I want to share this wonderful email I received from Gerald today.  Not only because he shares about GTD Connect (which of course we think is terrific!)–but he shares a common experience I think some people have in trying to implement GTD.  Some people try GTD, put it (kick it) aside, then come back to give it another go and it just pops for them.  If that’s you, give it another go. You may find you have fresh eyes and a deeper understanding to make it work for you.  And if it’s not for you, that’s OK too (although I doubt you’re even reading GTD Times if that’s the case.)

I want  you know that since I have returned to GTD (over 2 months now), I have joined GTD Connect and listened to 38 podcasts out of the 145 from Connect [Read more →]

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I suggest that people build into their personal systems whatever checklists might prevent things from glitching on the back end, assuming they are reviewed appropriately. A great example, for people who travel, is the “travel checklist”–everything that you might ever want to take with you anywhere.  Doesn’t mean you have to pack it! Just that you want to consider the option so you don’t miss something. People often jokingly ask for mine to start with, to save them some time, so… here it is.

(I suggest you copy and paste into your word processor, and customize it for yourself. If you have a boat, go fishing regularly, or have other special kinds of trips, you might want a separate checklist for those. I used to additionally have a “take to boat” checklist, when I was sailing regularly.)

David Allen’s Travel Checklist

[Read more →]

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Want to see more videos of David? Check out GTD Connect.

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One of the most common questions we get is how to get started with GTD.   New people, especially, will ask this after coming to us dazed and confused by what GTD is really about.   And, lots of people seem to be hoping a piece of software will teach them GTD.  Sorry, but that’s kind of like buying a car and then learning how to drive.  You’ll make your way down the road, but it won’t be pretty.

As a GTD Coach, and also intimately involved in the education and offerings from David Allen, I would suggest one of the following products:

The GTD System – This is, in my opinion, one of the best educational products we offer.  You get a ton of resources to learn GTD at your own pace.  You get the GTD book, coaching CDs with David Allen, GTD Connect and more. Good stuff. [Read more →]

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A GTD’er wrote to us to ask what resources we have for helping her manage email. She wrote that email is “vying for top ten on my list of overwhelming.”  Here’s what one of our coaches shared:

There are a few excellent resources from the David Allen Company for applying the GTD methods to your email:

1. The GTD Setup Guides, specific to your tool, will cover the best practices of email.
2. There is a terrific free article called “Getting Email Under Control” that covers this issue as well.
3. Our GTD Connect online learning center also runs regular Webinar classes on topics such as email. There is a Webinar in the Archive Library called “Managing Email” that you should find useful. GTD Connect is $48 per month (cancel anytime) or $480 per year (one-year commitment.)
4. Our public GTD Mastering Workflow classes cover email best practices.  These one-day classes are a great way to learn all of the GTD essentials, including email.
5. There are loads of posts on GTD Times on the topic of email. Search on the keyword “email” or follow the tag.

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David Allen refers to your day-to-day Calendar and Action choices as the “Runway.”  In the Horizons of Focus model, covered in Getting Things Done and more extensively in Making It All Work, it’s the ground floor:

• 50,000 – Purpose
• 40,000 – Vision
• 30,000 – Goals
• 20,000 – Responsibilities
• 10,000 – Projects
• Runway – Calendar & Actions

We got a letter from Mike who has been reading the Getting Things Done book and shared his experience with us of what David’s means by “keeping the runway clear.” [Read more →]

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For those of you who haven’t seen this, it’s one of the best descriptions out there for distilling the essence of Getting Things Done®.  It’s also a good reminder that GTD® is not just about inbox zero, or picking a cool list manager, or doing a Weekly Review. It’s a whole workflow ecosystem that David has laid out here. As he says, “it’s more than meets the eye…”

Sophisticated without being confining, the subtle effectiveness of GTD lies in its radically common sense notion that with a complete and current inventory of all your commitments, organized and reviewed in a systematic way, you can focus clearly, view your world from optimal angles and make trusted choices about what to do (and not do) at any moment. GTD embodies an easy, step-by-step and highly efficient method for achieving this relaxed, productive state. It includes: [Read more →]

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You can never get enough of what you don’t really need. And you can never work hard enough, long enough, or fast enough, to eliminate the stress or discomfort that drives those behaviors. Your Weekly Review brings a much-needed break in the pace.  -David Allen

Grab the free article on the GTD Weekly Review

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