• Why bright people procrastinate the most
• Dumbing down your brain
• Typical causes and cures
• The bottom line of why we procrastinate

This webinar is free for GTD Connect members.  You can sign up for a free trial membership, and when you log in, you’ll find the webinar information on the home page of GTD Connect.

And coming up in January, GTD Connect members will have another opportunity to participate in the hugely popular 14-day GTD Challenge.  Members who did the recent 14-day GTD Challenge had this to say:

“Great webinar by Meg and Kelly as usual. I liked your advice on picking ‘Wins’ for the 14 days, instead of trying to climb the entire mountain at once.”

“Coaching from the webinar has gotten me more relaxed and re-energized about GTD.”

“The Webinar really motivated me to get back on track. Though I’ve been really busy, I’ve made time to get clear and current again.”

The free trial membership is easy to begin—just first name and email address—with no cost or commitment.

Part one will kick off with a live webinar on September 22nd, going over GTD best practices and giving you tools to design a game plan for maximizing your efficiency and GTD systems. In other words, how well can you “do” GTD? How much better could your systems be?

At the end of the 14 days, on October 6th, part two will bring participants back together on a webinar to look back on your successes, lessons learned, and tips for making positive changes stick.

Intended for those who have at least a basic understanding of GTD, as it will build on the core models for control & perspective.

Login to GTD Connect to register through the links on the home page. Questions? Contact us at connect@davidco.com.

When: Thursday, August 25, 11am-12pm Pacific Time

Who: Hosted by GTD Connect–the online learning center for the David Allen Company

How: Login to gtdconnect.com to pre-register. Free for all GTD Connect members and current guest pass members.

GTD in a Sales Role – June 17 from 10am-11am Pacific Time

Hear how two seasoned sales professionals apply GTD to managing opportunities, building relationships, and tracking tactical actions with clients.

Getting Started with GTD – June 27 from 11am-12pm Pacific Time

Get tips, tricks, and coaching strategies for getting started with GTD. Hear from two senior David Allen Company coaches about where to start (especially if you feel overwhelmed), helpful resources to access inside GTD Connect, suggested tools for your workspace, choosing a list manager, and more.

To learn more or register, visit GTDConnect.com.  Not a member but would like to attend a webinar? Try a free two-week guest pass.

When: Tuesday, May 17, 10am-11am Pacific Time

Where: Webinar hosted by GTD Connect, our online learning center

Who: Open to all GTD Connect members (monthly, annual, or two-week guest pass)

Learn more about GTD Connect or login now to register for the webinar. If you can’t make the live event, the recorded replay will be available in the GTD Connect media library a few days after the event.

March 10th from 11am-12pm Pacific Time. Login to GTD Connect and register through the link on the home page. Open to all GTD Connect members, including those on a two-week guest pass.

Click to see larger image

Read the article: Which quadrant should you be in?

Take the assessment now (takes about 5 minutes)

Join us on Friday, January 14th from 10am-11am Pacific Time.

Free for all GTD Connect guest pass, monthly and annual members. To register for the webinar, log in to GTD Connect and follow the link on the home page.

• Completing & remember 2010
• Creating the new year

They will lead participants through a series of insightful questions that David Allen created to inspire, challenge and acknowledge.

This will be the last webinar for 2010, finishing up a banner year of webinars for our GTD Connect members.  We did over 20 webinars this year, including 6 in our “Black Belt” series for more advanced GTDers, tactical webinars on tools such as Outlook and Lotus Notes, and hands-on “labs” with David helping people through the fundamentals of making decisions on their stuff.  As a member, you can access all of these in the media library and even take them on the go to watch offline (downloads not available for guest pass members, sorry!).We have many new exciting webinars coming in 2011, including one on OmniFocus.

We wish you all the best.

GTD Connect is $480 a year (one year commitment) or $48 a month (cancel anytime).  We also offer a generous discount for non-profits, government/military, and education of only $360 per year for unlimited access.  Please email us at connect@davidco.com from the account that qualifies you for the discounted rate, and we’ll send you a special link to become a member.

As we start a New Year, give yourself the gift of GTD Connect.  We wish you all the best!

