If you have trouble downloading or accessing our podcast RSS page, you can also listen or download the interview directly from KQED: http://www.kqed.org/a/forum/R201107291000

“The ability to make a creative mess, I think, is the optimal state to be in terms of your productivity, creativity, and it’s just a cool place to be.”

-David Allen

Listen now (about 20 minutes)

If you’d rather use Outlook just as it is out of the box, you’ll get value from our downloadable GTD and Outlook Setup Guides, written by David Allen and the Coaches. There are guides for Outlook 2003 and 2007. A guide for Outlook 2010 is on the way this year. GTD Times readers will be among the first to know when the release date is announced.

Listen to more free podcasts from the David Allen Company

• Completing & remember 2010
• Creating the new year

They will lead participants through a series of insightful questions that David Allen created to inspire, challenge and acknowledge.

This will be the last webinar for 2010, finishing up a banner year of webinars for our GTD Connect members.  We did over 20 webinars this year, including 6 in our “Black Belt” series for more advanced GTDers, tactical webinars on tools such as Outlook and Lotus Notes, and hands-on “labs” with David helping people through the fundamentals of making decisions on their stuff.  As a member, you can access all of these in the media library and even take them on the go to watch offline (downloads not available for guest pass members, sorry!).We have many new exciting webinars coming in 2011, including one on OmniFocus.

We wish you all the best.

What formats are available for David Allen’s books, like Getting Things Done?
Formats for David Allen’s books are established entirely by his publisher, Penguin Group, and through the agreements Penguin makes with each foreign publisher.  We are so sorry, but we have no influence over distribution and we are not involved in the process of determining where the books are released.  We do know that availability varies widely by country and distributors. For example, in the U.S., you will find paperback, hardcover, Kindle, ePub and audiobook versions.  This is not the case at all for other countries and download versions in particular are restricted by territory (e.g. someone outside the U.S. cannot download a book from the U.S. Audible.com site.)

Why is the download version more expensive than the paperback version?
We’ve noticed that too!  Unfortunately, pricing for David’s books is out of our control and is entirely set by the publisher, Penguin Group, with the distribution channels where they have released the book.

Can I buy David’s books as a PDF?
No, PDF is not a format that has been created by Penguin Group, the publisher of David Allen’s books. Downloadable options include ePub (very common and compatible with iBook for iPhone, iTouch and iPad users,) Kindle (for the Amazon Kindle devices and readers) and Audiobook (spoken versions, as read by David Allen).

Where do I download Kindle versions?
The Kindle versions of David Allen’s books are available from Amazon.com.  A search for the books will show you the paperback, hardcover and Kindle versions if available in your country.

Where do I download the version of Getting Things Done for iPhone, iTouch, or iPad?
The “ePub” version is compatible with the iPhone, iTouch and iPad devices. You can purchase and download this version through the iBookstore in iTunes, if available in your country.

How come the Getting Things Done book isn’t available for download in my country?
Distribution rights for David Allen’s books are established entirely by his publisher, Penguin, with each foreign publisher.  We are so sorry, but we have no influence over distribution and are not involved in the process of determining where the books are released.  We do know that availability varies widely by country and distributors. For example, in the U.S., you will find paperback, hardcover, Kindle, eBook and Audible.com versions.  This is not the case at all for other countries and download versions in particular are restricted by territory (e.g. someone outside the U.S. cannot download a book from the U.S. Audible.com site.)

How is the Audiobook different than the iBook or ePub version?
The audiobook versions of Getting Things Done (abridged and unabridged) are spoken versions of the book. You will hear David Allen literally reading the book.  The iBook versions in the “ePub” format are for you to read–there is no audio component. ePub simply means electronic version.  Audiobook is spoken version.

How do I contact David’s publisher to share my feedback or request to have Getting Things Done available in my country or in other formats?
You can reach the Penguin Group through their website. You will find many helpful links on this page.  If you want to reach our team, to ask a question, please contact customerservice@davidco.com.

