I suggest that people build into their personal systems whatever checklists might prevent things from glitching on the back end, assuming they are reviewed appropriately. A great example, for people who travel, is the “travel checklist”–everything that you might ever want to take with you anywhere.  Doesn’t mean you have to pack it! Just that you want to consider the option so you don’t miss something. People often jokingly ask for mine to start with, to save them some time, so… here it is.

(I suggest you copy and paste into your word processor, and customize it for yourself. If you have a boat, go fishing regularly, or have other special kinds of trips, you might want a separate checklist for those. I used to additionally have a “take to boat” checklist, when I was sailing regularly.)

David Allen’s Travel Checklist

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Want to see more videos of David? Check out GTD Connect.

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“Your filing system should be a simple library of data, easily retrievable–not your reminder for actions, projects, priorities or prospects.” – 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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Dear David Allen: Where do you find the time to go through the hardest parts of your Inbox (I seem to have a lower layer that never gets finished — notes from meetings that need follow up that are important but not urgent etc.)?

DA: You’re trying to use your Inbox as your organizer, and that won’t work. You have to make the decision about the action step for each one of those, and organize the reminder of the action (if it’s longer than 2 minutes and can’t be delegated) in your system. That doesn’t take long.  Sounds like you’re avoiding the decision about what to do, or you don’t feel like you have any system better than your Inbox to sustain it.

One of the upcoming Webinars with David Allen on GTD Connect will be all about processing these kinds of things that seem to get stuck in the Inbox.  Thursday, March 11th @ 11am.  Free for GTD Connect members.

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For those of you who haven’t seen this, it’s one of the best descriptions out there for distilling the essence of Getting Things Done®.  It’s also a good reminder that GTD® is not just about inbox zero, or picking a cool list manager, or doing a Weekly Review. It’s a whole workflow ecosystem that David has laid out here. As he says, “it’s more than meets the eye…”

Sophisticated without being confining, the subtle effectiveness of GTD lies in its radically common sense notion that with a complete and current inventory of all your commitments, organized and reviewed in a systematic way, you can focus clearly, view your world from optimal angles and make trusted choices about what to do (and not do) at any moment. GTD embodies an easy, step-by-step and highly efficient method for achieving this relaxed, productive state. It includes: [Read more →]

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You can never get enough of what you don’t really need. And you can never work hard enough, long enough, or fast enough, to eliminate the stress or discomfort that drives those behaviors. Your Weekly Review brings a much-needed break in the pace.  -David Allen

Grab the free article on the GTD Weekly Review

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Do YOU know the best practices of GTD?

Although they’ve been recorded for our GTD Connect online learning center, we have been posting the GTD Best Practices series to our free public podcast as well, for all to benefit from.  These informal podcasts are a great way to learn the essentials of GTD.  Here are the first 4 in the series.

Best Practices of Collect

Best Practices of Processing

Best Practices of Organize

Best Practices of Review

The final phase, the “Best Practices of Doing,” will be recorded in early March.  It will be released for GTD Connect members first, then put into the public podcast feed some time after that.  If you like these podcasts, GTD Connect has over 110 recordings like these, with more added every week, that you can play on the Connect site or  sync to iTunes.  It’s a great way to learn coaching tips from David and the staff, listen to interesting interviews with GTD’ers (Evan Taubenfeld being one of the recent ones), watch the “Slice of GTD Life” videos and more.  Good stuff.  Check out the free trial of GTD Connect.

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