David Allen was recently interviewed by Scientific American on goal setting. Do goals really work? Have most people already broken what they set just 3 weeks ago? LISTEN NOW (4 min) Like this podcast? Subscribe to our free podcast series. We also do frequent podcasts with David and the Coaches on GTD Connect®, our online …
Author Archives: GTD Times Staff
Think Small Steps
A Community Contribution by Meghan Wilker Near the beginning of a new year, we often take stock of the big things in life. Am I happy at my job? Do I need to lose weight? It’s such a good time to take stock of — and clean up — major sources of stress and a …
GTD for Academics
A Community Contribution by Aeon J. Skoble, PhD. He’s a Professor of Philosophy at Bridgewater State College. I know that David Allen is interested in seeing how people in different sorts of professions use GTD, so I offered to share my experiences applying the methodology in a world that’s generally regarded as a different one: …
How to get to Inbox Zero
A new GTD’er wrote to David Allen and asked: My dear husband thinks you keep your Inbox to zero by not posting your email address on the internet and/or by having assistants respond to your email. I disagree. What say you? David responded: You keep your Inbox to zero by dealing with whatever shows up …
GTD & the Cloud
Whenever I’m on a plane and we fly through a cloud, I can’t help but think “Oh man, I hope this isn’t the one that has all my data in it…” Tony_D on Twitter. Eric Mack recently interviewed David Allen on his use of Lotus Notes, eProductivity and cloud computing. Hear what David thinks of …
How GTD can help with applying to college
I recently presented a seminar where a participant brought up the project of getting her daughter into college. Since that had been a project for me as well, I wrote to her about how I applied the “Natural Planning Model” to this project. For those of you unfamiliar with the Natural Planning Model, it is …
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Why do we procrastinate on the good stuff too?
A Community Contribution from Sarah From A recent article in the New York Times highlights new research on a fascinating phenomenon: the procrastination of pleasure. Not only do we avoid the tasks we dread, we also put off activities we enjoy. Redeeming gift cards, using frequent flier miles, and visiting hometown landmarks all belong to …
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GTD & OneNote
This is a community contribution by Ryan Oakley. For me, GTD has always worked extremely well for those small(er) tasks and projects. You know – those little things that used to fall through the cracks but, with the help of GTD, are now easily tracked and moved on until completed. These smaller projects don’t need …
Using a Virtual Assistant
Jeff Widman, a man of many talents (including helping us create our GTD Facebook Fan page) has a fantastic article about using a virtual assistant. It’s a great read, with many useful tips & templates for a building and maintaining a successful virtual team. Here’s an excerpt: What I’ve learned from having a virtual assistant: …
GTD isn't just the "flavor of the month"
Dear David Allen, Today marks the four-year anniversary of the day that I watched a taping of your Mastering Workflow seminar. It’s the day that I started a journey from chaos and overwhelm to order and sanity. Some thought that my GTD journey was just a phase, that it would be my “flavor of the …
My dog ate my GTD book
Hello David, I was in the middle of reading and applying your book when I came home one day and found it like this. Yep my dog ate it on a day when he was bored because I was so busy I didn’t get him out for a walk. Did I mention that I was …
Year End Completions
The latest Productive Living newsletter included a great set of questions from David Allen on year end completions. It’s a great exercise to go through for completing 2009 and setting your intentions and directions for creating 2010. Here’s a sample of some of those questions: Completing and remembering 2009 What was your biggest triumph in …
How much can the brain really hold?
Your brain is a great place to have ideas, but a terrible place to manage them. -David Allen A key principle within GTD is creating a system external to your mind–if you want the system to be seamless. In fact, there’s a good chance if you’re trying to hold more than about 7 things in …
What is or isn't a project?
A computer programmer implementing GTD asked David Allen about projects: I’m confused about (and I’m sure you are extremely bored with this question, but from the books I couldn’t work out the answer) – how do you size projects? I’m continually having problems working out what is or isn’t a project – and getting lost …
Radiate efficiency
Elle magazine chatted with David Allen. Read some of the timely tips for refreshing your systems. One item that came up in my sweep was that for weeks I’ve been putting off answering a publicist’s e-mail asking if I’d write about one of his clients—my failure to reply is gnawing at me. My hunch is …
Get a weekly dose of GTD inspiration
If you are still struggling trying to get the GTD Weekly Review to become a habit, you’re not alone! It’s why GTD Connect, David Allen’s online learning center, sends out a Weekly Review reminder email to our members. It’s a dose of inspiration, sent once a week, looking at a common speed bumps for people …
Making light of decision making
This article is a community contribution by John Lewis. Enjoy! As a follower of GTD, I am fortunate to receive many things, including the Productive Living newsletter. This particular edition included some “food for thought” about decision making, which I found extremely nutritious! Information and accuracy It brought to mind two things that I have …
What are the first steps in getting organized?
David Allen answers the timeless question, “What are the first steps in getting organized?” If by “getting organized” you mean getting relaxed and in control, it actually involves five steps, only one of which is actually the specific “organizing” component. 1) Collect the work. Corral everything that has potential meaning for you. 2) Process the …
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How can you trust your GTD system?
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 …
Tips for taking meeting notes
Michael (who calls himself a GTD implementer for two years and counting), wrote to us with this question: Curious if anyone has any tips/symbols or shortcuts for notetaking. I tend to write circles next to actionable items when I’m taking meeting notes and starring important items, but always looking for a better system. Here is …
