David Allen, Author of “Getting Things Done,” by Kevin Ohannessian in Fast Company

Has productivity changed as technology has evolved, from the utility of iPhones to the connectedness of Facebook? We continue our examination of the business book Getting Things Done with an interview of author David Allen.

Why do you think the book was so successful and resonated with the business world?

I think people were hungry for a model that was hip enough and current enough to deal with the kind of world everyone was in. Most of the other models that had to do with time management or personal organization or any of that all had good stuff, but most of it was way too structured for the speed and volume of change that people were dealing with.

“Motivation is like showering; you need it every day.” Through the trials and tribulations of entrepreneurship, great business owners find ways to keep themselves motivated.  Luckily for us, in the 21st century, some of the greatest leaders of the world have poured themselves into online content to help inspire us on a daily basis.  The following list is filled not only with great pieces of motivation, but video blogs, Twitter accounts, articles and Facebook pages to keep you moving forward every single day. Introducing the Top 50 Motivators on the Web…

In addition to David, the list includes Oprah Winfrey, Bill Gates, Tony Robbins, Tim Ferris, and more. You can read the complete list here.

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

Being More Productive

An Interview with David Allen and Tony Schwartz by Daniel McGinn

Is the secret to effectiveness the right system or the right state of mind? Two leading experts weigh in.

David Allen and Tony Schwartz knew of each other’s work for years, but they’d never met. . . .  Then last summer Allen dropped in on a presentation that Schwartz was giving at a trade show. In the months since, they’ve gotten together several times to talk about their approaches to improving the performance of knowledge workers. In this edited conversation with HBR, they discuss the distractive pull of e-mail, how they’ve been influenced by each other, and why you should do your most important task first thing in the morning (even though only one of them does).

Read more. 

David Allen
@gtdguy
Followers: 1.3 million
If you haven’t heard of the “getting things done” or GTD time-management and productivity movement, you’re probably not really getting things done. Author David Allen created GTD and uses Twitter to dispense advice and tips to help people get the right tools to work smarter and get motivated.

The ideal candidate will have 10 -15 years of successful professional services sales experience. Major job responsibilities include managing existing accounts in the Business Development Director’s territory and being proactive in managing new sales opportunities. Prospecting is a very big part of the job. This position exists primarily to create new demand for company products and services. Compensation is a blend of salary and commission. Qualified candidates are invited to submit a cover letter and their resume to jobapplicants@davidco.com.

Required competencies include: consultative sales skills, account management, executive presence, strong business acumen, and strategic account planning.

David Allen Company is a values-based company, for which our internal culture and how we represent ourselves to the world are as much a statement of our business as our services and products. Interested candidates are encouraged to read our company principles on our website to confirm alignment with our rules of engagement.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

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

Read more . . .

Keep reading David’s article

Subscribe to Productive Living.  It’s free and sent about every 3 weeks. Chock full of lots of great GTD tips, tricks and strategies.

If you are in the Minneapolis area next Wednesday, David will be doing a book signing that is free and open to the public. Here are the particulars:

When:

Wednesday, April 21st from 11:30am – 1pm CDT.

Where:

Barnes and Noble Downtown
Midwest Plaza, 801 Nicollet Mall
Minneapolis, MN 55402
612-371-4443

One item that came up in my sweep was that for weeks I’ve been putting off answering a publicist’s e-mail asking if I’d write about one of his clients—my failure to reply is gnawing at me. My hunch is that the story won’t fly for timing reasons, but somehow I can’t just write back explaining this. Allen gets excited at my predicament: “Is there anything else you need to research or do before you send that e-mail?” Well, I could e-mail my editor to confirm my suspicion about the timing. “Gotcha!” Allen exclaims. “I bet the reason you’ve been avoiding it was that you didn’t fully understand what the next step was—you needed more data. So what do you need to do now?” Write the editor, I say sheepishly. How can something that now seems so obvious have been so weirdly obscure? Read more…

What’s different about this map versus the diagram that’s in the GTD book?

The diagram in the book (page 120) only includes Collect, Process and Organize phases. This new one also includes Review, Horizons of Focus, 3-Fold Nature of Work and Criteria for Choosing.  It’s a very cool map describing how all parts of GTD intersect and work together.

Can I still use the one in the book?

Absolutely. You can also grab the original one for free here.  Nothing in the methdology changed–but the new Map expands on it in a much more detailed and comprehensive way to tie it all together.

What’s on the DVD?

The DVD is David Allen walking you through the map, giving his coaching and guidance on what each section means and how to work it.  And it’s got some soothing music to reduce your stress, if nothing else. Check out the sample video.

Questions? Please write to customerservice@davidco.com.

In his regular column on GTD Connect, David shared about how this came to be:

“The associate editor, Ben Hammersley, became a big GTD fan when he wrote about it for The Guardian; and he now wanted to include my thinking in with the new publication’s intended focus on “life going forward.” Ben’s enthusiasm to make it “the best combination of New Yorker, the Atlantic, and the Economist, with an edge” was infectious, and I think a perfect venue for a more sophisticated spin of GTD-ness. Having scanned the first two issues, I’d say Ben’s on track.”

