Category Archives: Podcasts

Melissa Garner has a big job as the Director of IT Governance, Policy & Strategy at the Oregon Department of Education. She also has a busy family life and makes time for her creative pursuits. In this interview, she talks about her longtime enthusiasm for GTD, and how she supports her staff to be their best. One of the highlights is her detailed walk-through of her GTD system in OneNote.

David Allen, Eric Mack, and John Forrister discuss their software journey, from early years to their current use of the Microsoft 365 suite of tools. A consistent theme is that it’s not about the tool, but about bringing a productive mindset and habits to any tool. They discuss how the tools shape our behavior, and may or may not promote good GTD habits. The story starts in the mid-1990s with Lotus Notes. They talk about why Notes, and also why Microsoft 365 now. There are interesting tangents into groupware, CRMs, and instant messaging.

In another chat with David Allen, Dave asks about the Clarify and Organize steps. But they also veer off the agenda to talk about what goes on the calendar and why, the Someday/Maybe list, and feeling good about what you choose to do in any moment.

In another chat with David Allen, Dave asks about the Capture step. David explains why he changed the first step in the GTD workflow from collect to capture. They also discuss the change in mental clarity and space that comes from getting everything off your mind, and deciding next actions on each thing.

You may already be familiar with Peter Byrom from his insightful participation in the GTD forums. Now you’ll have a chance to hear him describe the arc of his GTD journey. He talks in detail about the digital tools he has used, including Things, Todoist, and Outlook. Peter also reflects on his recent experience with the more subtle relationship between next actions and projects, and the Purpose and Principles horizon.

In another chat with David Allen, Dave asks about the Mind Sweep. How often to do it? What to do with the results? David replies and also explores what happens when a team or a couple does a Mind Sweep.

David Allen, Ana Maria Gonzalez, and John Forrister talk about various angles on productively working from home. They cover communication with other remote colleagues, time and space boundaries, differences between the home and office environments, and more.

Dr. Marshall Goldsmith discusses how daily questions and especially active questions can be used to increase individual effectiveness and build employee engagement. Dr. Goldsmith is the world authority in helping successful leaders achieve positive, lasting change in behavior.

Mirabai Weismehl Rosenfeld is the Concertmaster of the Dubrovnik Symphony Orchestra. David talks with her about her professional journey, and how she heard about GTD. Mirabai also shares about how GTD supports her creative expression. You will also hear delightful surprises at the beginning and end of the recording.

David Allen has an engaging dialog with Oliver Burkeman, the author of The Antidote: Happiness for People Who Can’t Stand Positive Thinking.

Alba Leal is a GTD Trainer in training in Mexico City. She has a fascinating background, including journalism, corporate work in Silicon Valley, and a new degree in art therapy. She is currently working on a doctorate in Organizational Psychology. As usual, we talk about how she got into GTD, and what tools she uses. After that she goes into more detail on her journey, and the changes she plans to inspire in organization cultures.

Please join us for a working session designed to optimize your system so that you can trust your priority decisions on a moment-to-moment basis. This webinar involves the practices for achieving and maintaining a longer-horizon experience of control and focus, of life and work. After completing this session you will be able to better understand the value of evaluating your system and adapting it to optimize its usefulness. Presented by Ana Maria Gonzalez and Robert Peake. And David Allen makes a surprise appearance at the end.

This is a webinar with Suzanne Strisik, Ph.D., a psychologist and longtime GTD enthusiast. We’ll be looking at dreaded next actions and how they can trigger the same anxiety as the thought of an encounter with a dangerous animal. If you’ve been confounded by a project or a task that lingers on one of your lists, then this webinar is for you. Suzanne will guide us in understanding the dread in the task and how it relates to something deeply meaningful to us. From there, we’ll make a pathway back to the flow of our good work.

Join Ana Maria Gonzalez and Marian Bateman on this webinar to learn how valuable affirmations are as a tool for higher horizon visualization. They present specific keys for creating positive affirmations. They also discuss how to convert irrational beliefs into useful affirmations. And they show several of David Allen’s own affirmations about his GTD practice.

David Allen talks with Dave about a variety of GTD topics. They begin with the Someday/Maybe list, and how to leverage that to improve your flow of creative ideas. Dave asks about prioritizing. David says it comes down to trusting your choices, and that’s only possible when you have an externalized system for tracking your commitments. David also mentions that implementing GTD requires us to train cognitive muscles in ways that we were not taught in school. After they have officially closed the interview, David shows Dave his new reMarkable paper tablet, so of course we included that as a coda.

In November 2020 we posted an interview that Dave did with David Allen. They had more to talk about, so Dave has done this follow-up interview with David. They talk about changes in the work environment in the last year, as more people are working from home.

Our GTD master trainer in Brunei, Rhymin Mohamed, has a fascinating talk with psychologist Paul Englert, who is based in Singapore. They talk about GTD’s intersections with career counseling, psychology, and cognitive behavioral therapy.

David Allen has a fascinating talk with Brandon Hensinger, Founder and CEO of Avrio Genetics. Brandon has started various companies, from rock climbing to pharmaceuticals. He has a passion for taking startups or small companies and growing them fast. Along the way, GTD has been a key to managing the increasing complexity and responsibility in his life.

Rather than asking about the nuts and bolts of the GTD methodology, Dave asks David about his journey developing GTD, his creative pursuits, and what he’s working on at present.

David Allen has a fascinating talk with Brandon Hensinger, Founder and CEO of Avrio Genetics. Brandon has started various companies, from rock climbing to pharmaceuticals. He has a passion for taking startups or small companies and growing them fast. Along the way, GTD has been a key to managing the increasing complexity and responsibility in his life.