If you feel like your productivity gets hindered by latest and loudest or you don’t feel in control or have as much perspective as you’d like, this one is for you.  Open to all GTD Connect subscribers (annual, monthly or guest pass).  This is part of the advanced “Black Belt” series running through October, for those who have the basics of GTD down and are ready for more of the sophisticated spins on GTD.

If you can’t make the live event, our webinars are always recorded for replay on the GTD Connect website.  Learn more…

I joined GTD Connect a week or two ago, and I’m discovering that it is an excellent resource. The amount of content is awesome, and you have developed an active community. (Initially I thought: $48/month is a lot of money. Now I realize it’s worth it.)

I read Getting Things Done about three years ago, and although much of it made sense, I missed a lot of it. I’m now reading Making It All Work, reading articles on GTD Connect, and listening to Connect webinars, and I’m developing a much deeper understanding of GTD and how to apply it.

Thanks!
Bruce

Coming in October to GTD Connect:  the continuation of our popular “boot camp” style webinars.  Two of our senior coaches lead fast-paced webinars geared toward more advanced GTDers.

Oct 1  - Creating a Fantastic Workspace
Oct 15  - Maintaining Control & Perspective in the Daily Grind
Oct 29  - What Really Has Your Attention?

Register on GTDConnect.com.  These webinars are free for all GTD Connect members.  If you want to take these webinar classes, but don’t want a long-term membership in Connect, try the $48 monthly membership.  It’s easy to cancel–we promise!

(please vote and submit separately for each one)

Looking to join a book club to discuss David Allen’s books?  We have lively discussions about all three of these on GTD Connect, our online learning center.  Read what your fellow GTDers are learning, challenged by, inspired to try and more.  Going on now on the Connect Forums.  Free for all GTD Connect members.  Not a member? Check out the free guest pass.

When: Thursday, September 16 @ 10am Pacific Time

How to register: It’s free for all GTD Connect members. If you are a current member,register for the Webinar on the home page of GTD Connect. If you’re not a member, but would like to attend this event, sign-up for a free, two-week guest pass (if it’s your first time trying a guest pass), and then click on the Webinar link on the home page of GTD Connect.

Coming in October to GTD Connect: A continuation of the The Road to Black Belt Series – a Webinar series for GTDers who are ready for the more “advanced” moves of GTD at a faster pace.

• The habits and rituals to create
• What to do when you fall “off” GTD
• Creating a trusted home base for yourself
• Creating a supportive environment around you

We’re giving away 5 seats to attend this Webinar to the first 5 people who reply with a comment (directly on GTD Times–not other feed sites) letting us know one thing you’ve implemented with GTD that has worked well for you.

What’s your advice to people who aspire to get organized and stick to it?
If you’ve ever wanted to have more time to do the things you really care about, whatever that is, then you owe it to yourself to get organised. The idea that creativity and being organised are somehow mutually exclusive is completely false in my opinion. If you stick with it, GTD becomes a set of habits that helps you to spend more time on the things you’re passionate about. If you get too hung up on the method and peripheral issues such as having the right pen, notebook or file labeler, etc., you’ve fundamentally missed the point.

Read the full interview…

If you like learning more from others implementing GTD, our In Conversation and Slice of GTD Life Series on GTD Connect give you a peak inside how other people are making GTD work for them.

