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.

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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 →]

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In a guest post on the Workshifting blog, read tips from Mike Williams, CEO for the David Allen Company (and vetted GTD coach!) on some simple ways to apply GTD. His post also includes an experiment for making your next meeting more effective.

Are there meeting tips that you have found helpful that others could benefit from? Share them here. Other GTD Times readers like to hear what works for you.

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For whatever paper filing you still have that hasn’t gone digital yet, here are tips from David Allen for setting up your paper filing system.

• Keep general reference files at arms’ reach.
• Have lots of fresh folders at hand.
• Avoid the unnecessary complication of color-coding your files.
• Label your files with an automatic labeler. This is faster for one-off labels than printing from your computer.
• Get comfortable filing even a single piece of paper that you might want to refer to later.

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When you define the successful outcome of a goal or project clearly, your brain starts finding ways to achieve that outcome. Or, as David Allen crisply phrases it in chapter 13 of Getting Things Done:

• Make it up.
• Make it happen.

A recent article entitled Your Brain on Fiction summarizes new research to support this idea. “The brain, it seems, does not make much of a distinction between reading about an experience and encountering it in real life; in each case, the same neurological regions are stimulated.” Reading fiction is like having your brain run a computer simulation program.

You might have heard David say in his seminars that the human nervous system doesn’t distinguish between a well-imagined thought and reality. Once you have identified an outcome, your brain’s reticular activating system will start organizing incoming information in ways that help you get the outcome you’ve defined. So go ahead and let your imagination savor the experience while you read your lists of successful outcomes—your projects and goals—as your brain helps you convert what you read into your reality.

Reticular formation of the brain, from Gray's Anatomy

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That’s the question David Allen addresses in a feature article in the New York Times. 

When Office Technology Overwhelms, Get Organized

By DAVID ALLEN
Published: March 17, 2012

HOW do you think most workers would respond if you asked them, “Do you feel more productive now than you did several years ago?” I doubt that the answer would be a resounding yes. In fact, even as workplace technology and processes steadily improve, many professionals feel less productive than ever.

It may seem a paradox, but these very tools are undermining our ability to get work done. They are causing us to become paralyzed by the dizzying number of options that they spawn.

Is there a way out of this quandary? Yes, but it’s not going to come from the usual quarters. To be successful in the new world of work, we need to create a structure for capturing, clarifying and organizing all the forces that assail us; and to ensure time and space for thinking, reflecting and decision making.

Read the complete article here, or on page 1 of the March 18 print edition’s Business Day section.

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Are there times when it’s more effective for you to relax than pressure yourself?  After you read this quote from David Allen, please post your comments on how you handle this self-management challenge.

“What compounds the challenges of the self-management game is that often the most effective thing to do feels like the last thing you’re capable of doing. When you most need to plan is when you least think you have the time. When you most need to relax is when you feel most pressured to push hard. And when you most need to deal with cleaning up the minutiae of your life is when you feel most compelled to try to stay focused on something ‘more strategic.’”

—David Allen, Making It All Work

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David Allen says that he “created GTD out of a personal desire to be freer with more space and energy in my life and let go of whatever was holding me back from…whatever. I would bet that for some of you, your resistance to fully embracing GTD is not about GTD or your ability to implement it, but comes from your resistance to letting go of your familiar structures, even if they are constricting you. So, what would it take for you to be free to feel free?”

DAVID’S FOOD FOR THOUGHT

ARE YOU FREE TO FEEL FREE?

If you want to have the feeling of freedom regularly, you’ve got to get used to it. Literally.

What’s the greatest obstacle to living in the relaxed state of mind that is possible with the methods I coach? People simply aren’t used to it. And anything your nervous system experiences as unique or unusual will likely be “rejected” unconsciously in short order, because it is not in the comfort zone.

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.

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Are you a professional looking to drive results and efficiencies within your team or division? Then the new GTD® for Business Leaders seminar is for you. This seminar examines how our GTD business solutions can address the specific business issues and opportunities facing most organizations during these challenging times.

Whether it is talent or project management, improving innovative capacity, or dealing with emerging technology, this seminar will illustrate the personal and business value that GTD best practices provide to business leaders around the world.

Similar to our Mastering Workflow seminar, this one-day presentation is packed with principles and tools for implementing GTD.

You will learn to:

• Improve performance, capacity, and aligned execution
• Align your work with the goals of your team, department, and organization
• Manage your workflow seamlessly (Collect, Process, Organize, Review, and Do)
• Make clear decisions on your projects and actions, and the projects and actions of your team, department, or organization

Our first seminar is in Washington DC on March 23, 2012.

Packed with practical principles and tools for implementing GTD, you will find that the GTD for Business Leaders seminar will provide great benefits to you and your organization.

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David Allen talks with Bloomberg about technology and email protocols. A great 5-minute overview about the frustrations people are dealing with around email and some ways to deal with it.

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