GTD Connect

Finding Your Inside Time Exploring the high country of who you really are while expressing what you’re really about is the promise of a journal. But somewhere along the way, those same creative urges likely got you involved in an overwhelming amount of things to do, potentially distracting you from your own energy source. You’ve created relationships, a career, a family, a home – each of which brings an endless stream of projects, challenges and “woulds,” “coulds,” and “shoulds.” Your visions created your life, but now your life is blinding your vision. Your creative urges got you into the park on your bicycle, but now your pants leg is caught in the bicycle chain, and you find yourself cursing the whole endeavor. Is there a way to play this game, to keep it all in balance? Can you stay connected to the source of your creativity, continue to expand its expression, and not let the results trip up the whole process?

Yes. But it’s not free, and you don’t get there by denying the world and your engagement with it, at any level. You must capture and appropriately manage the attachments and agreements with yourself that create dissonance, at every level. You must consistently offload and objectify what has your attention. You can do things to assist in detaching yourself from the details of life so you can get to the more rewarding experience of your journal. And also the act of journaling itself provides a key to that freedom.

Your business is not your busyness Are you too busy to get to your journal? Careful, because being busy is not the same thing as tending to business. Many people use their attachment to nervous activity as a way to avoid what they need to be about.

And many times that more important work is best accessed and managed from the perspectives and shifts in consciousness that the journaling process fosters.

Our work exists at multiple levels. From lowest to the loftiest, we have our day-to-day actions, the projects we’re trying to complete with them, the areas of responsibility we attempt to maintain at our standards, the outcomes we want to accomplish in the future, the lifestyle expression we want to achieve, and our purpose as human beings.

Each can rightly be called your “work.” But the volume, speed, and intensity at the lower levels can easily grab your focus and cause you to lose the perspective required to keep you sane. It is so easy to sacrifice the higher orders of business for the lower. You have so many things to do today. So you don’t keep an overview of all your projects, you ignore some of the areas of your life you should focus on, you avoid drafting blueprints of positive futures, and you forget to connect back to the source of the whole game to begin with – you.

Your world can’t be ignored, nor can it be completed How do you unhook from the pulls and pressures of your world? It would be nice if you could just shut your door, or go into the garden, and the harpies in your mind – all the niggling things to do and deal with – just went away.

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©David Allen Company 1998, 2008. All rights reserved.

Or, if you could just finally get it all done, so there was nothing left to contend with. Neither is likely to happen.

Your freedom will not come from trying to ignore all the “stuff” or by trying to complete everything – it requires truly detaching from it. But how do you do that? By getting it all out of your head, and reflecting on it all, appropriately.

Emptying “psychic RAM” Much of the stress in the professional world these days is the result of the huge volume of implicit agreements kept in the mind and not captured, clarified and organized. The first process in the coaching I do is to have my clients do a major “core dump” of everything they have attention on – personal, professional, little, or big – onto pieces of paper and into their in-basket (which usually takes one to six hours!) Then I have them decide what they really intend to do about each of them – the actions required – and park the resulting inventory of concrete things to do in appropriate categories in some personal management system they can trust to remind them of all that at the right times. Without exception, they come away with an incredible rush of released energy and inspiration. Why? They renegotiated all their agreements with themselves, so they can feel OK about what they’re not doing! They stopped the infinite loops in their psyche caused by situations they’ve told themselves need to be different but which lack the decision about what they need to do about it.

Incomplete commitments like that kept only in the mind reside in “psychic RAM” – a memory space that has no sense of past or future. It all feels like it should be happening now in this moment, which creates automatic stress and failure, because you can only do one thing at a time, not all of them. RAM must be emptied. And as you go even deeper and more reflective, there are greater depths and many more subtle “open loops” that can surface to facilitate the release of stored creative energy.

The journal as a spiritual in-basket Just making a freeform list of all the things you have attention on is a form of journaling and is at least momentarily liberating. On the most mundane level, it is capturing all of the “oh, yeah, I need to…” stuff – phone calls to make, things to get at the store, things to talk to your boss or your assistant about, etc. At this level it doesn’t usually make for a very exciting or interesting experience – just a necessary one to clear the most obvious cargo on the deck. Instead of cluttering your nice leather-bound intimate notebook with “Call Ana Maria re: her day camp suggestions,” keep a simple notepad ubiquitously at hand to collect such business-of-life details.

On the other hand, I often use my journal for “core-dumping” the subtler and more ambiguous things rattling around in my psyche. It’s like doing a current-reality inventory of the things that really have my attention – the big blips on my internal radar. These can be either negative or positive, like relationship issues, career decisions, or unexpected events that have created disturbances or new opportunities. Sometimes this is the best way to get started when nothing else is flowing – just an objectification of “what is” on my internal landscape.

Something healing and positive always happens when I express outwardly and reflect inwardly on that expression, and let nothing remain resident running around in my internal squirrel cages.

Spiritual disciplines teach that neutral observation is the first gate to real inner awareness and enlightenment.

And when I just observe – what I feel, what I think, what I’m doing – it shifts me more into the one who is not my emotions, my thoughts, or my body. There is no better tool than my journal to move me into that perspective.

The things that distract me lose their grip, because I release my grip on them. But that happens because I write them down and somehow the light of my own consciousness begins to dissolve the knots.

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©David Allen Company 1998, 2008. All rights reserved.

Getting up to business Though sometimes it is enough to use the journal for a good housecleaning, refreshing the psyche and straightening some of the inner kinks, there is always more gold to mine. There are still places to go, things to see, things to know and experience. Not out in the physical world, but into those worlds wherein the meaning is found for everything you do. This is the bigger game, your real job. A conversation with your higher Self is wanting to be had. Information and inner awarenesses are waiting for an opportunity to be disclosed. Intelligent creativity is in store.

Don’t let your busy-ness get in the way of going to work. Step into your journal and take the executive chair. There may be some even more interesting loops to discover you can close, and some real executive compensation for it, where it really counts.

Clear to journal? Journal to clear...

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•

Whenever you are feeling overwhelmed, do a “core dump” – write down on a list or separate pieces of scratch paper absolutely everything you have attention on in the mundane worlds of your life and work.

Don’t censor, organize or analyze any of it. This is not yet a “to-do” list – it is merely an objective collection of anything that pops into your head you might need to do or do something about. Sooner than later, go through all the items and make objective decisions about what actions you are going to take on them, and park the results in a trusted system, to keep it out of your head. Keep a small note pad with you at all times to continue capturing new commitments and ideas, to ensure that nothing is allowed to crawl back up into “psychic RAM.” (This is likely to happen especially as you begin to move into reflection and contemplation.)

•

Create a list of all your projects (things you want or need to do that take more than one action to get them done). Create a list of all the areas of responsibility you feel you need to keep your eye on (e.g. health, finances, family, staff, etc.) Ensure you have all the projects you need for those. List any goals or visions that you have for your future. Ensure you have projects and actions for those.

•

Practice picking up your journal in the middle of a crazy day, when it makes no rational sense to do that, and just observe and write about all the levels of consciousness you are aware of.

•

Use your journal for collecting the more subtle and ambiguous things that still have your attention. Describe as completely as possible all the main things currently on your internal radar. (This is a great way to kickstart your flow.)

•

Once psychic RAM is as clear as you can get it, keep writing. Ask yourself what deeper conversation wants to happen, to be expressed, and to be resolved. Notice anything that is not pure stillness. Give it a voice and notice where it goes, and when it’s complete. Balance going with the flow and letting go and listening.

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©David Allen Company 1998, 2008. All rights reserved.

DavidAllen

General Reference Filing One of the biggest bottlenecks I’ve come across working one-on-one with executives in the last few years is their lack of a good instantly-at-hand filing system for reference and support information they want to access when they need it.

More than once my clients and I have stopped the work flow coaching process mid-stream, driven to the local office supply store, and bought a quality filing cabinet, a big stock of file folders, and a Brother autolabeler with plenty of tape. Just so we could create an appropriate place to put 75% of the “stuff” lying around their desk, credenzas, and floors of their offices.

The bottom line: You each need your own personal, at-hand general reference filing system. It should take you less than 60 seconds to pick something up out of your in-basket, or print it from e-mail, decide it has no action but does have potential future value, and finish storing it into a trusted system. If it takes you longer than a minute to complete that action, you won’t do it--you’ll stack it instead.

If you have a trusted secretary or assistant who maintains that system for you, so you can put a “File as ___” post-it on the document and send it “out” to them, great. But ask yourself if you still have personally interesting or confidential support material that you need accessible at any moment, when they’re not around. If so, you’ll still need your own system, in your desk or right beside it somewhere.

Create one A-Z alpha filing system, not multiple systems. People have a tendency to want to use their files as a reminder system in addition to reference, and therefore attempt to organize their files by projects or areas of focus. This magnifies geometrically how many places something isn’t when you forget where you filed it. One simple alpha system files everything by topic, author, or company so it could only be three or four places (if you forget where it is.) The ultimate filing system files by number with a computerized crossreference database that tags topics with specific files. If you’re not there yet (who is?) come as close as you can by creating a single, simple alpha system. It’s also very helpful visually to have alphabet tabs within the files (“A”, “B”, “C” etc.), so it’s a no-brainer to find files and where to put them on the run. It even helps to label the outside of the file drawer (“A-F”, “G-M”, etc.) for the same reason.

Keep a big, mambo stack of fresh, new, third-cut, 2-ply top file folders instantly at hand from where you sit when you process your in-basket. Have your labeler there as well. If it’s even the slightest hassle to label and file something into a new topic folder, you won’t do it, in the heat of operational life.

Purge your files once a year. That keeps them from being stale and you from feeling like it’s a black hole you’re putting things into. It gives you the freedom to keep anything you think you might want or need later.

Do you really need Pendaflex (those files that hang from wire frames)??? They’re much less efficient for rapid personal general filing than plain old freestanding files held upright by the metal sliding support in the back of the drawers of most good front-opening filing cabinets. There are only a few people who need to ©David Allen & Company 2002-2006. All rights reserved.

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DavidAllen hang on to thick manuals and other materials that make the wide hanging files useful.

Unfortunately most desk file drawers are built for Pendaflex hangers, and many companies have issued side-opening Pendaflex filing cabinets as standard office furnishings. (They’re really only good for pulling out the wire and using to store office supplies!)

If you absolutely have to use Pendaflex hanging files, I recommend that you put only one file inside each hanger and label the initial file instead of the hanging file. This makes it much easier to see and find the files, and allows an alpha system to work much easier without fighting with overstuffed hangers. It also allows you to take the file into meetings, keep it temporarily on your desk for work in progress, and generally handle it more easily.

Typeset label your files! I’ve never seen an exception—anyone who has taken my advice and printed their file labels with a labeler has stuck with it, and seriously upgraded their general reference system. I don’t know why it works. I just know it works. Labelers are not cheap (expect to pay $100) But typeset labels just change the nature of files, way for the better.

We’ve always found Brother labelers to be the best and easiest to use. Frankly, you don’t need anything but the most basic functionality—I recommend the least expensive model that sits on the desk (much easier to use than the handheld ones.) At current writing, the best labeler is the Brother PT-310 (about $80 at Staples.) Get the AC adapter for it (it just comes initially with batteries.) Get extra black on white tape cassettes—they are the easiest to read, and you can re-use labels over each other.

Never let your file drawers get more than full! Nothing creates resistance to filing worse than overstuffed file drawers. They should always remain comfortably loose enough to get files and materials in and out with ease (and without destroying cuticles!)

Be prepared to need more filing space. If you maintain full cabinets, and discover how easy the above system is in organizing all kinds of potentially useful information, you will likely need more room for your files. Almost without exception, people I work with want more file drawer space. Both purge and archive elsewhere out-of-date material, and/or be ready to buy more cabinets. As a rule of thumb, I would have four file drawers for your personal general reference files.

©David Allen & Company 2002-2006. All rights reserved.

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DavidAllen

Getting Email Under Control Managing the flood of email messages that most of us need to interact with on a daily basis is a growing challenge. No one’s volume is diminishing. That “beast is out of the barn,” and we’re not going to be able to shove it back in! So, getting a grip on it with a good systematic approach is critical for staying sane.

If you are in the small minority of people currently able to maintain less than a screen-full of email most of the time (because your volume is low and/or you process them rapidly and consistently), your system is probably fine as-is. If you regularly have many more than that (hundreds, thousands?) residing in your email in-box, you’re dangerously subject to stress and numbness relative to your digital communication world.

Because of the volume of discrete messages and the speed with which they show up, email seems to be a unique demon, with a life of its own. In essence, however, email is no different than a desktop in-basket or an answering machine – it’s simply a collection box for incoming communication and information that needs to be assessed, processed, and organized as appropriate. And controlling email involves the same challenge as managing your physical in-basket – often too much stuff that we don’t have the time or inclination to process and organize as it comes in. So it easily becomes a swamp of “staged” or “pending” items – glanced at, perhaps even read, but not decided about or effectively organized (I have uncovered as many as 7,000 emails still festering in a client’s in-tray).

The Big Challenge As email is simply an in-box, it needs to be emptied regularly to be maximally functional. “Empty” does not mean finishing all the work embedded in your emails – it means making decisions about what each one means and organizing it accordingly. The same procedures apply to any in-box – whether it’s the tray on your desk or your answering machine. They should be processing stations, not storage bins. Because the volume in the computer is much greater than an audio or paper-based “in,” however, getting it to zero seems particularly daunting. But there is no light at the end of the tunnel if you are merely letting things pile up there. It takes less effort to start every day or two from zero in your in-box than it does to maintain “amorphous blobs” of accumulated and unorganized “stuff” that must continually be re-read and re-assessed for what they mean.

The Basics We have seen hundreds of unique ways people have come up with to manage their email, and many work just fine – as long as nothing is lost, the inventory does not continue to increase, and someone can easily see the emails they need to take action on. Here are some basic procedures that commonly work for everyone:

©David Allen & Company 1998, 2008. All rights reserved.

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DavidAllen Use the DELETE key! The ease with which we trash things from our physical mail doesn’t seem to translate to the computer for many people – perhaps because emails don’t take up much physical space and they are so easily parked somewhere that’s not immediately in our face. They’re taking up psychic space, however, and deleting everything that we don’t really need, as we encounter it, is crucial to managing the flood. When in doubt, throw it out. If you’ve let emails pile up, purging is the first thing to do. Sometimes it is easier to clean house by clicking the “From” button which will sort them by their source – you can often dump several at a time that way.

File! Use a simple storage system for stuff you want to keep as archives and support information. If you’re a “when in doubt, keep it” person, that’s fine, but don’t have it clogging up your in-basket. Make reference folders in your navigator bar and file those kinds of emails over there. It’s a lot easier to lose track of them among the five hundred or a thousand in your in-box than in a folder you can name. And your Search function can easily find most anything with a key word. Avoid using nested folders that you have to click open to find the file. One simple alpha-sorted list – by topic, theme, or person – is usually sufficient and easier to deal with on the run. Purge them when you have little windows of time with nothing better to do.

Complete the < 2-minute ones! The infamous two-minute rule is crucial for email management. Anything you can deal with in less than two minutes, if you’re ever going to do it at all, should be done the first time you see it. It takes longer to read it, close it, open it, and read it again than it would to finish it the first time it appears. In a heavy email environment, it would not be unusual to have at least a third of them require less than two minutes to dispatch.

Organize emails that require action and follow-up! If you’ve deleted, filed, and finished your < twominute emails, you’re left with only two kinds: (1) those that require more than two minutes to deal with and (2) those that represent something you’re waiting on from others. A simple and quick way to get control is to create two more folders in your navigator bar – “Action” and “Waiting For” and file them accordingly. These folders should be visually distinct from your reference folders and should sit at the top of your folder list, which can be accomplished by making them all caps with a prefix punctuation like the @ symbol or a hyphen (whichever will sort the folders to the top).

If you’ve deleted, filed, finished, or sorted your emails into action-reminding folders, you’re left with an empty in-basket. Now, at least, it will be much easier to review and evaluate a more complete inventory of your work at hand; and you’ll find it’s a lot easier to focus – on email or on anything else.

The On-Going Challenge You must consistently review actionable emails. Once you get your in-basket to zero, it will feel fantastic. But you can’t ignore the batch of ACTION emails you’ve organized. The problem with computers as reminder tools is the out-of-sight-out-of-mind syndrome. If you’re not reviewing them regularly enough, they will start to gnaw ©David Allen & Company 1998, 2008. All rights reserved.

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DavidAllen on your psyche, creating even more avoidance and bad feelings. People leave emails in their in-basket to begin with for the same reason they pile things on their desk, thinking, “If it’s in front of me, I won’t lose or forget it.” Of course that seemingly practical habit of visual cuing is undermined by the volume and ambiguity of what’s in the piles. They create numbness instead of clarity. It’s much easier to assess your workload with actionable emails organized in one place. But it requires the good habit of checking on them regularly to feel OK about what you’re not doing with them at the moment.

All this takes time and mental energy. Pretending that you can get email under control without dedicating the necessary personal resources to do it leads to frustration and stress. These best practices help make the process as efficient as possible, but the freedom that comes from having them under control is still not free. Just as people have learned to accept commute time as dues they pay to live and work where they’d prefer, you must integrate the time and energy to deal with email into your life and work style.

Customized Approaches As personal management software has continued to evolve, in both the standard desktop as well as the myriads of creative small applications and add-ins, the possibilities for variations in how to manage email abound. They can be coded, colored, and automatically filed. They can be sorted by prioritized senders. They can be deferred for retrieval at later times. They can be transferred and melded into task and to-do management functions in other parts of the software.

If you set up and begin to get used to a simple folder system for actionable emails, you might find some specialized sub-categories useful. “Read/Review” can be a folder for FYI-type emails (though printed versions of long ones are easier to manage than on screen). “To Print” can be useful if you are not at a printer regularly.

Some people find that taking the time to edit the subject lines of their own stored emails to reflect the specific action they need to take is useful.

Best Practices But no matter how you tweak it or how cool the unique features and good tricks are that you might explore and even integrate as consistent functions into your personal system, the core principles of good workflow management must be followed to foster relaxed control of the beast: Keep actionable and non-actionable emails in separate places. It’s too complex and stressful for your brain to constantly have to re-sort it every time it looks at it. A system works much better than your psyche for that. Emails filed in reference folders that still represent things to do produce anxiety; and email in the in-basket that is only needed for retrievable information will fog up your focus. Because most people don’t ©David Allen & Company 1998, 2008. All rights reserved.

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DavidAllen have a good action-reminder system per se, they are trying to make their reference folders a system for remembering what to do, and that never really works. If reference and action reminders are separate things, it allows much more freedom and ease with keeping as much reference material as you want – it simply becomes a library.

Keep it clean. Residue seems to self-generate but it doesn’t self-destruct! Delete what you can to begin with, and purge your reference files regularly, as things get out of date and lose their value to you.

Keep them reviewed. As with any action-reminder system, if you don’t review and reassess the reminders of actions you might need to be taking, your mind will take back the job; and it doesn’t do that job very well.

You’ll then avoid looking at your system and not really trust anything you’re doing because of the hidden agreements with yourself you’ve neglected to re-negotiate.

Be good at the keyboard. We would be remiss in not reminding you of one of the most important factors in email management – how fast you type and how facile you are with shortcut keys and codes. Not only is poor typing speed inefficient, it creates a resistance to engage with email that undermines all the best intentions to get on top of it. If you’re not up to at least fifty words per minute, getting there with a good typing tutor could make a world of difference.

We recommend using the simplest approach you can get by with, adhering to these basic best practices, especially if you’re somewhat starting from scratch in getting this area under control. If you are relatively sophisticated in your email management already, and setting up more complex procedures for yourself has actually made it simpler, that’s terrific. The challenge though is to keep it current, complete, and consistent – and not requiring more time and thought than is worth the payoff you may get. Your process has to be so basic and almost automatic that you will maintain it even when you don’t feel like doing it.

Email, like any powerful tool, can be a blessing or a curse. And if the tool goes with the job, you need to invest in whatever it takes to use it wisely and safely. It is a huge productivity enhancer, but when it gets away from you, it’s a severe occupational hazard.

©David Allen & Company 1998, 2008. All rights reserved.

www.DavidAllenGTD.com

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COLLECT

STUFF

STUFF

everything, outside your head

MOVE CLOSER

PUT ALL “IN”

PROCESS in-to-empty early, quickly & regularly :10 – :40 seconds each

300 – 400 times a day

Doing

(GET FASTER)

NEVER BACK “IN”

What is it? Is it actionable?

NO

YES 1 What is the successful Outcome?

What will have happened when this can be checked off?

Describe it in past tense. More than one step? It’s a Project!

Do

Less-than two minute Next Action? Do it now!

2

What is the Next Action?

If this was the only thing you had to get done, what is the very next physical thing you would have to do?

Are you really

OR

best Delegate the person to

OR

do this?

Defer

To be done on a specific day, or simply as soon as possible

ORGANIZE the results of your thinking NO action now FILL DAILY

YES actionable, but deferred

Support materials

REFERENCE

computer ( ) hard indicates drive location

MAIL TO SELF

OUT OF SIGHT

5 travel folders

plans

REVIEW as often as needed to keep your head empty Daily

Weekly

+

Occasionally

LOOSE “STUFF” & MEETING NOTES

DO in the moment, guided by intuition, supported by the four previous phases, influenced by reality of current situation First, by CONTEXT Then, by TIME AVAILABLE Then, by ENERGY AVAILABLE Finally, by PRIORITY

three options at any moment

OR

PREDEFINED WORK (takes discipline) DEFINING (know ALL your work)

OR

AS IT SHOWS UP (can lead to the urgent trap)

FEELING TOO MUCH STRESS?

50,000+ feet 40,000 feet 30,000 feet 20,000 feet 10,000 feet RUNWAY

(life) (3-5 year visions) (1-2 year goals) (areas of responsibility) (current projects) (current actions)

Which one of these will help you get more clear and complete?

Always have a collection tool close by

Only use your inboxes as your inboxes; don’t use your entire office, house, briefcase or car

Decide Outcomes & Next Actions as soon as things show up

Do most 2 min. actions immediately if you plan to ever do them at all

End meetings by clarifying outcomes, deciding Next Actions, and who’s responsible

Don’t allow slips of paper & meeting notes to sit unprocessed

Use your calendar only for things that absolutely have to get done that day

List actual Very Next Actions, not vague, undoable “stuff” or Projects in disguise

Put ALL your multi-step open loops on your Projects list

Use and trust your lists to remind you, not your Project support materials

Do your weekly review … weekly

Review your higher altitudes for Outcomes and Next Actions

Getting Things Done advanced workflow diagram — created by Scott Moehring, based on Getting Things Done by David Allen, www.davidco.com

rev. 2/27/04

Horizons of Focus The Altitude Map “Work” is defined and managed from at least six different horizons, corresponding to different altitudes of perspective. These range from core intention - the understanding of the purpose and values of an undertaking, enterprise, or life - to the most mundane - the next physical actions required to move them forward. Clarity is enhanced and distraction reduced when the multiple levels with which you are engaged have been assessed and the commitments emerging from each one have been appropriately identified, captured, and implemented.

Alignment of the various levels produces maximum productivity.

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. Each horizon is equally important to clarify, however, to get things done, and the content of of your thinking and commitments will be different on each level. A key driver for your life may be to assist others in achieving their dreams (purpose), which you will express by becoming a world-class athlete and spokesperson (vision), for which you will achieve a starting line-up position on a national team (goal). To do all this you need to maintain a rigorous training program (area of focus). You realize you want to get a new personal trainer (project), for which you need to call your college coach (next action) to get his recommendation.

An altitude map can be used to identify which conversation, at what horizon, with yourself and others, might have the most value, at any point in time. It could be at any level or include a combination of them. You may know the long-term goal but have yet to identify the projects needed. You may know the vision but not the actions and who’s doing them. Etcetera.

Keeping your thinking current at all horizons is a dynamic process - as your world and your awareness of it change, so must these arenas of your focus be continually updated.

Following is a generalized list of the levels of focus, with typical formats and suggested frequencies of visitation. (Samples given from a hypothetical business - Gracie’s Gardens) 50,000 ft. - Purpose and core values. Ultimate intention for something, and the standards for its success. Why are we doing this? What are the critical behaviors?

Formats: Off-sites with partners, board, team, family; initial discussions for launching projects, meetings, whole enterprises; life planning Frequency: Whenever additional clarity, direction, alignment, and motivation are needed (Gracie’s Gardens: “Provide the highest-quality landscape and garden materials to delighted retail and wholesale customers;” “Strong and lasting customer relations; environmentally friendly products; well-supported staff,” etc.)

40,000 ft. – Vision. What it will look, sound, feel like with successful implementation. Long-term outcomes and ideal scenarios. (continued)

DavidAllen

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Horizons of Focus (continued)

Formats: Off-sites with partners, board, team, family; initial discussions for launching projects, meetings, whole enterprises; life planning; annual revisiting of enterprise direction; ideal scene development; personal treasure maps Frequency: Whenever additional clarity, direction, alignment, and motivation are needed (Gracie’s Gardens: “Recognized as the #1 garden and landscaping store in the tri-county district; a fun, interesting, creative, informative place to browse and shop, attracting discriminating clientele who love to spend time and money on an on-going basis;” etc.)

30,000 ft. – Goals and objectives. What do we want and need to accomplish, specifically, within the next 12-24 months, to make the vision happen?

Formats: Off-sites with partners, board, team, family; strategic planning; annual goal-setting and broad planning sessions; life and family planning Frequency: Annually; quarterly reviews and recalibrations (Gracie’s Gardens: “By year-end, 15% sales growth, 20% profitability, wholesale business established and in the black,” etc.)

20,000 ft. – Areas of focus and responsibility. Important spheres of work and life to be maintained at standards to “keep the engines running.”

Formats: Job descriptions; organization charts; employee manuals; personal lifestyle checklists; family responsibility designations; project checklists Frequency: Performance reviews; monthly personal check-in’s; whenever job or life changes require resassessment of responsibilities (Gracie’s Gardens: “Executive, administration, PR/marketing, sales, finance, wholesale operations, retail operations,” etc.)

10,000 ft. – Projects. Outcomes we want to achieve that require more than one action and which can be completed within a year.

Formats: Overview list of all projects; project plans (defined sub-projects) Frequency: Weekly review; whenever next-action contents are not current (Gracie’s Gardens: “Set up wholesale division, get the books current, hire Director of Marketing, finalize Acme contract, upgrade HVAC system,” etc.)

Runway – Actions. Next physical, visible actions to take on any project or other outcome; any single action to take about anything Formats: Calendar, action lists (e.g. calls, errands, at home, at office, talk to boss about…); action folders or bins (e.g. read/review, bills to pay) Frequency: Multiple times daily; whenever a question about what to do next (Gracie’s Gardens: “Draft plan for wholesale division, e-mail Sandy re: bookkeeper recommendations, call Brandon re: lunch meeting, review Acme purchasing history, surf web for competition ads” etc.)

DavidAllen

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Productivity Doesn’t Happen By Itself There are three things that have to happen in order to define our work and be maximally productive about it. And these three things don’t happen by themselves. We have to train ourselves to do all three, and until we establish them as automatic and habitual behaviors, we have to discipline ourselves to get them done.

We have to: (1) Make decisions about what we are going to do with our “stuff” and the next actions required to do it (what would “doing” look like?) “Stuff” is unactionable until we’ve decided the outcome and the next step to move toward it. Things on lists and in stacks and email generally repel instead of attract us to get involved, until we decide what exactly our intention is about them and whether the next step is a call, draft a response, buy nails, talk to..., etc.