When: Tuesday, June 15th

Times: 7:30am – 9am

Topic: Creating Order Out of Chaos – Staying Afloat in a World of Too Much To Do

Learn more

This is a paid, in-person only event–not a Webinar. Please follow the link to learn more from the organization hosting this.

~~~~~~~~~

For a Webinar with David Allen, the next one will be on June 23rd from 11am-12pm through our online learning center–GTD Connect.  David will be taking attendee examples to coach people through the GTD Fundamental Process (What’s the Outcome? and What’s the Next Action?)  Free to all GTD Connect members.  Register now on the home page of Connect.  Not a member? Try the 14-day trial.

Part 1 covers Organize (May 7)
Part 2 covers Collect and Process (May 14)
Part 3 covers Review and Do (May 21)

We post the replays for all Webinars to the GTD Connect media library.  This series is free for all GTD Connect members.  If you’re not a member (and frankly not much of a joiner-kind-of-person!), then try the monthly plan ($48), which would qualify you to take all 3 Webinars.  Just cancel before the next month renews. Learn more…

You’ll hear insights, tips and tricks from David Allen and two of the senior coaches on this key phase of GTD. It’s about 30 minutes and chock full of helpful coaching advice.

If you missed the first 4 in this series (Collect, Process, Organize & Review), you can find them all in the free GTD podcast feed.  If you like these free podcasts, we have loads more like this on GTD Connect, our online learning center.

• Project Planning, with Coaches Wayne Pepper & Kelly Forrister – April 8, 11am PDT.  The Coaches will go over common questions, like:  How do you plan out a project? Where do project plans go? How far out should you plan a project when you first get it? What project steps go on the action lists? and more.

• Q&A with the GTD Coaches – April 22, 11am PDT.  Two of our senior coaches will take your GTD questions. No question too big or small. Ask away!
• Coming in May – a 3-week Webinar series that will be like a “gentle GTD boot camp”

Watch now in the Archives:

Webinars are included for free in the GTD Connect membership and offered about every 2 weeks. Not a member? Try the 14-day trial or join for a month to check it out (it’s easy to cancel by contacting us one business day before your next billing.)

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 that I have downloaded to my iPhone.  I cannot begin to tell you how much they have helped and inspired me. Hearing you, David, Meg and others patiently go over and over the concepts, pitfalls, suggestions, etc. have helped more than anything.  I not only feel like I have an intellectual grasp of the concepts, but I feel part of a support group that will be there with me over the long haul.  I actually feel a personal connection with you, David and Meg especially.  Plus, I am hearing it….really hearing it….if you know what I mean…..

The first time I got into GTD was a couple of years ago.  I did not sign up for Connect.  I didn’t do weekly reviews.  I did not use all the support available.  I ended up with lots of un-reviewed lists and everything back in my head along with all the chaos.  When I surrendered a couple of months ago, it was a deep surrender.  I am definitely “ALL IN.”

GTD Connect holds the world’s largest library of GTD podcasts, documents and articles.  Note: Podcasts are only an option for monthly or annual members (not free trial participants.  But the free trial will allow you to watch or listen to them on the site.)

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.

GTD Live – If you like to learn by listening, then this is for you.  It’s David presenting the full two-day GTD seminar.  Follow along as if you are in the audience. I’d personally love to see a video version of this as well, being more visual than auditory in my own learning style. But it’s a fantastic resource to learn directly from DA.

The Getting Started Series – GTD Connect has a 16-part Getting Started series. It walks you through all of the key topics of GTD and includes audio and video of David and the coaches chatting about the best practices.  A great way to get up and running in bite -sized chunks.

…and if any of those don’t do it for you, go back to the original manual for GTD: the book.  Can’t go wrong. After all these years, I still find new pearls of wisdom in it, but then again, I love this stuff.  Of course, seminars and coaching are the crown jewels, but as far as products you can do at your own pace, the list above is where I would start.

Cheers,

Kelly

more about me…

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.

]]> http://www.gtdtimes.com/2010/03/04/tips-for-managing-email-with-gtd/feed/ 1 http://www.gtdtimes.com/2010/02/19/the-gtd-best-practices-series/ http://www.gtdtimes.com/2010/02/19/the-gtd-best-practices-series/#comments Sat, 20 Feb 2010 01:28:05 +0000 GTD Times Team http://www.gtdtimes.com/?p=3340 Do YOU know the best practices of GTD?

Although they’ve been recorded for our GTD Connect online learning center, we have been posting the GTD Best Practices series to our free public podcast as well, for all to benefit from.  These informal podcasts are a great way to learn the essentials of GTD.  Here is the series:

Best Practices of Collect

Best Practices of Processing

Best Practices of Organize

Best Practices of Review

Best Practices of Doing

If you like these podcasts, GTD Connect has over 110 recordings like these, with more added every week, that you can play on the Connect site or  sync to iTunes.  It’s a great way to learn coaching tips from David and the staff, listen to interesting interviews with GTD’ers (Evan Taubenfeld being one of the recent ones), watch the “Slice of GTD Life” videos and more.  Good stuff.  Check out the free trial of GTD Connect.

