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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Someone recently asked one of our coaches: Would you categorize GTD as a “Tactical” system as opposed to “Strategic”?

The answer: GTD is both tactical and strategic. The process of capturing what has your attention in a system that is external from your mind, deciding the outcome and the very next action, and listing those in contexts that match your work style, is tactical.  For example, if you think of a colleague that you need to call, [Read more →]

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David Allen is doing a webinar event next Wednesday, July 8th, hosted by Unbound Ideas.

In this 90-minute interactive webinar, David Allen will describe the strategies, tools and specific behaviors that dramatically upgrade individual and organizational productivity. In particular, he will focus on:

1. The 5 stages of control and the 6 horizons of focus necessary for personal self-management
2. How to get immediate control of “current reality”
3. How to keep track of the total inventory of your commitments
4. Why organizational issues are often personal process issues
5. Why it’s so challenging to change the simplest habits
6. How to continually self-consult to get back on your game

Register here.  David also does free events like this for GTD Connect members.  If you’re not a member, you can check out the two-week free trial, or join for by the month ($48) or year ($480).  If it’s not for you, canceling is easy. Really.

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Making It All Work, David Allen’s latest book, ties together what many people were hungry for after reading Getting Things Done:  control + perspective.  In MIAW, control (5 phases of mastering your workflow) gets married to perspective (your horizons of focus)  to give an overview of the whole game.

Chris Taylor, editor for Goose Educational Media, wrote up a detailed book review of Making It All Work that we thought you may find helpful. He wrote:

We broke the review into two parts, as I felt Making it all Work really lent itself to that format.

Part 1, focusing on control
Part 2, focusing on perspective

You can also read their review of GTD. Enjoy!

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David Allen will be doing a booksigning next Thursday, June 25, in Manhattan Beach, California. Learn more

Our kick-off event for Breakfast, Business, and Books presents three Los Angeles-based authors who were recognized recently in The 100 Best Business Books of All Time. These business experts will share their knowledge about meeting the challenges we face in the current economic environment. We expect this once-in-a-lifetime event to sell out, so please make your reservations early.

GUEST AUTHORS
David Allen is the internationally best-selling author of Getting Things Done,
Ready for Anything, and most recently Making It All Work.
Warren Bennis has written or edited 26 books, including best selling Leaders and On Becoming a Leader, which was translated into 21 languages.
Karen Berman, founder and president of the Business Literacy Institute, wrote Financial Intelligence with co-author Joe Knight.
Todd Sattersten is the co-author of The 100 Best Business Books of All Time and the moderator and inspiration for this event.

Learn more

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We always love hearing how people are applying GTD in their lives.  This heartfelt story came in to David from Peggy in Massachusetts, who shared her experience asking the simple GTD question: “What’s the next action?”

Asking myself “What’s the next action?” recently resulted in a wonderfully positive experience in my life. In 1970, I was a passenger on a Eastern Airlines flight that was hijacked. During that hijacking the co-pilot was killed and the pilot was shot in both arms yet he landed the plane miraculously in Boston. I was 19 at the time. The recent Miracle on the Hudson got me thinking how miraculous my own experience was but I had never thanked the pilot or crew who flew the flight.

Asking what the next action was prompted the answer, “Sit down at  the computer.” I did, googled retired eastern airlines pilots, and with the hour had his name and address. In addition, thanks to another interested retired pilot, I learned much more about the flight and the courageous actions of all involved especially the co-pilot who died. I have finally been able to send my thanks to the man who saved my life and the life of many others that day.

Thank you David Allen for helping me move forward and finally make this important connection.

Peggy McLoughlin

David shared with her that it seemed like “there are principles here bigger than the story itself…”  Peggy was sweet enough to update us on the final outcome:

In a subsequent “next action”, I received a call from the pilot now 75 years old and living in Florida. When he received my letter he said his wife told him he should sit down and write a nice return letter. But he decided instead to call and make the connection right away. Was it an example of the ingrained habit of clear thinking and decisive action that also contributed to his skillful landing of the plane at only 35 years old? In any case, it was the first time in 39 years I had ever spoken to someone who shared the experience of that flight. I was able to fill him in on what was happening in the cabin and he told me more about the gunfight  in the cockpit. Most of our conversation however involved him asking about my life and my children. He was clearly in forward thinking mode. The 39th anniversary of the flight was yesterday.

I had been reading Making It All Work when I decided to take the next action on contacting the pilot. Letting you know how grateful I am to you for helping me make this important connection seemed the absolute right next action.  Thank you very much for all the ways your work has encouraged and inspired me.

If you have a GTD story to share, please let us know!

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David did an hour-long podcast this morning for the Leadership Coach Academy for their members.  Listen as David describes GTD, Making It All Work, and his approach to “elegant lazyness!”

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For many people this is the session they came to see.  After years of reading, re-reading, listening to, watching and discussing “Getting Things Done: the art of stress-free productivity” people, especially the majority of the people at the Summit who are serious about practicing GTD – are ready for something new from David.

“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

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