(2) Write those outcomes and actions down, if we don’t do them in the moment we think of them. Even if we decide what we need to do about something, if we file it in “psychic RAM” we run serious risk of losing sight of the option and (worse) we create instant failure and unnecessary stress. That part of us has no sense of past and future, and thinks we should be doing everything in there all at once.

(3) Look at the reminders (when we can effectively use them and move on them). Even if you have decided the next step is a phone call you need to make, and you have written that down somewhere, if you don’t look at the reminder when you are at a phone with discretionary time, you risk missing an opportunity to move something forward when it might be the best thing to do, given all the variables. When you are in a certain context, you need to see all the things that could be done in those contexts, to be the most efficient.

These three behaviors combined are a master skill set for knowledge work. Yet virtually everyone I come across in the professional world could significantly improve how consistently they do these three critical productivity activities.

We were not taught these growing up. The workaday world of our parents did not require these critical behaviors of knowledge work. People just showed up, and did what obviously needed doing--they could see it in front of them.

Few people work in that kind of world any more. Anyone these days just showing up and expecting to work on what’s visibly been put in front of them, is hoping for a retro world that doesn’t exist, and is likely to be experiencing mounting stress that is not going to get any better.

The ancestor of every action is a thought.

- Ralph Waldo Emerson Those who make the worst use of their time are the first to complain of its shortness.

- Jean de La Bruysre

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Let’s Talk About Prioritizing “How do I set priorities?”

Because I hear that so frequently, I assume most people think they could and should be doing it better.

I have a radical point of view: learn to listen to, and trust, your heart. Or your intuition, or your gut, or the seat of your pants, or whatever part of your anatomy is the source of that mysteriously wonderful “still, small voice” that somehow knows you better than you do, and knows what’s better for you, better than you do.

The “ABC” priority codes don’t work. Listing your top 10 things you think have to get done, in order, doesn’t work. You’ll have a different priority set at 8pm tonight than you will at 10:30 this morning. And sometimes the most strategic thing for you to do will be to water your plants. Like, when you’ve been in six meetings, felt beat up in five of them, and by 4:30 your brain is scrambled eggs, and you barely have the attention span of a gnat.

That’s the time to water your plants and fill your stapler. Why? Because you can’t do anything else, and you’re going to have to water your plants sometime anyway.

On a day to day, moment to moment basis, there is no algorithm or formula that will last very long, or is really worth trying to nail down in some written or coded system. The four criteria that you will use to decide what to do are (in order of precedence): Context (what can I do where I am?)

Time (when do I have to do something else?)

Energy (how wasted/fresh am I?) Priority (what has the highest payoff for me if I do it?)

The idea of “payoff” to yourself is the intuitive one. But let’s not be frivolous--when was the last time you and your professional colleagues as a group took a sincere look into the future and made the hard decisions about what is still mission-critical and what is not? (When did you last decide what your job really is?) When was the last time you personally sat down and thought through where you are in your life, on all fronts, and where you’re going, and what you really want to be different than the way it is?

The best to shoot for is a regular enough revisit to the broader horizon look for your work and your life, letting it sink in at all the levels (conscious and otherwise) it might affect. Then get organized and current enough with your current realities and commitments, so that you have a clear enough deck to listen to the internal directions

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and hunches, and to follow them without distractions.

Do I work on this article I need to write? or call Aunt Susie? or balance my checkbook? or plan the next yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s marketing strategy? or have a beer and hang out with my partner in the yard? Who knows?

Be open to your own spirit and its directions (you might even consider asking it!) -- then take the risk to move on your best guess, pay attention to the results, and course-correct as you keep moving along...

Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve never found another way to do it.

First things first, second things never.

- Shirley Conran

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Think! At least Once a Week I followed up with an executive client recently whose biggest issue was that his Weekly Review, when he “really did it right”, took sometimes 3-4 hours. He wondered if he was doing something wrong. I asked if it was worthwhile doing the review, and he admitted that it was critical to stay on top; but that it was “work” to keep it up. It didn’t ultimately seem to save him more time.

The truth is, it probably won’t save you more time--well, it will, but you will need that extra time to do the reviews and keep lists and categories of items current. Yes, you can get better and faster at how you do it. But it requires investment, no matter how good you are at it. As a matter of fact, the less you have time to do it, the more time you usually need to spend with it!

The absolute requirement for processing time for knowledge work has been a topic for another essay. But again I must get up on the rooftop and yell at my loudest: “Weekly review! Weekly review! Weekly review!”

No personal management system can possibly come close to creating the perfect algorithm that will tie in all the factors of time, people, projects, actions, and support information with the infinite number of variables that go into our thinking about priorities, interests, and commitments. That’s why it becomes critical, once these are somehow objectified into an external system, that they be put in front of our conscious thinking process at least once a week, to get it all recalibrated to match our reality. And I guarantee that there are some intuitive “aha’s” and “I could’s” and “I ought to’s” lying dormant, only to be triggered by putting reminders and triggers about all the aspects of our life and work in front of our face on a regular basis.

For those of you who have taken my seminar or whom I have personally coached – the degree to which you have leveraged the value you may have received is probably proportional to the consistency with which you have reviewed and updated your own “ten acres” of personally-managed “stuff.”

If you haven’t done it within the last seven days, stop surfing the Web and do it now!!!!

An hour of effective, precise, hard, disciplined - and integrated thinking can be worth a month of hard work.

Thinking is the very essence of, and the most difficult thing to do in business and in life. Empire builders spend hour-after-hour on mental work... while others party. If you’re not consciously aware of putting forth the effort to exert self-guided integrated thinking... if you don’t act beyond your feelings and you take the path of least resistance, then you’re giving in to laziness and no longer control your life.

- David Kekich

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Getting Thinking Off Your Mind Ah, the delicious experience of not thinking.

Athletes in their “zone”, ecstatic worshippers “in the Spirit”, movie-goers and novel-readers engrossed in the story, gardeners pruning their trees, lovers talking into the night – the bliss of no time, no stress, no ...thinking?

But there are endeavors of thinking itself in which one can be equally “present” – playing chess, brainstorming a project, negotiating a deal, writing an essay. So, the productive state in which time disappears is not really about not thinking - it’s more like not thinking about thinking. But how do you achieve that state?

You must deal with what throws you out of that state. The mind seems designed to help close the gap between what you’ve committed to and your current reality. If you want to be somewhere you’re not, some way that you’re not, your psyche will experience a cognitive dissonance and pressure until it fulfills that outcome or at least gets things on track toward it. If everything is totally on “cruise control,” thinking is probably not required.

The most productive approach is to think as little as you can get by with, but as much as you need to.

Different horizons have different frequencies at which they must be viewed. How do you get today off your mind?

Several times during the day you probably need to reassess all the actions required to get things done you’re committed to do. But at least weekly a thorough review of all your projects and attendant actions is usually necessary. Every month or two you probably need to think through the checklist of all the areas of responsibility of your life and work, to ensure that you have all the right projects on your plate. Yearly it’s a good idea to look out over the next twelve to eighteen months and formulate where you want to be by then. And every few years you (and any partners in your life) probably need to rethink the vision about your life and lifestyle.

And the Grand Think is figuring out your purpose here on the planet. If you really come up with that one, once should be enough, though you will probably want to check in with some regularity to ensure that you remember.

You’ll really get into productive mode when you have established regular cognitive reviews at all these levels, with the habit and commitments in place to revisit them at the appropriate interval. For instance, when you know you are consistently doing some version of the “Weekly Review” – catching up, reviewing and updating all the open loops of your life and work – you afford yourself the luxury of not having to be thinking about all that stuff, in that way, for another week. You get to be somewhat dumb and happy, in productive “doing” mode, the rest of the week. Why? You’ve already thought sufficiently, generating what you need in terms of clarified perspective

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and inventory of your commitments. And you know you’re going to think again. If you don’t do the weekly review, knowing you should be thinking about something at that level will incessantly bother you.

If you’re having trouble getting into your “zone,” getting to “mind like water,” ask yourself at what level you need to do some focused thinking, and get it done. Finish the exercise. Then come on in - the water’s fine.

“Civilization advances by extending the number of important operations which we can perform without thinking about them. Operations of thought are like cavalry charges in a battle - they are strictly limited in number, they require fresh horses, and must only be made at decisive moments.”

- Alfred North Whitehead

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Managing Work on a Vacation Questions: While on vacation, how do you juggle work and play? How much time should you allot each day of your vacation to reading business email, checking up on projects, etc.? What’s the best balance of work and play? When is the best time of the day to spend on work? What organizational tools should you always bring along on your vacation?

David’s answers: My main purpose for a vacation is to change pace and environment to refresh perspectives and energies.

Things that support that are on purpose. Things that don’t, aren’t. I like to think of vacation as re-creation, i.e. an opportunity to shift gears and balance my activity and focus mix (mental, physical, emotional, spiritual, social, relationships, family, etc.) If I’ve been spending a lot of energy thinking, writing, and speaking, then I want to spend some time getting physical--going for walks, exploring, swimming, jogging, etc. If I’ve been engaged in lots of physical work, then I want to read adventure novels, do some creative writing, and just hang out and socialize.

Sometimes, when I’ve really been in the turbo fast lane for a while, I just like to do nothing, with a vengeance!

The main thing I want to keep on a vacation is a clear head--lack of distraction. That should be the criterion for how much of what kind of “work” to take with me or to stay connected and current with. If I’m lying on the beach and I keep thinking about what’s in voicemail or email, then I’d better check it so I can tan with a clear head.

There’s a fine line, though, between checking in with the office to stay clear, and checking in with the office as an addiction or comfort zone of the pressure and pace of professional engagement. Because most people have some version of that habit, I would suggest erring toward the unplugged side of the equation. But if you must, to keep a clear deck, then of course do them as soon as you can in the day so that all those things can be put to bed early.

Many times we actually can afford to take off for mini-vacations, not constrained to “be in the office”, simply because we have the ability to be in touch from wherever, handling the necessities of our commitments with our clients and companies. Complaining about “having to do work” in those situations is a bit absurd. I have made business calls from my sailboat, so that I could actually go out sailing all day. You do as much as you need to do, to be able to keep doing what you’re doing!

Some specific suggestions: (1.) The last place in the world to have a thought twice is on vacation. That’s why you should always have at least a low-tech “capture” kind of tool with you, even in the most remote places, doing the most remote things. I have

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DavidAllen a small wallet for credit cards and driver’s license that also has a tiny notepad and pen. I may not process the note (decide actions and input information) until I’m back in the groove, but the potential value that the thought might add is not lost. I also travel with a file folder or large envelope labeled “IN” for tossing notes, business cards, receipts, etc. for dealing with back at the office. The more senior and sophisticated your professional roles, the more likely your best thoughts about work won’t happen at work! They may happen on the vacation. And invariably people meet others to expand their network, and get new ideas and good information while socializing.

And if you’re traveling it’s great to keep track of places to go, things to do, in case you want to go there again.

If a key benefit of recreation is to get a fresh perspective, then protect your investment and be ready to take advantage of it’s outputs.

(2.) It is common sense to do your best before you start a vacation to catch up, clean up, and get proactive and current in all your work-related agreements and commitments, handling all the details in plenty of time. Be sure that you identify “Vacation” as a project as soon as it’s on your radar, and that you continue to define and complete all the action steps as soon as they can be done. Too many people need half their vacation to recover from the last two days before they leave!

(3.) If you have support and admin staff, give them relevant contact information and clarify what might constitute an “emergency” ahead of time to use it, and allow them to filter all communications.

(4.) Block out at least a full day or two on your calendar for catching up when you return. It is just shy of stupid to not prepare ahead of time for the invariable accumulated pile of details to adjudicate.

In conclusion, there’s nothing inherently good or bad about being involved with professional things on a vacation.

It all depends on the many variables in your situation. But the assumption that work and fun are mutually exclusive is not a healthy one. If you have to have a vacation because your job is too stressful or no fun, you might want to change jobs, career, or your mindset about it all.

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The Weekly Review So, OK folks, this may seem like more hokey stuff-I-should-do-but-never-do stuff. Honestly, this is what I do to keep myself sane and in control. This is not theoretical or out of some book. This is literally, blow-by-blow, what I do at least once a week. It is the one factor upon which your success with Mind Like Water technology hinges.

Do it, it lives and grows. Don’t do it, it dies. If you don’t yet have this habit, then I recommend that you insert into your calendar for the next four Friday’s--”do weekly review”. Review this for the first couple of weeks, and then it will probably become second nature to you. I suggest, also, that you copy and paste this list into your word processor, and then edit it to add your own extra reminders that are unique to your life. I keep my own personal Weekly Review as a list in my PalmPilot so I can remind myself of what I need to think about to get to a clean slate. - DA This is the critical behavior to make personal organization a vital, dynamic reality, and for fully implementing the Action to Outcome method. A great time to do it is early Friday afternoon, as it will invariably surface small actions which could get completed if you can catch people still at work.

Loose Papers Pull out all scraps of paper, business cards, receipts, and miscellaneous paper. Put into your in-basket to process.

Process Your Notes Review any “Journal/Notes” types of entries, meeting notes, and miscellaneous notes scribbled on notebook paper. Decide and enter action items, projects, waiting-for’s, etc. as appropriate.

Review Previous Calendar Data Review past calendar in detail for remaining action items, reference data, etc. and transfer into the active system.

Review Upcoming Calendar Review upcoming calendar events - long and short term. Capture actions triggered.

Empty Your Head Put in writing (in appropriate categories) any new projects, action items, waiting-for’s, someday-maybe’s, etc. not yet captured.

Review Action Lists Mark off completed actions. Review for reminders of further action steps to record.

Review Waiting-For List Record appropriate actions for any needed follow-up. Check off received ones. ©David Allen & Company 2002-2006. All rights reserved.

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DavidAllen Review Project (and Larger Outcome) Lists Evaluate status of projects, goals and outcomes, one by one, ensuring at least one current action item on each.

Browse through work-in-progress support material to trigger new actions, completions, waiting-for’s, etc.

Review Any Relevant Checklists Use as a trigger for any new actions.

Review Someday/Maybe List Review for any projects which may now have become active, and transfer to “Projects.” Delete items no longer of interest.

Be Creative & Courageous Any new, wonderful, hare-brained, creative, thought-provoking, risk-taking ideas to add into your system???

ps: Here’s an email that I got from someone who was implementing this process. It might be useful for some of you, just beginning to build in the review as a regular habit... DA “I have a suggestion to pass on to those adding the weekly review process to their personal organizational strategy. Be patient and keep trying! My inboxes at home and at work, as well as my other input channels like notes and e-mail, were out of control for so long that I’m still going through and cleaning them out to make them manageable - and I took the seminar in early October! Being a single mother who works fulltime I also get more interruptions than I get even small blocks of time to concentrate, but I’m not giving up. I know that David does counsel patience, but I can say from personal experience that this is crucial to having success with the process.

So remind new weekly reviewers to keep at it, as it may take several tries to get all the way through and then get it the the point where it’s manageable. Putting these strategies to work for me have helped immensely.”

- Ginny @ MIT

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The One Minute (Workflow) Manager I’ve given numerous “drive-by” radio and TV interviews since my book was published – the kind that give you about fifty-three seconds to give everyone the keys to health, wealth, and happiness. They have forced me to distill my message to some bare essentials.

A typical question is, “David, what’s the one thing that we do that gets in the way of us being productive?” Here’s my answer: “It’s not one thing, but five, all wrapped together: People keep stuff in their head. They don’t decide what they need to do about stuff they know they need to do something about. They don’t organize action reminders and support materials in functional categories. They don’t maintain and review a complete and objective inventory of their commitments. Then they waste energy and burn out, allowing their busy-ness to be driven by what’s latest and loudest, hoping it’s the right thing to do but never feeling the relief that it is.”

(How’d I do?)

I merely bottom-lined the worst practices for the five stages of managing workflow – collect, process, organize, review, and do. I can’t give the interviewer any one of these as THE problem. Obviously most people keep stuff in their head, which short-circuits the process to begin with. But lots of people write lots of things down – they just don’t decide the next actions on them, which keeps the lists operationally dysfunctional. But even if they think about the actions required, they don’t organize the reminder somewhere that they’ll see when they are in the context to do the action. And even if they did that in a burst of productivity inspiration, most let their systems quickly become out of date and inconsistent. And without the care and feeding and constant utilization of their objective executive thinking tools, that function slips back into psychic RAM. Life and work become reactive responses instead of clearly directed action choices.

“So, David, what do we need to do instead?” (Some interviews have an additional fifty-three seconds!)

“It’s a combined set of the five best-practice behaviors. Get everything out of your head. Make decisions about actions required on stuff when it shows up, not when it blows up. Organize reminders of your projects and the next actions on them in appropriate categories. Keep your system current, complete, and reviewed sufficiently to trust your intuitive choices about what you’re doing and what you’re not doing at any point in time.”

I suppose I could have gotten it even simpler: “Focus on positive outcomes and continually take the next action of the most important thing.” But who doesn’t know that? Consistent implementation of that principle totally integrated with every aspect of our life is the big challenge. And that’s not so easy.

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The 3 C’s of Effective Systems In a recent workflow coaching session with a senior executive I was reminded why most people seem to flounder with their personal systems. In spite of multiple attempted procedures for staying on top of her to-do’s and paperwork (colored tabs, colored folders, red dot labels on priorities, etc.) she was still drowning and as she admitted, “ready to check into the Betty Ford Center for Out-of-Control Paper Flow”!

She lacked the 3 C’s of effective systems: consistent, current, and context-driven.

Consistent: She had some phone call reminders on pieces of paper, some in her head, some on post-its stuck to the phone. Keeping the same kind of reminders about the same kinds of to-do’s in different media in different places is hugely inefficient and confusing. Information or reminder triggers of a specific type must be kept in the same place, the same way, all the time. Otherwise we must always be making the “what do I do with this?” decision with every such particle, and that will blow your fuses quickly. She decided to go with simple file folders labeled “Calls - Work” and “Calls - Personal”, as the best way to manage those, and sanity began to prevail.

Current: No matter how consistent the system is, if it is not current (i.e. completely up to date with all items in a category) it still can’t be trusted in a way that relieves the psyche of the job of remembering and sorting. You’ll look at a list and some part of you knows it’s not the whole list, so (a) you won’t totally trust your choices and (b) you’ll still try to use your head to keep track. And if your brain still has that job, instead of trusting your lists, you won’t be motivated to keep your external system going (it will be too much work for the value received.) You’ll feel like it’s hard work to keep the list and will resist looking at it anyway because you’ll know it’s only partial and it will remind you that you’re “behind.”

Context-driven: She had been trying to organize action reminders by Project or by Topic, instead of by where the reminder needs to be seen in order to get it done. Project thinking and planning need to be seen by the title or topic, because that’s when we need to see that information (when we’re meeting or thinking about it). But reminders of the next actions required need to be seen where those actions can occur--phone calls when we’re at a phone; errands to do when we’re about to go out in our car; emails to send when we’re at our computer; etc. Information and action reminders should always be stored in such a way that we are likely to see them when we need to see them, and can use or move on the data. If you store your next-action reminders by what or who they’re about, every time you’re in a place where you can do work (at a phone, at your desk, in your car, at home) you’d have to look through dozens of folders or files to find reminders of all your options. And when you’re

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running fast and only have a short window of time, you won’t really check the whole inventory and you’re likely to make choices from latest-and-loudest instead of objective overview.

Though my client had a new Palm PDA, given the nature of her workflow volume and style, it was not going to be nearly as effective as a simple pending file-folder system at her desk, which was easier to review and keep openly accessible when she could do the work it reminded her about. Making these changes was not a big deal for her (she had been working so hard at getting organized anyway), but getting current with consistent contextsensitive sorting propelled her light-years ahead.

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Go the Distance to a “Mind Like Water” There is a light year of difference between a system that has merely a lot of our commitments objectified and one that has 100% of the total. And few people have ever gotten to a totally empty head, with absolutely every project, action item, and potential agreement we have made with ourselves and others out and available in an easily reviewable format.

My hat’s off to people who try to keep lists reminders of things to do, but those lists are not complete. They have put enormous and unnecessary work on their psyche. If you don’t have everything in a system that the system ought to have, there is still no full trust in that system and minimum motivation to keep it up and keep it current. If your “to call” list doesn’t have every single phone call you need to make on all your actionable things, then your mind still has the job of remembering them when you’re at a phone. You’ll probably leave phone slips lying around a desk and in briefcases. There is not full freedom to trust the intuition about which call to make off the list, since it still has the job of remembering and formulating all the options. If your Rolodex is only partially complete, you will probably not be motivated to get all your collected business cards input and cleaned up, as soon as they arrive in your life.

If some errands to run are on the list, but there are others that aren’t, your mind is still trying to remember what you have to do on the way home. If some projects have been identified, but there are many more that haven’t been captured, you’re never quite sure that something is not slipping through a crack somewhere. And because these inventories of to-do’s are incomplete, they often create more pressure on us than they relieve. We will subliminally know that we don’t have everything out in front of us, and we have a mistrust of the tools. The mind continues to be forced to retain the job of remembering and reminding, which it does not do very well.

Most people trust their calendar. Why? Their minds are relatively at ease about appointments because they know they have them all captured – there’s nothing missing in the system. What’s the difference with all the other commitments? Why don’t people have as complete a system, and get to the same level of trust about all of those? Probably because there is a finite amount of calendar items, and they are relatively unambiguous. But the calendar usually holds only about 5% of the commitments we actually have – all the rest need to get done in and around our appointments, and they are often not nearly as clear-cut as our appointments. But the principle is the same. There is a level of trust about our lives and work that is available, if we’d only manage all those actionable things as rigorously and completely as our calendars.

How will you know when your reminders and categories are complete? When will you know how much you have out of your head and into your system? You will only know how much you have left, when there is nothing left!

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Either your head is the best place to hold all your agreements with yourself, or it’s not. (You can guess which way I vote.) I can’t imagine any intellectual justification for halfway in between. Yet most people still have over half their life in their heads. And a partial system is almost worse than none. As my favorite mentor of mine is fond of reminding me from time to time, in regard to life commitments in general--99%’s a bitch, 100%’s a breeze.

“The life-spirit and energy which contribute to the mastery of the creative process, can never be fully engaged by a commitment to a compromise.”

- Robert Fritz

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Incompletion Trigger List What do you have attention on?

Professional Projects started, not completed Projects that need to be started â&#x20AC;&#x153;Look intoâ&#x20AC;? projects Commitments/promises to others

Administration legal issues, insurance, personnel, staffing, policies/procedures, training

Staff hiring, firing, reviews, staff development, communication, morale, feedback, compensation

boss, partners, colleagues, subordinates, others in organization, other professionals, customers, other organizations

Systems

Communications to make/get

phones, computers, software, databases, office equipment, printers, faxes, filing, storage, furniture, fixtures, decorations, supplies, business cards, stationery, personal organizers

calls, emails, voice mails, faxes, letters, memos

Writing to finish/submit reports, evaluations, reviews, proposals, articles, marketing material, instructions, summaries, minutes, rewrites and edits, status reporting, conversation and communication tracking

Sales customers, prospects, leads, sales process, training, relationship building, reporting, relationship tracking, customer service

Meetings

Marketing/promotion

upcoming, need to be set or requested, need to be de-briefed

campaigns, materials, public relations

Waiting for

Read/review books, periodicals, articles

Financial cash, budget, balance sheet, P&L, forecasting, credit line, payables, receivables, petty cash, banks, investors, asset management

Planning/organizing goals, targets, objectives, business plans, marketing plans, financial plans, upcoming events, presentations, meetings, conferences, travel, vacation

Organization development org chart, restructuring, lines of authority, job descriptions, facilities, new systems, change initiatives, leadership, succession planning, culture

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information, delegated projects/tasks, pieces of projects, replies to communications, responses to proposals, answers to questions, submitted items for response/reimbursement, tickets, external actions needed to happen to continue or complete projects...(decisions, changes, implementations, etc.), things ordered

Professional development training, seminars, things to learn, things to find out, skills to develop or practice, books to read, research, formal education (licensing, degrees), career research, resume

Wardrobe professional

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Incompletion Trigger List What do you have attention on?

Personal Projects started, not completed

Waiting for

Projects that need to be started

mail order, repairs, reimbursements, loaned items, information, rsvpâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s

Projects - other organizations

Home/household

service, community, volunteer, spiritual organization

calls, emails, faxes, cards, letters, thank-youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s

real estate, repairs, construction, remodeling, landlords, heating and A/C, plumbing, electricity, roofs, landscaping, driveways, garages, walls, floors, ceilings, decor, furniture, utilities, appliances, lights and wiring, kitchen stuff, laundry, places to purge, cleaning, organizing, storage areas

Upcoming events

Health

birthdays, anniversaries, weddings, graduations, outings, holidays, vacation, travel, dinners, parties, receptions, cultural events, sporting events

Personal development

Commitments/promises to others spouse, partner, children, parents, family, friends, professionals, returnable items

Communications to make/get

support and maintenance, doctors, dentist, optometrist, specialists, checkups, diet, food, exercise classes, seminars, education, coaching, career, creative expressions

Family projects/activities with spouse, partner, children, parents, relatives

Transportation

Administration

autos, bikes, motorcycles, maintenance, repair, commuting, tickets, reservations

home office supplies, equipment, phones, answering machines, computers, internet, TV, DVD, appliances, entertainment, filing, storage, tools

Clothes

Leisure

Pets

books, music, videos, travel, places to visit, people to visit, web surfing, photography, sports equipment, hobbies, cooking, recreation

Financial bills, banks, investments, loans, taxes, budget, insurance, mortgage, accountants

Legal wills, trusts, estate, legal affairs

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professional, casual, formal, sports, accessories, luggage, repairs, tailoring health, training, supplies

Errands hardware store, pharmacy, department stores, bank, cleaners, stationers, malls, gifts, office supply, groceries

Community neighborhood, neighbors, service work, schools, civic involvements

www.davidallengtd.com Š 1990-2006 David Allen & Co. All rights reserved.

DavidAllen

Personal Inventory Control If you let the stockpile of your commitments run amuck, it creates ambient anxiety and unnecessary stress. You’ll let that happen if you’re using your psyche instead of a system to keep track of those “open loops.” Managing a complete, current, and objective inventory of your agreements, in a seamless and leak proof container (not your mind), is the only way out. You must be able to renegotiate those agreements with yourself, almost moment to moment, so they’re not inordinately pulling on your psyche and undermining your self trust. In other words, you can only feel good about what you’re not doing, when you know what you’re not doing.

Here are the keys for having nothing on your mind (other than what you want on your mind):

- Have and use a ubiquitous personal “capture” tool •

Write down any and every potentially useful idea and all should’s, need-to’s, and want-to’s, when and where they occur to you.

- Have and use pens and legal pads wherever you think, work, communicate •

Take notes while you talk, think, and listen. If the writing tools are not at hand, you’ll resist the process. Have junior legal pads at every phone.

- After you write on your pads, tear and toss the pages into your in-basket •

Keep the pads clean for new input.

- Process and clean out your in-basket daily (like you do your answering machine) •

If you avoid deciding what you’re going to do about the content of the notes, or what they mean to you, sooner than later, you’ll subvert the whole flow.

- Organize your resulting actions, projects, reference and support material accordingly •

Have a good system of lists that can group things of like nature (all your calls, all the things to do for errands, etc.), plus an easy-to-use filing system for projects notes.

- Review your lists of projects and possible actions consistently enough to trust you’re not missing anything •

At least once a week remind yourself of all projects that you are still committed to finish, and what you need to do next on each one.