Projects = Your outcomes that require more than one action step.

Next Actions = Your next physical, visible action steps. Some are project-related, some are not.

Question:

If a project requires, by your definition, at least two steps, I am not clear about how many of the needed steps to put into my action list.  For example, say I have a project with 20 steps.  I may be able to do the step 1, but if I had also put down 2  or 3 steps of that project, I might have done more on the project.   Presently I have about 57 projects, but some are monster projects I’ll be working on for months.  Others I can list two steps and it’s done very quickly.  A few projects are so trivial–but important enough to be listed–that some days I don’t do the one item I listed as the next step for that project.  I could put it into the “Someday” list, but I know I’ll do it sooner than that, so it stays around not being done.  I’d rather do step 2 and then 3 and then 4 of a more important project (I might be on a roll!) than complete one whole project that is easier to do but less important.  So I’m a bit unclear about how much of one project to put in my action list.  I find myself doing the “Weekly Review” every day, so I can add more steps from more important projects.  Could you share any thoughts about how to solve this concern?   

David Allen’s reply:

The key to your action lists is that you do not have to re-think what you can and cannot do at the moment, as you look at them. If you put sequential steps there, it dulls the attraction of engaging with the list to begin with.

If there’s a good chance that a project can be finished in one sitting, in one fell swoop, then probably best to label it simply a next action and put it on your action list.

The weekly review, thoroughly done, once a week, should be sufficient to prevent having to think at that level much more often.

Nothing wrong with getting on a roll with a project, doing action steps as they show up; just make sure you’re taking some sort of note that you can throw in your in-basket if you don’t finish, which will serve as a bookmark to determine the next action before too long.

You might listen to this podcast that I did with Kelly Forrister on my staff, talking about some of those same questions.  You’ll also find a ton of resources on GTD Connect on managing projects.

GTD Connect is a great way to get practical & tactical coaching advice on implementing GTD.   Webinars are held about twice a month on a wide range of topics for GTD’ers.  If you’re not a GTD Connect member, check out the free trial (which will also allow you to take a Webinar class during your trial membership.)  If you decide to join beyond your trial, it’s only $48 a month and you can cancel anytime.  The free trial is a great way to see if GTD Connect is for you.  Trial members can access to the full site except for podcasts and downloads.

I’m a retired teacher who now has a tiny gem or a business called ‘Life in the Flow Lane.’  I read Getting Things Done a couple of years ago and implemented some things.  I am a GTD Connect newbie.  The Webinars are simply invaluable.  You have given me a much greater understanding of the whole GTD process.  For example, I really get that I need to have a list that attracts rather than repels me!  It seems obvious, but you show how to make that happen.  All the resources on Connect work well together.  I think the mix you have put together is simply outstanding. – Sharry Teague

Like this podcast? Subscribe to our free podcast series.  We also do frequent podcasts with David and the Coaches on GTD Connect®, our online learning center (over 108 podcasts available to Connect members more added all the time…)

I know that David Allen is interested in seeing how people in different sorts of professions use GTD, so I offered to share my experiences applying the methodology in a world that’s generally regarded as a different one: academia.  I have found that GTD is highly applicable to the academic profession.

I was actually managing adequately before I discovered GTD, but my productivity, while pretty good by institutional standards, was sub-optimal with respect to my own expectations.  I wasn’t well-organized, I often had “near misses” with deadlines, and I had a good deal of stress-producing clutter.  I literally had 6000+ messages in my Outlook inbox.  As the cover of the book hinted, I wanted not only to increase productivity, but to reduce stress.  GTD has indeed helped in both aspects: productivity is up, stress is down. Some of the most useful parts have been among the simpler ones, chiefly “capture everything rather than try to keep it in your head” and “don’t confuse your calendar with your to-do list.”  I used to drive myself crazy repeatedly by playing this game: I’d realize I hadn’t worked much lately on a particular essay I needed to write, so I’d put “work on that essay” on my calendar for Tuesday morning, then I’d spend Tuesday morning prepping for a class or putting out a fire, and then I’d feel anxious because I didn’t write the essay.  If nothing else, I have learned to distinguish calendar from to-do list, and projects from next-actions.  That’s as vital for academics as it is for any business executive.A college professor’s job has at least three distinct components, each of which in its own way can benefit from a GTD approach.  First of all, there is teaching classes. This involves the actual instruction time, as well as time beforehand to prepare and time afterwards for grading.  The class time, along with office hours, are “hard landscape” calendar items which need to be done at a particular time, but the prep time and grading have a little more flexibility.  There are still deadlines, though: mid-term assignments must be graded in a timely fashion, and final grades must be submitted by a deadline also.  And the prep for any particular class must obviously be done before that class.  So these can be seen as non-calendar “next actions,” although for some people it works better to schedule time blocks devoted to these tasks.  The class itself can be seen as a project with a successful outcome: the students complete the course and have learned a lot; I’ve turned in final grades.