The international translation of Getting Things Done has errors. Who needs to know about that?

We appreciate when customers let us know about errors in the international versions of Getting Things Done.  We are not involved in the translation of David’s books, but we will pass along the feedback to his publisher, Penguin Group, who handles the translation process.  You can also give Penguin Group the feedback directly through their website.

What’s the difference between the abridged and unabridged audiobook versions of Getting Things Done?
Unabridged means you will hear the entire book, just like the printed version. Abridged means you will only hear a condensed version of the book (not all chapters are included.) The most comprehensive version, by far, is the unabridged version, as it covers all of the GTD content. The abridged version is more like the “Cliff Notes” summary of the key concepts and does not go into detail on the implementation phase.

The iBook format of Getting Things Done has poor formatting. Who needs to know about that?
We have been told by some customers that the iBook version is not formatted very well and we have passed along this feedback to the Penguin Group.
You can also give Penguin Group the feedback directly through their website or to Apple, their distribution partner for the iBook version.

How do I know if there is a version of Getting Things Done in my language?
We keep an updated list of foreign language editions of Getting Things Done on our website, as we are made aware of them by the publisher Penguin Group.

I had a problem downloading the book. Where do I go for help?
Please ask for assistance with downloading issues from the store where you purchased the download.  Unfortunately, we are only able to assist you with the versions available through our online store (hardcover, paperback, and audiobook.)

We hope this helps!

David Allen Company Products Team

GTD Connect is $480 a year (one year commitment) or $48 a month (cancel anytime).  We also offer a generous discount for non-profits, government/military, and education of only $360 per year for unlimited access.  Please email us at connect@davidco.com from the account that qualifies you for the discounted rate, and we’ll send you a special link to become a member.

As we start a New Year, give yourself the gift of GTD Connect.  We wish you all the best!

1. eProductivity for Lotus Notes
2. Blackberry synchronization with Lotus Notes
3. MindManager from Mindjet
4. ActiveWords
5. Pamela Professional for Skype

Read more . . .

If anyone is telling you a specific piece of software is required for GTD–good chance they don’t understand GTD.

We do have a few key tools that we personally use and recommend that have gone through David Allen’s extensive vetting process. You can find a link to those in our online store.  If you don’t see your software listed here, it means we do not have a recommendation at this time, but a search on GTD Times and our public Forums should give you quite a few helpful suggestions about what other GTDers are using.

This 45 page Guide, created by David Allen and the senior coaches, will show you how to:

• Manage your email effectively on the BlackBerry–including how to get email to zero
• Use BlackBerry Tasks for your Projects and Actions–including descriptions and examples of what goes on different lists
• Use the Calendar as a critical foundation for actions–with shortcuts for switching between different views
• Create useful reference lists in MemoPad–for managing the “non-action” part of your life as well
• Move faster with speed keys and shortcuts–referenced throughout the Guide and on handy quick reference sheet
• Navigate around the BlackBerry easily–with tips on customizing some settings to match the way you work

*210 MM wide and 297 MM tall (about 8 1/4 x 11 3/4 inch), used in Europe, and rest of the world, except the US and some neighboring countries where ‘letter-size’ paper (8 1/2 x 11 inch) is used.

This is an excerpt from a Webinar David did for GTD Connect, our online learning center.

Listen now (20 min)

We have hundreds of audio and video selections like this on GTD Connect, with more added every week.  Hook into the most active Getting Things Done community in the world.  Check out a free guest pass (no credit card required and we won’t nag you when you’re done!)

Listen Now>>>

See a sample

Buy the Guide now

What people are saying on our Forums about the new Guide:

“As are all the GTD products I have purchased, the new GTD Implementation Guide is of very high quality. This guide outlines completely, yet succinctly, how you can implement and maintain the GTD process.”

“I’m no GTD rookie and STILL I bought this new product! I’m glad I did! There are things in here that will help me get closer to black belt. This would have cut 3 months off my initial implementation easily!”

