Question: Why does Getting Things Done® focus on the “weeds” rather than the higher-level stuff? Why don’t we start with goals and vision and then make our way to day-to-day work? David Allen: I appreciate your question. The professional and personal self-help training programs consistently emphasize higher-horizon focus—clarity of purpose, values, vision, goals, etc. I agree that …
Continue reading “Starting with where you are, not where you should be”
Question: Dear David Allen, Is there an adaptation of your method for writing a PhD? I find GTD helpful in life and at the job, but I have trouble adapting it to a research project. Do you have any tips? David Allen: The principles of GTD apply to everything, but they don’t engage with the …
Continue reading “The principles of GTD apply to everything”
When people discover the level of personal organization I work within, they often ask, “Wow, does this guy ever have any fun?! He’s so organized!” My response is usually, “Who’s not having fun?” Frankly, I organize for freedom, not for hard work. Much of my personal system of organization was built and is constantly being …
David Allen talks with General Randal Fullhart (Ret.). Graduating from the U.S. Air Force Academy in 1979, Randy has commanded at the squadron, group, and wing levels. He shares insights and tips about his own journey with GTD, teamwork, and leadership. Listen Now Subscribe or Download iTunes Stitcher Libsyn Google Play Music Spotify …
Continue reading “Episode #41: David Allen Talks with General Randal Fullhart”
A typical question I get is, “What’s the one thing that we do that gets in the way of us being productive?” It’s not one thing, but five, all wrapped together: People keep stuff in their head. They don’t decide what they need to do about stuff they know they need to do something about. …
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In this podcast, Coach Kelly Forrister focuses on the best practices of email communications with others, including appropriate use, writing effective subject lines, creating agreed upon response times, reply to all and more. Listen Now Subscribe or Download iTunes Stitcher Libsyn Google Play Music Spotify SoundCloud
I had another BFO the other day (that’s a Blinding Flash of the Obvious): one of the reasons most people are to some degree allergic to “getting organized” is the consistent lack of success they have experienced over the years with how they’ve approached the whole process of to-do lists. The reason those lists have …
Continue reading “Why Getting Organized Usually Hasn’t Worked”
How do you unhook from the pulls and pressures of your world? It would be nice if you could just shut your door, or go into the garden, and the harpies in your mind—all the niggling things to do and deal with—just went away. Or, if you could just finally get it all done, so …
Imagery is powerful. Consciously exercising the direction of your imagery is a hallmark of mastery—in sports, business, or frankly any aspect of your life. Mental pictures, combined with rich emotional texture, have proven to be highly effective tools for enhancing perception and performance, whether on the track, in the boardroom, in relationships, or simply your …
In this podcast we hear a wide-ranging conversation between David Allen and the founder of HolacracyOne, Brian Robertson. Just as GTD is a systematic approach to maintaining perspective and control in your life, Holacracy is a systematic approach for running an organization. You’ll hear a lot of interesting similarities between the two models, as well …
Your name: Betty Enyonam Kumahor, but most people just call me Enyo. What do you do for work? I find this question harder and harder to answer! My background is in management and technology consulting. I started my own consulting firm about 2 years ago and we have about 25 people in 3 countries doing …
Challenges with priorities and GTD A GTD Connect member asked: I am having a challenge understanding priorities and GTD. I have at least 100 projects, from LARGE to little. Now you break down those projects to single actions which at least triples your actions. So I might have about 300 single actions to be done. …
David Allen welcomed Blinkist into his apartment in Amsterdam for a casual conversation about GTD, writing the book, and his love for clear space. Please accept statistics cookies to watch this video.
In response to last month’s David Allen article, Turning Inside Out, GTD fan and musician Don Richmond shared: This underlying philosophy, or reason for the existence of GTD, is what turned me on to it in the first place. I don’t really need to do more things—I do too much already. But I do need …
How many thoughts and ideas do you have daily which represent useful things to do or potentially enhance or improve projects, situations, and life in general? How many have you had and forgotten, and forgotten that you’ve forgotten? “I ought to call Susan and ask her about where she stayed in Hawaii…” “I need to …
People complain about “information overload.” But, in truth, the most information-rich environment is the most relaxing–nature. We are actually more relaxed and stimulated by a plethora of input and multiple horizons, and nature provides that in spades. If you really wanted to go nuts, just put yourself in a room with no input (sensory deprivation.) …
David Allen explores the power of outcome thinking in front of a live audience. This talk will reveal just how much the thoughts we hold in our head have the potential to affect the types and qualities of action we take. From athletic performance to prepping for that next big meeting, what we think about …
Continue reading “EPISODE #38 – The Power of Outcome Thinking”
Someone recently asked David Allen to share the underlying principle to Getting Things Done® (GTD®). He said: There are several, but the main ones are: 1. CLEAR YOUR HEAD – Your head is for having ideas, not for holding them. In other words, build and maintain an “external brain” to hold all your significant reminders …
I am beginning to get it. The ultimate ingredient for really getting things off my mind is to nurture the part of me that lives from the inside out. Now, when I say, “I’m beginning to get it,” please keep in mind that I’ve been “beginning to get it” for at least 50 years, consciously, …
The new year is always a great excuse to zoom out and recalibrate how your system is running, and a year-end review is an excellent way to do exactly that. In this conversation that first showed up on GTD Connect, David Allen & Coach Kelly Forrister give us some quick and practical tips for successfully …
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