The goal: 10 extra hours in my week.

The plan of attack: none.

That’s pretty much where I was when Marian Bateman, a productivity coach with the David Allen Co., walked into my office. As executive editor at BusinessWeek, I’m responsible for getting the print edition into your hands each week, and I spend a lot of hours doing it. Just how many I’d rather not see in print.

Read the full article.

“Making it All Work:  Winning at the Game of Work and the Business of Life” is that something. And I’m not just talking about the book, either.  David has worked for years to clarify, refine, broaden, deepen and in some ways complete the work he began with his original program of GTD.

For most people I suspect that the abbreviated Making it All Work presentation that David delivered today felt both familiar yet new at the same time.  That’s because it was.

I think that David retained much of the best of his original program but has fleshed out and added more material to those areas that people have occasionally said were not clear enough in the original.

Here are some basic outline notes from David’s slides for the presentation.  They are pretty much self explanatory.  The goal is to help you see more clearly what David means by each of the subcategories that he uses to define the various aspects of GTD.

They are as follows:

“If my brain had a brain I wouldn’t need a system.” – David Allen

Capture, Clarify, Organize, Reflect

This leads to having control and perspective

Control is simply cooperating with reality with conscious intent
Capturing
Clarifying
Organizing
Reflecting
Engaging

Perspective
Capture: write it down
Clarifying: what does this mean to me?
Organizing: put it where it goes
Reflecting: look through the whole
Engage: Do

Purpose/ Principles – 50,000  How: how do I want to operate as a human being?
Vision – 40,000 Feet  How do I see my self and my life
Goals – 30,000 Feet  What do I want to accomplish both long term and in the next two years?
Responsibilities – 20,000 Feet  What do I have to do
Projects – 10,000 Feet
Actions – Runway

System: build, fill, use

“You are here for a purpose.  You are either on purpose or you’re not.” David Allen

“Focus on what has your attention and you’ll find out what really has your attention.” – David Allen

I’m wearing several hats here so my coverage will be as real time as I can deliver it.  I’ll also try to get some coverage over on Qik if bandwidth allows.

Keynote:

David’s powerful initial remarks to put this event and GTD in context.  If you have never seen David speak you simply cannot imagine the incredible authenticity and integrity of this man.  I have attended literally hundreds of conferences and heard perhaps thousands of speakers yet he is by far the most genuine, transparent and honest speaker that I have ever had the good fortune to hear.

His opening remarks were testimony to this as one of the first things he mentioned was the fact that just before we did this conference he had to cut 40% of his workforce.  … He said that for this conference he wanted to look for the silver lining in this current crisis. To find that silver lining and learn how self improvement is even more essential in times of crisis…that’s the overarching theme for the summit.

Keynote Interview with Guy Kawasaki to Follow

The GTD Summit is only three weeks away, can you really afford NOT to attend?  If you or your team are one of the many people that are suddenly being asked to do more with less, attending the GTD Global Summit might actually be one of the most important investments you could make.

The knowledge you can acquire from the world-class line up of experts on not only GTD, but also entrepreneurship, creativity, productivity in general, life hacking, military strategy, leadership, ethics and more will be far more enduring than any other use of funds we can imagine.

Nevertheless, we understand that for some people it simply isn’t possible to take two days off from your job, school, or family, while for others, the full price of the summit might simply be out of reach at this time.

Regardless of your reasons, the team at the David Allen Company is sensitive to your situation.  It should go without saying that David’s commitment to helping people achieve more, learn more and get more out of life goes far beyond any financial element and this attitude permeates the entire company.  It is for this reason that the team decided that unlike many conferences that are an all-or-nothing sort of affair, the GTD Global Summit will be different and will offer people the ability to attend just a single day of their choice if that is what someone wants to do.

Day passes are now available for each of the two days.  Pick one day or two.

Each day pass includes:
Autographed copy of David’s new book.
Exhibitor Expo
Coach’s Corner – your chance to sit down with a GTD coach one on one
Coach’s Theater – “how to” presentations from senior GTD facilitators
Breakout sessions with high impact presenters and moderators
All meals and beverages

The Best Part?

You will see and hear from some of the world’s leading minds on productivity, making change and adapting to our changing world. Intelligent conversations.  Compelling speakers. And more.

HOW TO REGISTER:
Pick the day pass that best suits your schedule.

Thursday, March 12th

Friday, March 13th

DAY ONE PASS – MARCH 12th

David Allen & Guy Kawasaki: Welcome & Keynote
James Fallows, Marshall Goldsmith and General Randy Fullhart
Breakout Session One
Self Management as Strategy: GTD and Leadership
Good Things Getting Done: GTD Serving Service
GTD at Home: From the Boardroom to the Living Room
Breakout Session Two
A GTD Workforce – Is There a New Industry Standard?
Innovation – Getting New Stuff Done.
GTD as Super Charger and Safety Net: Life Transitions and Transformations.
Breakout Session Three
Entrepreneurs and GTD – Making it up and Making it Happen
GTD and Education: Reading, Writing. Arithmetic and GTD
The Virtual Workplace – Does it Work?
Book Signing – David and other authors
Exhibitor Expo Wine and Cheese Reception.

