One of the categories of Action lists David Allen recommends in Getting Things Done is “Agendas.”  This is a great category for tracking items that you want to discuss with people or teams you meet with regularly.  Your Agendas lists become a trusted parking lot for things to bring up the next time you have the opportunity to have a discussion.  Many people will use Agendas for the staff they manage, and for the manager they report to.  Agenda lists can also work well for family members and recurring team meetings.

Here’s how Community Contributor Meghan Wilker uses them:

In the workplace, one of the best ways to distinguish yourself is by being effective. And, in this era of constant — and I mean CONSTANT — interruption, one of the best ways to be effective is to be strategic about how you communicate with others.

Humanity has been stricken with several email-related diseases over the past few years. Two in particular are insidious contributors to the interruptive environment. [Read more →]

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What does David Allen say the most common misconceptions are about GTD?  What did David want to be when he was growing up?  Does Getting Things Done really save time versus just doing the work?  Listen to this fun, informative podcast with GTD Times community contributor Mike Vardy and David Allen. (23 minutes)

Listen to more free podcasts from the David Allen Company

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A Community Contribution from April Perry

I’m the mom at the toy store on December 23rd with a cart full of car tracks, dolls, sports equipment, and art supplies my children may or may not like. I’m also the mom paying overnight shipping charges to send hastily-assembled photo albums to Grandma. I stay up late the night before school gets out for Winter Break, making bread for the teachers (mainly because I can’t think of anything else to get them). Our Christmas cards usually get sent out after New Year’s . . . if they get sent out at all. My neighbors don’t get plates of cookies from us, our mail lady never gets a card, and my husband gets only a big hug and a kiss. All the while, I’m feeling frustrated and overwhelmed with the holiday season–wishing I could pull things together. [Read more →]

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A friend of mine came to visit when my first child was three months old.  Noticing I was still actively using my day planner, she joked, “What do you write on your task list, ‘Cook and Clean?’”

She wasn’t trying to hurt my feelings, but her question reflected an assumption that many people have about those who spend the majority of their waking hours taking care of little ones…that they’re not actually “doing” anything.

I’ve spent 10 years as a full-time mom, and let me assure you that taking care of a family is a huge responsibility.  It’s a party some days, a train wreck other days, but it’s the most important thing I’ve ever done.  I’ve created a Mom-and-Dad-friendly “Trigger List” to help parents see what types of things they can organize with GTD. 

[Read more →]

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A Community Contribution from Erik Hanberg

For me, one of the easiest and yet most difficult concepts of David Allen’s Getting Things Done was thinking of everything as work.

After all, who wants to work all the time? But I quickly learned there was strength in the idea.

As I was implementing GTD for the first time, I understood the concept as a way to make sure that I didn’t lose track of the fun things in life. [Read more →]

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We received this letter from Bruce, about his recent experience with GTD Connect:

I joined GTD Connect a week or two ago, and I’m discovering that it is an excellent resource. The amount of content is awesome, and you have developed an active community. (Initially I thought: $48/month is a lot of money. Now I realize it’s worth it.)

I read Getting Things Done about three years ago, and although much of it made sense, I missed a lot of it. I’m now reading Making It All Work, reading articles on GTD Connect, and listening to Connect webinars, and I’m developing a much deeper understanding of GTD and how to apply it.

Thanks!
Bruce

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A Community Contribution from Erik Hanberg

Here’s how I deal with email and keep from getting too overloaded:

1. I have one inbox. Everything goes to the same place (accounts either forward to Gmail or I’ve actually set Gmail up to reply from those accounts).
2. I only check email when I can reply to it easily. Unless I’m waiting for something specific, I try not to check email from my phone, because it’s a recipe for getting an email that requires a length reply that I don’t have the time to give on my phone. And that just stresses me out until I can reply appropriately.
3. I don’t use preview windows. It’s too easy to only get half the information and miss important stuff. When I used Outlook for work, this happened way more often that I would have liked. I thought it was a feature, but it turns out it wasn’t helpful at all. It made me browse email more than read email. [Read more →]

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A participant from a recent GTD public seminar shared what’s different in their life now.

I was the guy on the back row when you asked ‘How do these unfinished things make you feel?’ replied with ‘a failure’.

I’ve been using the concepts learned in class to process my work and personal email. (I use Exchange for work – GMail for personal.)  I have a shared Google calendar my wife and personal friends can see.  This lets them know when I am available and when I am taking personal time.

All I can say is wow. [Read more →]

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A Community Contribution from April Perry

The first day of school started out great.  My three oldest children dressed in their new clothes, laced up their new shoes, ate a healthy breakfast, and then headed off to school with homemade sack lunches and brightly-colored, fully-stocked pencil cases.  I felt like a wonderful mom.

They returned home seven hours later, happy but tired, toting folders overflowing with paperwork, and that’s when MY work started (I mean…continued).  As I shuffled through more than 50 sheets of fliers, forms, and date-specific notices, I started to feel a little dizzy.  The pile on my counter harbored a LOT of information, most of which needed my attention right that minute.  I was tempted to break into tears or bury my head in a carton of Rocky Road, but then I thought, “Wait a minute.  I’ve been trained in GTD.  I was MADE for situations like this.”   [Read more →]

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Cindy recently participated in a GTD class at her company.  She sent along an email to her facilitator about her experience. With her permission, we’re sharing her letter with our GTD Times readers.

First of all, thanks for a great class!  I really enjoyed it.  You are an awesome instructor – very engaging and really good at demonstrating practical applications of the GTD concept.

I will admit that I was a bit skeptical about the GTD concept as I have taken time management courses before and was never able to make the concepts work in the fast paced/put out 100 fires every day work of IT training development/delivery and IT technical support.  I wondered how constructed the  responses from people having implemented GTD saying “GTD changed my life!” were.  [Read more →]

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