From all my years of working with probably every type of reasonably healthy and effective person, I’ve noticed no particular bias of style that “favors GTD” more than any other.  Of course, the real question inside that:  What is GTD?  If you think it’s about organizing lists, then of course the left-brainers may fall in step. If you say, on the other hand, it’s really about the most effective way to produce and maintain clear psychic space, then the “creatives” will most resonate.  Eliminating static appeals to everyone, in his/her own way, and for his/her own reasons. It ensures close tolerance and closure, and it opens vistas and catalyzes thinking. Could it be that GTD is truly on the nerve of the larger integration of yin/yang, creator/destroyer, right-brain/left-brain, linear/associative polarities? – David Allen

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David Allen’s list of cool/convenient lists to have
There are critical reminder-type lists that we all need to let our brain relax (re: outcomes and actions). There are other lists, though, that can be useful, fun, and interesting, that fit in the area of “reference” or “support.”

Account and $ numbers- credit card #s, PIN #s, etc. (make sure wherever you keep these, it is safe and secure.)
Affirmations- personal self-talk scripts for positive internal programming.
Basic personal numbers (self and family members)- drivers license, social security, insurance policies, Whatever you may need for yourself and others when filling out forms. (Again, make sure wherever you keep these, it is safe and secure.)
Birthdays- (if you don’t put them on your digital calendar system), group by date, as reviewable (those during a month, put in tickler for that month, etc.) [Read more →]

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The key to innovation is to really care about solving a problem or achieving a result that’s never been done, or a new and better way to make something happen.  And persistence. – David Allen

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Is GTD too structured for creative people? Will it work if you don’t like rigid schedules and plans?  Could an artist possibly “do” GTD.

Coach Julie Ireland weighs in:

I tend to rebel against too much structure/planning. At the same time I do need a certain amount of structure, otherwise my creative energy gets drained from the uncertainty of not being clear about what my commitments are. The beauty of GTD lies in putting enough time and energy into what we call “defining our work and responsibilities”, so that when we have discretionary time we can choose very consciously and purposely to work off of our pre-defined lists, or in my case go and play in my art studio. There is real power in making that choice as the most appropriate thing for me to do, vs. attempting to work in my studio because I’m either avoiding my responsibilities or simply haven’t defined them clearly enough.

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GTD enthusiast Kerry Gallivan has been working with a wonderful project in Maine that is bringing MacBooks,  OmniFocus & GTD to nearly 60,000 students and educators.  It’s an amazing story and congratulations to all involved in making this happen.  Truly a remarkable achievement which will greatly benefit the students, teachers, their families and communities.

As a GTD evangelist myself, last March I was fortunate to attend the GTD Summit in San Francisco. This was a first-ever event hosted by David Allen, author of Getting Things Done, and his company, David Allen Company. It was a networking event which brought together all of the best and brightest GTD practicers from literally around the world. It was at the GTD Summit that I met Ken Case – the President of the Omni Group.  Being a Technology Director at a school district in Maine and a GTD evangelist, I encouraged him to consider donating OmniFocus to the MLTI program as a first step in exposing the educational community within Maine to the benefits of the GTD system.  Read more–>

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Think GTD only works if you sit in a cubicle?  Think again…

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There are lots of creative mapping tools out there, and PersonalBrain is one that David Allen uses to capture an autobiographical brain of his life.  Shelley, an evangelist for TheBrain put together a cool demo of how to look at the corners of your mind…

TheBrain also just launched a new hosting service for PersonalBrain users called WebBrain, with a great example about GTD.

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For years, the GTD Workflow diagram has been the ultimate “trail guide” for navigating through the collect>process>organize stages of GTD.  Over the past two years, David Allen has been working with the terrific design team at xplane to take his vision (his original sketch is pictured right  and you can click on the image to see a larger version) and expand it into a rich map that also now includes decision making, horizons of focus and more.

Some people got a sneak preview of it at the GTD Summit in March, and a few bootleg copies of it are floating around the Internet.  We’re getting dozens of emails a day now from GTD’ers hungry for this new piece of the GTD story.  We are pleased to announce [Read more →]

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As we all know, GTD is a tool-agnostic approach.  The tools you choose are up to you.  Some say it’s all got to be electronic. Others swear paper is king.  And many  of us will choose a hybrid of paper and digital. In our ongoing GTD Times series featuring GTD’er systems, we wanted to give you a peak into someone’s paper system.  Here’s Sam’s story (including some great photos of his setup):

[Read more →]

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Mike Williams, speaker at the recent GTD Summit, and longtime friend of David Allen Company, sent us this story with us about his experience sharing GTD with his kids. We thought this was fitting to share on Father’s Day.

I am always running experiments with my kids (queue the evil scientist laugh!).  I would love to share these experiments or test new things (experiments, gear) to help start the GTD thinking at an earlier age.

Here is a recent post I wrote on one of my experiments.  It resonated with several GTD moms and dads at the GTD Summit.

I am also experimenting with home design, backpack gear, homework routines, school routines and home routines to build systems that enable the GTD systemic approach.

Read more about Mike’s experiment>>

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