Hi Folks,

Before you spend another minute creating yet another list with ABC, 123, or high-medium-low codes as a way to define your priorities, read my essay this month. You may discover there’s a more natural path for getting you what you need to get the right things done.

All the best,

DAVID’S FOOD FOR THOUGHT

WHY ABC PRIORITY CODES DON’T WORK

“How do I set priorities?” Because I hear that so frequently, I assume most people think they could and should be doing it better.

The “ABC” priority codes don’t work. Listing your top 10 things you think have to get done, in order, doesn’t work. You’ll have a different priority set at 8:00 tonight than you will at 10:30 this morning. And sometimes the most strategic thing for you to do will be to water your plants. Like, when you’ve been in six meetings, felt beat up in five of them, and by 4:30 your brain is scrambled eggs, and you barely have the attention span of a gnat. That’s the time to water your plants and fill your stapler. Why? Because you can’t do anything else, and you’re going to have to water your plants sometime anyway.

On a day-to-day, moment-to-moment basis, there is no algorithm or formula that will last very long, or is really worth trying to nail down in some written or coded system. The four criteria that you will use to decide what to do are (in order of precedence):

Context (what can I do where I am?)
Time (when do I have to do something else?)
Energy (how wasted/fresh am I?)
Priority (what has the highest payoff for me if I do it?)

This excerpt is from a recent issue of David’s Productive Living newsletter. It’s free and sent about every 4 weeks. You’ll find essays from David Allen, thought-provoking quotes, and productivity tips you can use every day.

Tags: David Allen, Getting Started, Getting Things Done, GTD, GTD Best Practices, Implementing GTD, Inspiration, Next Actions, organization, Productivity, Tips and Tricks, trusted system
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“Small Business Big Marketing” recorded this informative and entertaining podcast with David Allen.  It has some great examples of how GTD helps us all to get more of the productive experience more often.

• Achieving an “on” state of mind
• Getting back on the GTD wagon
• Summary of the five phases of mastering workflow

Listen now or download from iTunes.

 

Tags: David Allen, Getting Things Done, GTD, Implementing GTD, Inspiration, Mind Like Water, organization, podcast, Productivity
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Get clear, get current, get creative.  Sound good to you? That’s what you get from a weekly review. David Allen calls it ”the critical success factor” in GTD. Lifehacker has two recent posts on this topic. The first is their link to our video of David talking about the value of the weekly review, and why it provides the leverage you need to be more productive.  The second is a how-to that includes practical tips for getting into the groove of doing a weekly review.

Your time is valuable. The time you put into a weekly review is a guaranteed investment in yourself.

 

Tags: David Allen, Getting Things Done, GTD, GTD Best Practices, Implementing GTD, Inspiration, Making it All Work, Mastering Workflow, organization, Productivity, Tips and Tricks, Weekly Review
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“If you don’t have a clear sense of the totality of your obligations, you will always overcommit. And commitments occur on multiple levels, from ‘why I’m on the planet’ to ‘need butter.’ But the elevation most amorphous for most is the plane just above your physical activities—your projects. I have a radical definition of a project: Anything you’re committed to finish within a year that requires more than one action to complete it. Given that broad designation, most people have between 30 and 100. Where’s your list? How complete and current is it?”

—David Allen

Tags: David Allen, Getting Things Done, GTD, GTD Best Practices, Implementation, Implementing GTD, Inspiration, organization, Productivity, project planning, projects, trusted system
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There are five phases of your workflow: Collect, Process, Organize, Review & Do. You need to know the best practices and tools for each phase.  David Allen Company offers the “Keys to Getting Things Done” public webinar. Whether you are setting up your GTD system for the first time, or want to get better at working what you already have, this webinar is the way to go.  It’s a lively 90-minute webinar for $49, available on the dates listed below.

