David Allen booksigning in LA area

David Allen will be doing a booksigning next Thursday, June 25, in Manhattan Beach, California. Learn more

Our kick-off event for Breakfast, Business, and Books presents three Los Angeles-based authors who were recognized recently in The 100 Best Business Books of All Time. These business experts will share their knowledge about meeting the challenges we face in the current economic environment. We expect this once-in-a-lifetime event to sell out, so please make your reservations early.

GUEST AUTHORS
David Allen is the internationally best-selling author of Getting Things Done,
Ready for Anything, and most recently Making It All Work.
Warren Bennis has written or edited 26 books, including best selling Leaders and On Becoming a Leader, which was translated into 21 languages.
Karen Berman, founder and president of the Business Literacy Institute, wrote Financial Intelligence with co-author Joe Knight.
Todd Sattersten is the co-author of The 100 Best Business Books of All Time and the moderator and inspiration for this event.

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How to weed wack your inbox down to zero

If you’ve ever tasted Inbox zero, you know there’s no going back. It’s a powerful reference point in mastering GTD.  The key is knowing how you did it, and how to repeat it on a regular basis. (Yes, it’s not just about getting it there once–anyone can do that with Ctrl+A, Delete. )  The answers are all in the GTD workflow diagram. Download a free copy here.

The good news with the GTD model is that the thought process is the same no matter how something comes in (email, paper etc.) But since email plagues so many people, we’ll use that for our example.

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Inside David Allen’s ‘Brain’

The recording of the webinar David Allen did on GTD & PersonalBrain is now live. It’s about an hour long. David starts off with a good overview of the GTD Control + Perspective models, then moves on to talk about the PersonalBrain software. You’ll even get to see his own personal stuff (which most GTD’ers seem to go crazy for!)  Check it out.

A look inside someone’s GTD setup

You’ll find as many different ways to setup a GTD “ecosystem” as there are people practicing GTD.  In case this is useful, we want to share this letter we received from Chip in New York City, who wrote to us about his hybrid paper + Mac GTD system, and what’s working well for him.

I’ve been using the trifold wallet for a couple of weeks now, and as a capture tool it can’t be beat. I have an iPhone and use the application Things on my Mac

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The Perfect GTD List Manager – Part II

We received a tremendous response to the podcast from David Allen & his tech team on finding the “Perfect GTD List Manager.”  Some of you were delighted that we continue to hold true to GTD being an approach that is “tool-agnostic,” applicable to nearly any tool you choose.  On the other hand, some of you were pretty vocal that you were upset that we still didn’t tell you which tool to use.  Fair enough!  We know there is a balance to give you between theory and application, and some of you would like some more direction on this. So David and his team sat down for further conversation on The Perfect GTD List Manager. This time, David actually does reveal “the secret” and it may not be what you think…

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When your desk becomes your Inbox

Ever have your desk (or office or house) become your Inbox?  Paul Garth, Director of Technology for the David Allen Company, recently moved his office space. For a short while, his entire desk was his Inbox. We couldn’t resist taking before and after photos.  As David Allen says, GTD is not about never being out of control, it’s knowing how to get it back in control when you need to.

Before:

After:

Have any GTD photos you want to share? Send them along to editor@gtdtimes.com.

Getting Things Done with IBM Lotus Notes

In our new series called GTD Toolbox Tours, we’ll be highlighting and reviewing different tools, products, software and gear that can support your GTD implementation.  We’ll cover list managers, labelers, pens, file folders and everything else that makes your GTD system hum like a Ferrari.  This week we’re starting with a podcast with Eric Mack, the designer of a software tool called eProductivity for IBM Lotus Notes.

In our recent podcast  on The Perfect GTD List Manager, we shared that one of the most common questions we get is, “Which tool should I use for my GTD lists?”  Specifically, you want to know which tools David Allen uses!  While the GTD approach is tool-agnostic, we have our personal favorites, as we know many of you do as well.  eProductivity for IBM Lotus Notes is one of those, and is the tool David (and most of the staff at DavidCo) use to help manage our workflow.  Even if you are not a Lotus Notes user, we think you’ll find value in hearing from Eric about what he learned would make the ultimate tool for David Allen to use.

In this podcast, Eric Mack (@EricMack) shares with Coach Kelly Forrister (@GTDCoachKelly) on some of the design philosophy and underlying features and principles that make eProductivity a tool David recommends.  (Note: There’s a free trial and on the podcast Eric also offers a $100 off to the first 50 people that contact him by June 15.)  Some of the features discussed on the podcast will make more sense if you check out some screenshots.    LISTEN NOW

The Perfect GTD List Manager

One of the most common questions we get is, “Which tool should I use for my GTD lists?”  With the GTD approach, the tools you choose to manage your workflow are up to you.  Some tools are certainly more conducive to GTD than others, but among the ones that will work well, it will come down to functionality and personal preference.  That can make the choice for some people exciting…or daunting.  In this podcast, David Allen and his technology team talk about the phenomenon of list managers, what qualities to look for, what has a zero learning curve, the keys to really making it work and more.  There should be something here for everyone, no matter what your job, style, platform or inner geek.  LISTEN NOW

“There’s a strange paradox. You want it simple and it won’t be cool enough for you. And if you want it really cool, you’re gonna have to have discipline and sophistication of really understanding GTD to make it work and gain the power out of it.”  – David Allen

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