The Managing Projects & Priorities seminar is a wonderful opportunity to take GTD to the next level in your professional and personal life. Upcoming seminars in 2011 will be held in Boston, Chicago, and Dallas.

You will learn:
• The power of creative brainstorming
• How to define your priorities through the Horizons of Focus® Model
• The advantages of using the Natural Planning Model®
• How to effectively develop and move your projects to the next level

This is how David Allen Company staff member Kari McGee described her experience with Managing Projects & Priorities:

Sometimes a vision seems to be all we have, but it doesn’t have to be. That’s the lesson I walked away with after attending the David Allen Managing Projects and Priorities seminar. I realized that the projects piece of GTD is where the magic really happens. To be able to work through clear purpose and not just be prepared for the latest and loudest is really where the bigger dreams start to take shape on the GTD Journey.

[Read more →]

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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?

Subscribe to Productive Living. It’s free and sent about every 3 weeks. You’ll find essays from David Allen, thought-provoking quotes, and productivity tips you can use every day.

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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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If you don’t have a clear sense of the totality of your obligations, you will always over-commit. And commitments occur on multiple levels, from “why I’m on the planet” to “need butter.” But the elevation most amorphous for most is the plane just above your physical activities — your “projects.” I have a radical definition of a project: anything you’re committed to finish within a year that requires more than one action to complete it. Given that broad designation, most people have between 30 and 100.

• Where’s your projects list?
• How complete and current is it?

- David Allen

For more tips from David about projects, check out the GTD Managing Projects set. Available on CD or MP3 download.

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This is a Community Contribution from April Perry.

Lately I’ve been feeling overwhelmed. Not because I can’t process all the tasks, projects, and goals on my plate, but because I keep forgetting that I only have one plate.

As I’ve applied GTD strategies to my life, opportunities to “live the life of my dreams” have literally exploded in front of me. My website is growing, creative ideas are spilling into my colorful assortment of spiral-bound notebooks, friends and associates are jumping on board to support the vision I’m helping to create, and my family life is exactly what I always hoped it would be.

However, along with all this excitement, my emails have quadrupled, my project load has significantly increased, and my stress level has been rising beyond my comfort level. (Once you experience “stress-free productivity,” there’s no going back . . . .)

So today I decided to apply the Natural Planning Model from GTD to my overall life plan. The point of getting organized isn’t to simply “get more done.” The point is to get the right things done–and that takes some serious decision making.

I figured that as long as I’m doing this exercise, I might as well document the process and share it with others who also might be trying to cram too much onto their plates. [Read more →]

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David Allen received this email from Ben, an enthusiastic GTDer who has been customizing his home and work system for greater productivity.  This is a terrific example of how GTD can be adapted to suit your needs, using the combination of digital and paper that works for you.

Hello David,

I wanted to let you know that I listened to your CD recordings about “Getting Things Done” earlier this year.  Since then, I applied many of the things that you suggested and have found myself to be much more efficient at home and at work.  You might be interested to know a few of the ways that I have applied your suggestions.   

Originally, I created a 3-ring binder with tabs organized by what context I was in (home, office, computer, etc).  Although that was very helpful, I have moved toward doing as much as possible on my computer. [Read more →]

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David Allen describes the five levels of thinking that must be clear to make a project happen efficiently and effectively in the world.

DAVID’S FOOD FOR THOUGHT

What’s needed and not needed for projects

Many professionals and their company cultures seem addicted to the organizing of projects and situations. Or at least addicted to feeling the need to organize them, and feeling guilty if they’re not. But organizing the structure and components is only one of the five levels of thinking that must be clear . . .

Keep reading David’s article.

Subscribe to Productive Living. It’s free and sent about every 3 weeks. You’ll find essays from David Allen, thought-provoking quotes, and productivity tips you can use every day.

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Thanks to those of you who responded to our poll about Outlook for Mac.  Now for those of you who use Outlook on a PC – please cast your vote about which version of Outlook you are currently using.

This is helpful for us in our long-term planning for GTD Setup Guides.

We appreciate your help!

David Allen Company Education Team

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David Allen was asked how much detail is needed when listing next actions.  His answer gives a look at the psychology of GTD, and why it’s about more than the lists:

The purpose of having the granular next action on a list is to define what “doing” looks like and where it happens, so you can finish your thinking about what to do about the commitment (outcome, project, etc.)  That said, another reason for the granularity on the action lists is to subvert the procrastination that potentially shows up because of a pre-conscious insecurity about success.  As in, “I don’t want to step into something I don’t think I can control.”  If the enormity of the next action causes you to falter, then it’s advantageous to define a smaller, doable chunk.  For example, “draft plot ideas” instead of “draft great American novel.”

 For more on this topic, see this excellent article in The New Yorker that mentioned David’s book Getting Things Done, and the value of the GTD approach.

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For many people, a mobile list manager is a requirement for implementing GTD.  To support productivity on the go, the lists must be accessible in real-time, showing your projects, as well as your actions sorted by context.  There are plenty of third-party task applications for mobile devices that help to some degree with list management.  The BlackBerry is a very popular choice among GTDers looking for a device with a built-in task app.  In fact, David Allen Company has a Setup Guide specifically written so you can dial the  BlackBerry in according to GTD best practices.  If you’re considering a mobile device, this review at Notes on Productivity describes the functionality of the task app in the BlackBerry Torch.  How do you think the BlackBerry stacks up for managing your lists the GTD way?

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