Second, there is research and other scholarship activities. At a bare minimum, we are expected to stay current in our fields, which requires reading time.  Is it at the library?  At home?  At the office?  In print, or on-line?  These can be context-sensitive next-actions.  But beyond that, there is the expectation of productivity.  “Productivity” in the academic sense can be a paper for publication, a conference presentation, participation in a symposium, editing a collection, refereeing for a peer-reviewed journal, data collection, experimentation, and so on.  Each of these can easily be seen as a “project” in the GTD sense – and that means that one can avoid being overwhelmed by them by breaking them down into next actions.  Before I encountered GTD, I used to have to-do lists with entries like “write book.”  Turns out that’s not very helpful!  David Allen’s observation that one can’t actually “do” a project is certainly applicable here: the only way to write a book is to break it down into bits, and then write and organize the bits.  It’s much more effective to think about what discrete steps are required to organize the book and formulate each section.   Next-action thinking therefore translates very well to scholarly writing.  Also, there are many other tasks involved in getting research done (and published) – paperwork as well as logistical – each of which needs to be identified and clarified.

Third, there is generally a service expectation: advising students, serving on departmental or college-wide committees, participating in various events. There are meetings, which need to be calendared, and the other work can easily been seen as projects (e.g., produce report) with next actions (e.g., call the dean’s office to request that file).   If one becomes department chair, as I am, then there are many more administrative responsibilities one acquires: working with a budget, producing the schedule for the year, hiring support staff and adjunct faculty, meetings with administrators and other chairs.  It’s easy to see why younger faculty can be overwhelmed and why senior faculty can suffer burn-out.  Many people outside academia don’t realize the amount of juggling that goes on, assuming that a “12-hour load” means a 12-hour work week.  It’s more like 50, believe me.  I don’t say that as a complaint; I love the job – but if it were really only 12 hours worth of work, I wouldn’t need GTD!

One thing that really resonated with me as I read the book was just how applicable it was to a non-business context.   Every example, even the business-specific, was one I could transfer to my world: identify goal, clarify successful outcome, figure out the next action.  I keep my inbox at or close to empty – both paper and email.  I mentioned that I used to be one of those people with 6000+ messages in my Outlook inbox.  Now it’s rarely got more than a dozen.  All emails fit into one of the workflow categories – some are trash, some are reference info to be filed, some are waiting-for trackers, and some are actionable.  So I have reduced stress and improved efficiency simply by learning to keep my email under control.   On a more mundane level, it’s also helped to get a label maker for file folders!  I am no longer the absent-minded professor of stereotype who can’t find anything in the messy office.  The fictional professors who live that way manage to produce ground-breaking scholarship, but in reality, living like that is an impediment to scholarly productivity or efficiency in teaching.  If you wouldn’t expect an executive to be productive under those conditions, there’s no reason to expect a scholar to be either.  Sadly, these caricatures are present even among academics.  I have been trying to “get the word out” to a number of my colleagues here and elsewhere.  As David noted in the book, if others become more efficient and productive, it helps everyone.  I have used GTD to make committee work go more smoothly, even if the other members of the committee don’t always realize that’s what is happening, but I also talk to colleagues about it, recommend the book (in some cases, I buy copies for people), explain the virtues of the methodology.  After attending one of David’s “Roadmap” seminars, I gave a presentation to my fellow chairs at a workshop, and I received a lot of positive feedback.  Just as David has expressed hopes that GTD would become “standard stuff” in the corporate world, I would love to see GTD more widely adopted in academia.  Our students would benefit, and we’d get a lot more research accomplished with less burn-out.

If anyone reading this is an academic and wants to hear more specifically about how I have brought GTD to bear on my teaching, scholarship, service, and chairmanship, please feel free to get in touch. And of course I’d be happy to discuss these matters with non-academics as well.  You can message me via GTD Connect, or the GTD LinkedIn network, or drop me an email.