If you follow these guidelines for corralling your commitments, you’ll find that (1) you’ll become more conscious and mature about what you commit to (you will start to self-regulate more automatically), and (2) you’ll get increasingly comfortable with a big list of undone things. Both of those are critical outcomes for a sustainable life- and workstyle. ©David Allen & Company 2002-2006. All rights reserved.

www.DavidAllenGTD.com

DavidAllen

Stalking the Wild Projects Perhaps the most profound result of creating a complete and accurately defined inventory of our projects is how it can propel us to do something positive and concrete about ephemeral and ambiguous situations that have our attention. We are all capable of taking dominion over every problem or challenging situation we encounter. But this doesn’t happen by itself. Nailing down the real outcome we’re committed to in those situations, when “the answer” is still not clear, takes awareness and focus. There is a subtlety and rigorous mental discipline required to create that “complete and accurately defined inventory of our projects.”

Defining a “project” as “anything you’re committed to complete that takes more than one step” means that most people have between thirty and a hundred projects. Though many are somewhat obvious (hire a new assistant, set up the new computer, finish moving in), many aren’t. And as mundane as making a complete version of this kind of list may seem, it is key to masterful self-management.

It’s challenging enough to get someone to write down even the most evident projects (it takes some guts to face objectively all the commitments you’ve made with yourself). And even when you think you have your “total list” of projects, it seldom is. The ones that will elude you are the projects that you can’t even see yet as projects. They are the situations you implicitly have committed to change or improve, but haven’t gotten a grip on yet.

Often what will hang you up are uncomfortable, unfamiliar, or distracting circumstances you find yourself in, for which you haven’t yet gotten clear about how you’re going to relate to them. For example: •

Potential professional relationships: “Acme Brick has approached us about a joint venture, but I’m not sure that’s something we want to do right now.” “Smedley Company has asked for a proposal, but I don’t know if we even want to do work for them.”

•

Sticky interpersonal situations: “My sister and her husband continue to avoid talking to me about the money they owe us.” “I don’t know if I can stand working for the person I have as my boss much longer.”

•

Personal development issues and opportunities: “I’m frustrated that I’m not further along in my career.” “I’m not sure if I should take time to learn more computer skills.”

•

Miscellaneous life and work situations: “I’m concerned about what Mom is going to do now about her house.” “We’re frustrated about the latest changes in the policies of our organization.” “I’ve got to do something about my energy.” “I don’t know how to deal with the troubles Jimmy is having in school this year.”

©David Allen & Company 2002-2006. All rights reserved.

www.DavidAllenGTD.com

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DavidAllen Then, because people don’t in the moment “have the answer” to the situation, they don’t take the opportunity to define a project of resolution, clarification, or research. If the above inner dialogs were part of your reality, your “Projects” list might begin to look something like this: “Research possible JV with Acme Brick,” “Clarify money issue with my sister,” “Evaluate career change opportunities,” “Resolve Mom’s living situation,” etc.

Then, and only then, can real next actions be determined which will be the key to your positive engagement with still vague and ambiguous things. Something that has been gnawing at your psyche melts away as you “Call Maria re: suggestions for elder care options” and “E-mail Chuck/Sally/Bertrand re: meeting about Acme offer.” You don’t need the final solution to take away the pressure -- you just need forward motion toward it.

Training yourself to identify all the things that are “yanking your chain” at any level of your awareness and define for each a positive result and an action to take to move toward it - that’s installing an extremely productive behavior, and a mark of significant maturity.

“Confusion is a word we’ve invented for an order which is not understood.” - Henry Miller

©David Allen & Company 2002-2006. All rights reserved.

www.DavidAllenGTD.com

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The Freedom in Naming Your “Stuff” I have been reminded over and over again in working with executives over the years why so much of the GTD implementation process is empowering to so many people: when things we have allowed into our inner or outer world are appropriately and accurately identified for what they are and what they mean to us, we feel curiously freed from them. Accurately naming things that are in our world gives us power over them, while leaving them unnamed allows them a certain hold on our minds.

Various primitive people have beliefs that giving someone your name gives them a certain ability to exert influence over you. Whether that has any truth to it, I’m not sure. But from my own experience, when something that has potential meaning to me is named, it is more known; and when it is known, its potential hold on me is released.

For instance, if you’d just label all your crap “Crap,” you’d probably feel a lot better. If someone had to call Organization Paramedics for you because you’re so out of control, they could simply bring in a big box labeled “All the Stuff I Don’t Know What It Is or What to Do with It.” They’d scour your whole environment and throw everything in that box that fits in that category. In an hour you’d be totally organized – if you didn’t know where something was, you’d now know where it was! The best part would be that the totality of the rest of your world would not have any of that “stuff” in it, and a fresh breeze would be blowing through your psyche.

A good example of this is having a binder on a shelf without a label or title on the spine. Most people are not aware of the slight pressure that unnamed thing maintains on your brain. But if you create a very visible label for it, you’ll notice being more relaxed about it whenever you walk past it. The same is true for storage boxes and file drawers.

More subtly, do you have any problems that you haven’t identified as projects yet? Got anything you’ve been thinking about that needs clarification, resolution, or looking into, that you don’t have on a Projects list yet, which you can look at regularly to keep actions moving toward? Do you have piles of things around your office or your house that have unidentified agreements sitting within them (is this to read? to toss? to file?) Are there things that you think you need to be moving on but you haven’t defined what “moving” looks like physically or visibly yet (next action)?

If you do, then there is good news for you--there is potential energy and freedom embedded there that is available to you...if you name them! If you don’t, well, it’s just the opposite. The problem is that most people have never fully gotten to the place where everything was really categorized appropriately, according to all the different types and amounts of agreements with themselves. You won’t know how much restriction you are actually working under, until you get rid of it, and see how different you feel.

davidco.com

© 1998 to 2006 The David Allen Company

Naming anything we’re experiencing lessens its grip on us. If I’m feeling negative, when I realize it and call it “negativity” I instantly have greater freedom of choice about what to do with or about it. When I’m just in it, and haven’t recognized, acknowledged and accepted it for what it is, I am more of its victim than its master.

A big key is to name things as accurately as possible. If we mislabel, we run the risk of locking ourselves into limitation and stagnation. To say “I’m a totally disorganized person” is probably not true (you couldn’t get out of bed, if that were true). To say “my thoughts and paperwork about my finances are disorganized” might be much more accurate and would lend direction and energy toward resolution of the situation.

Categorizing is to be used for freedom, not constriction. Many people avoid categorizing because they are avoiding making a decision about something. Should I read this article? File it? Throw it away? Pass it on to someone? But in the short-term freedom of not deciding, they then constrict themselves with the pressure that they ought to be deciding. I use my tickler file as an elegant tool to deal with this. I’ll often get things in my inbasket that I just don’t know what to do with them yet (especially particularly cool things I might want to buy). I just ask myself “when will I be smarter?” and tickle it to show up again then. It’s perfectly fine to decide not to decide. You just need name those things as such, and park them in a decide-not-to-decide system.

Disorganization is simply a discrepancy between where something is and what it means to you. The freedom comes from ensuring that everything has its proper ID badge, so it can get in the right line.

The truth that sets us free is often the one we don’t want to hear.

--Unknown

davidco.com

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© 1998 to 2006 The David Allen Company

Three-Dimensional Self Management For many years I have been teaching about the horizontal and vertical aspects of productivity. “Horizontal” represents the ability to quiet distractions and maintain a complete and total inventory of things to do across the whole spectrum of our day-to-day engagements. For instance, when you have a phone and time, you have available every call you need and want to make and your head is clear enough to make them. Basically, you’re feeling OK about what you’re not doing, because your available list of options is complete. “Vertical” represents the ability to view what you’re doing from the appropriate horizon and to shift your focus as required. You analyze your strategic plan in one moment, answer e-mails in the next, reconnect with your core values when you need to, review all your projects weekly, tweak your lifestyle visions with your partner creatively and proactively.

You’re facile in your ability to frame which kind of thinking you need to be doing, about what, and when.

It’s about both control and perspective. And if self management can be interpreted as how well our actions match our priorities, or simply how good our choices are about what we’re doing, then we must have equal capability in each of these dimensions to be at our best.

Can you have one without the other - control without perspective, or vision without control? Ultimately, no. If you’re out of control, it’s almost impossible to maintain appropriate perspective. And if you can’t see things from the right altitude, you’ll lose control at some point. But relatively speaking, yes – there can be an imbalance.

On a matrix of control vs. perspective, there are four quadrants: low control and low perspective, high control and low perspective, low control and high perspective, high perspective and high control. Each of these is at least a little familiar to all of us as a state we may find ourselves in.

1. Low control, low perspective = the Reactor. Driven by latest and loudest, working simply to relieve the most obvious and immediate pressures and pains.

2. High control, low perspective = the Micro Manager. Obsessed with containing and ordering detail, neglecting the Why question and the bigger-picture realities. Constrained with inordinate structure and lack of flexibility.

3. Low control, high perspective = the Crazy Maker. Fabulous ideas, by the minute, unrealistically overcommitting focus and resources. Lack of appropriate structures and systems.

4. High control, high perspective = Master and Commander. Keeping the eye on the prize with attention to critical detail, holding steady with a firm but flexible hand.

Which one describes you, today, right now? Are you reading this essay to avoid getting more control or perspective, or because you have them? davidco.com

© 1998 to 2006 The David Allen Company

I’m in and out of each one of these configurations, several times a day. I may start out having gotten it all together, sailing ahead as the captain of my ship. I then get a crazy idea, make one phone call, and turn my world upside down. I get overcome by the new problems or possibilities and I’m crashing on rocky shoals. In my excitement or nervousness I then decide to prune another tiny branch off a maple tree outside my office (can I get control of something, please!?) No matter. The key is not forever staying at optimum perspective and control – it’s having a good GPS system and knowing how to right the vessel and get back on course when it wavers and when I get around to getting it together again.

This was the inspiration for my latest version of our public seminar, and why it’s called “The RoadMap” – to chart the currents of the waters of control and perspective (and the lack thereof), so we can more easily identify where we are and what kind of activity and focus will have the most value for us, at any moment. Most people’s initial positive experience with the Getting Things Done method is centered around the getting-control aspect – making sense and getting a handle on all the “stuff” coming at us and clogging up our brains and our lives.

Rightly so, because you must pay attention to the level that most has your attention, first. But once we have things relatively stable, there must be an equal focus on the right focus. We need to know and trust why we are subscribing to that magazine in the in-basket, not just that we can park it in Read/Review. Is it something that’s getting us to where we’re going, mapping to what’s really important to us now, or just momentum from an old inspiration that needs updating, and should be canceled? Getting Things Done (GTD) is about making sense of and managing multiple priorities, with the best models for rapidly gaining control and perspective – critical for self management.

But hey, what’s the third dimension?

Ah, it’s acknowledging and consciously engaging with that which constantly pulls us, guides us, and impels us toward creativity and coherence. It’s the recognition and participation with something that promotes perspective and control, almost magically, and yet trancends them. It’s the thing that, in the worst and best of circumstances and when it often makes no sense, gives us the experience of acceptance, surrender, intuition, courage, and forgiveness. It’s our heart.

“The salvation of this human world lies nowhere else than in the human heart, in the human power to reflect, in human meekness and in human responsibility.” – Vaclav Havel

davidco.com

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© 1998 to 2006 The David Allen Company

DavidAllen

The Threefold Nature of Work Why do people complain that there’s no time to get their work done? Because there is more work to do than the work they think they have to do.

Many times people we work with express frustration that they “can’t get any of their work done” because of the overwhelming amount of interruptions, email, and other inputs that show up during the course of a normal day. “I can’t get my work done, because there is so much (other) work to do!”

If you are ever in that frustrated state, it might help to understand the threefold nature of what constitutes your “work.”

You have a choice of doing three very different things when you work – pre-defined work, ad hoc work, and defining your work.

1. Pre-defined Work This is what you would be doing all day if you got no new input or interruptions of any sort. You would probably be working off the inventory of actions and projects that you came in with – work that you have already determined needs doing. There are the phone calls you need to make, the documents you need to draft, the ideas you need to outline on the project, etc. That list of things to potentially be doing, when you have some discretionary time, would be challenging enough to sift through given your volume (most professionals have 150-200 of these discrete actions). But what you are very often faced with is the necessity (and opportunity) to do...

2. Work As It Appears The phone rings. It’s not on your lists or your calendar. But you take the call, nonetheless, and consequently spend twenty minutes talking to a client of yours about a potentially important, or at least an interesting, topic. Before you’re off that call, your boss sends you an instant message to schedule a half hour meeting in the afternoon to update you on a new development and get your input on it. You acknowledge back “OK” while you’re still talking to the client. For that meeting, though, you know immediately that you are going to need to update two spreadsheets and surf the Web about a company that’s been on your radar pertaining to this project, before you walk in. That means do it now, or otherwise not eat lunch. In this scenario you are doing the work as it shows up to be done. You are actually defining your work rapidly in this case, and choosing to do the new stuff instead of any of the pre-determined potential activities. Many of us have whole days of this nature. We can’t get to anything on our action lists because the ad-hoc nature of the day wound up defining and requiring our total focus, non-stop.

That, added to our inventory of pre-defined work, creates a substantial volume of on-deck options for things to be doing. But then there’s the e-mail constantly filling up your in-basket. And meeting notes from last night still on the legal pad on the corner of your desk. And the fourteen voicemails that you keep saving because they mean something you might need to do, but you don’t know exactly what yet. And more voicemails coming in during the day. So, in addition to all the stuff on your lists and all the stuff coming at you during the day that you have to engage with as it shows up, you know there’s still the on-going requirement to be...

3. Defining Work This is processing and emptying your in-basket, your email, your meeting notes, etc. – assessing the new inputs and making decisions about what needs to be done about them. You may do some quick actions as you define them

©David Allen & Company 2002-2007. All rights reserved.

www.davidallengtd.com

page

DavidAllen (a la the two-minute rule), delegate things to others (to be tracked on your “Waiting For...” list), and you will probably be adding more action items and projects to your inventory of defined work, as you review and think about the meaning of the content of those notes. “Oh yeah, I told Raphael I would call him back about possible times to meet next week...”

This activity of defining work, based upon the constant flow of new incoming information and communication, requires an average of one hour per day, for the typical professional. That’s just to stay current – not to clean up and process any backlog that may have accumulated prior to today.

So what? Everything I have described so far is common sense, or at least a common awareness about the way things really are. Here’s the rub: I have noticed that many people act as if (2) is some sort of burden to endure, and (3) is some irrelevant activity aside from their work. “I have my list of things to do. Why am I being burdened with things that aren’t on my lists, and why am I now in addition having to deal with all of these e-mails, voicemails, conversation notes, business cards, receipts, and tons of other inputs coming at me from my outside world?”

I don’t get it. It’s all your work. Some is done when it appears, and some is done when you choose to do it instead of what’s showing up. And processing input is required to trust that the inventory of your pre-defined work is complete enough to evaluate its contents against your new options of things to do.

Are you truly pretending that your boss doesn’t have the authority to reallocate your focus toward a new and unexpected priority? Get real. Are you honestly saying that now the world is at fault for reconfiguring itself to present you with things you weren’t aware of twelve hours ago? Get a grip. And how long can you honestly say you are comfortable doing anything, without checking your voicemail or e-mail?

The key is how efficiently and effectively you know how to process new stuff, and how functional your system is for maintaining and reviewing your inventory of commitments. Then you accept and manage the input processing as a critical component, you review the whole game frequently enough to know (in your gut) how to evaluate the surprises and unexpected work, and you have a sufficiently functional system for capturing and managing all the various rivers and streams of this complex environment, to feel at least OK about what you’re not doing. Master key to life.

How much of which kind of work to do, when, is the eternal dance of the workday. You can’t really do more than one of them at a time, though you can get really fast with processing work while you’re on hold on the phone, and waiting for meetings to start. There may be interruptions that are allowed that are not functional or valuable, but managing those is just tactical to your definition of your job. It’s an eternal challenge of allocating limited resources (the definition of “management”) – it’s not an inherent problem.

How much of your day and week do you need to assume is going to be ad hoc and unexpected? How much of your day really is required for cleaning up your in-baskets so that you can trust your backlog doesn’t have landmines and unseen priorities lurking? When are you dedicating critical executive time for updating your contents and maybe improving your own process for capturing, clarifying, organizing, and reviewing your work?

Get your habits and your systems up to handling it. And get used to it.

David

©David Allen & Company 2002-2007. All rights reserved.

www.davidallengtd.com

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The Need For a “Total Life To-Do List” The concept of daily or weekly to-do lists is as outdated as rotary phones. We need to have a total, holographic view of everything we want to accomplish, and all the actions required to start any of them. And we need to have access to views of those actions whenever we actually might be able to do them.

Most everyone I come across in my clients’ organizations are up to their eyeballs in work, and feel overwhelmed.

Strategy and triage are indeed required to address that, but at least as important is the requirement for people to set up their lives to get a lot more efficient about getting a lot more done in a day.

To steal from a Motorola strategy, we need to “mine the bandwidth.” They developed technology utilizing the more discreet areas “between the lines” in the radio frequencies already in place. Similarly we need to be ready for, and take advantage of, the weird uneven time and energy spaces we find ourselves in.

Ever have the attention span of a gnat... either externally imposed (like on the tarmac at O’Hare) or internally generated (like 4:30 PM on a day of six meetings, five of which were brutal)? Ever have a short (but still unknown) time period, with informal distraction, like waiting for a late meeting to start? Ever get a five-hour plane trip with minimal interruptions?

There are very few times and places we really have the appropriate energy level, tools, and uninterrupted time frames to work on some of our “most important” work. The rest of the day, we shouldn’t be feeling guilty that we’re not working on “job one.” Rather, we should be maximizing our productivity by picking things to do (that we’re going to do anyway, sometime) that match the situation.

Catch up on the FYI-type Read-and-Review material while waiting for meetings. Water your plants and fill your stapler when your brain is toast. Call Marriott and make a reservation when you have ten minutes before you board. Problem is, most people don’t have all those options already figured out and put in appropriately accessible buckets to rummage through when those situations appear. And mostly when those weird time slots happen they don’t have the energy to remember them or figure them out.

It’s a subtle and fine line between doing less important items as a way to procrastinate, and doing them because it is the most productive thing you can do effectively. At worst it’s an energizing way to waste time semi-productively.

At best, it’s keeping the decks clear and optimally utilizing yourself as a resource.

We all have times when we think more effectively, and times when we should not be thinking at all.

- Daniel Cohen davidco.com

© 1998 to 2006 The David Allen Company

Why “Getting Organized” Usually Hasn’t Worked I had another BFO the other day (that’s a Blinding Flash of the Obvious): one of the reasons most people are to some degree allergic to “getting organized” is the consistent lack of success they have experienced over the years with how they’ve approached the whole process of to-do lists.

The reason those lists have not worked is because they were an attempt to compress very different and relatively sophisticated and discrete functions into one event and context. If you try to make something too simple, it will make it seem even more complex and difficult. Yes, we’ve all been up against the wall from time to time of too many things screaming at us in our head, and we got temporary relief from “making a list.” But we’re in a very different and more multifaceted world than that band-aid can manage as an on-going procedure.

When most people sit down to write one of those lists, they are actually trying to combine at one time all five of the phases we have defined for mastering workflow: collect, process, organize, review, and do. They are simultaneously attempting to grab things out of their mind, decide what they mean, arrange them in some logical or meaningful fashion, jumping immediately to an evaluation of each against each other and deciding what they need to do “most importantly.” One is usually rewarded with a short-term payoff of the crisis of confusion relieved, but left with still a vague sense of gnawing vulnerability to what’s uncaptured, unprocessed, unorganized, unseen, and underestimated.

We have discovered over many years of research and coaching that these phased aspects of workflow management are optimally done as separate activities. You need to collect everything on your mind first, little or big. Then you need to assess each individual particle of that inventory: is it actionable? If so, what’s the outcome? What’s the next action? You then need to organize all the results of that thinking into appropriate categories. At that point you can clearly review all your options of what to do, and make the best choices, given all the criteria for making those decisions (time, energy, context, priorities, etc.)

Managing yourself is simple, but it is not simplistic.

Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler.

- Albert Einstein

davidco.com

© 1998 to 2006 The David Allen Company

®

GTD Quarterly ®

Volume 1 No. 1

GTD - Processes, Perspectives, and Pointers

Welcome to the premier issue of GTD Quarterly As I cruise at 34,000 feet on one of my regular plane trips across the U.S., I’m reflecting on our purpose for creating a “quarterly” magazine – a format somewhat different than simply posting articles on the Web site, a blog, or an e-mail newsletter. As with many things I’ve decided to do over the years, it just seemed like the thing to do. In my analysis of why I felt that way, I realized it’s because Connect members, in making more of a commitment to GTD implementation, will find value in more feature-oriented perspectives and the kind of practical information this particular medium and space will allow.

I think, too, that the compilation of topics and their juxtaposition with each other in this kind of container will have a meta-message – one that will serve someone’s intention to be involved with it to begin with. The nature of a magazine itself – whether the Atlantic, Men’s Health, The Week, or Garden Design – seems to affirm a particular style, a standard, and a focus for me, as I engage with it. Ideally our Quarterly will bring you that same kind of reinforcement for the relaxed focus lifestyle and stress-free productivity that the GTD processes can deliver. It will also (if this edition is any indication) reflect something else about the GTD meta-message – it’s as much about the most mundane as it can be about the sublime.

My style tends to deal with all of it – from our Big (continued on next page)

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capture complete win Getclarify Connected

David Allen

“

If the success or failure of this planet and of human beings depended on how I am and what I do, how would I be and what would I do?

”

– Buckminster Fuller

GTD Quarterly

Welcome to the premier issue (continued) Picture things to staplers – with a somewhat equal mix of respect and irreverence. I sincerely attempt to not take too much too seriously.

I’ve also found it fascinating over the years to observe how the time interval of regular events – whether it’s meetings, blogs, periodicals, or gettogethers with friends – affects the horizon of focus and the nature of topics that tend to emerge. A weekly meeting will never address the same things as a monthly one, which will itself be different than a quarterly or annual off-site. I think it also may be true, though to a lesser degree, about the delivery mode – what I read on screen is somehow different in tone, content, and length than what’s in a monthly magazine. It could be, of course, that my own subjective filters will be affected by the look and feel of the form – I will likely notice different things in an article on the Web than I will when I read the identical piece in newsprint.

So, though I don’t know yet what upcoming editions will contain (the Quarterly will be timely and fresh, for me at least!) I’m looking forward to my own process of sharing through this kind of channel, at this frequency. It will likely be more conversational, more reflective, and maybe even more opinionated than other things I’m doing. I will certainly have you (as the reader) in mind as someone with a working familiarity with the GTD experience and concepts and an expressed interest and dedication for continued exploration and development for yourself. That makes for a different conversation, and one I really like. – David

“

IN THIS ISSUE GTD Quartely is published quarterly and is available exclusively to GTD Connect Members.

3

Cleaning and clearing

3

The 5 Phases of GTD workflow - Restated

4

The powerful “10” factor

6

Checklisting

8

ROI for a paper-based filing system that works

9

Writing your own testimonial

10

One GTD List that’s already working for most everybody

10

Apropos of nothing special

11

A case for a soft focus and serendipity

12

Just a second–is that another blog?

13

The Budding Gourmet

14

List Talk

The aspects of things that are most important to us are hidden, because of their simplicity and their familiarty.

– Ludwig Wittgenstein

”

capture clarify complete win

>

Cleaning and Clearing “What’s the result if I get rid of this?”

Great question to feather into your regular productivity vocabulary.

A GTD CHALLENGE Things do not get rid of themselves. There seems to be a universal law of physics that goes like this: things that exist want to keep existing, even if there’s no good reason. And I think they have strange, secret, invisible agents that lurk in our psyche, planting little numbing seeds like “it’s there, so there must be a good reason it’s there.”

And stuff changes. What’s useful today may not be so useful tomorrow and by next week may be irrelevant and by next month may be seriously in the way of us getting things done. In addition to inconveniently taking up physical space, it consumes psychic space, of which we can all use as much as we can get.

When was the last time you did an inventory of what you really don’t need anymore?

-in your center drawer -in your briefcase -in your closet -in your garage -in your bathroom cabinets -in the trunk (boot) of your car -on your bookshelves -on your staff -on your calendar -on your computer -in your product line -in your relationships -in your habits -in your mind

Many of the things you will find have probably at some point become “someday/maybe” kinds of things, and perhaps there’s a decent reason to keep them around, just to keep the option open – “But what if I might need it?” At least consider migrating those to a deeper storage area, and limit that space, so as you add things to it, it forces you to move even older nostalgia out into the dumpster.

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The phases of GTD workflow mastery, restated.

Collect

Crap self-generates but doesn’t self-destruct.

Process

If you don’t know what you’re doing, everything is a pain in the ass.

Organize

If you know what you’re doing, efficiency is your only improvement opportunity.

Review

Integrate and consider, or inconsiderately disintegrate.

Do

Perfection only comes to those who don’t wait.

GTD Quarterly

The Powerful “10” Factor

1. Acceleration 2. Braking 3. Steering 4. Front view 5. Rear view 6. Side views 7. Air/temperature control 8. Sounds/radio/phone 9. Speed 10. Gas/temperature/warning instruments Though I’m not a pilot, I’ve asked a couple I know how many things they are really monitoring while they fly, and in spite of what seems an overwhelming number of dials and equipment in the cockpit, they tell me it’s about ten things. As a sailor, I know that’s also true for captaining a boat.

How about your office and workstation?

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1. Note-taking tool/space 2. In-basket 3. Out-basket 4. Telephone 5. Computer 6. Reference 7. Supply drawer/containers 8. Work-in-progress basket/stacks 9. Visual field (windows, horizons) 10. Décor If you look through my more virtual office – the briefcase/bag I carry when I travel, you’d see a similar group of “control areas.”

1. Spare laptop 2. Phone 3. Palm 4. Writing pad 5. In-basket folder 6. To-office folder 7. Travel support folder 8. Support materials file(s) 9. Critical refills/supplies 10. Reading materials I had begun to experience this concept in working with the mentor who trained me in nextaction thinking (Dean Acheson, in 1982). When we would coach people in recording next actions on discrete pieces of paper, we would then invite them to sort those into the categories that made sense to the client, for which we’d then have (continued on next page)

The exchange of good ideas went both ways, with TimeSystem. As I had discovered the value of keeping “virtual” action lists separate from the calendar but conveniently close, we convinced TimeSystem to produce a reverse-folded next-action page that could be refolded every day against that day’s page, without rewriting the list.

That has since become a unique selling feature they incorporated into all their international editions.

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“10” seems to be a magic number in the arena of personal productivity. I came across this idea twenty-five years ago and since then have continually noticed the many ways it plays out.

When we have something relatively complex that we need to control, we tend to instinctively sort the various parts of what we’re dealing with into about ten categories to manage it, give or take a couple (seven to twelve has been my general experience).

When you drive a car, think about how many things you subliminally pay attention to, to manage your “vehicular experience.” Though a car is an extremely complex machine and muscular and brain activity exponentially more so, there is a reduction to about ten things to monitor:

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The Powerful “10” Factor (continued) them create labeled file folders to hold the action reminders. There were always between seven and twelve groups that people would naturally seem to sort their reminders.

The person who introduced me, though, most specifically to the idea of the power of “10” in this regard was Ole Berg, in 1983. Ole was then the head of TimeSystem in Denmark, the manufacturer of one of the top paper-based personal organizers in the world, with the best graphics and look and feel of all those “mid-tech” pre-designed systems (still probably is, for my tastes).

At that time a small consulting and training group I was part of had arranged for the TimeSystem planner to be translated into English, as we acquired the rights to market it in the U.S., under the “Time Design” brand (there already was a “Time System” in America, so the name had to be changed for distribution here).

