. Here’s the whole thread: Hi David, I have enjoyed reading Getting Things Done and Making It All Work. I own an architecture firm in Michigan, and have been implementing your GTD system into my work and life plan. …
A ton of FREE GTD Resources
Here is a list of all of the FREE GTD resources offered by the David Allen Company: GTD Times – This is the the official blog for the David Allen Company. Loads of helpful advice, tips, special offers, tricks & strategies for implementing GTD. Podcasts – Includes the GTD best practices series with David & …
Facing the (Sometimes) Ugly Truth
We GTD enthusiasts sure do like showing off our workspaces. And, naturally, we show them off when they are looking their best: inboxes in a near-pristine state and folders lined up tidily with their labels gleaming in the sunlight. Honestly, I love it. Like many other GTD geeks, I get a perverse pleasure from looking …
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 …
Podcast on the GTD best practices of organizing
Having a total and seamless system of organization gives you tremendous power because it allows your mind to let go of the lower-level thinking and graduate to intuitive focusing, undistracted by matters that haven’t been dealt with appropriately. – David Allen In other words…get a seamless, leakproof system for tracking everything you can’t do in …
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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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Is GTD too structured for creative people?
Is GTD too structured for creative people? Will it work if you don’t like rigid schedules and plans? Could an artist possibly “do” GTD. Coach Julie Ireland weighs in: I tend to rebel against too much structure/planning. At the same time I do need a certain amount of structure, otherwise my creative energy gets drained …
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Getting the most out of Gmail
The better you are at using a tool, and the more you love the tools you use, the more effective they will be for your GTD system. David Allen has said time and time again, learn at least the basic speed keys for the tools you use the most, so the tool is not slowing …
The gift of MacBooks + OmniFocus + GTD for an entire school system
GTD enthusiast Kerry Gallivan has been working with a wonderful project in Maine that is bringing MacBooks, OmniFocus & GTD to nearly 60,000 students and educators. It’s an amazing story and congratulations to all involved in making this happen. Truly a remarkable achievement which will greatly benefit the students, teachers, their families and communities. As …
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Looking at those monsters in the closet
In my last post, I challenged you to look at how much you’re choosing to sit in your email inbox versus work from your lists. That sure seemed to strike a nerve of truth with some of you. So WHY can lists start to repel us? Here are a few reasons why and some ways …
Why are your lists repelling you?
How do ever expect to get things done on your lists if you never step away from your Email Inbox? Seriously folks, those lists need care and feeding too. Just like the Inbox doesn’t get to zero on its own, your lists don’t ever get completion unless you: Do what’s on them Decide not to …
GTD for the adventurous
Think GTD only works if you sit in a cubicle? Think again… [HTML1]
GTD and the sales pipeline
Getting Things Done is often applied to our task list and our email inbox, but rarely to more complex processes like our sales pipeline. However, the principles are the same and the effects could be staggering. Sales is an Art, Not Really Sales as an art form is the lead myth and barrier to consistent …
Motorcycle maintenance and the art of the Weekly Review
If you’d like to hear a sample track from the new GTD System CDs, we just posted a great one with David and two of the coaches on the Weekly Review. Listen Now
GTD at work & at home
We love hearing from GTD’ers around the world who are getting value out of David’s work. This one came in from Richard in Japan: Dear David, I read your book and I wanted to share with you the incredible change it has made to my career. Since picking it up at a JFK airport bookstore …
David's Autobiographical Brain
There are lots of creative mapping tools out there, and PersonalBrain is one that David Allen uses to capture an autobiographical brain of his life. Shelley, an evangelist for TheBrain put together a cool demo of how to look at the corners of your mind… [HTML1] TheBrain also just launched a new hosting service for …
