The Creativity of Getting Things Done – Part One
by Wayne Pepper
GTD for creatives? While many of our enthusiasts love the systematic approach of GTD, we’re seeing more and more creative types embracing Getting Things Done, including musicians, comedians, and television writers. This article (written in two parts) will address two ideas. The first is that being “creative” is no excuse for not doing GTD, and the second is about using GTD within the creative process itself.
First let’s define creativity. Creativity can be thought of as “art” and that certainly can be a valid and true definition, but perhaps one that’s too narrow for our purposes. Let’s define creativity more broadly. Let’s think of creativity as any effort where we are bringing our creative energy, thinking, or forces to bear. That could be starting a new company, brainstorming a solution to a management problem, organizing a launch party, envisioning a branding approach, creating ad copy, or designing a new video game—and everything in between. [Read more →]
I recently presented a seminar where a participant brought up the project of getting her daughter into college. Since that had been a project for me as well, I wrote to her about how I applied the “Natural Planning Model” to this project. For those of you unfamiliar with the Natural Planning Model, it is David Allen’s approach to getting projects creatively under control. The specific details of this five-phase approach can be found starting on page 54 of David Allen’s book, Getting Things Done.
Here is the email I sent to this participant regarding her project:
Dear Sara,
I wanted to share with you what I did to help my son with his efforts to get into college. [Read more →]
