During a recent marathon of Aaron Sorkin’s great short-lived series “Sports Night” (a marathon that I started by watching both seasons on DVD, which further proves my self-starting skills) I came upon an episode entitled “Moving Day.” As the whip-smart Sorkinian dialogue washed over me throughout the rest of the marathon, it got me thinking …
New GTD Workflow Diagram
For years, the GTD Workflow diagram has been the ultimate “trail guide” for navigating through the collect>process>organize stages of GTD. Over the past two years, David Allen has been working with the terrific design team at xplane to take his vision (his original sketch is pictured right and you can click on the image to …
More confidence, more ideas and more money…
A GTD’er in the U.K. wrote to David Allen recently to share his success–personally and professionally–in implementing GTD. We thought you’d appreciate hearing what he learned in the process. Dear David, Just wanted to drop an email of appreciation. Guess you get these all the time. In 2006, a freelance website designer friend recommend your …
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Tracking Projects in Outlook
A Microsoft Outlook user recently asked one of our coaches: After working with the GTD system for quite awhile, I find tracking next actions in Outlook to be pretty easy. The harder part is tracking projects. Where do you do that and how do you move from the 10,000 level (projects) to the runway (actions)? …
How David Developed GTD
In this 10 minute podcast, David shares some of his early days of learning the principles behind GTD. An interesting look at the evolution of GTD and the concept of projects and next actions. Listen Now>>>
The Evolution of a GTD Workspace
GTD Times recently had a post requesting that people share pics of their workspaces that had been inspired by Getting Things Done. I contacted the Editor and she graciously suggested that I write up a little post about the evolution of my workspace and my GTD practice. When I set up my very first home …
The Freedom to Make a Big, Fat Mess
A couple of weeks ago (during an In Conversation that will be posted later this summer on GTDConnect), David Allen asked me if I practice GTD with my kids. In response, I laughed and said, “No.” After all, my daughter is three years old and my son is just nine months. They can hardly do GTD, …
GTD & iPhone
Like the desktop quest, many GTD’ers are searching for the perfect GTD list manager app for the iPhone. The NY Times just posted a nice, simple article on organizing apps for the iPhone. While it’s certainly not an extensive look at the topic, nor will it cover all of what’s out there, or even your …
A Healing Journey
We love letters from GTD’ers. Especially when we receive one that has so much heart, love and joy that makes us proud that GTD can have such a profound personal impact. Here’s Tim’s story: ~~ Earlier today I listened to your “Problems or Projects?” podcast. Thank you for sharing this topic so succinctly and for …
Is GTD Tactical or Strategic?
Someone recently asked one of our coaches: Would you categorize GTD as a “Tactical” system as opposed to “Strategic”? The answer: GTD is both tactical and strategic. The process of capturing what has your attention in a system that is external from your mind, deciding the outcome and the very next action, and listing those …
Paper is King (for some)
As we all know, GTD is a tool-agnostic approach. The tools you choose are up to you. Some say it’s all got to be electronic. Others swear paper is king. And many of us will choose a hybrid of paper and digital. In our ongoing GTD Times series featuring GTD’er systems, we wanted to give …
Driving in the fast lane with ActiveWords
One of the tools David Allen uses on his PC is ActiveWords, a tool often described as “solving a problem you didn’t know you had.” It essentially streamlines the navigation and common tasks we do all day long; send emails, go to web sites, create new tasks, insert text, open files and more. Recently, David …
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Is that a problem or a project?
GTD Secrets: True Confessions of a GTD Coach – Episode 4 One of the things that I have seen over the years is a lot of incomplete Project Lists. And I think some of it is because we have a tendency to have a narrow view about what a project is. Years ago, David said …
The Strategic Value of Personal Productivity
David Allen is doing a webinar event next Wednesday, July 8th, hosted by Unbound Ideas. In this 90-minute interactive webinar, David Allen will describe the strategies, tools and specific behaviors that dramatically upgrade individual and organizational productivity. In particular, he will focus on: The 5 stages of control and the 6 horizons of focus necessary …
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OmniFocus Speed Keys
Studies show that most people will be 4 times faster on the keyboard by using shortcut keys versus reaching for the the mouse and clicking their way through menus. You don’t need to know all of them, but certainly the keyboard shortcuts that represent the tasks you use the most can be a tremendous time …
Join the GTD Fan Page on Facebook
We’ve setup a page on Facebook for all of you David Allen and GTD fans out there. It’s a great place, if you’re so inclined, to follow some of the latest bits of noteworthy news, quotes and musings from GTDGuy. Check it out: facebook.com/gettingthingsdone. You can also follow David on Twitter as GTDGuy.
Hacking Mail and iCal for GTD
Yes, we know it makes for a great debate, but GTD really is for men or women, PC or Mac, paper or digital. It’s an approach that gets overlayed onto the tools that work for you. Since so many GTD’ers are on a Mac, and we’re always looking to feature a wide-range of GTD’er styles, …
Best practices of GTD Collect
David Allen & his team sat down to record a podcast on the best practices of Collect. In this 35 minute podcast they talk about: Some of their favorite tools for capturing anywhere, anytime The essential tools for work and home spaces What makes or breaks a good collection tool? The essential “red folder“ Collect …
The Power of Recess
A community contribution by self-professed productivity expert Mike Vardy We’ve all heard the benefits of taking naps or practicing meditation during your workday can result in one being more productive. We’ve also heard how these things aren’t necessarily mutually exclusive – sometimes (often by accident) they go hand in hand. However, depending on your work …
Is Twitter good or bad? Hear David Allen's perspective
What does David Allen think of the “cocktail party” that is Twitter? In this short and sweet 5 minute podcast, David talks about his approach to Twitter and the world of social media. LISTEN NOW “People ask me, is it [Twitter] a waste of time? Is going to a cocktail party a waste of time? …
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