In one of our many meetings regarding design for the American version, Ole told us he had uncovered research that turned him on to the concept of ten categories as optimal to manage complexity; and he had built into his organizer a “data bank” that incorporated the principle. In the middle of the notebook he put ten numbered tabs (1-10) and provided an index page in front of them, so you could create your own categories for storing miscellaneous support information, based upon key areas of focus in your work and life. It was a very useful and interesting functionality that we incorporated as we began using the planner as course material in our productivity seminars from 1983 until the mid-90’s (when I decided to wean our trainings away from any particular tool).

Aside from the interesting and obvious correlation with ten digits on our bodies and in our numbering system, it did seem to make sense when one started to really use the system. What would the ten areas be, which I would use to organize support and reference materials? Based on my consulting experience, I knew that most peoples’ jobs could be defined according to four to

seven major “hats” they wore, and those created obvious and useful ways to structure personal management support. “Asset management” data could go in one section, “Administration” materials and checklists in another, “Marketing” plans in another. The remaining categories (to make up ten in total) could be sorted into personal, avocational, and recreational arenas.

Not only did it provide a sensible way to organize personally relevant information, it also served as a good self-management format. As you reviewed the notebook, it would tend to remind you of key areas of focus and responsibility, and trigger creative as well as catch-up thinking appropriately.

It’s interesting to note how this still plays out throughout the GTD approach. If you look at our suggested set-up of a paper planner, you’ll notice eight sections (though some of them could easily be sub-divided into two or three more). There are also six Horizons of Focus – Purpose, Vision, Goals, Areas of Focus, Projects and Actions – the latter including the major sub-sections of Actions, Calendar, and Waiting-For’s. Additionally, there are usually ten to twelve Areas of Focus for people to maintain and monitor at certain standards to maintain life and work.

So what? Knowing about this power of ten may not transform your life, but it might provide some useful validation of systems that work for you, and why they work. If self-management were self-evident, nothing would be required in terms of designing formats to train our focus. We’d just wander around and notice what we needed to notice, without having to think how we were doing that or whether there were any improvement opportunities for our thinking. But there’s something about our great need for simplicity and coherence that compels us to arrange the chaotic complexity of our world into structure and form.

Some of them work better than others. I like to get clues from noticing how we really do it, when no one is watching…

GTD Quarterly

Checklisting With the hurricanes and 9/11 stuff still in many of our short-term memories, I recommend two things that you (and partner and family, if appropriate) set up, to quiet your mind, if you haven’t done them already: (1) an Emergency Grab List, and (2) an Emergency Auto/Escape Kit. The “Grab List” is a checklist of everything that you’d want to grab if you suddenly (I mean suddenly) found out that you had to evacuate wherever you are, and you might not be able to get back to that location for some time (if ever). What would you take? What’s most important?

You should sit down with your partner or family or office group and brainstorm this list. I guarantee you’ll come up with some things that you wouldn’t think of when the pressure’s on.

This is definitely one list that’s too late to create when and if you need it.

As with most things in my life, this list got created for me based on some negative feedback.

One fall day in the late 1990’s, Kathryn and I watched as a wildfire raced over the dry coastal mountain chaparral toward our home in southern California. Sure enough, in a short while we heard the police outside on our road, asking everyone to evacuate.

At the time our total office (and all its records and equipment) was also there, in the cottage behind our house. We had about ten minutes to pack the car and get out. What should we pack?

I’ve been around several fires and floods in California over the last couple of decades, and as civilized as this environment may seem in normal times, I know it’s possible that in short order you can be cut off not only from your home, but from food, water, electricity, gas, etc, for at least a few hours if not a couple of days. There are a lot of things that show up in that situation that you wouldn’t think of in any other time and place.

Again, let me remind you: it could happen to you, and when you least expect it. Make sure you think it through, ahead of time. What if some natural (or man-made) disaster struck, where you are, with virtually no warning? What would have the most importance or value to you, to do something about? Are you prepared?

There are factors that come into play that may not be so obvious…

[ ] –How much room do you have in your vehicle(s)?

–How much cash might you need, if you couldn’t get to an ATM any time soon?

–How much non-grid power do you need, for how long?

–How much gas would you need in your vehicles, to navigate the unknown logistics required?

–What’s impossible to replace, if it got destroyed?

–Who might need to know your situation, and how would you communicate with them?

Of course there’s a strange phenomenon in the physics of the universe which I call the “voodoo of preventive maintenance” – once you make the checklist for this kind of circumstance, you’ll likely never need it.

So, this is one list you should absolutely make…now!

There are numerous disaster readiness kits referenced on the Web, such as http://www.ready. gov/america/index.html for Homeland Security basics.

I could pass on several of these checklists, but I’m not going to. You should create your own. If you buy into someone else’s idea of what you need to be concerned about, in an emergency, (continued on next page)

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Checklisting (continued)

-water -food -first aid -clothing, for all weather variables -bedding and shelter -tools and supplies, (especially for communications, food preparation, sanitation)

-important documents -irreplaceable items (artwork, antiques, journals, etc.)

-prescription drugs -cash on hand -access to fuel

“Thank you to the David Allen team. I recently became the victim of identity theft, but the structures and organizational principles and ‘firewalls’ I have in place will pull me through this trial. God bless.” – BH, Superior, CO, USA

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This reinforces one of the core principles of productivity – when you most need the results of having it all together is when you don’t have the time to get it all together.

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you’re likely to dismiss it as something relatively unimportant, and nothing you’ll actually refer to and use, in the real event. You need to make a real list, in real time, about real things you care about.

It could be a great exercise to do with your family or partner. Brainstorm it together. Really put yourself in the worst-case situation – what would you not have access to that you now take for granted? What would you want to have extras of, for yourself or others, in case the situation extended longer than you might expect?

As life would have it, after writing the above article, we were recently visited again by a similar wildfire threat in Ojai. I was still traveling back east, and Kathryn was at home. My “emergency grab” checklist came in very handy for us via a phone call to quickly update with a few things that weren’t on it, and lay out plans for a quick evacuation if required. And my “preventive maintenance voodoo” seemed to still have its mojo – wonderfully the winds shifted in our favor and we were out of danger. But, it was really great to have that list already prepared!

In a similar vein, we received a lovely thank-you card from someone recently:

What “firewalls” – checklists, backups, reference materials, etc. – do you still need to put in place?

If you’re like me, there are niggly little places inside of your subliminal spaces that you won’t know are creating pressure, until you handle what makes that niggling go away.

GTD Quarterly

ROI for a paper based filing system that works Jane von Bergen (who recently interviewed me for a NY Times piece) was quoted in The Week as saying “Every lost piece of paper costs a business $120…”

The article continues: “That might seem exaggerated, until you consider how much time you waste looking for misplaced documents. Experts estimate these hunts gobble up to 30 percent of employees’ time, costing a company with 100 employees $1.5 million a year.”

So, when people begin to implement a GTDfriendly, simple, elegant general-reference paper filing system, and they feel like their life has been “transformed” (many actually use that word!) the response may not be so strange after all. I think if I were the owner of a 100-person company and I found an extra 1.5 mil, I’d feel like something transformational had happened too!

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“Every lost piece of paper costs a business $1 0…”

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Writing your own testimonials There have been some significant times in my life and work when I was really in the dark about how to proceed with some writing or workshop design project – the inspiration quotient was in the pits, my muse on extended leave somewhere. One of the best techniques I’ve found to use in those situations was writing third-party testimonials to the end result.

“This seminar was brilliant! Totally perfect for my situation. Helped me XYZ more than I could have imagined….” Etc. Both books that I’ve published were started that way. Almost the first things I wrote were the reviews and endorsements that would represent “wild success.” I also made up who wrote them.

Did they turn out exactly that way? Well, certainly not word for word; and the people who wrote them weren’t the people I had made up in the beginning. But the essence of them was very close, and the authors were of a similar caliber to the ones that I had pretended.

That kind of make-believe can be extremely useful. It’s gotten me over some major humps in my writing and thinking.

But a caution here: by affirming those kinds of standards, it raised my internal bar about the quality of the output significantly, which caused me to take a good bit longer to finish Getting Things Done. At one point I trashed a year’s worth of work by dumping the whole first draft and starting over. It simply wouldn’t have gotten those reviews.

Your imagination is life’s preview of coming attractions. – Albert Einstein

GTD Quarterly

One GTD List that’s already working for most everybody If you ever feel like you need to defend the reason for having all the GTD lists of all your next actions, ask whoever is skeptical if they are sitting around trying to remember what appointments they have on their calendar for next week. They’re probably not biting their nails about where they need to be next Thursday at 4pm – they’re probably not even thinking about it. Why? Because they have their appointments tracked in a system they trust – a calendar they trust they’ll review at the appropriate time and place.

So, why not have the same lack of distraction about all the things that you need to be reminded of?

A calendar is nothing more than a list of next actions in the context of sequence in time – something to look at when time is of concern.

My “Calls” list is the same thing – a list of next actions that can be done from any phone, to be reviewed when I have time and a phone. In the

same way I’m not distracted by trying to remember and remind myself about who to call – it’s in a trusted system. The problem with most people’s system is that the calendar is the only list they trust, and more than 95% of what they really need to keep track of is not a set of appointments but all the things to be done around them.

So, now that you have the secret, esoteric knowledge of GTD lists (Wow – the benefits of being in the Exalted Order of Connect!), you’ll probably never need to defend them.

Apropos of nothing special -In a Microsoft-conducted survey of 38,000 people, the average e-mail volume of workers per day was 50.

-A Wall Street Journal article last year reported the growing number of senior professionals who are outfitting their second (vacation) homes with fully-equipped high tech offices. Upside was the increase in executive productivity. Downside was lack of connectivity in far-away places, overwhelmed staff on the receiving end of increased executive productivity, and angry spouses.

-Average computer use can contain more than three million mouse-clicks a year, with the cursor traveling more than a hundred miles. (Source: www.quillmouse.com)

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The case for a soft focus and serendipity A senior executive at Fidelity sent me the following delightful little story he had heard, because it reminded him of things GTD. [Apologies for lack of attribution to whomever the source of the story might be.]

A young man goes to a famous guru and says, “I am seeking enlightenment. If I work with you, how long will it take me? The guru sizes him up and says, “Ten years.”

The young man protests, “That’s too long! What if I totally dedicated myself - slept only 3 hours a night; gave up my profession; didn’t have a social life – and spent all my time striving to reach enlightenment?” The guru says, “Well in that case it will take you twenty years.”

The young man looks puzzled. “Why?” The guru says, “With your eyes so firmly fixed on the goal you have no eyes left to see how to get there.”

The executive wrote, “This reminded me of you for some reason because in those moments that I’m truly empty and have it all out of my head (not that often but sometimes), I find myself much more open to new opportunities and insights from which breakthroughs sometimes come. Otherwise those opportunities can pass you by without you even noticing.” Indeed.

It seems that many of the interesting, creative, and constructive things that I’ve realized and experienced in my life have happened sort of sideways.

I wasn’t exactly looking for it, at least consciously in the moment, but it slipped in and took me by surprise. I might have missed them were I too focused on where I thought I wanted to go.

As the little story above suggests, strict adherence to goals and outcomes can in some cases be a distraction and even an avoidance of what really might be most meaningful to us. I’ve suggested for years, relative to goal-setting, that (1) we should be very aware of how powerful images like goals can be, and (2) we need to lighten up about

them. I have noticed a lurking seriousness about the whole goal-setting process, perhaps fueled by the self-help culture that has made “setting clear goals” such a cornerstone of all the various “success” formulae.

Because there’s such a premium placed on this kind of rigorous inventing of your desired future, people tend to resist the whole endeavor, because, well, what if the goal I pick is not the right one?

So they either don’t set any at all or get so invested in the one they do pick that they get myopic and inflexible.

I say, set fifty goals and see which ones stick around for you. Then pick the best one you can, viewed from where you sit, and then be totally open to changing your mind and your focus when you get better information.

It’s true that “if you don’t know where you’re going, any road will do.” It’s also true that if you look too hard at where you’re going, you might miss a fabulously positive surprise.

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GTD Quarterly

Just a second–is that another Blog?

According to Technorati, nowadays there’s a new blog every second. Every second? What does this mean? I suppose it’s a version of the continuing need for human beings to express and connect.

(If a blog exists in the desert and there’s nobody around to read it, is it really a blog?!)

It’s the bathroom graffiti, the gossip column, the corkboard on the wall at the local Laundromat, the cocktail party conversation, the front porch.

It’s notes passed back and forth in the boring class, posters created in high school to get elected to the Student Council. It’s the locals kibitzing on the benches of the global village green. Technology has made it possible for so many people to be connected now more by context than by country. So I suppose blogging will become as ubiquitous as any of those other interactive, doesn’t-have-to-be-goodto-get-said-and-read forums. Can fourteen million people be wrong? (Don’t answer that.)

Several recent articles have commented about the possibility that blogging has reached its peak.

I mean, how long can you continue to carry on a similarly framed conversation at the same level?

(Don’t answer that, either.) I heard someone say, with cool and fashionable disdain, “Blogging is so 2005.”

My bet is that blogging will continue for some people in some circumstances as a great medium for their message. And even for those who step into it and for whatever reason decide to stop (as I have), there will likely be some great things to learn from the experience, as there were for me.

But I realized, too, that if what “blogging” means is using the web to periodically post personal thinking and useful information around a topic, I’ve been “blogging” since I created my website in 1997, and I’ll probably continue to do that in some form for the foreseeable future. It just may not be in the running diary format that created the name.

But the “shake-out” of who’ll stick around with this phenomenon and who won’t, in the longer view, is simply a reflection of any new medium that emerges which is relatively easy to engage with. It will always be the best way for some things to be expressed, for connection and communication, to and from some people.

Think: postcards.

In the right key one can say anything. In the wrong key, nothing: the only delicate part is the establishment of the key. – George Bernard Shaw

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The Budding Gourmet A great list passed on to us of those things that we’d like to pretend we know what they really are, but when pressed, we may not…(thanks to Connect member Lori Andersen!).

Beurre blanc - A basic French sauce made from white wine, vinegar, shallots and butter.

Carmelized - Cooked over moderate heat until the natural sugars break down.

Carpaccio - Thinly sliced raw beef, often drizzled with olive oil and lemon juice. Term is occasionally used to describe thinly sliced raw vegetables, such as ‘fennel carpaccio’.

Coulis - A thick sauce often made from pureed fruit.

Creme anglaise- A custard sauce that can be served hot or cold.

Emulsion - The result of slowly mixing two liquids that don’t easily combine.

Essence - A distillate or extract.

Ganache - An icing made from chocolate and heavy cream.

Granita - Frozen liquid and sugar that is stirred frequently during freezing to create a granular consistency.

Gratinee - Sprinkled with bread crumbs or cheese and heated until golden.

Julienne- Anything cut into thin, matchstick-size strips.

Napoleon - Layers of puff pastry and cream

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filling, but the term can also refer to anything that comes stacked.

Panna Cotta – An eggless custard served chilled Pico de Gallo - A combination of finely diced fresh ingredients - typically tomatoes, onions, chillies, and cilantro.

Poached - Cooked while submerged in barely simmering liquid. A delicate flavor results Reduction - The result of rapidly boiling a liquid until it becomes a thick, intensely flavored sauce or syrup.

Seared - Quickly browned over high heat, typically in a skillet, and often with butter. This seals in juices and flavor and results in a crisp, browned crust.

Seviche - Raw fish or seafood marinated in citrus juice. The acid ‘cooks’ the fish.

Succotash - A dish of cooked corn, lima beans and butter.

Wilted - Gently sauteed until the leaves soften.

Woody Allen said that 90% of success is just showing up. I think the other 10% might be having the vocabulary!

Life is too short to stuff a mushroom – Storm Jameson

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GTD Quarterly

List Talk Probably the most universal how-to question for GTD neophytes is this: How do I keep track of all the things that you’re recommending I keep out of my head? What’s the best tool?

The answer is pretty simple: however you most effectively can create and review lists.

You will need a good filing system, an in-basket and a ubiquitous capture tool, a box for stuff to read, and maybe a tickler file; but for the most part, all you need are lists. But you’ll need several.

And they need to be complete. And you’ll need a place to keep them.

For many newbies, the multiple lists they may get a chance to see in any of our systems tend to overwhelm them, at first glance. The various classifications we recommend as best practices present a significant increase in complexity over what most pre-GTDers are working with: a calendar and some amorphous kind of “to-do” list, at best. Their responses to our typical sets of lists (calls, office, errands, agendas for boss, agenda for staff meeting, projects, someday/maybe’s, etc.) are “That’s so much work [to set up and maintain]!” and/or “That’s so confusing!”

The cause of their push-back is twofold. First, few people on the planet, prior to GTD, have had any commitment at all to capturing and objectifying everything they’re committed to. So, indeed, if all you wanted to keep track of is what they are currently keeping track of (outside their head), you probably wouldn’t need more than the one to-do list they have. And secondly, because of the incredible amount of input, distraction, rapid change, and consequent over-commitment gnawing at everyone’s gut, there is a huge desire for simplification to relieve the pressure. People often come to GTD for that relief and are negatively surprised to see what looks to them like additional work and complication. “My God – look at all those lists!”

As someone gets just a little further into the

game, however, and is willing to try out some version of our recommended set of lists, they begin to experience the clarity and focus that’s been unavailable using his/her previous system. Here’s why: There’s an interesting phenomenon which was explained to me once as a key cybernetic principle: in order to create simplicity amidst complexity, your system must be equally complex. The corollary to that would be that if you’re trying to manage something very complex with too simple a system, it will over-complexify it! And that’s just what I’ve seen over these many years as a coach and educator. People’s lives are way more sophisticated, intricate, and multifaceted than the systems they are using to manage them. A calendar and todo list pale as puny weapons against that kind of universe. In some ways their incompleteness and insufficiency just make the situation worse.

On the other hand, the system (and lists therein) can’t got too complicated. For many who step into GTD and taste the transformative power of its BFO’s (Blinding Flashes of the Obvious), they swing on the pendulum too far in the other direction. They over-classify. This seems particularly to afflict the technophiles, who often try to create too many lists with too many subsets and connectors and relationships. They find themselves getting hung up with only a partial implementation of the method and rationalizing that they found a way that “works better for them.” Though that in itself, if true, would actually still be GTD (as GTD is an approach, not really a system), the reality is, from our experience in working with many of these folks after the fact, they just get themselves detoured because of the burden of their complexities.

GTD requires some important thinking on the front end (meaning, outcome and action determinations especially). But if you have to think too much before you can put something on a list (“will this task require a ‘3’ or ‘6’ level of (continued on next page)

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List Talk (continued) energy on a scale of 10 to accomplish it?”) you’re likely to run into quicksand in trying to work it.

Your system has to be easy enough (and complete enough) that you will be motivated to work it even when you have the flu. The system is only as good as what you’re willing to maintain when you don’t feel like it. It’s fine to let your “inner geek” create a system for yourself on a rainy Saturday, but it had better be tested and continue to work amidst the firehose-gushing realities of Monday mid-mornings as well.

So there’s a sensitive center point to find and maintain in terms of how to keep track of your multiple commitments and information – not too simple, not too complicated. You gotta get your porridge just right.

In our experience the “standard” GTD classifications for lists come close for most people – next actions by context, projects, someday’s, agendas by person and meeting, etc. Simple, flat lists without a whole lot of structured trappings that may get in the way, once they’re in these discrete buckets.

Consequently, the best personal management tools will be whatever manages those kinds of lists most easily for someone. My educated guess is that, for senior professionals, about a third are most comfortable with simple pieces of paper or documents inside folders (e.g. a file called “Calls” with post-its, call-back slips, or just papers torn off pads for their at-phone reminders).

A third probably prefer some form of loose-leaf planner or notebook, with their lists on separate single pieces of paper within tabbed sections.

And at least a third like some digital form of list management – usually the tasks within a desktop or PDA application sorted by a category as the list title.

The good news is that once you really get comfortable with what kind of lists you can maintain the easiest and which support the most elegant simplicity for your focus, you could use any of these tools with equal ease. That’s why, as we’ve noticed with many GTDers who have been in this game long enough, they sometimes find themselves shifting comfortably from one to the other, as how they spend their time changes with shifts in life- and work styles. I’ve met several hi-techoriented people who’ve gone “retro” and taken up a new version of a paper planner again.

So, if you have any level of angst about what list-organizing tool is best for you – relax. Find a happy medium between what tool is already comfortable for you and what tool is attracting you, and get going. You really won’t know what’s going to work best until you engage with the GTD model for a few weeks. The important thing is to train yourself to collect and process your stuff in the most efficient and effective way, and organize the results of that in some way.

Let the lists fall where they may.

People’s lives are way more sophisticated, intricate, and multifaceted than the systems they are using to manage them.

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GTD Quarterly

DavidAllen A smarter way to work and live

www.gtdconnect.com

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Journal

Volume 1 No. 2

Your Source for Authentic GTD Processes, Perspectives, and Pointers

The David Allen Company

IN THIS ISSUE

Who’s Connected - Members Stories Personal vs. Professional Conversations Validating Voices Categorizing Actions Lists Decision Making And Next Actions Have Your Lists Become Listless?

How Old Do You Need To Be For GTD? Book Review: The Power Of A Positive No When A Checklist Is A Next Action David Allen’s Personal Tool Kit

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www.gtdconnect.com

Journal

From the Editor David Allen

IN THIS ISSUE GTD Journal is published four times a year and is available exclusively to GTD Connect Members.

Periodical Development Well, we’ve made it to a second edition of our GTD Connect publication. We’ve changed the name to GTD Journal. Much like financial statements, “quarterly” may be a loose description of frequency, given our relative inexperience with the medium. But, we are still committed to four a year. To balance that wiggling in our production schedule, you will be receiving twelve In Conversation interviews - 50% more than our commitment of eight.

We’ve added some more voices here – Lisa, Carla, and John (all DavidCo staff) – and we’d like to keep that trend going, out beyond our own walls. So there’s an open invitation to any of you who would like to submit articles, testimonials, war stories, essays, reviews, or just random tips. No promises about whether or when we’d publish, but we’d love to have a range of good stuff from the Connect members themselves. One of the most common pieces of feedback we get is how much value people receive from getting GTD through others’ eyes and experiences. Just send any copy to us at info@gtdconnect.com.

“

3

Who’s Connected

5

A “Personal vs. Professional Conversation”

8

Validating Voices

10

Categorizing Action Lists The David Allen Way

11

Decision Making And Next Actions

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Have Your Lists Become Listless?

14

How Old Do You Need To Be To Get Things Done?

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Book Review: The Power Of A Positive No

17

When A Checklist Is A Next Action

18

David Allen’s Personal Tool Kit

© 2007 David Allen & Co. All rights reserved. GTD, Getting Things Done, DavidAllen are registered trademarks of the David Allen Company. All portions of this newsletter in part or whole are the proprietary property of the David Allen Company and may not be used without express written permission.

There are only two lasting bequests we can give our children.

One of these is roots; the other, wings – Hodding Carter

”

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Who’s Connected?

by Lisa Peake

Dean Brown Senior Pastor of Metro Wesleyan Church Halifax, Nova Scotia

In 2003 Dean’s work was really ramping up, with a number of new portfolios on his plate. He began visiting a local bookstore, devouring every book he could find on time and project management. After reading just one chapter of Getting Things Done, he was hooked.

He knew he’d discovered the principles and practices to deal with his challenges effectively, and he has continued to interact with GTD and Connect ever since.

He loves his NoteTaker Wallet – cool in and of itself, but critical for keeping everything out of his head, which he’s now accepted as a true necessity. He faithfully captures 100% of his “stuff” and processes and organizes it into his system so it can be reviewed and done in a timely fashion. Catching on to this best-practice of GTD has reduced his level of stress considerably.

He also commented on the transformation of his list-making. “I was an inveterate list maker prior to my introduction to GTD. I had these huge long lists of To Do’s that I would try to operate from. I was proud of myself that I wrote some things down, but the list was unwieldy and ineffective for managing the stuff of my life and work. When I learned to structure my list into contexts, I was finally able to see my total inventory of work in one place in a way that I could actually act on what I had to do. I now enjoy the benefit of being able to make calls when I’m at the phone, or work on emails while at my laptop, and actually do Next Actions instead of trying to DO Projects.”

Dean contributes regularly on the Connect forums, with “GTD Works” as his handle (he says because it’s the first system that has actually worked for him).

He recommends browsing the forums with the New

Posts button to get a quick overview of all the hot conversations. “I enjoy the broad knowledge base that GTD Connect members bring to the table through the various posts. I learn something new, or refine a practice almost every time I check the site.”

“Like everyone, I struggle to get the Weekly Review done. I wrestle with not over committing. But I enjoy a much deeper sense of peace in my life (Mind Like Water) because of what I have learned in GTD.”

Nancy Rezmer Entrepreneur, Adventure Banners Wisconsin, USA

Nancy’s initial attempts to implement GTD had some bumps along the road. After a computer crash resulted in the loss of over 7,000 emails last year, she considered the experience her “GTD Baptism”. She’s seen a world of difference now that she is capturing all of her “brain spam” into a trusted system. “Like a Wisconsin snow plow, once the capture tools cleared the roads, I could focus on conversations, desired outcomes, next actions, open loops and weekly reviews.”

Nancy and her husband Marty both have a history of business and corporate experiences filled with many successes, failures and burnout. “Not every day or week is a good week, so I am always thinking about continuous improvement,” she says. Her commitment to constant improvement means her GTD process is always being refined.

A highly visual thinker and learner, Nancy has carefully chosen tools and gear that allow her to manage her workflow. One piece of gear you might not expect to count as a productivity tool is her digital camera, which works wonders for capturing. “A camera helps me to capture ideas quickly, create lists, remember

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Who’s Connected?

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people, document information, visualize outcomes, set up next actions and get organized for weekly reviews,” she says. She also loves creating mind maps, and beautiful screen savers that help her visualize successful outcomes.

Nancy has a passion for education. She recently took on the project of helping a 4th grade class learn how to use capture tools. The kids had an absolute blast, and she was flooded with priceless thank you notes.

Her own children, Andrew, 12, and Gracelyn, the “Capture Tool Queen”, 9, have a head start on GTD. Multitasking as only a parent can, Nancy created “Camp GTD” to teach her kids fun and effective habits, while also creating peace and calm in her own office.

Both kids have their own inboxes, reference files, desk supplies, capture tools, and planners. They have learned how to create labels, and play filing games.

Nancy reports that blending GTD with her family life has been easier than she imagined. The whole family sits down to do reviews together, and the kids are making peace while working on GTD projects together.

“Life can certainly be filled with many twists and turns, so I know that it helps to have a good spiritual foundation and tools like GTD for the journey.”

Des Paroz Director of eBusiness, Acer Computer Bangor, Australia

Before Des found GTD, he tried Priority Manager, Covey’s First Things First, and jumped on the Palm bandwagon right away in 1996. In 2002, he discovered GTD through an e-newsletter and has been using it ever since.

“Productivity is such an interesting thing, with different interpretations and experiences. I love the

opportunity to gain an insight into the journeys of people traveling down a similar path.”

Working in senior management, Des has learned that he’s accountable not only for his own actions, but those of the managers below him, and their teams. Tracking accountability through the deceptively simple Waiting For list is one of the biggest benefits he’s seen in GTD. People quickly learn to proactively follow-up with Des, reducing stress for everyone and increasing productivity for the whole team.

The weekly review is critical to Des, who uses this regular time slot to get in control of his world. He does his review about three weeks out of four. On a week when he misses his review, he quickly feels the loss of perspective and control.