Learn more…

You’ll hear insights, tips and tricks from David Allen and two of the senior coaches on this key phase of GTD. It’s about 30 minutes and chock full of helpful coaching advice.

If you missed the first 4 in this series (Collect, Process, Organize & Review), you can find them all in the free GTD podcast feed.  If you like these free podcasts, we have loads more like this on GTD Connect, our online learning center.

What does the David Allen Company recommend for implementing GTD® Task lists on the iPhone?

The iPhone was not built with a Tasks application, so you will need to find an App that will support the GTD best practices for a list manager (e.g. sort by category/context, allow but not force due dates, allows related notes to be attached to the Task, etc.)  What you choose for the iPhone would depend primarily on what do you need to sync it to.  The corresponding application you want to sync it to (Mac, PC or Web) would narrow down the best application for you to install on the iPhone for Tasks. The end result is that you would have a Tasks application on the iPhone–>syncing through a service–>that then shares that information with a corresponding application on the web or desktop.

Also, be sure you understand what makes a good GTD list manager. For example, if you read Getting Things Done, or even any of our Setup Guides, there are some key things a good list manager would need to have to work well. It’s not just about storing a flat list of To Do’s.  If you understand the best practices, then you’ll find the sea of Apps in the iTunes store much easier to wade through.  If you’re starting from scratch on all of this, read this post on How to Choose a GTD system.

The only platform we have any specific recommendations for is Mac. We recommend and endorse OmniFocus for the Mac and iPhone.  For PC and Web users, there are many options, but we do not have any specific recommendations around that at this point. We will post updates if that changes.

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 is the series:

Best Practices of Collect

Best Practices of Processing

Best Practices of Organize

Best Practices of Review

Best Practices of Doing

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.

Like this podcast? Subscribe to our free podcast series.  We also do frequent podcasts with David and the Coaches on GTD Connect®, our online learning center (over 108 podcasts available to Connect members more added all the time…)

In the original Getting Things Done, much of the focus was on paper systems with an electronic complement. These days much of our world is the opposite.

I try to have as much as possible in electronic form with a paper complement. Having things on a computer or PDA allows it to be searchable and easily changed from one category to another. But just because we can search for something doesn’t mean we should. Why not just know where it is?Despite limitations of paper systems they do have the advantage of offering visual and tactile boundaries where a computer based system allows data to stagnate easily and just be searched. This clogs not only the system but our heads!

I have several programs on my iPhone dedicated to organizing and sorting information.  But I found myself using all of them all of the time. That didn’t make sense – I don’t open my file cabinet every day. My electronic boundaries had broken down! To-Dos had meandered to my references and journals had infiltrated my to-do lists. I found myself adding projects and actions to my reference memos because I had that program open but we would never add a To-Do into our file cabinet! So, electronic boundaries needed to be set and implemented as everything had turned into a digital inbox. Here are some tips to clean the digital house.

I use SplashNotes for my contextual action lists and ShoveBox for my digital file cabinet. ShoveBox is really great because it can handle PDF files, pictures, web archives and bookmarks as well as text. It also syncs with it desktop companion. The calendar program (iCal) is obviously for items that need to be scheduled. I found the Notes program to be less than useful so for me that is relegated to short text for mental affirmation and meditation. I also use a program called The Daily Tracker for habits that I am forming or breaking. All of these are on the first page or the dock.

By putting an item in the appropriate program my head felt immediately better because it knew where to look! I didn’t need to check my electronic file cabinet every day. A quick morning scan of the calendar and a check of my contextual action lists was all I needed. After a workout I know to enter it into the Daily Tracker for logging. If I encounter dead time I can open Notes and review my meditations.

With all of my content in order – and it does take time just as the paper review process – the GTD system can continue to flow into the modern era and beyond.