Register here for your Thursday, March 12th Day Pass

DAY TWO PASS – MARCH 13th

David Allen presents “GTD Making It All Work”
Plenary Session – How the world works, and should we care?
Dave Logan
Ron Kaufman
Sanjiv Mirchandani
Michael Winston
David Allen
Breakout Session Four
Best Practices to Good Habits: Can I Make GTD Stick?
Your Brain on GTD: Why it Works
Productivity Tech: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
Breakout Session Five
Critical Behaviors in the Crunch – GTD and Organizational Change
GTD and Sales. Customers and Relationships
Creativity and Clear Space – Inseparable, or Mutually Exclusive?
David Allen Final Remarks
Book Signing – David and other authors
Exhibitor Expo Wine and Cheese Reception.
Register here for your Friday, March 13th Day Pass

HOW TO REGISTER:

Pick the day that works best for you and register now. A limited number of day passes are available. See you there!

Day Pass for Thursday, March 12th

Day Pass for Friday, March 13th

Maj. Gen. Randal D. “Randy” Fullhart is Director, Global Reach Programs, Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition, Headquarters U.S. Air Force, Washington, D.C. As the capability director, General Fullhart is responsible to the Air Force acquisition executive for airlift, air refueling, training and special operations programs.  You can read more of Major General Fullhart’s biography here.

Meeting Details:  Wednesday, Feb 18 from 1:30pm – 2:30pm in his office in Roslyn.

Upon arriving and going through security, I was escorted upstairs to his waiting area. The General walked out into the waiting area to greet me (as opposed to having his assistant usher me into his office…like a lot of high ranking officers and others in business, government, and academia do….this was a big deal to me..very cool and classy on his part)

As I entered his office, he was working at his conference table and had 50+ copies of GTD stacked on it. I loved it! He did too. He was excited for me to see them all. I took his picture with them all (see below) He was getting ready to teach a Leadership course. We had a instantaneous “connection”.

He opened by asking me how I got involved with DAC. I told him the story. We were right across from the Marriott Key Bridge where I first met David and Kathryn on Sept 30.  I shared with him the new outside sales initiative. He asked me about my target audience. I told him of the “three-legged stool”:  Government, Private Sector, and Associations. He loved it and concurred, and added, “I’m surprised you didn’t mention Colleges & Universities.” To which I told him of our pilot under way at Champlain and some of the discussions with Graduate Schools in Business. I told him David has it for now on his “Someday/Maybe” list. General Fullhart is very interested in this sector, and likely will want to talk with David about it in San Francisco.

He is really enthused about speaking at the Summit. He shared with me his outline for his eight minute address. Said he thinks now David has him leading off. “NO pressure”, he remarked laughingly. He said he is most anxious to meet Kathryn.

We then discussed our shared interest in Civil War history and Leadership development. We went back and forth on similar stories of Joshua Chamberlain, Robert E. Lee, and many others. He asked me to send him my “Leadership Lessons from the Civil War” podcasts and a copy of my powerpoint slides on Gettysburg.
He told me about his very close association with Frances Hezzelblein and her work on Leadership. He also likes The Goal   (by Dr. Eliyahu M. Goldratt) and The Effective Executive (by Peter Drucker) both mentioned in his “In Conversation” CD.

He also recommended  Leading in a World That’s Round  (by Robert Greenleaf) He spent 20 minutes drawing out his concept on paper and discussing his views on the new organization charts and communication in leading-edge organizations.

He has a giant ornamental sword on his desk. It must be 4-5 feet long and it is inscribed and engraved with scenes and sayings from Don Quixote. He is very proud of it. It is from his time at the National Security Agency. He offered to speak at some prospect organizations. I have followed up with him and he has already written me.

I am also attaching a Video of a recent interview he did on our local Defense Industry television channel three weeks ago.

Sincerely,

Philip

Robert was very impressed and had nothing but good things to say about the experience and the fact that in spite of his working for Microsoft for ages, his coach taught him a thing or two about Outlook that he didn’t know.

Anyway, head on over to Scobleizer.com and check it out!

No more!  iamplify a company with the world’s largest selection of downloadable audios and videos has partnered with the David Allen Company to put the GTD Weekly Review, GTD Live, David Allen’s Full 2 Day Seminar, and In Conversation with David Allen into the convenient (and instantly yours) format of MP3.  Now you can easily take your GTD recordings with you wherever you go and the price is lower than the same products on physical media so it’s a win all the way around.

More recordings are sure to come so if you’re a fan of MP3′s be sure to check back with iamplify to see what new titles they add next.  This product will also be available in the DavidCo GTD Store in a few weeks.

So if you are interested in what David has to say – or as Twitter says – “what David is doing” you should make it a point to go to Twitter and follow GTDGuy aka David Allen.