“I don’t see that GTD is for business or for personal life. It’s just for life. I have a busy schedule and GTD is an integral part of the methodology I use to keep disciplined and relaxed.”

Des and his wife regularly use the “total house sweep,” where they go through every square inch, capturing on paper all the projects triggered – a terrific tool for gaining altitude on all the commitments involved in maintaining a home. Taking stock of all these big and little things ensures nothing is nagging at them subconsciously. Instead, they can relax knowing these items are simply actions on a list, to be done according to their real-time decisions and priorities.

“GTD is a great tool, and a great investment in yourself. Avoid over-complicating it by hacking it. I’ve seen a lot of people who take it on, and then immediately try to modify it - but unless you really understand the principles of GTD, you risk making modifications that detract from the methodology.”

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A “Personal vs Professional” Conversation

by David Allen

two. I now operate with very clear edges between work and personal commitments.

I’m very interested in hearing more about how you’ve managed this intertwining. You said in one of your interviews, that the distinct separation of work and profession was an antiquated notion... I’d like to know more of the history about how that originated and why you believe they can be intertwined.

Very kind regards, - AK

Over the years this has become a standard issue, fueled by those of us who have used “blended” lists of actions and projects: “Should I mix my personal and professional stuff on the same lists?”

In that regard I’ll share a recent e-mail I received which posed a more in-depth version of that question, along with my response.

Dear David, I’m a new subscriber to your GTD service and have enjoyed reading both your books on time management and getting things done. I’ve also found your interviews a really great way for me to get terrific insights from other GTD disciples, especially when I have a convenient period of listening time.

The one area I have not embraced (or better yet, I used to embrace but have had to change my modus operandi) has been allowing my personal and professional life to intermingle. I’ve heard you espouse, as have several of your interviewees, including Steve Leveen, David Gardner and Arianna Huffington, that you see your work life and personal life as one. I used to believe (as you all said you do) that the two can and should be intertwined. My experience however showed me otherwise – I have found the two compete so fiercely for my time that it was too difficult to transition effectively between the

AK, Thanks for sharing your thoughts, and your question.

My best answer is that I don’t really want to overlap ANYthing with anything else - personal or professional.

So that when I’m focused on one thing - no matter if it’s kids, e-mail, phone, shopping, going for a walk - I’m not distracted unproductively about anything else. So it’s not really a matter of mingling the two - it’s about ensuring a discrete focus on whatever I want, whenever I want. That’s good for anything about your personal or professional life. The issue may lie in the question that is begged - what does “intermingle” mean? Do you only want to capture work-related thoughts when you are at work? When you are at a phone, do you want to see personal and professional calls separated? Do you want new cell-phone research data at home or at work? There’s no “right” answer to any of that - it’s purely what works the best for you, with the least amount of psychic effort.

I think I understand the issue you are expressing: what happens to values and commitments that might be important to you around your personal and family relationships, when you let yourself stay tapped into the professional communication stream? But that’s not a personal system issue as much as it is a personal values clarification.... I’m all for the best tips and tricks to put “blinders” on us, keeping us appropriately focused on what some more intelligent part of us knows is important.

If reminders of work in your system then turn out to be an attractive distraction that’s uncalled for, so be it.

All the best, - David

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Personal vs. Professional

(continued)

I understand the pressures that many people are feeling that show up symptomatically in a quandary about work time vs. personal time. Studies are indicating that if you live in the U.S., you’re part of a culture that has an increasing average workweek, rather than declining. Americans now put in longer work hours than in any other industrialized country (including Japan). There is also a key issue in the personal productivity zone that indicates the diminishing of relaxed, creative, play time, and how important that may be for sustainable output and engagement. And how much of your “work life” shows up mentally and emotionally while you’re in your “personal life,” and vice versa?

Another factor seems to be adding to the complexity of this issue – the personal values about both quality of life and doing “good work,” in all the various forms that might take, can be a sure-fire formula for stress. As a leading-edge Boomer (born end of 1945), I watched as our generation, and to some degree the succeeding ones, buy into or inherit standards about things being “meaningful” in ways that my parents didn’t at least on as broad a scale in the culture. On one hand, having a high standard about your standards and values is important for maintaining balance in your life – you should care about family as much as your job. But those kinds of values are a two-edged sword. They also foment potential conflict between doing good work and being a good parent or partner. In other words, the more you care, generally, the more you’ll care specifically, and the more likelihood there will be that you will want to give everything in which you’re invested more time and energy.

The good and bad news is that the only way out of this conundrum is simply to be more conscious about everything! You need to know what you want to do, what you have invested in doing, what and how you are doing, and what you could possibly do, given your limited resources.

GTD doesn’t purport to reduce the volume of work commitments that people have – simply to make them objectified, reviewable, and hence more renegotiable with ourselves. What GTD does deliver is a huge

reduction in unproductive thought time that is spent in the shower, in the commute, and in otherwise “free” random moments.

Equally importantly, GTD is about noticing what has your attention and dealing with that very specifically and responsibly, so that it doesn’t take more of your attention than it deserves. When you are in your zone, time having disappeared, you’re constructively engaged in your life at that moment, and the issue about personal vs. professional is nonexistent. That’s a noble objective and a great reason for achieving a high level of competency in the GTD models.

So, to many peoples’ chagrin, there’s no right answer to how to sort and segment your lists. The only criterion I would use would be, “is that the best way to see what you need to see, when you need to see it?”

The divisions of lists I recommend in GTD have emerged solely from my interest in psychic and organizational efficiency – with how little effort can I ensure that I spend no fruitless thinking time about anything that I’m not doing at the moment? With how few steps can I catalog and review my commitments at appropriate levels?

In one sense, system-wise, it doesn’t really matter whether you split your items personal and professional or not – as long as you can see whichever one you need, when you need it. It’s fine to have a Personal Calls list and a Professional one, if you want. I’d just recommend that you have them both with you whenever you happen to be able to make calls from either group.

I worked with a very senior guy in a global financial company who had his assistant sort his phone calls into Clients, Company, and Personal. She had access to his Outlook Tasks and had permission to insert all the call-backs he needed to handle, and sorted them into those categories. He would rush in, synch his PDA, rush out, and had all he needed in his limo to crank away on his calls, the way he liked to see them. They had even worked out a priority code system with leading characters ahead of the listing, which placed the hottest ones at the top of the lists. It worked great.

A real key and question is: what’s the purpose of

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Personal vs. Professional

(continued)

the list(s)? If the purpose is to be reminded of your priorities, a simple flat list is not the answer – you’d need to have them categorized and reshuffled as the priorities shifted. If the purpose is to be reminded of your commitments in one specific area of focus (20,000-ft. stuff), then you need not two lists, but ten to fifteen, representing the various categories of your job and the areas of interest and responsibilities of your life. I worked with the CEO of a fast-growing company, trying to staff up a new senior team, and we found it useful to sort his project list into the several “hats” he was wearing – Finance, Administration, Marketing, PR, Product Development, etc. This made it a bit clearer for him which VP hire would relieve the most pressure, in terms of his project load.

Because the purpose of my Projects list is to give me the reminders I need during my Weekly Review (and more often if needed) about all the open loops at that level, ensuring I have appropriate and current action items on each one, I don’t need to split them into any categories.

The “antiquated notion” comment I often make, which my e-mail correspondent referred to, is that only in the last hundred years have “work” and “personal” been thought of as separate things (and many farmers have never made that distinction). The split emerged because the industrial revolution created jobs that were conducted in places separate from where we lived, and which did not require or allow our families to participate.

If you worked where you lived, and your family helped or were equally involved in that work, what’s there to separate? Of course, as my reply indicated above, you wouldn’t want to be thinking of milking a cow at the same time you were trying to play baseball.

The issue of values comes into play when your family doesn’t participate in your work, and it’s likely not something you can easily share in the same way you can a good meal or movie. I understand the concern about not “taking work home” when it represents something foreign to mutual participation. There have of necessity been such borders erected because of lots of negative experience, I’m sure, when they weren’t.

I don’t think people realize how much cognitive dissonance is created when you live as closely as families and life partners do, and you have such very different worlds within you that have you coming and going. The smaller that overlap, the more challenges it creates to maintain a personal and home life in synch.

People who live alone still may have an issue of balance in the areas of their life they’re invested in, but it is a lot easier to manage when you have only yourself with whom to negotiate time and involvement.

There is no need to blend any kind of reminders of your life, if there’s no need. For instance, if you like to relegate bill-paying to a certain time of the week with all the bills in a slot or folder on your desk, it would be silly to carry reminders of that anywhere else or think about it at any other time.

In GTD terms, it’s all about whether anything distracts you, because you don’t have access to what you need or could use, in terms of reminders and tools.

In a strange way, the way it’s all different makes it all one thing. And, as many GTD-oriented families are beginning to attest, it’s pretty cool to start including the rest of your clan into the “art” of your work – how you’re managing what you’re doing, across the board.

One of our staff recently conducted a seminar in Mexico City, in which the executives decided to invite all their spouses. A little hesitant about whether that mix would work, she was delightfully surprised to notice how many of the couples get very enthused, finding out what kinds of actual projects each one had and exploring how to support each other in managing his/her personal workload. Husband and wife were committing to mutual weekly reviews and getting very inspired about it.

Maybe, even in our often segmented, fractured, cubicle-divided, off-site, dislocated working lives, there is, again, something common we can share with the ones who matter most. It may be even more basic than making a living from the land.

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Validating Voices

by David Allen

We get lots of testimonials, reflecting the many different ways the power of the productivity principles manifests. We’ll share a few, from time to time, because we’ve also noticed how that inspiration can rub off onto all of us.

Your system has allowed me to have five simultaneous careers. I’m able to walk away “clear and clean” at the end of every day...and have a busy

David, One of the many things I am grateful for is you and your company. Your system has allowed me to have 5 simultaneous careers:

social and family life!

1) TV Producer 2) TV Host 3) Tour Leader on monthly tours around the world 4) Program Director of a busy travel club 5) Fitness Instructor (water aerobics, tai chi, yoga, etc.)

7) All Folders Updated/Past Date Folders Filed  8) Desk Cleared  9) Briefcase and Wallet Organized  10) Car Organized  11) Home Organized  12) Mind Sweep 

Not only that, I’m able to walk away “clear and clean” at the end of every day...and have a busy social and family life!

One thing I’ve found very helpful that you might want to pass along is a weekly review checklist. This helps break a seemingly overwhelming task into more manageable bits. Also, sometimes I do get interrupted or don’t finish the weekly review all at once, but I can go back and pick up where I left off.

Also, as you say, it’s important to give ourselves the “win”. I get to give myself 12 wins instead of just one.

BTW, I really love the “waiting for” category.

Before I implemented your system, the waiting fors were still on my “to do” list, since they were incomplete. However, they weren’t actionable, so I was blending actionable with non-actionable items and my eyes would glaze over as I looked at the list.

Being able to move items to a “waiting for” folder gives me the “win” of having done everything I can do to move something forward, while knowing that every week I’m going to look at it again to make sure I don’t need to do a follow up.

I think the current generation does not fully appreciate the beauty, simplicity and grace of your system, but future generations will thank you. A prophet is not recognized in his own land...and in his own time.

Weekly Review Checklist Date(s) ______________________________ 1) 2) 3) 4) 5) 6)

Voicemail Inbox at Zero  Calendar Up to Date  Email Inbox at Zero  Master List New or Updated  “Support Material” Folder Processed  2 “Waiting For” Folders Processed (Electronic & Paper-based) 

Gratefully and sincerely yours,

Jim Seeley Producer/Host Forever Young TV www.ForeverYoungTV.org www.Fun-Fitness.com

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Validating Voices

(continued)

Hi, I just want to thank David Allen for the book “Getting things Done”. I was told about this book at a time when I was totally swamped and out of control I am a Director of a very small company in South Africa (15 staff members in all). The reason I have been under so much pressure is that the product of our company is basically information from a proprietary system which I have written. In order to keep us competitive, this system needs to be constantly moulded to the changing needs of our customers. In addition to my management functions, I am solely responsible for the development, support, maintenance and training on the system. In addition to this we are in the throes of redesigning this system to comply with the latest IT standard of Service Orientated Architecture and this includes looking at the entire company structure and procedures. I could never have embarked upon this current phase of redesign without the “Getting Things Done” methodology!

I started last year in the early phases of burnout.

In this state my Mom (with whom I shared an extremely close relationship) was diagnosed with terminal cancer. Six months later she passed away.

During those 6 months my business partners were really fantastic and allowed me all the space I needed. That was all well and good for that time, but as I am the only IT person in the company, there was no one to do the work I was leaving undone. Hence my being totally out of control at the beginning of this year. I bought the book and have found it to be one of the most beneficial and practical books I have yet read. David’s methods are so intuitive and easy to learn. Although I am still in the process of developing the habit, I am experiencing huge benefits and surprising myself on every turn with things I thought I had forgotten about, but were in fact done because they were on the right list at the right time.

I am still swamped at this time, but I am now in control and able to plan my work and although I am making baby steps in progress, they are steps and a sense of achievement has replaced the sense of panic and failure that existed previously. I told

my partners last year, that I had lost my sense of job satisfaction due to the fact that I was always putting out fires and not making any progress forward. That has changed totally just as a result of applying the methodology of Getting Things Done. I have found a new level of enthusiasm, energy and creativity in my work - and nothing has changed in my environment (other than the fact that I now have more work!). The only change is the application of the Getting Things Done Methodology. My partners are now also reading the book and we are wanting to enforce this methodology in our company as a whole.

So, thank you for your advice, you have made a huge difference in my life and I am sure in the lives of many others.

Regards, Rene Kirstein Director, IT - Itemwise

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How Does the David Allen Staff Categorize Their Action Lists? by David Allen We thought it might be instructive (or at least interesting) for the GTD Connect community to see how we at DavidCo actually maintain our action lists.

I asked our staff to share theirs with me, so I could share them with you. Here’s a compilation of what’s in many of our systems. FYI, these were as much news to me as to you. I have never asked nor cared how people manage their own reminders. It’s up to them, in my book.

- David

Most of us use some version of our recommended Projects and context-based next action lists: Projects Someday @Agendas @Calls @Computer @Home @Office @Errands @Waiting for…

Here are several customized additional lists that a few of us use: Projects – Delegated Kathryn (VP), David (CEO), and Fiona (CFO) use this. additionally – a high-level version of Waiting for.

Projects – Delivery Danny Bader (Facilitator) uses a version of this.

– upcoming seminars and coaching to deliver.

Projects – Personal Leslie (Facilitator) and Julie D. (Facilitator) split out the personal ones.

Someday – Personal Marian (VP) and David like to split the Someday’s into work and personal. @Web Action list separate from Computer – requires Web access. David, Kathryn, Wayne (Facilitator), and Robert (CTO) all use a version of this. @Braindead Robert uses this one. Self explanatory. @Spouse Instead of including simply as an action with attached notes, Marian and James(Coach) make these their own category. @(another) office Kathryn, Robert, James, and Rachelle (Director) keep track of actions that have to be done at more than one office location @Next time in…

Jose (Facilitator) and Ana Maria (Facilitator), because they travel constantly, like to have actions organized for things to do in upcoming cities. @(Various accounts) Fiona likes to keep actions separated by the separate Quickbooks accounts she works with. @Calls (in and out of office hours) James keeps separate action lists for calls that can be oddone 9-5 and those that can’t. @Before trip…

Before a long trip I create this temporary action list, recategorizing any action from any list that must be done before I leave. @Writing…

I will, from time to time, find it useful to group all my creative writing next actions, as they require a somewhat special context at the computer.

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Decision-Making and Next Actions by David Allen Got an e-mail from Connect member Frode Odegard, the CEO of the Lean Software Institute in San Diego, with a cogent reminder of why the next-action concept is not automatically embraced by most folks.

A new realization about next actions today: Depending on one’s level of energy, stress, confidence, and familiarity with the domain, the threshold for what’s fine-grained enough to be a next action can vary a LOT. It takes real introspection to recognize that one might be repelled by something that even though it might take only 30 minutes to accomplish, would involve five sub steps and perhaps even (gulp!) making a decision.

Decision-making as part of a next action is a great source of procrastination, I suspect. So one filter one can apply when evaluating putative next actions in a weekly review is to ask oneself: does this involve making a decision? If so, will you be gathering data while doing it? Might you come to a pause where you need to gather MORE data so you can’t actually accomplish the next action? If so, the next action should be something really modest, like, come up with a list of sources to gather information from.

Best regards,

haven’t clarified what they need to do to move forward on making that decision.

If you can’t decide about something, it means you lack enough information to feel comfortable making some choice. Therefore, the next-action coaching question would be, “So what action do you need to take to begin to get the information you need to make that decision?” Nine times out of ten, there’s a specific action to take, such as “surf web re: xyz” or “e-mail A & B to set meeting to explore options about xyz.”

Every once in a while, though, the information you need has to come from inside – i.e. your intuition. You need to sleep on it. But even then, to really clear your head, you need to make the decision about how long you can “just sleep on it” until you feel like you need to actually make the Big Decision. Two weeks? Two months? Four days? Six hours? Whatever that answer is, you simply need to park a trigger in a calendar or tickler file to yank your chain at that point, ensuring that you re-assess the situation in your own timing. In other words, it’s OK to decide not to decide – as long as you park something appropriate in your “decide not to decide” system.

So, what decisions are you avoiding? What data would you like to get? Where could you start to get it?

Are you OK with not deciding? For how long? What reminder should you insert in your systems, for when, in order for your psyche to let go and really relax in its thinking?

Frode

No kidding.

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Have Your Lists Become Listless? by David Allen We’ve all had this happen. We create a list of relevant items, appropriately categorized. We’re excited, we feel in control, our brains relax, God is on her/his/its throne... life is good.

Then, over the days, weeks, months, the attraction wanes. We only look at the list when we “should.” Then we begin resisting looking at the list at all, even though we know we “should.” Then we go numb to our system, or at least a part of it. The thrill is gone. We’re in productivity purgatory.

Marian Bateman, our VP of Client Engagement, attached the term “flat-lining” to this syndrome – when some list or other has lost its lustre.

Why does this happen?

We’ve noticed several things that can contribute, and they are all closely related: • The list is out of date • The list is incomplete • The list is not really what the list is about

An e-mail we received from someone at Michelin: I’ve been using GTD for about 10 months and it’s been life changing. I’ve also done telecoaching with Meg Edwards and attended the RoadMap seminar in Minneapolis. As of late I find that my lists seem to be getting stale. I see the same things on the lists that aren’t being resolved and I’m seeing more and more jotted down notes on scraps of paper. I feel like I’ve lost some of the enthusiasm and discipline for the process. How do I get myself jump-started…?

The list is out of date It’s not current. There are lots of new things that haven’t made it into the system and the list, and there are old things on it that should no longer be there.

When and if we look at the list, we’re not seeing a complete inventory of options of a category – we’re being reminded of how behind the curve we might be in terms of thinking and decision-making. Fatigue, not creativity, is the result of our engagement with the list.

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Have Your Lists Become Listless?

(continued)

The list is incomplete We still have other things – usually more current and immediately relevant – that ought to be on the list, but, because they are more current and immediately relevant, we’re more inspired to let our psyche be driven by latest and loudest than taking the time and energy required to calibrate them appropriately into our total inventory.

The list is not really what the list is about Often the lists morph seductively into something other than what they were pristinely intended to be.

Most commonly, - The next actions aren’t next actions, or - The status has changed, but the location of the reminder hasn’t Next actions aren’t next actions. Check your action lists. Is what you read on there really the next, physical, visible, action required? Probably the most common reason for the action lists losing power is that they slip away from the rigor of being real next actions. It’s so seductive to get slightly lazy and assume that “call Fred” is too mundane a thing to take the time to write down. “Mom” or “Board meeting” is just so much easier, because we can then avoid having to make the final-thinking decision about what, exactly, we’re going to do about Mom’s birthday, or the Board meeting.

The result is that every time we glance at the item on the list, we’re subliminally aware that something still needs to be thought through and decided about the commitment; and because we don’t at the moment feel like doing that, we start to resist and avoid the reminder.

The status has changed, but the location of the reminder hasn’t.

The most pervasive items in this category are the actions and projects that have really become, over time, “someday’s”, and you haven’t ‘fessed up to it yet. It is a very slow and subtle slide from active commitments to commitments that now aren’t so active, due to the new inputs, commitments, and changes in your world. It’s hard to let go of them.

One reason is that most people don’t review their “someday” list(s) as often or as consciously as they should. You’ll be afraid to move that action or project to the Someday list, because a part of you knows it might really be going into a black hole (and that’s not really where you want it). For that reason, it helps to re-invigorate your Someday’s, perhaps sorting them into more meaningful sub-categories for you (e.g. Fantasy Trips, Real Things Maybe To Do This Quarter, But Not This Week).

we’re subliminally aware that something still needs to be thought through and decided about the commitment;

and

because we don’t at the moment feel like doing that, we start to resist and

avoid the reminder.

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How Old do You Need to be to Get Things Done? by Carla Guarisco

There are plenty of GTD testimonials from adults, but little is known about the emerging exposure of youth to these distinctions. Some folks may be trying to preach GTD to anyone who will listen. While for others, their GTD practice may be rubbing off on someone without any awareness of their influence. And at the same time there are kids like Annie Gott and Ryomah Morisaki that are running with it, and it’s exciting to consider how their experience of GTD will show up in their lives, relationships, achievements, and their potential impact on others.

Annie is an 8-year-old in Maine, who’s known how to “play” since she was 6. She has a label maker, and yes, labeled file folders, and inbox, and identifies next actions with ease. She keeps a paper calendar, checklists for her morning and evening routines, and carries a divided folder in her backpack with one side labeled “To Home” and the other labeled “To School”.

For Annie, she says an inbox “makes it easier to get more organized” and she doesn’t have to “spend time looking for stuff.” She defines stuff, by the way, as “things that don’t have a home”. Processing her

inbox is simply “file it” (into her A-Z system or into her 2nd grade “keeper box”- memorabilia such as artwork, awards, noteworthy homework assignments) or “throw it” (trash or recycle). A second in-tray serves as her “to do” box which is essentially an action folder.

During her first grade year, her inbox sat on her mom’s desk, but now this second grader has her own personal workspace at home, complete with a desk, computer, office supplies, and a drawer filled with files with labels that make sense to her (tickets, certificates, American Girl, Webkinz, etc.).

Annie’s mom, Meg Edwards, who happens to be the Director of Coaching Services for the David Allen Company sees a “conscious thing happening” with her daughter as Annie embraces GTD. Meg says that Annie doesn’t always know that how she’s learning to manage her “stuff” stems from her mom’s work, but that Annie enjoys the autonomy and control and “being active in coming up with solutions.” A misplaced, but subsequently recovered Nintendo cable became the catalyst for labeling all cords for her laptop, iPod and other wired toys. A noisy lunch room at school

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How Old for GTD?

(continued)

prompted Annie to create and hang a poster there that reads “Respect People’s Quietness and Keep Voices Low” with the successful outcome of a now peaceful dining experience for all.

When Annie was asked if she had any other tools up her sleeve, the aspiring country music star said, “Yeah, the 2 minute rule.” Oh.

While Annie is picking up GTD by osmosis, Ryomah, a high school freshman from Queens, finally picked up the book. Initially, when his mom brought the book home, Ryomah had reservations about reading it because he thought it related strictly to the “corporate business environment”. He soon realized that the concepts are “for everyday people” and now writes down “whatever requires thinking”.

Ryomah finds peace in starting with one action that leads to others rather than focusing on his sometimesdaunting academic and career goals. He sees attention to the ideal end result, which for now is attending Stanford University, as a distraction to opportunities that might show up along the way. Stanford may be in his future, but he is clear that the series of next actions might ultimately point him in a different direction that he has not yet considered. He analogizes the constructing a building to the working from bottom to top principle in GTD; a building is more solid built from the bottom up and would most likely collapse if built from the top –down.

So it’s not surprising that Ryomah reveres the notoriously free-spirited Nobel Peace Prize winner Richard Feynman, noting that Feynman was a “unique scientist” who cracked the code to the Challenger space shuttle failure and joined a samba band on a whim.

Like Feynman, Ryomah is passionate about learning

and “keep(ing) curious”. Presently, he is writing a math research paper on scheduling theory and is committed to becoming a competitive ping pong player, taking lessons from a 1988 Olympic ping pong semifinalist. He says he chose scheduling theory as the topic for his research paper after meeting David Allen because while scheduling theory is built around “different ordering of tasks and how to optimize processing time”, it only applies to mechanical beings. He likens GTD to scheduling theory for the human beings, with the added benefit of the mind’s ability to relate actions, keep clear and subsequently focused. Whoa.

To answer the question, how old is old enough is limited only by one’s willingness to be open to it, and to sticking with it long enough to see results, regardless of age. Annie values her “processing time (as) thinking time”, and recognizing “what is significant to her”, says Meg. While Ryomah is motivated by the “small moments that you realize you are actually doing something”.

So. One of your significant moments may be sharing a little GTD with a child.

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Book Review: by John Forrister The Power of a Positive No: How to Say No and Still Get to Yes by William Ury; Bantam, 200 Yes!, No, Yes? In GTD seminars and forum discussions, we often hear from people about the staggering number of inputs they deal with in their busy lives. Each day seems to bring more calls, emails, meetings, paperwork, in-person interruptions, et al than the day before. The challenge in managing our agreements is clarifying how often we are saying yes. That inevitably brings up what for many of us is a greater challenge – saying no.

There’s help from William Ury, in his new book entitled, “The Power of a Positive No: How to Say No and Still Get to Yes” (Bantam, 2007). You may have read his previous two books, “Getting to Yes” and “Getting Past No.” The current book completes the trilogy, but Ury calls it the prequel to the other two, providing the foundation for the negotiation strategies he developed in the earlier books.

According to Ury, there is an implied dilemma at the root of our difficulty with saying no. In his terms, there is “tension between exercising your power and tending to your relationship. Exercising your power, while central to the act of saying No, may strain your relationship, whereas tending to your relationship may weaken your power.” No is a powerful word, but will that power put any of my relationships at risk?

To resolve this dilemma, Ury offers a No Oreo, in which the No is the creamy center, with a chocolate cookie Yes on each side. In delivery, each No is preceded and followed by a Yes. This metaphorical Oreo, while not as sweet as the real thing, is palatable to the one delivering the No and the one receiving it. It starts with a Yes! that affirms what is of value, what our personal interests or investments are in the situation. That is followed by a firm No to anything that does not line up with our interests and values. The second Yes is a question or invitation to collaborate on a better way for both parties to further their mutual interests.

Ury’s positive No begins with a Yes. When we know what we say Yes to, that provides the framework for delivering a positive No. In GTD terms, the Yes

framework is a current list of next actions for each of our projects, based on clearly-defined areas of responsibility, in alignment with our goals. In other words, a positive No is a runway level action based on knowing the Yes on each of our higher horizons of focus.

Ury points out that most people say no reactively instead of proactively. His suggestion for moving from reactive to proactive is to look forward purposefully, knowing what we value. There is an obvious compatibility with the Natural Planning Model we teach in GTD. Focusing on a successful outcome, based on clearly defined values, is an effective way to move into the proactive state. Beginning with purpose and guiding principles (the higher levels of Yes) it becomes clear that sometimes the best next action is to say No. His technique of “going to the balcony” to get a higher perspective is a visual parallel to the GTD practice of reviewing at several horizons of focus. Ury says that on the balcony, we can more easily see the level below in the context of higher values. Of course it’s easier to climb to the balcony if the stairway has been cleared by a weekly review. What Ury describes as viewing situations from the balcony is how we would describe seeing the runway in the context of projects at 10,000 feet and areas of responsibility at 20,000 feet.

