In our recent Productive Living newsletter, David Allen talks about “Toning up your thinking muscles.” Here’s a letter from Frederick Ross, a graduate fellow at The Rockefeller University who shared his perspective on the brain as a muscle. I’m something between a theoretical physicist, mathematician, and theoretical biologist by profession, so I’ve had to be …
Plugging holes when others aren’t getting things done
Jay, a college student, wrote in to GTD Times to ask about how to be productive in a largely volunteer-based organization. Can you still do GTD if other people around you don’t? Dear GTD Times, First off, let me say thanks for providing such a wonderful free GTD resource. It really means a lot to …
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Google spreadsheet as a GTD list manager
Jesse, a GTD’er in Pittsburgh, sent David a write up about how he’s managing his GTD lists in a Google spreadsheet. The useful thing about spreadsheets for GTD is that they are very customizable and sortable. Google Spreadsheet also has a handy “Form” feature for quick capture into the form. Here’s what Jesse does:
Ways to organize your workspace
This week, in our ongoing series giving you a look inside other people’s GTD setups, Andy Reed sent along some photos for our GTD Times readers. On his desk, Andy uses Inbox, Pending and Read/Review trays.
Review of the new GTD System CDs
Avid GTD’er Barb wanted to share her experience and review of the CDs that come with the new GTD System. She wrote: If you’re fairly new or brand new to GTD: This product is definitely for you. It is much easier to understand than reading the book might be because there are stories to explain …
The GTD Weekly Review event
Thanks to all of you who joined the GTD “Tweekly” Review I did this morning. Hope you found value! Let me know if you’d like me to do another one. If the pace was a bit too speedy for you, you can always go back and review the Tweets I sent. Here are all 11 …
Hop into the Twitter river tomorrow
In case you hadn’t heard, I will be hosting a free, guided GTD “Tweekly Review” through Twitter tomorrow. What: It will be a working Twitter session. I’ll guide people through the 11-steps of the GTD Weekly Review through a series of Tweets. You’ll want to be in front of your system (at least calendar, lists, …
GTD & OmniFocus
I recently interviewed Ken Case, CEO for OmniGroup, about the ever popular OmniFocus for Mac. You’ll hear about the history of OmniGroup, what their company culture is like today, what OmniFocus does for a GTD’er, and more. Here’s an excerpt: Ken Case: The big thing that we tried to do as we were designing the …
Is Obama getting things done?
Paul Smalera wrote a great piece over on Slate’s The Big Money speculating if Obama were using GTD. Worth a read. You’ll even see an “Obama-ized” GTD workflow diagram. By the way, you can get free copies (basic or advanced) of the GTD Workflow Diagram from the DAC store, and the new one with an …
Join the "Tweekly Review" with Coach Kelly
I’m planning on offering another free, guided GTD “Tweekly Review” for you Twitter fans. If you missed the last one, here’s how it will work: On Thursday, August 13th from 9am-10am PDT (Los Angeles, California time), I will lead a one-hour GTD Weekly Review through Tweets sent from the @GTDSpecialEvent Twitter account. Approximately every 5 …
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GTD Connect – The more the merrier!
We received this unsolicited letter from an active GTD Connect member (“Barb” on the Forums) who was so enthusiastic about the value she gets from her membership, she wanted to share it on GTD Times. I’ve been a GTD Connect member for just a little under two years. I’m a Dallas-based Consultant and I DO …
GTD System is now available for international shipping
Many of you were excited about the new GTD System we announced last week. But, our international GTD’ers were disappointed to find out that it could only be shipped to US & Canada. We’re excited to let you know that we’ve aranged to have the GTD System shipped anywhere in the world through a special …
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Why is it so hard for human beings to get organized?
A GTD’er asked David Allen: I have read Getting Things Done many times and am attending the Boston seminar. I have a question: Why is it so hard for human beings to get organized? Why do the techniques you recommend require so much effort and encounter such resistance from human nature? I’m not interested in …
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Tools for getting your life under control
Still wrestling with really mastering GTD? The weekly review still a conceptual mystery? Still looking for the keys for getting started and making it stick? We just announced a new package, called the GTD System, that includes a wealth of resources for newbies to GTD experts. It includes a comprehensive set of tools and learning …
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Elevating our Game
During a recent marathon of Aaron Sorkin’s great short-lived series “Sports Night” (a marathon that I started by watching both seasons on DVD, which further proves my self-starting skills) I came upon an episode entitled “Moving Day.” As the whip-smart Sorkinian dialogue washed over me throughout the rest of the marathon, it got me thinking …
New GTD Workflow Diagram
For years, the GTD Workflow diagram has been the ultimate “trail guide” for navigating through the collect>process>organize stages of GTD. Over the past two years, David Allen has been working with the terrific design team at xplane to take his vision (his original sketch is pictured right and you can click on the image to …
More confidence, more ideas and more money…
A GTD’er in the U.K. wrote to David Allen recently to share his success–personally and professionally–in implementing GTD. We thought you’d appreciate hearing what he learned in the process. Dear David, Just wanted to drop an email of appreciation. Guess you get these all the time. In 2006, a freelance website designer friend recommend your …
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Tracking Projects in Outlook
A Microsoft Outlook user recently asked one of our coaches: After working with the GTD system for quite awhile, I find tracking next actions in Outlook to be pretty easy. The harder part is tracking projects. Where do you do that and how do you move from the 10,000 level (projects) to the runway (actions)? …
How David Developed GTD
In this 10 minute podcast, David shares some of his early days of learning the principles behind GTD. An interesting look at the evolution of GTD and the concept of projects and next actions. Listen Now>>>
The Evolution of a GTD Workspace
GTD Times recently had a post requesting that people share pics of their workspaces that had been inspired by Getting Things Done. I contacted the Editor and she graciously suggested that I write up a little post about the evolution of my workspace and my GTD practice. When I set up my very first home …
