Watch this informal and insightful interview with David Allen, inventor of the Getting Things Done methodology. It was recorded at the SANG Conference in 2012. Hear David candidly talk about why people need GTD, simple steps to get started, why we procrastinate, and more.

(This video is streaming from YouTube, so it may take a few seconds to load.)

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Question: I understand that the premise of getting things done is to make decisions on things when they show up, rather then when they blow up. Using this methodology allows you to make decisions and get things done far earlier than waiting to make a decision. But isn’t there some benefit in waiting for the last minute? Suppose I identified that I needed new tires. If I used the GTD method, there is no doubt that I would get my tires earlier, but how would I know that if I had waited, I wouldn’t have, for example, found a coupon and gotten a better deal? If I make decisions when things show up, how can I be confident that those decisions wouldn’t be better had I waited for a few days or weeks?

Answer from Coach James Stevenson: I agree that there are times when acting quickly might not be the best course of action. Your example of buying tires now instead of waiting for the Sunday paper or looking online for sales and coupons could cause me to spend more money than necessary (NOT the optimum outcome!). In reality there are many times in life when acting quickly would not serve us well.

Having said that, the Processing step within the GTD methodology is about deciding what needs to be done as opposed to actually doing it (unless it falls in the “2-minute rule”). It is the difference between Defining versus Doing. (See the article that I wrote for GTD Connect on that subject.) In keeping with the example of needing new tires, your Next Action may very well be “research great deals on new tires for my car.” For me, that Next Action would land on my @Computer list since I would be searching online for those deals. In other words, my true Next Action is not buying new tires, but finding the best deal on a new set of tires. Interestingly, once I found a great deal on new tires, my new next action would still not be “buy new tires,” but it would be scheduling time on my calendar to take my car to the shop for new tires…but that’s just me!

I hope you see that GTD encourages you to do the executive thinking up front and get clear on the very next thing you would actually do. And, as you point out, it isn’t always to jump in to action.
Bottom line is that your thinking is right on target.

James Stevenson presents GTD seminars and does one-on-one coaching for the David Allen Company.

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Collect, Process, Organize, Review, and Do. Those are the five phases of your GTD workflow. You’ll learn the best practices for each of those phases in the Keys to Getting Things Done webinar, this Thursday, May 2, at 10:00AM Pacific time.

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We have three terrific public GTD webinars coming up in April. These webinars are 60-75 minutes long, and are held via GoToWebinar.  Tuition is $49 per registration.

• Keys to Getting Things Done on April 11
• Managing Email on April 18
• Guided GTD Weekly Review on April 25

Click here to learn more about GTD webinars.

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Do you have any pointers for perfectionists?

Just focus on doing the next action perfectly, which is a lot easier than trying to be perfect about how you approach something bigger. Be as retentive as you want. The only problem is when it stops action. Be a perfectionist about the process, which will require, of course, making decisions on the front end that might not be perfect. Think about what might go wrong if you avoid decisions and action! (If you need a negative motivator.)
—David Allen

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Question: What’s a Project?
Answer from David Allen: Any outcome that’s going to require more than one action item, in some sequence of events in order to be able to get to that outcome, that’s a project. And boy, there are a lot of people that just miss that. Invariably I see that most people’s “project lists” are very, very incomplete. One of the more subtle ones that comes to mind is: What issues are on your mind right now, or situations or circumstances? Not necessarily negative things, but oftentimes there’s kind of a health thing, there’s kind of a family thing, there’s a relationship thing, there’s a—who knows? There’s all kinds of subtle stuff that show up out there that are either problems or opportunities and they don’t march up to the door with a pretty pink bow and say, “Hi, I am now a project!” Get those clarified in a way that you know what done looks like (the project outcome), and what doing looks like (the next action).

Taken from the GTD Mastery: Closing the Gaps webinar David did for GTD Connect members, Dec. 2012.

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The Power of Moms has a very useful post on how to methodically get your house organized. There’s even a handy PDF download.

A Seven-Step Plan to Organize the House

by April Perry on Jan 8, 2013

I want my home to be a simple, functional, happy environment that enables every family member to thrive.

But if I want it to get there–and stay there, I have to have a plan.

Over the past 12 years, with 9 moves, 4 children, and a bustling schedule (like yours, I’m sure) I’ve refined my home-simplification process down to seven steps that work every single time.

Many aspects of this process are based on David Allen’s best-setter, Getting Things Done (a wonderful book you must read).  Corporate executives worldwide live and breathe this kind of training, and now we’re going to have a great time applying it to our homes.

Read the full post here.

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Hi Folks,

Is there anything in your world you need to declare “done” but haven’t yet?

I’ll take a deeper look at completing the past to prepare for the future in a public webinar I’m doing in January on Creating Wild Success in 2013. We’d love to have you join us online for that.

Until then, my essay this month should give you some good direction about going back to those things you need to unhook from and how to be complete with that.

All the best,

DAVID’S FOOD FOR THOUGHT

WHAT DO YOU NEED TO STOP DOING?

We’ve got to learn to declare things DONE. Especially when they’re not. Not completed, that is, to the level of perfection or result that we initially visualized or committed to.

The world changes, and our creative focus along with it. So do our standards. We will always maintain some inventory or backlog of projects to complete, of things to do. But if we’re not careful and take responsibility for unhooking from those that have outlived their seat on our active list, they can easily constipate our creative process. [Read more →]

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Our friends in Australia and Eastern Asia have been asking for a webinar that fits their schedule. And here it is!

The Keys to Getting Things Done® webinar is being offered at a special time to support our customers in that part of the world. This live webinar will give a fast and fun overview of the keys to Getting Things Done. You’ll learn about the best practices for managing the five phases of your workflow: Collect, Process, Organize, Review, and Do. Walk through the decision-making model for moving your “stuff” to clear outcomes and actions. This is a great overview if you’ve been wanting a better understanding of the big picture of managing your workflow with GTD.

This webinar is being offered at a special time to support our customers in the Australia and Eastern Asia time zones—7am in Singapore, 8am in Tokyo, 10am in Sydney, and 12pm in Auckland, on December 14. Check your time zone.

For more information and to register, click here.

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“Priorities are determined from the top down—i.e., your purpose and values will drive your vision of the purpose being fulfilled, which will create goals and objectives, which will frame areas of focus and responsibility. All of those will generate projects, which will require actions to get them done.”

—David Allen, Making It All Work, Appendix vii, Horizons of Focus

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