Ury illustrates his method with a wide range of examples. Some are global, such as his own work with the United Nations to avert conflict in Venezuela; or historical, such as his description of Sadat’s visit to Jerusalem in 1977. But he also provides some examples that are surprisingly personal, including one about a relative dealing with addiction. This range of examples helps to emphasize that the skill of saying no benefits each of us individually, and applies just as importantly in our larger group relationships.

“The Power of a Positive No” is from one angle a manual for business negotiations. From another angle it’s a self-help book for those of us who need more practice saying no. Either way, it’s a valuable tool for improving our GTD skills.

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When a Checklist is a Next Action by David Allen We recently received a good question from a CPA who was struggling with how best to track his reminder of a recurring project with several small steps – a month’s end close. The last four days of the month, he and his team are responsible for closing the company books, which requires a sequence of several small actions, often done as one continuous action. It seems to function like one big Next Action when they push the “go” button on the close (the discrete steps themselves seem too small to break into separate actions), but he then runs the risk of losing track of a small “straggler” or two.

In response, our Associate in London, James Daniel, forwarded one possible option for handling that, based on something he works in his own system:

I have a “month end” checklist which I use to drive some recurring checks (mainly domestic admin and IT support stuff I have to handle). When the time comes, I create a Next Action called “Do month end checklist” and I paste the checklist into the Notes field of the Next Action (I use Outlook, but most software of that ilk has a big text field somewhere that isn’t the subject line). Pasting the whole list into the Notes field is a bit of a fudge - it feels like a project being treated as a Next Action - but it’s much quicker than creating a large number of individual Next Actions, and keeps the fine detail of the stuff visible if and when I want to see it. Note that this relies on the fact that everything on that checklist gets done in the same place (@home), so it’s OK to forego the option to put different items into different context lists.

There are some sequential dependencies, but not many.

As the elements of the list get done (or I decide no action is necessary that month) I put DONE next to that item (radical!), but I don’t close the Next Action until all the bits are done (or ruled out that time round). The list is pretty stable - I’ve done everything on it at least a few dozen times before - so I’m pretty confident that most times through things will go according to script.

But sometimes they don’t, and at that point I would not hesitate to make up as many separate Next Actions as it takes (in different context and so on) to handle the non-standard whatever-it-is that comes up. When that happens I also consider modifying the checklist for the future. If I’m checking tire pressures and I find that one is soft, “Get VW tires inflated” goes on @shops, but I wouldn’t write “If the tires are soft, get them inflated” on the checklist - when it’s true it’s obvious and sometimes it isn’t true (e.g. when the tire also needs replacing!).

James’ suggestion could work in various situations in which you have a series of small steps that are required to complete a regular task, which usually get done in a lump but not always. Examples might be: - the procedure for closing up your house or apartment before you leave on a long trip - the things you need to have a new employee do, read, sign, and know about their first few days on the job - your own customized Weekly Review steps For some of these you would still need a reminder to run through the series, tracked as a Next Action, which would often reside in your calendar system for the specific day you needed to do it or begin it.

If the task is made up of merely a series of all the same steps, it could simply be called a Next Action, and left open as “undone” until it was finished, in case it’s not completed in one sitting. Examples might be: - filling out your tax forms (assuming you have all the data) - filing a big expense report - packing for a big trip

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David Allen’s Personal Tool Kit

Vintage early 2007

People are often curious about the tools I use. I’m a bit cautious about letting people know some of that information, though, because given the role people have ascribed to me, there’s often a somewhat exaggerated reverence put on things that don’t deserve it. In other words, if I say my recycle wastebasket is on my right and the regular trash is on my left (which is true), it could be taken as some sort of productivity scripture and start a flood of blogs with people debating late into the night about what exactly did I mean about “right” and “left” and designing software that would enhance that practice. (I’m only semi-kidding! You might be surprised...)

So at the risk of stirring a pot that does not even need to cook, I will share what equipment I use to facilitate my own processes. Keep in mind that I work from my own office in a cottage behind my house, which is separate from the company office, ten minutes away.

If you walked in on me right now, here’s what you’d find, in use: In-baskets I use five (samples of our new collection). One for IN, one for OUT, one for short-term action support documents, one for Read/Review, and one on the side of my desk as a corral for chargers and accessories for camera and phone.

Note-taking (collection) - NoteTaker Wallet. One I designed and that we now sell.

- Legal pad. Always on my desk, pen ready.

- Legal pad (junior). Handy for smaller cases, walk arounds.

(Both sized pads are samples from our upcoming collection) - Smythson journal. For my personal journal.

Phones - Panasonic two-line. All the standard conferencing and call-waiting, speed dial features. Plantronics wireless headset.

- Palm Treo 700p. w/Verizon.

- Motorola Razr. For international use, with Range Roamer service.

Intercom Two-way wireless GE intercom, for chatting with Kathryn in the house.

Desktop organizers - High-sided, graduated organizer. For cd markers, scissors, note cards and envelopes, box cutter, staple remover, highlighter.

- Fedon tray (coming soon to our store). Paper clips (large size!), stamps, binder clips, post-its (3x3), lip balm, eye wash.

- Fedon holder (coming soon to our store). Pens, letter opener.

- 2 Standing graduated wire file racks (samples of our new collection). For current project and meeting folders, holders for my traveling plastic folders when I’m in town.

Pens - Ballpoint and rollerball – both Waterman.

- Fountain pen – DuPont.

I keep a dual set of these in my briefcase.

Timer Two-minute sand timer. It’s a prototype of one we’re designing to sell. Prevents rabbit-trailing.

Computer IBM ThinkPad T60p. It’s my only computer, with a dock on the desk that’s wired to major USB hubs for connections to camera, Treo, iPods, digital recorder, external hard drive.

Software - MS Office suite for Word, Excel, PowerPoint.

- Lotus Notes. Our company groupware, for e-mail, calendar, GTD lists, reference and checklists (Journal), and many shared, distributed project-and functionspecific reference databases for teams and the company as a whole. Calendar, tasks, and journal lists synch to Palm Treo, using mNotes as the connectivity app.

- MindManager. For project support, meeting facilitation, self-consulting - ActiveWords. Macro Windows-based program for speeding up multi-tasking.

- Photoshop.

- Quicken. I manage our personal finances, pay bills electronically.

- Audition (Adobe). For simple audio editing.

- SnagIt. - iTunes.

- Merriam-Webster dictionary and thesaurus.

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Tool Kit

(continued)

- PersonalBrain. For a specialized personal database.

- Utilities: standard Windows-based stuff – Symantec, Adobe, etc.

- Web: Windows Explorer and Firefox.

- Games: FreeCell and GO (Goliath).

- Search: Google

Files - General reference. Seven drawers - labeled folders, alpha-sorted.

- Financial. One drawer - labeled folders, alpha-sorted.

- David Allen Company. One drawer - labeled folders, alpha-sorted.

Labeler Brother PT-18R. Connected via USB to laptop dock.

Data projector Casio XJ 350. With pull-down screen behind me.

Camera Sony Cybershot.

Supplies Several shelves and four drawers with blank cd’s, paper, envelopes, hand tools, travel accessories, refills, batteries, storage cases, etc.

Audio recording Marantz digital recorder.

Mackie mixing board.

Telos phone line channeler.

Shure microphone.

Lamps Tolomeo mini’s from Artemide.

Music iTunes on the laptop, run through Cambridge SoundWorks speakers/woofer.

Scanner Canon CanoScan. Simple USB-driven on the desk.

Printer/copier/fax HP Color LaserJet 2840.

Desk and file system - Herman Miller Passage System. Includes my desktop, side desk, and two-drawer rolling file drawer cabinets that fit underneath, with slider blocks (no hangers required).

- Bisley metal drawer cabinets. For supply items like stationery and envelopes.

Tickler file 43 labeled manila folders, in right-hand file drawer under desk. (Our own version is coming...)

Briefcase(s) - Tumi. Large leather laptop-carrying, expandable. Basic workhorse, esp. for traveling. Kept stocked with pens, business cards, travel club cards, refills, batteries.

- Various smaller cases. I have four or five of various sizes that I use, depending on where I’m going and how much I want to carry.

Traveling folders I use our set that we created and sell (that’s how they were designed!) – IN, TO OFFICE, ACTION SUPPORT, READ/REVIEW, plus one I’ve labeled TRAVEL.

Hopefully this will dispel any mysteries or myths about my own cockpit gear, or at least satisfy any latent curiosities.

Don’t take any of this as recommendations carved in stone – there could easily be newer and better versions of many of the things I’ve listed. I can attest to the functionality of all that I have – at the moment it all works for me in a coordinated way, and on cruise control. I do ask that you refrain from sending us requests for specific models, sources, prices, however, as they change constantly. I’ve noted the ones that I thought made a difference.

And if you have a favorite tool you’d like to share – what it is and how it works for you – we’d be happy to know about it.

Just drop us a note at info@gtdconnect.com.

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A smarter way to work and live

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The David Allen Company 1674 McNell Rd. Ojai, CA 93023

Make It Up and Make It Happen There are only two problems in life. Isn’t that nice to know? You only have two things you ever need to be concerned about. Not only are there only two problems – they are really quite simple. Ready?

Problem #1: You know what you want, and you don’t know how to get it. Problem #2: You don’t know what you want. Anything you can define as a problem can be reduced to one or both of those statements.

Now, since there are only two problems, it follows that there are only two solutions that you will ever need. You need to make it up, and make it happen. You must decide and clarify what outcome you’re after; and you must then determine how you get from here to there.

It turns out that those two issues match the two sides of your brain. The “make it up” part relates to the right hemisphere – the imaging, gestalting, creative part of our thinking. The “make it happen” part is identified with the left side – the linear, logical, figure-it-out aspect.

Another way to understand this polarity is that if you know what you want and where you’re going, efficiency is your only improvement opportunity. Getting there with less effort is the name of your game. If, however, you’re not so sure where you’re headed or what it is exactly that you’re after, your challenge is to identify and sharpen the image, the outcome, the goal.

This dual nature of our work and our world connects with the two key questions of what we refer to as the “fundamental thought process” – What’s the desired outcome? And, what’s the next action? Those are the two questions that must be asked and answered by any of us, to determine what any of our “stuff” means to us.

What do I do with this e-mail, this piece of paper, this thought I had driving home? What outcome, if any, am I now committed to about it? What’s the next action required to move it toward that outcome? Those questions are normally answered for us or self-evident, except in a crisis. Usually we have to, in a sense, make something up (decide what we’re committed to) and make it happen (choose a next physical action to move forward on it).

Welcome to “knowledge work athletics.”

So, which question do you need to answer, about what, at this point? Where do you need to put some more mental horsepower into figuring out what you’re trying to accomplish, at what horizon? And on which things do you still need to challenge yourself and others to decide the next actions to take, and who’s going to take them?

Time management? No, you can’t manage time. It’s thought management. You must lasso the wild horse of your mind with the two critical aspects of a successful ride – direction and control. Make it up, and make it happen.

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© 1998 to 2006 The David Allen Company

DavidAllen

ARE YOU MICRO-MANAGING YOUR MIND? One of the greatest traps in growing a business is also a pitfall for self management: if you don’t trust your system, you can’t let go of operational details and you’ll limit your ability to create at a bigger level.

Many successful entrepreneurs I have worked with over the years could be characterized (and have been, by their employees and friends) as “highly creative control freaks.” It’s understandable because usually it takes that kind of strong, directed energy to create a business, to make something out of nothing. Much like a parent will go to superhuman lengths to protect its vulnerable offspring, someone who gives birth to an enterprise almost of necessity must have skin as thick as an elephant’s and the aggressive/defensive capacity of a samurai warrior.

It takes tremendous focus, determination, and, yes, a certain lack of sensitivity, to create something new and get it to stick around in this world.

That protectionism can, of course, become their undoing. In order to continue in their visionary capacity to grow and expand, they must mature not only their team and their systems but themselves as well, to prevent the strangulation of micro-management. They have to trust. But trust is not something you can just do because you should. I suppose you can develop a greater sense of overall optimism about life, but you don’t merely learn to trust - you learn to build trust. And you do that by creating a system and working it, so you can let go at that lower functional level, without letting go of the bigger picture of what you’re trying to accomplish.

A beginner at the wheel of a car will have jerky, small movements. They are maintaining control, just at small increments of focus. Only as they learn to trust the car’s responsiveness can they let go on that level, extend their horizon, and cruise at higher speeds more easily.

Similarly, if you don’t fully trust your personal systems, you are likely to be dedicating inappropriate and unnecessary mental attention to details and content, often with a resultant negative emotional component. You’ll feel pulled, overwhelmed, and often like you’re close to losing control.

But you can’t trust your system until it’s trust-worthy. When is that? When you know you have captured all your commitments, clarified what you’re intending to do about them, decided the actions you need to take about them, and have parked reminders of those actions in places that you know you’ll look, where and when you need to.

Entrepreneurs have to break out of their comfort zone of operational control and let go, getting good people in the right places, accountable for the right things and monitored appropriately. Similarly, to keep a clear head focused creatively at the right things, you must have all the right things in your personal system and the behaviors to look at them at the right time. If you try to keep more than ten things in your mind at once, you’ll lose objectivity about their relationships with each other. Less important things will bother you more than they should, and you won’t give the tactical and strategic stuff the objective attention it deserves. And if some part of you knows that you don’t have everything captured and organized in the right place, your brain simply won’t let go of some attention ©David Allen & Company 2002-2006. All rights reserved.

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DavidAllen to unseen details. You’ll find yourself still to some degree at the mercy of the latest and loudest. It’s the price paid for staying in the comfort zone of keeping control of it all in your head.

When people begin to implement the Getting Things Done methods, they initially experience a rush of energy and creativity, while feeling more relaxed at the same time. But those positive experiences can slip away quickly without the confidence that the content of their systems are complete and current (the inventory of which could have been changed and expanded hugely with the last phone call). People have often said, “Gee, I have everything captured in the system, but my mind is still worrying and reminding me about this and that.” My question is, “How long have you been working your system?” Usually they have only recently set it up. That won’t be sufficient to build trust yet, and your mind will still try to keep control. That’s why the challenge is to keep going – to keep coming back to everything downloaded, processed, and organized. And the trick is to come back often enough for the mind to be able to let go, trusting that remembering and reminding is really being handled by something better than it is. Then you’re truly free to be thinking about things, not of them.

“Be steady and well-ordered in your life so that you can be fierce and original in your work.” - Gustave Flaubert

©David Allen & Company 2002-2006. All rights reserved.

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Organizing Your Workspace We often get questions about personal work areas: “What is the best way to organize a desk space, bookshelves, and my whole office? What special gadgets or tools can help me organize the work most efficiently? How often should I clean and organize it – assuming that it doesn’t stay neat as soon as it’s cleaned?”

I will share my thoughts about gear and workspace logistics, but keep in mind that in order to understand how it all fits together and to make this work, you should be familiar with my documents on the Workflow Diagram, General Reference Filing, the Tickler File, and the Weekly Review. All of these are available on this website.

The workspace should function like a cockpit – all the controls easily accessible as required, allowing for maximum focus on the work at hand, quick over-viewing of work to be done, and easy ad hoc processing of all forms of input (from email, paper mail, phone, and live conversation).

BASIC HARDWARE Here’s a basic toolkit: 1. In-basket (top basket) 2. Work-in-progress basket 3. Standing wire racks for file folders (work-in-progress support) 4. Out-basket 5. Computer 6. Printer (have one right at hand – it’ll save you hours!)

7. Clock 8. Phone/answering machine 9. Capture/communication tools – writing pad, stapler, tape; desk tray and holders for pens, post-its, paper clips, scissors, stamps 10. Labeller (for files) 11. New file folders (lots, at hand!)

12. Filing cabinets (within reach) 13. Telephone/address database 14. Calendar 15. Personal supplies (best in at-hand drawers): pharmaceuticals, refills for writing instruments, batteries, business cards, stationery, envelopes, headphones, blank CDs, small tools, and the like.

©David Allen Company 1998, 2008. All rights reserved.

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DavidAllen WORKSPACE FUNCTIONALITY Two types of materials belong in your workspace, and it’s very productive to sort them accordingly: 1. What belongs there permanently 2. What is in transit and incomplete Most people have vague (if any) physical and visible distinctions between these two very different categories in their environment – what has action required and what doesn’t, because it belongs there. In our workflow coaching with executives, the first activity we have them do is sort out what stays where it is and what still needs attention.

Often, too, there are many things that should be purged OUT of the environment. Sometimes a plethora of outdated “stuff” can accumulate, clogging up drawers and nooks and crannies of desk real estate.

Permanent Stuff The only items that belong permanently in your workspace are: supplies, reference material, decoration, and equipment. Anything else goes first in the in-basket to be processed and then is either tossed, tickled, filed or coded into your action-reminder system.

“Supplies” – everything you need, and use up, on a regular basis – writing and printer paper, stamps, paper clips, tissues, ink, etc.

“Reference material” – your files, ring binders, directories, manuals, lists of codes, etc.

“Decoration” – wall décor, art, plants, family pictures, nostalgia, cartoons, etc.

“Equipment” – furniture, phones, computers, PDAs, printers, stapler, letter opener, pens, chargers, projectors, briefcases, etc.

Keep It Current It’s often a worthy exercise to exorcise the supplies, reference material, decoration and equipment that really aren’t any longer. Many things that start out as functional in those categories become outdated, useless, or misplaced simply by the passage of time. It’s good to regularly purge and reorganize the desk, drawers, shelves, countertops, and files. It’s very easy to go unconscious to stuff just because it’s there, undermining the sense of active utility in your environment. If you have things still around that you’re not sure if you might need again (such as miscellaneous electronic accessories), consider putting them further away from you in plastic storage bins labelled “Misc Gear,” which you can then reevaluate later as to its relevance. ©David Allen Company 1998, 2008. All rights reserved.

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DavidAllen Filing Styling It is important to pay attention to the logistics of filing in your office area because, besides furniture, it requires the most space and physical movement to execute. General reference filing (also including support files for projects in progress) should be within easy reach. You should eliminate any resistance to filing a single piece of paper out of the in-basket, if it’s potentially useful information. (See my article on General Reference Filing.) If you have inherited your office and its furniture and its layout, you may be the victim of aesthetic elegance and functional unconsciousness. Standard corporate issue are side-opening filing cabinets that require hanging files, which aren’t nearly as easy to use as the front-opening types with slider blocks that hold files upright. Most people need four full file drawers for their own personal general reference filing, if they have an easy enough system to use for all the miscellaneous paper-based reference material that could be keep-worthy. Any reference material that can stand up by itself goes on your shelves, like books, thick manuals and binders (appropriately labelled).

Anything else should live in its own file alphabetically in your filing cabinets.

In Transit and Incomplete Stuff The movable stuff in the work area consists of: 1. Input to be processed 2. Action reminders

Input Processing Workspace should be organized to make it easy to process input at random times (email, voice mail, paper mail, etc.) The in-basket and your email should all be easily process-able while you’re on hold on a conference call, or waiting for someone to walk into your office. So not only the phone and the computer, but also the in-basket should be at hand’s reach. The in-basket can and should hold everything that is not yet organized, so there is no need to have a “messy desk”. Sure, I spread my stuff out to work on a project or with a client or for a meeting, but when I want to focus on something else, I need to re-gather it all and either re-file it as appropriate or toss it into “in” until I can get to it again. Of course a legal pad or some form of easy note-taking device should always be right at hand in case the phone rings or I want to check voice mail, or someone pops into the office and lets me know something that I might want to do something with later on.

Action Reminding The action-reminder tools in a workspace consist of (1) calendar, (2) reminders of as-soon-as-I-can-get-to-it actions, and (3) overviews of projects and longer-horizon outcomes. These can be in whatever hardware you ©David Allen Company 1998, 2008. All rights reserved.

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DavidAllen have personally chosen as the most logistically efficient for your life- and work-style. They could be in a loose-leaf planner, a software application, and/or paper-based folders and baskets.

The first thing usually accessed at hand is the calendar (and a clock), to let you know where you have to be when today. It signifies the “hard landscape” for your day, and so must be the most easily and consistently reviewed device and information. The next most accessible for review need to be the action-reminder lists, folder, or baskets. (“Gee, I don’t have to be in the meeting for another 15 minutes... what could I handle and get off my plate between now and then?”) The lists of projects, objectives, goals, visions, might-want-to’s, etc. just need to be accessible enough so, in the Weekly Review, they are perused appropriately for effective calibration of your intuitive operational focus.

KEEPING THE SYSTEM If the workspace is organized appropriately, according to the real principles of workflow (as I’ve outlined above) it’s no big deal to keep it up. As a matter of fact, the more airtight the system is, the more out of control you can let it get! If you’re on a real roll (making money hand over fist today), who cares how clean your desk is?! With a clear system in place, it is not only easy to get things back into control, it’s actually fun. Without the system, it’s frustrating, and there always remains a vague sense of being out of control because the game hasn’t been fully structured.

The Weekly Review should be the time to get the edges back, make sure it all is in place, ready for another successful roll. But it’s also a great habit and principle – when in doubt, clean a drawer! (There’s another roll coming!)

DAVID’S PERSONAL OFFICE SPACE (come on in...!)

On my Desk 1. Two of my Fedon stacking trays – top one for IN and the underneath one for “action support” materials 2. Two Fedon wire stand-up file holder racks, for my plastic system files and work-in-progress support files (current active projects and standing meetings) 3. Laptop in port replicator stand, attached to: network, printer, external storage drive, and synchronizing connectors for PDA, iPod, digital camera, labeller, scanner, and digital recorder 4. Extra single Fedon stacking tray to corral a power strip with miscellaneous chargers 5. Fedon holder for highlighter/letter opener/scissors 6. Two Fedon organizer trays with paper clips, staple remover, stamps, post-its, pens, USB mass storage sticks, lip balm 7. Stapler ©David Allen Company 1998, 2008. All rights reserved.

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DavidAllen 8.

9.

10.

11.

12.

13.

Scotch tape dispenser Legal pad World globe (small, for decoration) World Atlas (Smythson) Labeller (Brother PT-1800) Scanner (small – Canon)

In the Desk 1. Small drawers: pen refills, staple remover, batteries, business cards, flashlight, NoteTaker Wallet refills, deposit slips, USB headset 2. Deeper drawers: supply of new manila file folders, small tools, miscellaneous travel accessories, etc.

On the counter behind me 1.

2.

3.

4.

Heavyweight stapler Printer/fax/copier (HP 2840) Fedon stacking tray for OUT Fedon stacking tray for Read/Review – magazines, articles

My files In my desk: 1. Tickler file 2. Personal financial files (A-Z) Within reach: 1. Personal DAC company files (A-Z) 2. General reference files (A-Z)

Also...

1. Two small metal cabinets with drawers for stationery, printer checks, envelopes

And on miscellaneous shelves and in the closet 1. Books 2. Printer paper 3. Larger gear

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Overwhelm? Take the Helm...

An old skipper gave me a great tip one time, when I had my own sailboat. “If someone’s about to hurl, give `em the helm.” When you feel motion sickness, a good thing to do is focus on the horizon. It’s even better to grab the wheel. I’ve never known anyone get carsick who was driving. A much deeper level of equilibrium is accessed when you actually take charge of a moving vessel.

The main reason you will feel much better when you implement the methods of workflow mastery we coach is not because it creates less to do, or even that you realize you will get more done in less time. It’s really because it automatically puts you back in the driver’s seat, at the center of your universe. You become cause instead of effect.

Overwhelm and over-commitment, though they seem to be the source of much of the stress these days, are not the real culprits. Many times you will actually thrive in those situations in which you are “against all odds”. Try single-handed sailing out into the deep blue ocean. Or just getting out of bed, some mornings!

The angst arises when you let loose the reins, when you stop directing your own energy. Indeed, we are all at the mercy of things bigger than us. And at some point we all learn that surrendering to some greater and larger aspect of the universe and ourselves is the real game. But that kind of letting go is actually a positive and highly directed energy, and not at all the kind of caved-in experience of being victimized by the voluminous details of your life.

Avoiding things demanding your attention is like trying to stop the boat from rocking. Answering “What’s your desired outcome?” and “What’s the next action?” - even about the pieces of paper in your in-tray puts you back at the helm.

“Drive thy business, or it will drive thee.”

- Benjamin Franklin “What makes a river so restful to people is that it doesn’t have any doubt--it is sure where it is going, and it doesn’t want to go anywhere else.”

- Hal Boyle

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DavidAllen

Palm With the Palm as my primary reminder system, I’ve had hundreds of people ask about how I’ve structured my lists to implement the Action to Outcome model in my seminars.

Because this may save a ton of time for people who have been through my seminars, I’m publishing this and will attempt to keep it current as I fine-tune it. (This will also be of great value to people using any list-based system for reminders.)

So, OK, here’s the current (work-in-progress) version of my Palm set-up:

Calendar and Tel/Add - that’s pretty standard. (I do not use categories in Tel/Add, except for Restaurants, under which I have all the local restaurants. In case we’re out and about, and suddenly get the urge to eat somewhere we haven’t for a while... Otherwise the “Find” feature on the Palm is rigorous and easy, and I just keep the Tel/Address list on All all the time.)

To-Do Lists - this is where I’ve installed the key reminder-type operational lists that I review daily and weekly.

Here is my current set of categories: - Projects (active more-than-one-action projects) - (I have about 60) - Someday/Maybe (projects I might want to do in the future) - (I have about 70)

(In the following categories I use the @ sign, to represent action lists) - @Agendas (items to cover with specific people when I am with them in person or on the phone. Each person is listed as a To-Do, and the things to go over with them are listed in the attached Notes field) - @Anywhere (actions that can be done pretty much wherever I am) - @Call (actions at phone) - @Computer (actions at computer) - @Computer - Web (actions that require me being on line. Because I travel so much, many times I’m not on line, so I like to distinguish those) ©David Allen & Company 2002-2006. All rights reserved.

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DavidAllen - @Errands (out-and-about things to do I can do while I’m traveling as well as at home) - @Errands - Ojai (out-and-about actions that require me being around Ojai to do) - @Home (actions that have to be done at home) - @Office (actions that have to be done at my office) - @Waiting For... (actions and projects other people are doing that I care about)

Memo Lists: - Clients (list of all of them: current and past) - DA Thoughts (possible essay topics for my Food for Thoughts on the Web) - Dates (birthdays and anniversaries, which it automatically sorts chronologically, as they are listed “02-05 - John Doe”) - Focus Areas (bigger checklists like larger goals, objectives, areas of focus) - Ideas??? (crazy ad hoc ideas I want to save but don’t know what to do with) - In development (relationships, potential partnerships and networking possibilities) - Inspirations (personal affirmations and inspiring quotes) - Key people (just that, a list I want to review to ensure I’m doing what I want with the relationships) - Lists (Weekly Review, Travel Checklist, and more than a dozen ad hoc lists I want to keep for a while) - Maybe Get (books, CDs, videos, misc.)

- Next time in... (lists of possible things to do by city, when I’m there next) - Travel (I have separate docs for each city, and the restaurants, stores, and people to be reminded of there) - Web articles (ideas, themes, and topics I intend to add to this Web site) - Wine (Chardonnays, Chiantis, Pinot Noirs, etc. to archive for reference) ©David Allen & Company 2002-2006. All rights reserved.

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DavidAllen

Organizing a Paper Organizer Many people have asked for my suggestions about setting up loose-leaf organizers. I used one for years (before I switched to the Palm), and if I were to go back to a paper-based planner, I would set it up something like what I have recommended below.

