Check out this free podcast from David Allen. In just over two minutes, he gives practical tips for getting started with GTD. It’s available for download now on the David Allen Company podcast page.
Peter Drucker said that “most of the tasks of the executive require, for minimum effectiveness, a fairly large quantum of time.” That’s from the Know Thy Time chaper in The Effective Executive, published almost half a century ago.
Sure, every knowledge worker could benefit from having large blocks of time for doing pre-defined work. But the practical reality is that most workers have schedules that are more fragmented than what Drucker might have imagined. When he wrote that book, the workers he was addressing didn’t have cell phones and laptops. They didn’t use air travel for mass transit they way workers do today. They didn’t have Skype meetings with overseas clients outside the 9-5 workday.
GTD to the rescue! If you’ve organized your next actions into contexts that work for you, you’ll find that you can take advantage of small chunks of time to plow through lots of tasks. By organizing with your busy schedule in mind, you’ll be able to use those few minutes here and there to get things done that you would need to get done anyway, at some time. This is not to say you can neglect to schedule those large blocks of time for doing executive tasks. Just be smart by planning for how you’ll use the small windows of time as well.
What can you do with 15 minutes, before your meeting at 11:30?
Hi Folks,
Want to know one of the easiest ways to act on your creative ideas? Stop trying to hold them in your mind. Your mind is a great place to have ideas, but a terrible place to manage them.
All the best,
DAVID’S FOOD FOR THOUGHT
ARE YOU STILL USING YOUR HEAD TO TRACK YOUR AGREEMENTS?
There is a light year of difference between a system that has merely a lot of our commitments objectified and one that has 100% of the total. And few people have ever gotten to a totally empty head, with absolutely every project, action item, and potential agreement we have made with ourselves and others out and available in an easily reviewable format.
My hat’s off to you if you’re trying to keep mental lists as reminders of things to do—but I’ll bet those lists are not anywhere close to complete. Consequently they are putting enormous and unnecessary work on your psyche. If you don’t have everything in a system that the system ought to have, there is still no full trust in that system, and minimum motivation to keep it up and keep it current.
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.
If you are a parent, teacher, or child care provider, you’ve probably wondered how you can inspire kids and teens to use the GTD methods. Maybe you have helped a kid work on a project the night before it’s due, and recognized that the Natural Planning Model would have made the whole thing easier. Or you’ve listened to a teen who’s trying to balance classwork with extracurricular activities, and known that the Horizons of Focus would clarify the situation.
How do you go about communicating the benefits of GTD to kids and teens? Here are some resources for you.
David Allen did a free podcast entitled Describing GTD to Teens that’s a great starting point.
You can also use your free trial membership in GTD Connect to view these additional webinars and listen to podcasts.
David Allen Company CEO Mike Williams and Senior Coach Meg Edwards have just started a new podcast series on GTD Connect called “GTD for Caring Adults and Young People,” that focuses on taking that GTD journey with kids. The first episode talks about family projects. More to come!
In the Sharing GTD with Kids and Teens webinar, Mike and Meg discuss fun, creative, and practical ways to share the GTD best practices with your kids and teens.
In this audio clip, Meg talks about her experience of sharing about GTD with her daughter, and ways to make GTD fun for kids. In addition, Meg talks about creative ways to plan for anything—and specifically for summer camp—in Planning Projects with Kids.
Now that making phone calls is only the 5th most popular thing that people do with a smartphone, perhaps more people are using their smartphones as GTD digital collection devices. But even though most people always carry their phone, some of the most savvy GTDers also use pen and paper for collection. The key is to know what methods reduce the friction in your system. If the device is not easy to use for getting stuff off your mind and into your trusted GTD system, you’ll tend to use it less.
How do you get things off your mind when you are mobile? Digital, paper, or a combination?
For those of you who already use paper for on-the-go collection, and those who want to give it a try, David Allen’s favorite tool, the NoteTaker Wallet, is on sale for 30% off throughout July.
Here’s some great news for Microsoft Outlook users. Netcentrics has released version 3.2 of their Getting Things Done® Outlook® Add-In. You can review the new features and benefits here and read their press release with additional details by clicking the …more link below.
Netcentrics offers a free 30-day trial, so you have plenty of time to take this terrific new software for a test drive. [Read more →]
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.
“The two key ingredients for making it all work are:
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.
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
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.
