David Allen's Blog, page 61

Member Exclusive: Take The GTD Weekly Review Challenge - February

Hello GTD Connect members!

Back by popular demand--the next GTD Weekly Review Challenge! For the month of February, can you complete at least 3 GTD Weekly Reviews? If so, each time you complete one, please come back to this Forum and report in as a reply to this post. Let us know:


[*]What ...

GTD Times: What to do if you're smart and imaginative

David Allen received this email from a student:
I consider myself to be very smart and imaginative. The people that get to know me always have a very good impression of me and have great expectations from me. More importantly, I have a lot of dreams and ideas. But I'm not very practical and everything ends at a theoretical phase. I never have clear objectives and I'm always confused by dozens of thoughts and can't focus properly on what I do.

Most of the time I feel like I'm wasting my time, and would rather be doing something else. I always feel I ought to organize, so I make a nice, tight schedule. But after a couple of days it's gone, and I'm back at the beginning.

If I had to describe the last 10 years of my life in a sentence I would say: "I woke up every morning to row in yet another direction."

I have read your book and tried to apply roughly your technique. I have to admit that it works to some extent, but it did not bring the radical change in my life that I expected.

David replied:
Thank you for reaching out with your email. I empathize with your situation -- I've been there myself many times in my earlier life.

The best thing to do is to ask yourself, "What do I really want to be experiencing in my life?" And then, when you have that short list in front of you, ask yourself, "What is the most immediate thing I could commit to, that would start to move me in the direction of getting those experiences?"

You may find that the experiences will show up sooner than you think!

I hope that may be of some help to you. And you have my best wishes.

GTD Times: Intro to GTD on MoneyWatch

Robert Pagliarini is a self-proclaimed "productivity/efficiency nut," who became a fan of David Allen's book Getting Things Done .  He's also a regular contributor to CBS MoneyWatch.  We found his useful introduction to GTD from a few months back.  Like his other columns, it's timely at any time.

GTD has transformed my life. I've gone from trying to keep everything in my head or on notepads, to having a systematic way to address any kind of physical, electronic, or mental information. Plus, I always know where I stand with all my personal and professional projects, what next step is needed to move each project forward, and who needs to get back to me.

His brief introduction includes a description of GTD, objectives, and steps.  Enjoy!

Member Exclusive: David Allen On Twitter

Nice PCWorld review of my colleague Russ Bishop's new book, Workarounds That Work. http://bit.ly/h7EW7d

GTD Times: Common misconceptions about GTD

What does David Allen say the most common misconceptions are about GTD?  What did David want to be when he was growing up?  Does Getting Things Done really save time versus just doing the work?  Listen to this fun, informative podcast with GTD Times community contributor Mike Vardy and David Allen. (23 minutes)

Listen to more free podcasts from the David Allen Company

Podcast: David Allen - WorkAwesome Interview

Mike Vardy of WorkAwesome interviews David Allen on the common misconceptions about GTD, time saving vs. time wasting, and more. Click here to listen now or click here to download. (mp3, 23:00). For access to all previous podcasts, check out our complete podcast feed.




Related Links:

Listen to more audio with David

Read the GTD Times blog

Learn more about WorkAwesome

Member Exclusive: Advice Please For Catching Up On Systems

Hello. I am a long time enthusiast of GTD but am currently in an implementation trough! In 2009 I had 12 months maternity leave. When I returned to full time work in 2010 I had a lot of backlog (including from a move from a different university in early 2007). Throughout 2009 i tried to set up more ...

Member Exclusive: Happy New Year!

Happy New Year everyone!

Member Exclusive: New Year Workspace Tips!

Hey there
Following on from Kelly's webinar earlier this year on creating a FANTASTIC workspace, over the New Year weekend I've decided to review my space and gear.

In preparation for this I put a post out there for help to find a fantastic labeller with all the features I wanted. In one of the...

GTD Times: Have you taken the GTD-Q Assessment?

With the start of the New Year, this would be a great time to take the GTD-Q assessment. This free online assessment measures what Getting Things Done gives you: better control and greater perspective.  It's not one of those one-time tests that will never change (which will be good news for those of you who land as a Crazy Maker!). You are encouraged to take it often to see how it changes for you as you work with your strengths and challenges.  If you want your results tracked over time, there is another version on GTD Connect.

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Read the article: Which quadrant should you be in?

Take the assessment now (takes about 5 minutes)