Question: For the people who need an immediate change, what are the first steps to be taken?

Answer from David Allen: Get a notepad and inbox, capture everything that has your attention. Decide the next actions on each and all of them. Review that total inventory, keeping it current, at least weekly.

No Comments »

David Allen gets right to the point about productivity in this interview with the Washington Post. 

How to clear your inbox, make decisions and generally get things done

By Tom Fox, Published: June 13 The Washington Post

What are some of the biggest productivity problems that leaders face?

A lot of stuff banging around in their heads; and if not captured, you’ll be driven by the latest and loudest. Even if you’ve captured everything, but you don’t decide what it means quickly enough, then you become a compulsive list-maker. You’re still not getting anything done, and you’re just wasting time making lists. People must ask: What does this mean? Is this actionable or not? What is the outcome that I am committed to?

Many people make decisions when they blow up instead of when they show up. Even if you’ve decided what the next step is, you must be organized. And, even if you’ve captured, decided and organized, you will still face problems if you don’t step back, review and reflect on your decisions. The worst practice is to fall off of any of those steps and start working out of hope.

 Read the full article here.

3 Comments »

“The two key ingredients for making it all work are:

• Control
• Perspective

If you can maintain a sufficent level of each of these factors in yourself or in your organization,  your world will be in order and you’ll be focused exactly as you should be.”

—David Allen, Making It All Work

Where do you stand, today, on the matrix of self-management?  In less than two minutes, GTD-Q will give you a visual representation of where you fit in terms of the two critical elements of self management—control and perspective.

2 Comments »

If you need to get on top of your Microsoft Outlook® email, calendar, and tasks by implementing GTD, this is the webinar for you.  You’ll learn the best recommendations for building a GTD system in Outlook to seamlessly handle your work and personal commitments.  It’s only 90 minutes, and it’s packed with tips and tricks that will start saving you time right away.

Wednesday, June 27, from 10am-11:30am Pacific Time

You can find more information about GTD Public Webinars by clicking here.

GTD® & Outlook® Webinar – June 27, 2012

No Comments »

Question: In your book you say being organized means that “where things are suits what they mean to you.” So if you’re disorganized in life, whether your desk is a total mess or you can’t keep track of your appointments … what should your first step be to becoming organized? Where do you begin if you’re feeling overwhelmed?

Answer from David Allen: First step is to capture into a simple ‘bucket” all of those things that are not on cruise control—anything that has your attention. Write it all down. Then decide what the next steps are to each of those items, and customize a way to park those reminders in some place that you can find and deal with, as needed. And install the habit of looking at them, as often as you think you should, to stay abreast of the whole spectrum.

No Comments »

Hi Folks,

Before you spend another minute creating yet another list with ABC, 123, or high-medium-low codes as a way to define your priorities, read my essay this month. You may discover there’s a more natural path for getting you what you need to get the right things done.

All the best,

DAVID’S FOOD FOR THOUGHT

WHY ABC PRIORITY CODES DON’T WORK

“How do I set priorities?” Because I hear that so frequently, I assume most people think they could and should be doing it better.

The “ABC” priority codes don’t work. Listing your top 10 things you think have to get done, in order, doesn’t work. You’ll have a different priority set at 8:00 tonight than you will at 10:30 this morning. And sometimes the most strategic thing for you to do will be to water your plants. Like, when you’ve been in six meetings, felt beat up in five of them, and by 4:30 your brain is scrambled eggs, and you barely have the attention span of a gnat. That’s the time to water your plants and fill your stapler. Why? Because you can’t do anything else, and you’re going to have to water your plants sometime anyway.

On a day-to-day, moment-to-moment basis, there is no algorithm or formula that will last very long, or is really worth trying to nail down in some written or coded system. The four criteria that you will use to decide what to do are (in order of precedence):

Context (what can I do where I am?)
Time (when do I have to do something else?)
Energy (how wasted/fresh am I?)
Priority (what has the highest payoff for me if I do it?)

This excerpt is from a recent issue of David’s Productive Living newsletter. It’s free and sent about every 4 weeks. You’ll find essays from David Allen, thought-provoking quotes, and productivity tips you can use every day.

4 Comments »

“If you don’t have a clear sense of the totality of your obligations, you will always overcommit. And commitments occur on multiple levels, from ‘why I’m on the planet’ to ‘need butter.’ But the elevation most amorphous for most is the plane just above your physical activities—your projects. I have a radical definition of a project: Anything you’re committed to finish within a year that requires more than one action to complete it. Given that broad designation, most people have between 30 and 100. Where’s your list? How complete and current is it?”

—David Allen

2 Comments »

There are five phases of your workflow: Collect, Process, Organize, Review & Do. You need to know the best practices and tools for each phase.  David Allen Company offers the “Keys to Getting Things Done” public webinar. Whether you are setting up your GTD system for the first time, or want to get better at working what you already have, this webinar is the way to go.  It’s a lively 90-minute webinar for $49, available on the dates listed below.

“Thanks again for your excellent GTD seminar.  I have just been reviewing the notes – very refreshing and envigorating, bringing some new perspectives to light for me.”
—David Orr, GreenMarch Services Limited

You can learn more by clicking on the date that works for you:

Thursday, May 10, from 10am-11:30am Pacific Time

Thursday, May 17, from 10am-11:30am Pacific Time

Wednesday, June 13, from 10am-11:30am Pacific Time

1 Comment »

From the Business Center at PC World, GTD is listed as a browser-compatible productivity system.  That will be a relief to those who don’t want to be tied to any specific device, or to a paper planner.

Can a cloud-based productivity system work for you?  Or are there times when you have to have your calendar, projects, and actions at hand because the cloud is out of range? 

Getting Things Done

We rely far too much on our imperfect memories to help us organize tasks and get work done. Trying to keep track of multiple projects leads to human error as we forget important tasks and waste time worrying over which project we should be working on at any given moment.

The solution: As soon as you remember a task, write it down so that your fallible, distractable brain isn’t the only place where you’re storing a record of it. This is the core principle of Getting Things Done. If you use it while working online, identifying your next task is a simple matter of consulting your to-do list.

1 Comment »

Hi Folks,

The real power in GTD is not really in the hand writing or typing we do onto lists—it’s in the executive and creative thinking triggered as we engage with them. This month I explore the one list that can easily be the most powerful in terms of maintaining ongoing control and focus in work and life—the Projects list. Here’s a cautionary tale for anyone who thinks they can get along without it.

All the best,

DAVID’S FOOD FOR THOUGHT

IS A PROJECTS LIST NECESSARY?

People started keeping calendars a century ago. Why? Because life’s time-based commitments got more complex than they could trust their mind to manage. If you think that a Projects list is unnecessary, then throw away your calendar and trust life will just let you know what you should be doing, in the moment. [Read more →]

2 Comments »