An advantage to paper-based organizers is the capability of a better and faster visual overview and context. And even though the separate paper lists could be kept anywhere in the system, it is nice to group them based upon how they are accessed.

I carry a letter-sized 3-ring binder demo mock-up of this kind of organizer with me in seminars, and the one I put together cost about $12 at Staples (most of that cost is for the binder.) You can pay tons more for classy graphics and covers and accessories (which I often did) but it is not required. The only preprinted forms you might need would be calendar pages and telephone/address pages. Otherwise, you could easily get by with plain lined notebook paper, on which you could make your lists.

Size is more a matter of aesthetics and logistics. Letter-sized notebooks have the advantage of holding standard paper that can be printed or copied, and finding inexpensive forms and accessories in standard stationery stores.

Mid-sized planners have the advantage of convenience of writing in places of more limited space and slightly less bulky for schlepping around in your gear.

I suggest eight tabs and sections, in this order in the binder: Notes/”In” The portable in-basket. For capturing random notes to be processed later – voicemails, meeting notes, random thoughts, phone conversation notes, etc. Process and purge regularly.

Calendar Lists day- and time-specific actions and information – appointments, have-to’s for the day, and things we need or want to know on or about that day.

Action Lists The lists of pre-defined actions to choose from when we have discretionary time--next steps on projects and single actions that need to get done as soon as we can do them. Can be broken down into subsets by context of where the action has to happen--at home, at computer, at phone, errands, etc.

Agendas Things to bring up when we meet or talk with individuals or groups, organized by the person or the meeting. ©David Allen & Company 2002-2006. All rights reserved.

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DavidAllen Projects/Goals The more-than-one-step outcomes that we need to keep reminders about – the “open loops.” This section can also include the bigger-picture outcomes, such as professional goals, personal visions, values, etc. as well as the “someday/maybe” kinds of things we want to keep alive for review. This section to be reviewed at least weekly to ensure there are actions on the active projects in the system.

Project Planning/Notes Place to hold support material for projects, themes, and topics. Project plans, project support materials, etc. To be used to capture project thinking, and for reviewing as needed to ensure appropriate next actions on the action lists or agendas.

Reference/Misc Various reference lists related to interests and activities, and a general “catch-all”section.

Tel/Add The basic Rolodex of names and addresses.

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The Big Secret About Goal Setting Goals are tools, not golden calves.

I was recently facilitating a senior level discussion in a medical technology corporation, grappling with the issue of the role of R&D and how to “fill the pipeline” with new products that would keep them competitive. As one top exec proposed some aggressive goals for the number of new products created and developed within the next 18 months, another equally top exec challenged “Why set goals for R&D? What difference will it make? What will anyone do differently because some committee gave them a number like that to produce?”

It is not unusual to find many people jaded at best about the value of goal-setting, given the stress created by what are often perceived as artificial expectations decreed from on high.

There is always the dilemma of trying to set targets low enough to be “realistic” but big enough to be “galvanizing, exciting, challenging” (and sometimes required!)

This is a topic for endless business books and motivation pundits. I just want to highlight one perspective I’ve found very useful over the years. The value of goals is not in the future they describe, but the change in perception of reality they foster.

What we focus on changes what we notice. Our brain filters information, seeing one thing in a situation instead of something else, based on what we identify with, what we have our attention on. In one meeting optometrists notice who’s wearing eyeglasses, affirmative action advocates notice the ratio of minorities in the group, and interior designers notice the color schemes.

Similarly, if you stop for a minute and give yourself permission to imagine five years from now, if your life could be as fabulously spectacular as you could possibly imagine, what might a Sunday afternoon be like? Reading great reviews of your best-selling book? Sailing the ocean in your own boat? Feeling relaxed, inspired, and having great fun with plenty of free time to read, play with kids, explore new hobbies....?

Now imagine how good it could be ten minutes from now... Likely there will be different images that you will generate or perceive.

Both are exercises in fantasy. Each will give instructions to our mind to search for information that will be relevant to the pictures. Which is “better”? Depends on whether you’d like to start noticing sailing magazines, ideas for

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a book, or creative ways to have more discretionary time. That information is all around you, all the time. But if you’re not wired up to perceive it with a focus that opens you to it, you’ll think it doesn’t exist.

The reason for long-term goals is the permission they give us to identify with the greatest value we can so it changes our filtered perceptions. The future never shows up (have you noticed--it’s always today!) But playing with it as a working blueprint can be a remarkably useful tool to see things (and how to do and have them) that you never saw before. The most innovative companies are the ones with the biggest goals.

The future is an illusion, but a damned handy one.

Make no little plans; they have no magic to stir men’s blood and probably in themselves will not be realized.

Make big plans; aim high in hope and work remembering that a noble, logical diagram once recorded will never die.

- Daniel Hudson Burnham

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The Tickler File This is an organizational tool which can be used to simplify the tracking of date-related items and to manage work flow.

It works well as an adjunct to personal planners and calendars, allowing them to be used for streamlined focus on items that require on-going review and access.

How It’s Set Up It consists of file folders (letter or legal size) - 31 daily files are labeled “1” through “31” and twelve monthly files are labeled with the months of the year. (See diagram on page 4.)

The daily files are in the front, beginning with the files for tomorrow’s date (if today is October 5, then the first file would be “6”). The succeeding daily files would represent the days of the rest of the month (“6” through “31”).

Behind the “31” file would be the monthly file for the next month (“November”), and behind it would be the daily files “1” though “5”. Behind that would be the rest of the monthly files (“December” through “October”).

This means that the next 31 days (October 6 through November 5) are represented in the front of the file; and behind that are files for the next twelve months.

The next daily file is emptied into the in-basket every day, and then re-filed at the back of the dailies (now instead of October 6, it represents November 6).

In the same way, when the next month file reaches the front (on October 31 the “November” file will be the next one, with the daily files behind it), it will be emptied into the in-basket and re-filed at the back of the monthlies, to represent November a year from now.

This is a “perpetual” file - at any time it has files for the next 31 days and the next twelve months.

How It’s Used Documents, notes, reminders of all sorts can be directly filed to automatically trigger action and/or review when needed, without loading up daily planners or getting lost in miscellaneous storage.

If you want to be reminded to handle something in the future, but don’t want or need to think about it until then, it can be “tickled” to show up exactly on the day or month you’d like to see it again.

The advantage of using file folders (instead of the old sales tickler system of index cards or even your calendar) is the ability to store the whole document or piece directly into the file (the actual form that needs to be filled out, the memo that needs reviewing then, the telephone note that needs action on a specific date, etc.)

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DavidAllen Some Sample Uses 1. Regular reports that need to be done on a standard cycle, e.g., weekly, monthly, quarterly. Put a “dummy” or blank form in the file for the day/ month it needs to be handled, and continue to re-file it as a reminder for the next one. Status reports, evaluations, payroll taxes, etc.

2. Contact follow-up that should be acted upon after a certain period of time but which don’t need tracking until then. Calling a prospect after their fiscal year begins, requesting feedback after someone has had time to review a product or materials, calling someone after they’re going to return from trip, etc. · 3. Reminders to do regular activities, such as: set / review goals, wax car, review someone’s performance, call a relative, clean files, back up computer data 4. Track cyclical financial matters, such as: pay rent, do taxes (file your 1040 in “January”), prepare statements, review assets, review investments 5. Manage cash flow. Tickle bills to pay for appropriate time periods (maximize cash flow, prevent overdrafts, etc.)

6. Review “maybe” actions. For instance, you may get a direct mail ad for something you might want, but cant decide about right now. Tickle the ad in our file to show up a week later, when you might be clearer about it (or for when you think you can more afford it!)

7. Follow up on delegated actions.

8. Ensure follow-up on orders/requests through the mail. (If it says “six weeks for delivery”, tickle a note [or the catalog, or ad] for review when you’d want to check on it, if it hasn’t been received).

9. Manage work flow. This is particularly useful if a special project needs all of your attention, or if you’re going out of town. Determine the next functional day you can be available to handle “regular stuff” at your desk; and empty your tickler file in your in-basket up to that date. Then review all of the papers, notes and to-dos on your plate. Everything that can wait until that future date you’ll tickle in that file, to show up after you can return to your normal routine. Everything that can’t wait should be put in front of you and handled now before you start on the project or leave town.

10. Storing tickets for concerts, theater, etc. Tickle them for the day before you need them, so you can then have them with you. In the same way tickle flyers for events that have directions, instructions, etc.

11. Ensure periodic enjoyment from inspirational writings, jokes, or whatever you’d like to see again. In general, use it for everything that inspires you to say “I’d like to be reminded of that again” but you don’t have a place to put it. ©David Allen & Company 2002-2006. All rights reserved.

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DavidAllen 12. Reminders of birthdays, anniversaries, etc. Tickle for appropriate lead-time to get cards, presents, arrangements made.

13. Reminders of warranty expirations. Tickle for lead-time to get covered services and repairs if needed.

[Slice of life: some real things in my tickler file --DA] - Amtrak ticket for the day I need it - Web printout of a piece of software I might want - don’t want to decide about it for a couple of weeks - Fax of program agenda and directions for a seminar I’m conducting - Inspirational pamphlet (to read monthly) - Hotel confirmation fax - Store receipt for an item shipped home from another city - Confirmation letter of closing an automatically billed account (Checkfree) until next statement to verify - Inspirational postcard I wrote myself from a spiritual retreat - One-year reminder about from when I started wearing arch supports (manufacturer suggest getting refitted yearly - Agenda for a meeting which includes a speech I’m giving - Stuff I don’t have time to deal with until I’m back from my next trip - Workbook to edit, for 3 weeks ahead of the next seminar, for capturing all the edits between now and then - Canadian money for the day I’m leaving for trip to Canada - A letter and brochure about a book in which I’ve contributed a chapter, announcing it’s launch several months from now

In order for this system to work...

1. Keep it updated every day. If you let it slide and forget to empty the file every day, then you won’t trust the system to handle important data. You’ll then have to manage those things some other way, and the tickler file will turn out to be more of a nuisance than a help.

If you leave town (or don’t access the file on the weekend) then you must keep it reviewed ahead of those days.

Some people prefer to have secretaries or assistants maintain this file for them.

2. Don’t store data or documents here which you or others may need access before the date filed. Tickle a copy, or a note saying “pull the X file” when you want to see the material again.

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DavidAllen Set up on October 5

JANUARY DECEMBER

OCTOBER SEPTEMBER AUGUST JULY JUNE MAY APRIL MARCH FEBRUARY

OVEMBER

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What’s important?

• The secret of efficiency, time management, productivity – well, let’s face it, happiness – depends on working out what’s important … and then doing that and not the other stuff.

• The challenge is this: you have competing demands.

• You may know what you want. But you also exist in a context where others – be they your boss, your family, your colleagues – want you to do other things.

• This matrix allows you to get a clear sense of what’s most important – to you and to them

©

What’s important?

• •

Step 1: Map out the activities that fill your week on the matrix. The more specific and detailed you can be, the more useful the tool.

Step 2: Once your map is complete, you can use an activity’s location on the map to give you guidance on how to manage it: • High/High: A sweet spot!

• High I Care/Medium They Care: There are three strategies here.

• 1. You can do this “under the radar” (the “it’s easier to apologize than to explain” approach).

• 2. You can get buy-in from the “they” so they now rank it “High”.

• 3. You recognize that what’s important to you won’t get fulfilled in this context – and you need to get what it gives you outside this system.

• Medium I Care/High They Care: It has to be done. So activities here are ripe for delegating, outsourcing or automating.

• Medium/Medium: Minimize time spent here. Either stop doing it altogether, or do these activities at the minimum level required. ©

What’s important?

High

What’s important to them?

What do they want? (“They” = family, friends, boss, boss’s boss, etc

Med

Med ©

What’s important to me?

What do I want?

High

Michael Bungay Stanier Principal of Box of Crayons, a company that helps organizations do less Good Work and more Great Work.

Coach, writer, espresso drinker, consultant, soccer player, trainer, terrible singer, speaker, etc.

Author of Get Unstuck & Get Going on the stuff that matters (www.GetUnstuckAndGetGoing.com) and creator of the Eight Irresistible Principles of Fun (www.EightPrinciples.com).

Rhodes Scholar, Certified Coach, BA, LLB, M.Phil, 2006 Canadian Coach of the Year.

e: Michael@BoxOfCrayons.biz

Areas of expertise: bring coaching as a competence into organizations; building highly functional teams; introducing practical innovation as a way of working.

w: www.BoxOfCrayons.biz www.GetUnstuckAndGetGoing.com www.EightPrinciples.com

Lived and worked in Australia, England, US and Canada over the last 15 years.

p: +1 (416) 532-1322

Š

When the Center is the Edge A perennial topic in my world of researching and training the martial art of work: Where is the ideal point between freedom and structure?

When is organized too organized, controlled too controlling, or construction constriction? On the other hand, when does looseness lose, open-endedness exhaust, or carefree become careless?

We’re conditioned to think that boundaries limit us – “don’t fence me in.” But we’re also taught that to get something done, we need to exert pressure and push hard to get a result – put our “nose to the grindstone.”

What’s the best approach?

This is not merely a theoretical or philosophical discussion. When daily you receive 400 emails, 100 voice mails, and 50 unexpected interruptions, you must confront the freedom vs. structure issue. The freedom junkies are frustrated and disturbed that these inputs are there to begin with, and would love to just ignore them (except the fun, easy, interesting and really “hot” ones). The control freaks have rules, agents, and folders within folders within folders for every little detail and then some, perhaps limiting the scope of their life out of fear of all the stuff a broader focus may generate.

All of us can relate to both sides. We want to have control, but not be constrained. The problem has come from the negative connotation (and actual experience) that often accompanies the idea of “control” – that it IS constraining and constrictive, like prisoners being kept in jail.

There is a way, though, to reap the benefits of both sides of the coin. It’s playing the game with two basic moves – concentration and cooperation.

Those two vectors linked together give the freedom we want and the structure we need to maximize our effectiveness. Concentration is the key to power, in physics and in life, and cooperation is the lubricant for the efficient flow of that energy. Top athletes demonstrate this wonderfully. They’re mega-focused, and they pay extraordinary attention to the realities of their environment and how to flow within them to their advantage.

To get through your email, you must concentrate. What are you doing and how is each communication relevant to that? And you must cooperate. The emails are there – you’ve created or at least allowed them – and you must develop a strategy and a process for dealing with them. One approach serves the other. You must cooperate with yourself and your world in order to transcend resistance and distraction, so you can concentrate. And you must concentrate to clarify the nature of things and how to engage with them cooperatively.

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Elegantly dealing with the “stuff” of life and work demands a rigorous focus on what you’re doing and a high level of acceptance and awareness of all the details of the world you have created. It might sound easy, yet it’s quite a feat to be able to stay conscious about what you’re doing, know where you’re going, identify all the things you’ve committed to, and cooperate with what’s not happening...so you can totally concentrate on what IS. “We must avoid here two complementary errors: on the one hand that the world has a unique, intrinsic, preexisting structure awaiting our grasp; and on the other hand that the world is in utter chaos. The first error is that of the student who marveled at how the astronomers could find out the true names of distant constellations. The second error is that of the Lewis Carroll’s Walrus who grouped shoes with ships and sealing wax, and cabbages with kings.” - Reuben Abel

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General Reference Filing One of the biggest bottlenecks I’ve come across working one-on-one with executives in the last few years is their lack of a good instantly-at-hand filing system for reference and support information they want to access when they need it.

More than once my clients and I have stopped the work flow coaching process mid-stream, driven to the local office supply store, and bought a quality filing cabinet, a big stock of file folders, and a Brother autolabeler with plenty of tape. Just so we could create an appropriate place to put 75% of the “stuff” lying around their desk, credenzas, and floors of their offices.

The bottom line: You each need your own personal, at-hand general reference filing system. It should take you less than 60 seconds to pick something up out of your in-basket, or print it from e-mail, decide it has no action but does have potential future value, and finish storing it into a trusted system. If it takes you longer than a minute to complete that action, you won’t do it--you’ll stack it instead.

If you have a trusted secretary or assistant who maintains that system for you, so you can put a “File as ___” post-it on the document and send it “out” to them, great. But ask yourself if you still have personally interesting or confidential support material that you need accessible at any moment, when they’re not around. If so, you’ll still need your own system, in your desk or right beside it somewhere.

Create one A-Z alpha filing system, not multiple systems. People have a tendency to want to use their files as a reminder system in addition to reference, and therefore attempt to organize their files by projects or areas of focus. This magnifies geometrically how many places something isn’t when you forget where you filed it. One simple alpha system files everything by topic, author, or company so it could only be three or four places (if you forget where it is.) The ultimate filing system files by number with a computerized crossreference database that tags topics with specific files. If you’re not there yet (who is?) come as close as you can by creating a single, simple alpha system. It’s also very helpful visually to have alphabet tabs within the files (“A”, “B”, “C” etc.), so it’s a no-brainer to find files and where to put them on the run. It even helps to label the outside of the file drawer (“A-F”, “G-M”, etc.) for the same reason.

Keep a big, mambo stack of fresh, new, third-cut, 2-ply top file folders instantly at hand from where you sit when you process your in-basket. Have your labeler there as well. If it’s even the slightest hassle to label and file something into a new topic folder, you won’t do it, in the heat of operational life.

Purge your files once a year. That keeps them from being stale and you from feeling like it’s a black hole you’re putting things into. It gives you the freedom to keep anything you think you might want or need later.

Do you really need Pendaflex (those files that hang from wire frames)??? They’re much less efficient for rapid personal general filing than plain old freestanding files held upright by the metal sliding support in the back of the drawers of most good front-opening filing cabinets. There are only a few people who need to ©David Allen & Company 2002-2006. All rights reserved.

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DavidAllen hang on to thick manuals and other materials that make the wide hanging files useful.

Unfortunately most desk file drawers are built for Pendaflex hangers, and many companies have issued side-opening Pendaflex filing cabinets as standard office furnishings. (They’re really only good for pulling out the wire and using to store office supplies!)

If you absolutely have to use Pendaflex hanging files, I recommend that you put only one file inside each hanger and label the initial file instead of the hanging file. This makes it much easier to see and find the files, and allows an alpha system to work much easier without fighting with overstuffed hangers. It also allows you to take the file into meetings, keep it temporarily on your desk for work in progress, and generally handle it more easily.

Typeset label your files! I’ve never seen an exception—anyone who has taken my advice and printed their file labels with a labeler has stuck with it, and seriously upgraded their general reference system. I don’t know why it works. I just know it works. Labelers are not cheap (expect to pay $100) But typeset labels just change the nature of files, way for the better.

We’ve always found Brother labelers to be the best and easiest to use. Frankly, you don’t need anything but the most basic functionality—I recommend the least expensive model that sits on the desk (much easier to use than the handheld ones.) At current writing, the best labeler is the Brother PT-310 (about $80 at Staples.) Get the AC adapter for it (it just comes initially with batteries.) Get extra black on white tape cassettes—they are the easiest to read, and you can re-use labels over each other.

Never let your file drawers get more than full! Nothing creates resistance to filing worse than overstuffed file drawers. They should always remain comfortably loose enough to get files and materials in and out with ease (and without destroying cuticles!)

Be prepared to need more filing space. If you maintain full cabinets, and discover how easy the above system is in organizing all kinds of potentially useful information, you will likely need more room for your files. Almost without exception, people I work with want more file drawer space. Both purge and archive elsewhere out-of-date material, and/or be ready to buy more cabinets. As a rule of thumb, I would have four file drawers for your personal general reference files.

©David Allen & Company 2002-2006. All rights reserved.

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Getting Email Under Control Managing the flood of email messages that most of us need to interact with on a daily basis is a growing challenge. No one’s volume is diminishing. That “beast is out of the barn,” and we’re not going to be able to shove it back in! So, getting a grip on it with a good systematic approach is critical for staying sane.

If you are in the small minority of people currently able to maintain less than a screen-full of email most of the time (because your volume is low and/or you process them rapidly and consistently), your system is probably fine as-is. If you regularly have many more than that (hundreds, thousands?) residing in your email in-box, you’re dangerously subject to stress and numbness relative to your digital communication world.

Because of the volume of discrete messages and the speed with which they show up, email seems to be a unique demon, with a life of its own. In essence, however, email is no different than a desktop in-basket or an answering machine – it’s simply a collection box for incoming communication and information that needs to be assessed, processed, and organized as appropriate. And controlling email involves the same challenge as managing your physical in-basket – often too much stuff that we don’t have the time or inclination to process and organize as it comes in. So it easily becomes a swamp of “staged” or “pending” items – glanced at, perhaps even read, but not decided about or effectively organized (I have uncovered as many as 7,000 emails still festering in a client’s in-tray).

The Big Challenge As email is simply an in-box, it needs to be emptied regularly to be maximally functional. “Empty” does not mean finishing all the work embedded in your emails – it means making decisions about what each one means and organizing it accordingly. The same procedures apply to any in-box – whether it’s the tray on your desk or your answering machine. They should be processing stations, not storage bins. Because the volume in the computer is much greater than an audio or paper-based “in,” however, getting it to zero seems particularly daunting. But there is no light at the end of the tunnel if you are merely letting things pile up there. It takes less effort to start every day or two from zero in your in-box than it does to maintain “amorphous blobs” of accumulated and unorganized “stuff” that must continually be re-read and re-assessed for what they mean.

The Basics We have seen hundreds of unique ways people have come up with to manage their email, and many work just fine – as long as nothing is lost, the inventory does not continue to increase, and someone can easily see the emails they need to take action on. Here are some basic procedures that commonly work for everyone:

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DavidAllen Use the DELETE key! The ease with which we trash things from our physical mail doesn’t seem to translate to the computer for many people – perhaps because emails don’t take up much physical space and they are so easily parked somewhere that’s not immediately in our face. They’re taking up psychic space, however, and deleting everything that we don’t really need, as we encounter it, is crucial to managing the flood. When in doubt, throw it out. If you’ve let emails pile up, purging is the first thing to do. Sometimes it is easier to clean house by clicking the “From” button which will sort them by their source – you can often dump several at a time that way.

File! Use a simple storage system for stuff you want to keep as archives and support information. If you’re a “when in doubt, keep it” person, that’s fine, but don’t have it clogging up your in-basket. Make reference folders in your navigator bar and file those kinds of emails over there. It’s a lot easier to lose track of them among the five hundred or a thousand in your in-box than in a folder you can name. And your Search function can easily find most anything with a key word. Avoid using nested folders that you have to click open to find the file. One simple alpha-sorted list – by topic, theme, or person – is usually sufficient and easier to deal with on the run. Purge them when you have little windows of time with nothing better to do.

Complete the < 2-minute ones! The infamous two-minute rule is crucial for email management. Anything you can deal with in less than two minutes, if you’re ever going to do it at all, should be done the first time you see it. It takes longer to read it, close it, open it, and read it again than it would to finish it the first time it appears. In a heavy email environment, it would not be unusual to have at least a third of them require less than two minutes to dispatch.

Organize emails that require action and follow-up! If you’ve deleted, filed, and finished your < twominute emails, you’re left with only two kinds: (1) those that require more than two minutes to deal with and (2) those that represent something you’re waiting on from others. A simple and quick way to get control is to create two more folders in your navigator bar – “Action” and “Waiting For” and file them accordingly. These folders should be visually distinct from your reference folders and should sit at the top of your folder list, which can be accomplished by making them all caps with a prefix punctuation like the @ symbol or a hyphen (whichever will sort the folders to the top).

If you’ve deleted, filed, finished, or sorted your emails into action-reminding folders, you’re left with an empty in-basket. Now, at least, it will be much easier to review and evaluate a more complete inventory of your work at hand; and you’ll find it’s a lot easier to focus – on email or on anything else.

The On-Going Challenge You must consistently review actionable emails. Once you get your in-basket to zero, it will feel fantastic. But you can’t ignore the batch of ACTION emails you’ve organized. The problem with computers as reminder tools is the out-of-sight-out-of-mind syndrome. If you’re not reviewing them regularly enough, they will start to gnaw ©David Allen & Company 1998, 2008. All rights reserved.

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DavidAllen on your psyche, creating even more avoidance and bad feelings. People leave emails in their in-basket to begin with for the same reason they pile things on their desk, thinking, “If it’s in front of me, I won’t lose or forget it.” Of course that seemingly practical habit of visual cuing is undermined by the volume and ambiguity of what’s in the piles. They create numbness instead of clarity. It’s much easier to assess your workload with actionable emails organized in one place. But it requires the good habit of checking on them regularly to feel OK about what you’re not doing with them at the moment.

All this takes time and mental energy. Pretending that you can get email under control without dedicating the necessary personal resources to do it leads to frustration and stress. These best practices help make the process as efficient as possible, but the freedom that comes from having them under control is still not free. Just as people have learned to accept commute time as dues they pay to live and work where they’d prefer, you must integrate the time and energy to deal with email into your life and work style.

Customized Approaches As personal management software has continued to evolve, in both the standard desktop as well as the myriads of creative small applications and add-ins, the possibilities for variations in how to manage email abound. They can be coded, colored, and automatically filed. They can be sorted by prioritized senders. They can be deferred for retrieval at later times. They can be transferred and melded into task and to-do management functions in other parts of the software.

If you set up and begin to get used to a simple folder system for actionable emails, you might find some specialized sub-categories useful. “Read/Review” can be a folder for FYI-type emails (though printed versions of long ones are easier to manage than on screen). “To Print” can be useful if you are not at a printer regularly.

Some people find that taking the time to edit the subject lines of their own stored emails to reflect the specific action they need to take is useful.

Best Practices But no matter how you tweak it or how cool the unique features and good tricks are that you might explore and even integrate as consistent functions into your personal system, the core principles of good workflow management must be followed to foster relaxed control of the beast: Keep actionable and non-actionable emails in separate places. It’s too complex and stressful for your brain to constantly have to re-sort it every time it looks at it. A system works much better than your psyche for that. Emails filed in reference folders that still represent things to do produce anxiety; and email in the in-basket that is only needed for retrievable information will fog up your focus. Because most people don’t ©David Allen & Company 1998, 2008. All rights reserved.

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DavidAllen have a good action-reminder system per se, they are trying to make their reference folders a system for remembering what to do, and that never really works. If reference and action reminders are separate things, it allows much more freedom and ease with keeping as much reference material as you want – it simply becomes a library.

Keep it clean. Residue seems to self-generate but it doesn’t self-destruct! Delete what you can to begin with, and purge your reference files regularly, as things get out of date and lose their value to you.

Keep them reviewed. As with any action-reminder system, if you don’t review and reassess the reminders of actions you might need to be taking, your mind will take back the job; and it doesn’t do that job very well.

You’ll then avoid looking at your system and not really trust anything you’re doing because of the hidden agreements with yourself you’ve neglected to re-negotiate.

Be good at the keyboard. We would be remiss in not reminding you of one of the most important factors in email management – how fast you type and how facile you are with shortcut keys and codes. Not only is poor typing speed inefficient, it creates a resistance to engage with email that undermines all the best intentions to get on top of it. If you’re not up to at least fifty words per minute, getting there with a good typing tutor could make a world of difference.

We recommend using the simplest approach you can get by with, adhering to these basic best practices, especially if you’re somewhat starting from scratch in getting this area under control. If you are relatively sophisticated in your email management already, and setting up more complex procedures for yourself has actually made it simpler, that’s terrific. The challenge though is to keep it current, complete, and consistent – and not requiring more time and thought than is worth the payoff you may get. Your process has to be so basic and almost automatic that you will maintain it even when you don’t feel like doing it.

Email, like any powerful tool, can be a blessing or a curse. And if the tool goes with the job, you need to invest in whatever it takes to use it wisely and safely. It is a huge productivity enhancer, but when it gets away from you, it’s a severe occupational hazard.