“Thanks again for your excellent GTD seminar.  I have just been reviewing the notes – very refreshing and envigorating, bringing some new perspectives to light for me.”
—David Orr, GreenMarch Services Limited

You can learn more by clicking on the date that works for you:

Thursday, May 10, from 10am-11:30am Pacific Time

Thursday, May 17, from 10am-11:30am Pacific Time

Wednesday, June 13, from 10am-11:30am Pacific Time

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BlackBerry maker Research in Motion has given prototypes of their new BlackBerry 10 to developers this week.  The new model is slated to be released for consumers by the end of the year. This week’s alpha gives developers a head start on apps.  The jury is still out on productivity improvements.

Will you be an early adopter of the new BlackBerry?  How do you decide among BlackBerry, iPhone, Android, or … a Windows Phone?

Tags: Getting Things Done, GTD, Implementation, Implementing GTD, organization, Productivity
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David Allen talks about the GTD Weekly Review, and how to do more executive thinking about your life.  Technology changes over time, but this is timeless advice.

 (This video is streaming from YouTube, so it may take a few moments to load.)

Tags: David Allen, Getting Started, Getting Things Done, GTD, GTD Best Practices, Implementation, Implementing GTD, Inspiration, organization, Productivity, Tips and Tricks, trusted system, Weekly Review
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“Time management is really agreement management. At the end of the day, how good you feel about what you did (and what you didn’t do) is proportional to how well you think you kept agreements with yourself. Did you do what you told yourself to do? Did you accomplish what you think should have been accomplished? Wasting time only means that you think you should have been doing something other than what you were doing. Sleep is not a waste of time if you think you need it. Taking a walk instead of rewriting your strategic plan is not a waste of time as long as you think taking a walk is the thing to do at that moment. It’s when you wind up not having done that which you’ve agreed with yourself should be done that the trouble begins.”

—from David Allen’s article, “Time Management: What’s the Real Issue?”

Tags: David Allen, Getting Things Done, GTD, GTD Best Practices, Implementation, Implementing GTD, Inspiration, Mind Like Water, Productivity
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Technology should enhance productivity, making it easier to get things done so you have more leisure time. But have tools that are designed to help really just added to our workload, distraction, and stress?  In this concise interview with the SF Chronicle, David expertly frames the issue and helps you decide what to ask yourself.

Q: Do you think that we’ve seen technology move our workforce in an unproductive direction?

A: The whole planet is unproductive; it’s just that technology is making it more obvious. What’s important is knowing where are you and how do you allocate your resources to get where you want to go. That’s been true forever. It’s true all this tech is totally distracting all kinds of people, but then again, they are letting themselves be distracted. How come? Because they’re not clear about what they’re doing.

Q: So being distracted by tech is the symptom of a problem, rather than the core of the problem?

A: Yeah. If you don’t know where you’re going, any road will do. If you don’t know where you’re going, any tech is fine. It’s like: Why not? Why not surf the Web? There are worse ways to waste time. But it comes down to the situation: Who’s doing it, why are you doing it, and what are you avoiding by doing it?

Read the full interview here.

Tags: David Allen, Getting Things Done, GTD, horizons of focus, Implementation, Implementing GTD, Inspiration, Making it All Work, organization, Productivity
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This thought-provoking Harvard Business Review blog post is sure to stir up conversation, in person or by smartphone.

Is Your Smartphone Making You Less Productive?

2:09 PM Friday April 6, 2012
by Ndubuisi Ekekwe

Mobile devices have exacerbated an always-on work culture where employees work anytime, anywhere. They’ve contributed to the blurred distinction between when you’re “on the clock” and when you’re not. Service industry professionals are especially tethered to these devices. There’s an assumption that using smart devices boosts productivity, since they allow us to work constantly. But, we’re also jeopardizing long-term productivity by eliminating predictable time off that ensures balance in our lives. Is the obsession of regularly checking email really helping anyone’s bottom line? Are the unrealistic expectations these devices facilitate not setting staff up for burnout?

You can read the full post here.

Tags: Getting Things Done, GTD, Implementation, Implementing GTD, Making it All Work, organization, Productivity
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