For those of you who get itchy sitting all day, have you considered walking while you work?  One of our clients shared how they stay on the move at their desk.  David posted a picture of it on Twitter yesterday.  Since then, some of you have been writing asking, “How can I get that??”  It’s called TrekDesk.  It essentially turns a treadmill into a desk.  We’re not affiliated with these guys, or endorsing this as a “GTD” solution, but some of you may find it helps your productivity to keep your body moving.  The folks at TrekDesk seem to think so.

If you’re the “mover” type, would you use something like this?

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The master key to clarity is maintaining a complete and current inventory of all your commitments and agreements with yourself. You need to capture, clarify, and organize them, so you can constantly review and reflect on the totality of your engagements with the world, so you can trust your choices about what you’re doing, moment to moment. -David Allen

Grab the free article on the 5 phases of Mastering Workflow.

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The GTD Coordinator®–our GTD paper planner created with Mead and sold in many Staples stores–has been wildly popular. Which has been great for those who have been able to get their hands on one, and a challenge for those who are still trying to locate one.  Here’s the latest (updated 04/26/2010):

New GTD Coordinators complete with blank forms and 2010 calendar:

Letter-size GTD Coordinator – Item #805099 – Out of stock in the Davidco store.   In stock at various Staples stores throughout the U.S.  Clerks are unable to look this item up if you call the store as it is not in the Staples online store.  Staples has 4700 units available in various retail locations. The easiest way to locate one is to  do a live chat with Staples.com to find the location of the store closest to you with inventory.

Junior-size GTD Coordinator- Item # 805102 – Out of stock in the Davidco store. In stock at various Staples stores. Clerks are unable to look this item up if you call the store as it is not in the Staples online store. Staples has 900 units available in various retail locations. The easiest way to locate one is to  do a live chat with Staples.com to find the location of the store closest to you with inventory.

[Read more →]

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Still procrastinating about a bunch of things on your action lists? There’s usually one of two reasons for this: (1) they have slowly slipped in importance and interest to you or (2) they aren’t really next actions (so you don’t really know what to do, where, about it). If (1) give yourself permission to move them to Someday/Maybe. If (2) then gird your loins and get back to the granularity of real next actions on your lists – not small sub-projects about your stuff.   -David Allen

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08/17/2010 – We now have a GTD & BlackBerry Setup Guide! Visit the David Allen Company store to get your copy. It’s loaded with tips, tricks and expert coaching advice of applying GTD to your BlackBerry.

A pretty common question we get from BlackBerry users is how to integrate Outlook Tasks with their BlackBerry.  For the most part, there is a good one-to-one sync between Outlook Tasks and a BlackBerry device–if your service and server allows it (check with your carrier and/or IT dept. to find out if this is or can be enabled for you.)

If you setup Outlook like our GTD & Outlook Setup Guide describes, you should be able to have that carry over to Tasks on the BlackBerry.  The trick for seeing your Task categories is to “Filter” them.

Several of our staff use BlackBerry devices, including presenter + coach Wayne Pepper.  Listen to Wayne’s podcast on how he uses a BlackBerry for GTD (16 min). He also wrote about an app he uses on his BlackBerry for quick capture.

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A Community Contribution from Ryan Oakley

Whether you’re a proficient OneNote user or just started using it after reading my GTD and OneNote article posted on GTD Times it doesn’t take long to populate the software with a tonne of pages and a tonne of information (yes, I am Canadian).

First, some definitions:

MS Office OneNote 2007 is a digital notebook that provides people one place to gather their notes and information, powerful search to find what they are looking for quickly, and easy-to-use shared notebooks so that they can manage information overload and work together more effectively.

ActiveWords is a Windows application that relates words and actions, giving you instant access to what you want, making you more productive, and improving the quality of your work.  (Editors note: ActiveWords was also featured in a podcast by David Allen.) [Read more →]

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We are often asked, “Does GTD stick long-term?”  Here’s a great demonstration from GTD’er Steve Fogel:

It is a great thing to have this as the standard and comfort zone.  I would say in the last six months, I’ve consistently been here. What’s cool about GTD, is when you get here, it’s the starting point not the destination.  Can’t believe I’ve been using these tools since 1988.

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A Community Contribution by Matt Handal

As soon as I got myself in front of the steps leading down to my basement, I could see the black smoke billowing up to the first floor. I rushed into the basement to see where the fire was. There were no visible flames, but from the black smoke erupting from the party wall separating us from the twin house next door, it was quite clear that my neighbor’s house was ablaze.

My pregnant wife rushed outside to see what was going on. With my wife and unborn child headed out the door, that classic question came into my head.

What do I save? [Read more →]

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