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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For the most part, people who master the ability to stay clear and focus 100% on what most calls their attention, seem to be involved in what appears the most sustainable, long-term life- and career styles that reflect successful accomplishment.  -David Allen

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You can’t fool your mind.  It’s an expert on your current personal management system, and it knows whether you can be trusted to look at what you need to at the appropriate time.  It knows if you’ve decided what the next action should be. And it knows if there is a reminder of that action placed somewhere you will actually look, when you could possibly take that action. If you have not done any of that, your mind won’t let it go. It can’t. It will endlessly keep trying to remind you of what to remember. The mind is a loyal and dedicated servant, but it needs to be given the jobs it does well–not the ones that it mismanages.

- David Allen (from Ready for Anything)

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(The tool David mentions at the end is eProductivity for Lotus Notes. It’s what he uses personally to manage his projects and actions.  If you’re a Notes user, you can learn more about David’s setup in the free Webinar on April 28th.)

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

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“What I need is more real estate in which to think, and tools to facilitate the process. I need it to be systematized intelligently so that when I engage with it I’m stimulated, not stupefied.” – David Allen

David Allen was on a roll this month with his having space to think and create.  He talks about it in this video on GTD & Cloud Computing and in his latest column on Wired UK.  Read more…

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A new GTD’er asked: Once collected, how do you learn to trust the integrity of the system and not spend a lot of time trying to remember whether you put something down?

David Allen’s reply: Trust comes with consistent use.  The Weekly Review, plus reviewing the appropriate action lists when you have any time that you might able to do any of those actions, are the key.  Even after all these years, I still need to check in every once in a while to ensure that something is on there.  In the early stages, you’re best off just putting it on the list if it occurs to you.  It’s much less psychic pain to insert it twice than to have it slip through the crack.

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“When do most people feel best about their work? Just before a yearly vacation.  They think it’s because of their upcoming vacation.  I disagree. It’s because in order to take that vacation they’ve cleaned up, clarified, organized, reviewed, and renegotiated all of their agreements with themselves and others.  They’re highly motivated to be able to walk on the beach, ski the slopes, cast their fly, play eighteen, and ride the rides with their kids without being distracted by un-managed stuff.  What if you could have that freedom of mind weekly instead of yearly?  You can. The Weekly Review.“  – David Allen

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Clearing the mind is one of my favorite things with GTD.  You cannot lose. To me, it’s one of the quickest ways to feel better if I’m stressed out, feeling overwhelmed or trying to mentally manage the ankle-biting things that have my attention. In a short period of time, I can sweep my brain of any nagging bits–from buying stamps to wondering what’s I should do with my investments.  And what’s amazing to me, as easily as the brain will hold on to that stuff, it will just as easily let it go. It’s not a strong fighter if it trusts I will process, organize & review what I’m collecting. All 5 of those GTD phases are interconnected like an ecosystem that works together.

In my GTD Twitter class this morning, doing a Guided Mindsweep, a few people asked why they would write things down in a mindsweep that are already on their lists? There are a few common reasons why things will creep back into your mind:

You didn’t clarify enough. If your mind thinks there is more planning or brainstorming to do about that, or what you captured as a next action is not the next physical, visible step, it will take it back.

You’re not reviewing enough. If your mind doesn’t trust you’re looking at that choice often enough (Are we doing anything about this??), it will take the job back.  The Weekly Review is gold.  It’s not just clean-up time, it’s reassurance time for your mind that you’re “on it,” even if that’s a decision to let it incubate some more on Someday.

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I will be hosting another free GTD Twitter class this Thursday, October 15th at 9am Pacific Time.  Just 30 minutes of clearing your mind. Here’s the scoop:

What: It will be a working Twitter session. I’ll guide people through the GTD Mindsweep process through a series of Tweets.  Mindsweep is part of the Collect phase of GTD (read chapter 5 of the Getting Things Done book to get a quick overview of this process.)  It will be up to you to then process & organize it (chapters 6 & 7 of the book.)  When I’ve done these Guided Mindsweeps for GTD Connect members, many commented how great it was to have someone else jogging their brain on things they hadn’t thought of on their own. They did a much more thorough collection of the loose bits in their brain.

When: Thursday, October 15th – 9am PDT (Los Angeles time) Find your local time.

How: Follow @GTDSpecialEvent or just launch this web page during the event to follow the Tweets. Have a blank electronic document or pad & pen handy to do the exercise.

Who:  Anyone who wants a clear head. Truly.

If you’re like most people, you’ll move too fast and be engaged in too many things during the course of a week to get all your ideas and commitments outside your head. But it should become an ideal standard that keeps you motivated to consistently “clean house” of all the things about your work and life that have attention. – David Allen

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