Peter Tambroni is currently a classical musician, music teacher,writer and photographer in suburban Chicago. He holds degrees from the Crane School of Music and the University of Illinois at Urbana – Champaign. He is currently vice president of the School District 83 Teacher’s Association.  Peter maintains and writes for MostlyBass.com and EvolvingEducator.com.  With his busy schedule, using GTD methods is an absolute must!

Having a total and seamless system of organization gives you tremendous power because it allows your mind to let go of the lower-level thinking and graduate to intuitive focusing, undistracted by matters that haven’t been dealt with appropriately. – David Allen

In other words…get a seamless, leakproof system for tracking everything you can’t do in the moment–personally and professionally.  And make sure you trust it more than holding stuff in your brain.

In our podcast series on the best practices of GTD, we’re moving on to the 3rd stage of mastering workflow: organize. Once you’ve collected and processed your work, then you just need to put it into places that you trust.

For those of you who want even more on this topic, the Getting Things Done book club on GTD Connect is just about to move to Chapter 7 of the book, which is all about organizing.  The book club is a great way to make sure you really “get” all of the pieces of GTD to put together a complete and intuitive system that makes sense for you.

Right before the podcast, I Tweeted that I’d be speaking with him and I asked Dean some of the questions some of you sent to me (such as getting tech support, Office 10 release, how it interfaces with Toodledo and more.)

Ken Case: The big thing that we tried to do as we were designing the application is really think about the parts of the GTD workflow that we could address, and automate those, and then maybe not try to touch the parts that didn’t make as much sense. For example, we don’t do calendaring; we leave that to whatever calendaring system you already have. I use the calendar app that’s built-in to the iPhone, but you can use a paper calendar or whatever works for you for that part of the system. We do focus on the GTD collecting and processing–capturing stuff out of your head and getting it into your inbox. We tried to make that really easy with a keystroke…

LISTEN NOW>>

Grab a list of all of the OmniFocus speed keys.

If you missed the previous episode in our GTD best practices series on Collect, you can catch it here.

Link Projects to Actions (solving the timeless question and request from GTD’ers, “How do you know which project a next action relates to?”)

Process input more easily (gives a GTD toolbar for one-stop processing, linking and organizing)

Create projects and sub-projects (both can be linked and tracked along with their actions–for example, Project “Get Married” might have a subproject called, “Put on Reception” which then has a linked action step, “Call DJ”.)

View projects and actions in a variety of ways (the Add-in builds additional views, such as Active Tasks by Project, Completed Tasks by Project, etc.)

In the latest 3.0 release, there are few new things they’ve introduced:

Two-minute timer (yes, as dorky as it sounds, the little 2 min timer app in the DavidCo store is a big seller and is a feature in the new version of the Add-in)

Project Central (for more easily managing your master projects list)

Simpler interface (in my opinion, it’s the easiest and most intuitive in all the releases I’ve seen over the years)

Obviously, if Outlook is not your tool of choice, then this Add-In won’t be either! But if you’ve been looking to “GTD-ize” Outlook you may find this to be a useful enhancement, especially if you already have a good understanding of GTD. In my many years of coaching and presenting GTD to clients, my advice is always–do not look to the tool to teach or do GTD for you. It will enhance what you already know about the core concepts of GTD projects and next actions.

I’ve also written a few articles on my experience of GTD & iPhone over on my blog:

• GTD & iPhone – Part I – My criteria for choosing
  
• GTD & iPhone – Part II – My system evolves
  
• GTD & iPhone – Part III – Still looking for Lotus Notes sync
  
• GTD & iPhone – Final – Update on Chapura (it’s no longer an option)

Stay tuned to GTD Times for more on Getting Things Done with the iPhone.

In this 35 minute podcast they talk about:

• Some of their favorite tools for capturing anywhere, anytime
• The essential tools for work and home spaces
• What makes or breaks a good collection tool?
• The essential “red folder“
• Collect versus organize and why most people don’t get the difference
• Why an empty inbox reduces interruptions
• What’s it like to work in a GTD culture?

Listen now>>>

Subscribe now>>> to all of the free podcasts