David Allen notes that, “if you’re like most people, you’ve experienced a positive shift in your energy and enthusiasm simply by identifying what you want to do about a project, situation, or opportunity…” His essay in the latest Productive Living newsletter explores getting free by naming what has your attention.

DAVID’S FOOD FOR THOUGHT

GETTING FREE

One of the reasons the GTD approach can be so empowering comes down to a simple, primal dynamic: When something is named, it is known; and when it is known, its hold on us is released. When things we have allowed into our inner or outer world are appropriately and accurately identified, we feel curiously freed from them. It’s all about clarifying what things mean to us and sorting them in our world appropriately.

Do you have any projects that you haven’t identified as projects yet? Got anything you’ve been thinking that needs clarification, resolution, or looking into, that you don’t have on a Projects list yet, that you look at regularly to keep actions moving toward?

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This post is from Chip Joyce, a longtime GTDer who also happens to work for David Allen Company as Director of Business Development in New York.

A principle of Getting Things Done is to habitually write down everything that has your attention. Writing things down can be done with pen on paper, or typing into a computer, or any method that externalizes the thought. The key is to get it out of your head.

Then you need to assess whether you are going to commit to doing something about what you’ve written down. If so, what is the desired outcome? What does done look like? And what is the next action to get to that point? Alternately, [Read more →]

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GTD creates more space in our thinking, so we can manage the surprises of an increasingly complex world.  That’s what Tony Schwartz said in the Harvard Business Review and Fast Company, following up on his talk at the SXSW Conference.  He advises readers to develop sustainable practices for productivity.  We’re more effective navigating the whitewater of our busy lives when we make sure that there are enough of what he calls “purposeful pauses” for review and reflection in calm water.

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Dear David Allen: When you have a system and you have your list of things to do how do you deal with things that come up that just seem to be so pressing and immediate? How does one keep the composure of a GTD system with what appear to be emergencies?

DA: One of the prime reasons for a GTD system is to facilitate dealing with the unexpected and the unplanned. In those instances, you must have a complete inventory of your commitments, in order to be able to assess the relative value of the new input/circumstance, and allocate your focus appropriately. Probably 95% of my usage of my own system is to allow me to feel comfortable with a change of plans.

You want to keep your backlog of unprocessed stuff at a minimum, and an inventory of all possible actions close at hand, so you can optimally deal with surprise.

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We received this email from Paul, about his journey from chaos to productivity with GTD:

GTD has transformed (and I do mean transformed) my life.  From chaos and stress two years ago, I have found peace and order today, mainly as a result of implementing GTD across my life.

It occurred to me recently when watching one of David’s talks where he explained that we are all trying to operate in a digital world with a stone-age brain, that there are a lot of parallels between physical and mental exercise. We need both in this world we have created that evolution has not prepared us for.  In the face of this challenge it’s as though GTD and mindfulness are to the mind as cardio and weights are to the body.

Thank you for all you guys do.

Best wishes,

Paul

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“Use your mind to think about your work, instead of thinking of it.

Your mind does not remember or remind very well, compared to what a good system can manage.  What it does do well is review options and available information and then put together “how-tos.”  It’s not free to do that if it’s trying to remember and remind. Without an airtight system, it must work at a lower level than it should and becomes a misused resource.”

-David Allen

Excerpted from Ready For Anything

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Seems there’s an eternal question about how being more productive can happen without adding to the Type-A personality syndrome of ever-harder, ever-more, ever-faster. Read my essay in Productive Living with yet another spin on that age-old issue.

It’s not about fast or slow.  It’s about how you’re involved, which is a much bigger context.  – David Allen

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Clear your head with the man himself…

This is an excerpt from a Webinar David did for GTD Connect, our online learning center.

Listen now (20 min)

We have hundreds of audio and video selections like this on GTD Connect, with more added every week.  Hook into the most active Getting Things Done community in the world.  Check out a free guest pass (no credit card required and we won’t nag you when you’re done!)

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In response to our recent Productive Living newsletter, a GTDer wrote to David Allen and said:

Please provide a less complex version of the basic GTD chart/system for me and the hundreds of thousands of organizationally challenged managers just like me who have tried and failed to maintain the GTD system. Simpler is better.

David responded:

I empathize with desire for the “GTD for Dummies” approach.  I suggest just not letting the visual chart get in your way… it’s as simple as:

Write it down
Decide what’s next about it
Park that somewhere you’ll trust you’ll look at as a reminder
Keep your head empty and your list(s) current

Hope that helps.

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GTD showed me how to bring balance back into my busy personal and professional schedule.  More specifically, I was able to customize the GTD workflow process to handle the crush of Emails I get from prospective students who want to join my martial arts studio.  Furthermore, I also customized the GTD Outlook 2007 “Waiting For” folders into a very easy to use “lead tracking” process – in a blink of an eye I can easily tell how many prospects are scheduled for Initial Appointments, Trial Lessons, and Enrollment Conversations.  I know when to follow up with a prospect by integrating my lead tracking process with my Outlook 2007 Calendar.  I am very happy to say that David Allen’s GTD system not only allowed me to bring balance back to my life, but it also showed me how to set up a very easy-to-use, trusted system for keeping track of my very busy sales cycle.

Michael Veltri is a 4th degree black belt in the Japanese martial art of Aikido.  He both lives and runs his martial arts studio in Washington, DC.

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