©David Allen & Company 1998, 2008. All rights reserved.

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COLLECT

STUFF

STUFF

everything, outside your head

MOVE CLOSER

PUT ALL “IN”

PROCESS in-to-empty early, quickly & regularly :10 – :40 seconds each

300 – 400 times a day

Doing

(GET FASTER)

NEVER BACK “IN”

What is it? Is it actionable?

NO

YES 1 What is the successful Outcome?

What will have happened when this can be checked off?

Describe it in past tense. More than one step? It’s a Project!

Do

Less-than two minute Next Action? Do it now!

2

What is the Next Action?

If this was the only thing you had to get done, what is the very next physical thing you would have to do?

Are you really

OR

best Delegate the person to

OR

do this?

Defer

To be done on a specific day, or simply as soon as possible

ORGANIZE the results of your thinking NO action now FILL DAILY

YES actionable, but deferred

Support materials

REFERENCE

computer ( ) hard indicates drive location

MAIL TO SELF

OUT OF SIGHT

5 travel folders

plans

REVIEW as often as needed to keep your head empty Daily

Weekly

+

Occasionally

LOOSE “STUFF” & MEETING NOTES

DO in the moment, guided by intuition, supported by the four previous phases, influenced by reality of current situation First, by CONTEXT Then, by TIME AVAILABLE Then, by ENERGY AVAILABLE Finally, by PRIORITY

three options at any moment

OR

PREDEFINED WORK (takes discipline) DEFINING (know ALL your work)

OR

AS IT SHOWS UP (can lead to the urgent trap)

FEELING TOO MUCH STRESS?

50,000+ feet 40,000 feet 30,000 feet 20,000 feet 10,000 feet RUNWAY

(life) (3-5 year visions) (1-2 year goals) (areas of responsibility) (current projects) (current actions)

Which one of these will help you get more clear and complete?

Always have a collection tool close by

Only use your inboxes as your inboxes; don’t use your entire office, house, briefcase or car

Decide Outcomes & Next Actions as soon as things show up

Do most 2 min. actions immediately if you plan to ever do them at all

End meetings by clarifying outcomes, deciding Next Actions, and who’s responsible

Don’t allow slips of paper & meeting notes to sit unprocessed

Use your calendar only for things that absolutely have to get done that day

List actual Very Next Actions, not vague, undoable “stuff” or Projects in disguise

Put ALL your multi-step open loops on your Projects list

Use and trust your lists to remind you, not your Project support materials

Do your weekly review … weekly

Review your higher altitudes for Outcomes and Next Actions

Getting Things Done advanced workflow diagram — created by Scott Moehring, based on Getting Things Done by David Allen, www.davidco.com

rev. 2/27/04

Horizons of Focus The Altitude Map “Work” is defined and managed from at least six different horizons, corresponding to different altitudes of perspective. These range from core intention - the understanding of the purpose and values of an undertaking, enterprise, or life - to the most mundane - the next physical actions required to move them forward. Clarity is enhanced and distraction reduced when the multiple levels with which you are engaged have been assessed and the commitments emerging from each one have been appropriately identified, captured, and implemented.

Alignment of the various levels produces maximum productivity.

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. Each horizon is equally important to clarify, however, to get things done, and the content of of your thinking and commitments will be different on each level. A key driver for your life may be to assist others in achieving their dreams (purpose), which you will express by becoming a world-class athlete and spokesperson (vision), for which you will achieve a starting line-up position on a national team (goal). To do all this you need to maintain a rigorous training program (area of focus). You realize you want to get a new personal trainer (project), for which you need to call your college coach (next action) to get his recommendation.

An altitude map can be used to identify which conversation, at what horizon, with yourself and others, might have the most value, at any point in time. It could be at any level or include a combination of them. You may know the long-term goal but have yet to identify the projects needed. You may know the vision but not the actions and who’s doing them. Etcetera.

Keeping your thinking current at all horizons is a dynamic process - as your world and your awareness of it change, so must these arenas of your focus be continually updated.

Following is a generalized list of the levels of focus, with typical formats and suggested frequencies of visitation. (Samples given from a hypothetical business - Gracie’s Gardens) 50,000 ft. - Purpose and core values. Ultimate intention for something, and the standards for its success. Why are we doing this? What are the critical behaviors?

Formats: Off-sites with partners, board, team, family; initial discussions for launching projects, meetings, whole enterprises; life planning Frequency: Whenever additional clarity, direction, alignment, and motivation are needed (Gracie’s Gardens: “Provide the highest-quality landscape and garden materials to delighted retail and wholesale customers;” “Strong and lasting customer relations; environmentally friendly products; well-supported staff,” etc.)

40,000 ft. – Vision. What it will look, sound, feel like with successful implementation. Long-term outcomes and ideal scenarios. (continued)

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Horizons of Focus (continued)

Formats: Off-sites with partners, board, team, family; initial discussions for launching projects, meetings, whole enterprises; life planning; annual revisiting of enterprise direction; ideal scene development; personal treasure maps Frequency: Whenever additional clarity, direction, alignment, and motivation are needed (Gracie’s Gardens: “Recognized as the #1 garden and landscaping store in the tri-county district; a fun, interesting, creative, informative place to browse and shop, attracting discriminating clientele who love to spend time and money on an on-going basis;” etc.)

30,000 ft. – Goals and objectives. What do we want and need to accomplish, specifically, within the next 12-24 months, to make the vision happen?

Formats: Off-sites with partners, board, team, family; strategic planning; annual goal-setting and broad planning sessions; life and family planning Frequency: Annually; quarterly reviews and recalibrations (Gracie’s Gardens: “By year-end, 15% sales growth, 20% profitability, wholesale business established and in the black,” etc.)

20,000 ft. – Areas of focus and responsibility. Important spheres of work and life to be maintained at standards to “keep the engines running.”

Formats: Job descriptions; organization charts; employee manuals; personal lifestyle checklists; family responsibility designations; project checklists Frequency: Performance reviews; monthly personal check-in’s; whenever job or life changes require resassessment of responsibilities (Gracie’s Gardens: “Executive, administration, PR/marketing, sales, finance, wholesale operations, retail operations,” etc.)

10,000 ft. – Projects. Outcomes we want to achieve that require more than one action and which can be completed within a year.

Formats: Overview list of all projects; project plans (defined sub-projects) Frequency: Weekly review; whenever next-action contents are not current (Gracie’s Gardens: “Set up wholesale division, get the books current, hire Director of Marketing, finalize Acme contract, upgrade HVAC system,” etc.)

Runway – Actions. Next physical, visible actions to take on any project or other outcome; any single action to take about anything Formats: Calendar, action lists (e.g. calls, errands, at home, at office, talk to boss about…); action folders or bins (e.g. read/review, bills to pay) Frequency: Multiple times daily; whenever a question about what to do next (Gracie’s Gardens: “Draft plan for wholesale division, e-mail Sandy re: bookkeeper recommendations, call Brandon re: lunch meeting, review Acme purchasing history, surf web for competition ads” etc.)

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Productivity Doesn’t Happen By Itself There are three things that have to happen in order to define our work and be maximally productive about it. And these three things don’t happen by themselves. We have to train ourselves to do all three, and until we establish them as automatic and habitual behaviors, we have to discipline ourselves to get them done.

We have to: (1) Make decisions about what we are going to do with our “stuff” and the next actions required to do it (what would “doing” look like?) “Stuff” is unactionable until we’ve decided the outcome and the next step to move toward it. Things on lists and in stacks and email generally repel instead of attract us to get involved, until we decide what exactly our intention is about them and whether the next step is a call, draft a response, buy nails, talk to..., etc.

(2) Write those outcomes and actions down, if we don’t do them in the moment we think of them. Even if we decide what we need to do about something, if we file it in “psychic RAM” we run serious risk of losing sight of the option and (worse) we create instant failure and unnecessary stress. That part of us has no sense of past and future, and thinks we should be doing everything in there all at once.

(3) Look at the reminders (when we can effectively use them and move on them). Even if you have decided the next step is a phone call you need to make, and you have written that down somewhere, if you don’t look at the reminder when you are at a phone with discretionary time, you risk missing an opportunity to move something forward when it might be the best thing to do, given all the variables. When you are in a certain context, you need to see all the things that could be done in those contexts, to be the most efficient.

These three behaviors combined are a master skill set for knowledge work. Yet virtually everyone I come across in the professional world could significantly improve how consistently they do these three critical productivity activities.

We were not taught these growing up. The workaday world of our parents did not require these critical behaviors of knowledge work. People just showed up, and did what obviously needed doing--they could see it in front of them.

Few people work in that kind of world any more. Anyone these days just showing up and expecting to work on what’s visibly been put in front of them, is hoping for a retro world that doesn’t exist, and is likely to be experiencing mounting stress that is not going to get any better.

The ancestor of every action is a thought.

- Ralph Waldo Emerson Those who make the worst use of their time are the first to complain of its shortness.

- Jean de La Bruysre

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Let’s Talk About Prioritizing “How do I set priorities?”

Because I hear that so frequently, I assume most people think they could and should be doing it better.

I have a radical point of view: learn to listen to, and trust, your heart. Or your intuition, or your gut, or the seat of your pants, or whatever part of your anatomy is the source of that mysteriously wonderful “still, small voice” that somehow knows you better than you do, and knows what’s better for you, better than you do.

The “ABC” priority codes don’t work. Listing your top 10 things you think have to get done, in order, doesn’t work. You’ll have a different priority set at 8pm tonight than you will at 10:30 this morning. And sometimes the most strategic thing for you to do will be to water your plants. Like, when you’ve been in six meetings, felt beat up in five of them, and by 4:30 your brain is scrambled eggs, and you barely have the attention span of a gnat.

That’s the time to water your plants and fill your stapler. Why? Because you can’t do anything else, and you’re going to have to water your plants sometime anyway.

On a day to day, moment to moment basis, there is no algorithm or formula that will last very long, or is really worth trying to nail down in some written or coded system. The four criteria that you will use to decide what to do are (in order of precedence): Context (what can I do where I am?)

Time (when do I have to do something else?)

Energy (how wasted/fresh am I?) Priority (what has the highest payoff for me if I do it?)

The idea of “payoff” to yourself is the intuitive one. But let’s not be frivolous--when was the last time you and your professional colleagues as a group took a sincere look into the future and made the hard decisions about what is still mission-critical and what is not? (When did you last decide what your job really is?) When was the last time you personally sat down and thought through where you are in your life, on all fronts, and where you’re going, and what you really want to be different than the way it is?

The best to shoot for is a regular enough revisit to the broader horizon look for your work and your life, letting it sink in at all the levels (conscious and otherwise) it might affect. Then get organized and current enough with your current realities and commitments, so that you have a clear enough deck to listen to the internal directions

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and hunches, and to follow them without distractions.

Do I work on this article I need to write? or call Aunt Susie? or balance my checkbook? or plan the next yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s marketing strategy? or have a beer and hang out with my partner in the yard? Who knows?

Be open to your own spirit and its directions (you might even consider asking it!) -- then take the risk to move on your best guess, pay attention to the results, and course-correct as you keep moving along...

Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve never found another way to do it.

First things first, second things never.

- Shirley Conran

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Š 1998 to 2006 The David Allen Company

Think! At least Once a Week I followed up with an executive client recently whose biggest issue was that his Weekly Review, when he “really did it right”, took sometimes 3-4 hours. He wondered if he was doing something wrong. I asked if it was worthwhile doing the review, and he admitted that it was critical to stay on top; but that it was “work” to keep it up. It didn’t ultimately seem to save him more time.

The truth is, it probably won’t save you more time--well, it will, but you will need that extra time to do the reviews and keep lists and categories of items current. Yes, you can get better and faster at how you do it. But it requires investment, no matter how good you are at it. As a matter of fact, the less you have time to do it, the more time you usually need to spend with it!

The absolute requirement for processing time for knowledge work has been a topic for another essay. But again I must get up on the rooftop and yell at my loudest: “Weekly review! Weekly review! Weekly review!”

No personal management system can possibly come close to creating the perfect algorithm that will tie in all the factors of time, people, projects, actions, and support information with the infinite number of variables that go into our thinking about priorities, interests, and commitments. That’s why it becomes critical, once these are somehow objectified into an external system, that they be put in front of our conscious thinking process at least once a week, to get it all recalibrated to match our reality. And I guarantee that there are some intuitive “aha’s” and “I could’s” and “I ought to’s” lying dormant, only to be triggered by putting reminders and triggers about all the aspects of our life and work in front of our face on a regular basis.

For those of you who have taken my seminar or whom I have personally coached – the degree to which you have leveraged the value you may have received is probably proportional to the consistency with which you have reviewed and updated your own “ten acres” of personally-managed “stuff.”

If you haven’t done it within the last seven days, stop surfing the Web and do it now!!!!

An hour of effective, precise, hard, disciplined - and integrated thinking can be worth a month of hard work.

Thinking is the very essence of, and the most difficult thing to do in business and in life. Empire builders spend hour-after-hour on mental work... while others party. If you’re not consciously aware of putting forth the effort to exert self-guided integrated thinking... if you don’t act beyond your feelings and you take the path of least resistance, then you’re giving in to laziness and no longer control your life.

- David Kekich

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Getting Thinking Off Your Mind Ah, the delicious experience of not thinking.

Athletes in their “zone”, ecstatic worshippers “in the Spirit”, movie-goers and novel-readers engrossed in the story, gardeners pruning their trees, lovers talking into the night – the bliss of no time, no stress, no ...thinking?

But there are endeavors of thinking itself in which one can be equally “present” – playing chess, brainstorming a project, negotiating a deal, writing an essay. So, the productive state in which time disappears is not really about not thinking - it’s more like not thinking about thinking. But how do you achieve that state?

You must deal with what throws you out of that state. The mind seems designed to help close the gap between what you’ve committed to and your current reality. If you want to be somewhere you’re not, some way that you’re not, your psyche will experience a cognitive dissonance and pressure until it fulfills that outcome or at least gets things on track toward it. If everything is totally on “cruise control,” thinking is probably not required.

The most productive approach is to think as little as you can get by with, but as much as you need to.

Different horizons have different frequencies at which they must be viewed. How do you get today off your mind?

Several times during the day you probably need to reassess all the actions required to get things done you’re committed to do. But at least weekly a thorough review of all your projects and attendant actions is usually necessary. Every month or two you probably need to think through the checklist of all the areas of responsibility of your life and work, to ensure that you have all the right projects on your plate. Yearly it’s a good idea to look out over the next twelve to eighteen months and formulate where you want to be by then. And every few years you (and any partners in your life) probably need to rethink the vision about your life and lifestyle.

And the Grand Think is figuring out your purpose here on the planet. If you really come up with that one, once should be enough, though you will probably want to check in with some regularity to ensure that you remember.

You’ll really get into productive mode when you have established regular cognitive reviews at all these levels, with the habit and commitments in place to revisit them at the appropriate interval. For instance, when you know you are consistently doing some version of the “Weekly Review” – catching up, reviewing and updating all the open loops of your life and work – you afford yourself the luxury of not having to be thinking about all that stuff, in that way, for another week. You get to be somewhat dumb and happy, in productive “doing” mode, the rest of the week. Why? You’ve already thought sufficiently, generating what you need in terms of clarified perspective

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and inventory of your commitments. And you know you’re going to think again. If you don’t do the weekly review, knowing you should be thinking about something at that level will incessantly bother you.

If you’re having trouble getting into your “zone,” getting to “mind like water,” ask yourself at what level you need to do some focused thinking, and get it done. Finish the exercise. Then come on in - the water’s fine.

“Civilization advances by extending the number of important operations which we can perform without thinking about them. Operations of thought are like cavalry charges in a battle - they are strictly limited in number, they require fresh horses, and must only be made at decisive moments.”

- Alfred North Whitehead

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Managing Work on a Vacation Questions: While on vacation, how do you juggle work and play? How much time should you allot each day of your vacation to reading business email, checking up on projects, etc.? What’s the best balance of work and play? When is the best time of the day to spend on work? What organizational tools should you always bring along on your vacation?

David’s answers: My main purpose for a vacation is to change pace and environment to refresh perspectives and energies.

Things that support that are on purpose. Things that don’t, aren’t. I like to think of vacation as re-creation, i.e. an opportunity to shift gears and balance my activity and focus mix (mental, physical, emotional, spiritual, social, relationships, family, etc.) If I’ve been spending a lot of energy thinking, writing, and speaking, then I want to spend some time getting physical--going for walks, exploring, swimming, jogging, etc. If I’ve been engaged in lots of physical work, then I want to read adventure novels, do some creative writing, and just hang out and socialize.

Sometimes, when I’ve really been in the turbo fast lane for a while, I just like to do nothing, with a vengeance!

The main thing I want to keep on a vacation is a clear head--lack of distraction. That should be the criterion for how much of what kind of “work” to take with me or to stay connected and current with. If I’m lying on the beach and I keep thinking about what’s in voicemail or email, then I’d better check it so I can tan with a clear head.

There’s a fine line, though, between checking in with the office to stay clear, and checking in with the office as an addiction or comfort zone of the pressure and pace of professional engagement. Because most people have some version of that habit, I would suggest erring toward the unplugged side of the equation. But if you must, to keep a clear deck, then of course do them as soon as you can in the day so that all those things can be put to bed early.

Many times we actually can afford to take off for mini-vacations, not constrained to “be in the office”, simply because we have the ability to be in touch from wherever, handling the necessities of our commitments with our clients and companies. Complaining about “having to do work” in those situations is a bit absurd. I have made business calls from my sailboat, so that I could actually go out sailing all day. You do as much as you need to do, to be able to keep doing what you’re doing!

Some specific suggestions: (1.) The last place in the world to have a thought twice is on vacation. That’s why you should always have at least a low-tech “capture” kind of tool with you, even in the most remote places, doing the most remote things. I have

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DavidAllen a small wallet for credit cards and driver’s license that also has a tiny notepad and pen. I may not process the note (decide actions and input information) until I’m back in the groove, but the potential value that the thought might add is not lost. I also travel with a file folder or large envelope labeled “IN” for tossing notes, business cards, receipts, etc. for dealing with back at the office. The more senior and sophisticated your professional roles, the more likely your best thoughts about work won’t happen at work! They may happen on the vacation. And invariably people meet others to expand their network, and get new ideas and good information while socializing.

And if you’re traveling it’s great to keep track of places to go, things to do, in case you want to go there again.

If a key benefit of recreation is to get a fresh perspective, then protect your investment and be ready to take advantage of it’s outputs.

(2.) It is common sense to do your best before you start a vacation to catch up, clean up, and get proactive and current in all your work-related agreements and commitments, handling all the details in plenty of time. Be sure that you identify “Vacation” as a project as soon as it’s on your radar, and that you continue to define and complete all the action steps as soon as they can be done. Too many people need half their vacation to recover from the last two days before they leave!

(3.) If you have support and admin staff, give them relevant contact information and clarify what might constitute an “emergency” ahead of time to use it, and allow them to filter all communications.

(4.) Block out at least a full day or two on your calendar for catching up when you return. It is just shy of stupid to not prepare ahead of time for the invariable accumulated pile of details to adjudicate.

In conclusion, there’s nothing inherently good or bad about being involved with professional things on a vacation.

It all depends on the many variables in your situation. But the assumption that work and fun are mutually exclusive is not a healthy one. If you have to have a vacation because your job is too stressful or no fun, you might want to change jobs, career, or your mindset about it all.

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The Weekly Review So, OK folks, this may seem like more hokey stuff-I-should-do-but-never-do stuff. Honestly, this is what I do to keep myself sane and in control. This is not theoretical or out of some book. This is literally, blow-by-blow, what I do at least once a week. It is the one factor upon which your success with Mind Like Water technology hinges.

Do it, it lives and grows. Don’t do it, it dies. If you don’t yet have this habit, then I recommend that you insert into your calendar for the next four Friday’s--”do weekly review”. Review this for the first couple of weeks, and then it will probably become second nature to you. I suggest, also, that you copy and paste this list into your word processor, and then edit it to add your own extra reminders that are unique to your life. I keep my own personal Weekly Review as a list in my PalmPilot so I can remind myself of what I need to think about to get to a clean slate. - DA This is the critical behavior to make personal organization a vital, dynamic reality, and for fully implementing the Action to Outcome method. A great time to do it is early Friday afternoon, as it will invariably surface small actions which could get completed if you can catch people still at work.

Loose Papers Pull out all scraps of paper, business cards, receipts, and miscellaneous paper. Put into your in-basket to process.

Process Your Notes Review any “Journal/Notes” types of entries, meeting notes, and miscellaneous notes scribbled on notebook paper. Decide and enter action items, projects, waiting-for’s, etc. as appropriate.

Review Previous Calendar Data Review past calendar in detail for remaining action items, reference data, etc. and transfer into the active system.

Review Upcoming Calendar Review upcoming calendar events - long and short term. Capture actions triggered.

Empty Your Head Put in writing (in appropriate categories) any new projects, action items, waiting-for’s, someday-maybe’s, etc. not yet captured.

Review Action Lists Mark off completed actions. Review for reminders of further action steps to record.

Review Waiting-For List Record appropriate actions for any needed follow-up. Check off received ones. ©David Allen & Company 2002-2006. All rights reserved.

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DavidAllen Review Project (and Larger Outcome) Lists Evaluate status of projects, goals and outcomes, one by one, ensuring at least one current action item on each.

Browse through work-in-progress support material to trigger new actions, completions, waiting-for’s, etc.

Review Any Relevant Checklists Use as a trigger for any new actions.

Review Someday/Maybe List Review for any projects which may now have become active, and transfer to “Projects.” Delete items no longer of interest.

Be Creative & Courageous Any new, wonderful, hare-brained, creative, thought-provoking, risk-taking ideas to add into your system???

ps: Here’s an email that I got from someone who was implementing this process. It might be useful for some of you, just beginning to build in the review as a regular habit... DA “I have a suggestion to pass on to those adding the weekly review process to their personal organizational strategy. Be patient and keep trying! My inboxes at home and at work, as well as my other input channels like notes and e-mail, were out of control for so long that I’m still going through and cleaning them out to make them manageable - and I took the seminar in early October! Being a single mother who works fulltime I also get more interruptions than I get even small blocks of time to concentrate, but I’m not giving up. I know that David does counsel patience, but I can say from personal experience that this is crucial to having success with the process.

So remind new weekly reviewers to keep at it, as it may take several tries to get all the way through and then get it the the point where it’s manageable. Putting these strategies to work for me have helped immensely.”

- Ginny @ MIT

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The One Minute (Workflow) Manager I’ve given numerous “drive-by” radio and TV interviews since my book was published – the kind that give you about fifty-three seconds to give everyone the keys to health, wealth, and happiness. They have forced me to distill my message to some bare essentials.

A typical question is, “David, what’s the one thing that we do that gets in the way of us being productive?” Here’s my answer: “It’s not one thing, but five, all wrapped together: People keep stuff in their head. They don’t decide what they need to do about stuff they know they need to do something about. They don’t organize action reminders and support materials in functional categories. They don’t maintain and review a complete and objective inventory of their commitments. Then they waste energy and burn out, allowing their busy-ness to be driven by what’s latest and loudest, hoping it’s the right thing to do but never feeling the relief that it is.”

(How’d I do?)

I merely bottom-lined the worst practices for the five stages of managing workflow – collect, process, organize, review, and do. I can’t give the interviewer any one of these as THE problem. Obviously most people keep stuff in their head, which short-circuits the process to begin with. But lots of people write lots of things down – they just don’t decide the next actions on them, which keeps the lists operationally dysfunctional. But even if they think about the actions required, they don’t organize the reminder somewhere that they’ll see when they are in the context to do the action. And even if they did that in a burst of productivity inspiration, most let their systems quickly become out of date and inconsistent. And without the care and feeding and constant utilization of their objective executive thinking tools, that function slips back into psychic RAM. Life and work become reactive responses instead of clearly directed action choices.

“So, David, what do we need to do instead?” (Some interviews have an additional fifty-three seconds!)

“It’s a combined set of the five best-practice behaviors. Get everything out of your head. Make decisions about actions required on stuff when it shows up, not when it blows up. Organize reminders of your projects and the next actions on them in appropriate categories. Keep your system current, complete, and reviewed sufficiently to trust your intuitive choices about what you’re doing and what you’re not doing at any point in time.”

I suppose I could have gotten it even simpler: “Focus on positive outcomes and continually take the next action of the most important thing.” But who doesn’t know that? Consistent implementation of that principle totally integrated with every aspect of our life is the big challenge. And that’s not so easy.

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The 3 C’s of Effective Systems In a recent workflow coaching session with a senior executive I was reminded why most people seem to flounder with their personal systems. In spite of multiple attempted procedures for staying on top of her to-do’s and paperwork (colored tabs, colored folders, red dot labels on priorities, etc.) she was still drowning and as she admitted, “ready to check into the Betty Ford Center for Out-of-Control Paper Flow”!

She lacked the 3 C’s of effective systems: consistent, current, and context-driven.

Consistent: She had some phone call reminders on pieces of paper, some in her head, some on post-its stuck to the phone. Keeping the same kind of reminders about the same kinds of to-do’s in different media in different places is hugely inefficient and confusing. Information or reminder triggers of a specific type must be kept in the same place, the same way, all the time. Otherwise we must always be making the “what do I do with this?” decision with every such particle, and that will blow your fuses quickly. She decided to go with simple file folders labeled “Calls - Work” and “Calls - Personal”, as the best way to manage those, and sanity began to prevail.

Current: No matter how consistent the system is, if it is not current (i.e. completely up to date with all items in a category) it still can’t be trusted in a way that relieves the psyche of the job of remembering and sorting. You’ll look at a list and some part of you knows it’s not the whole list, so (a) you won’t totally trust your choices and (b) you’ll still try to use your head to keep track. And if your brain still has that job, instead of trusting your lists, you won’t be motivated to keep your external system going (it will be too much work for the value received.) You’ll feel like it’s hard work to keep the list and will resist looking at it anyway because you’ll know it’s only partial and it will remind you that you’re “behind.”

Context-driven: She had been trying to organize action reminders by Project or by Topic, instead of by where the reminder needs to be seen in order to get it done. Project thinking and planning need to be seen by the title or topic, because that’s when we need to see that information (when we’re meeting or thinking about it). But reminders of the next actions required need to be seen where those actions can occur--phone calls when we’re at a phone; errands to do when we’re about to go out in our car; emails to send when we’re at our computer; etc. Information and action reminders should always be stored in such a way that we are likely to see them when we need to see them, and can use or move on the data. If you store your next-action reminders by what or who they’re about, every time you’re in a place where you can do work (at a phone, at your desk, in your car, at home) you’d have to look through dozens of folders or files to find reminders of all your options. And when you’re

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running fast and only have a short window of time, you won’t really check the whole inventory and you’re likely to make choices from latest-and-loudest instead of objective overview.

Though my client had a new Palm PDA, given the nature of her workflow volume and style, it was not going to be nearly as effective as a simple pending file-folder system at her desk, which was easier to review and keep openly accessible when she could do the work it reminded her about. Making these changes was not a big deal for her (she had been working so hard at getting organized anyway), but getting current with consistent contextsensitive sorting propelled her light-years ahead.

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Go the Distance to a “Mind Like Water” There is a light year of difference between a system that has merely a lot of our commitments objectified and one that has 100% of the total. And few people have ever gotten to a totally empty head, with absolutely every project, action item, and potential agreement we have made with ourselves and others out and available in an easily reviewable format.

My hat’s off to people who try to keep lists reminders of things to do, but those lists are not complete. They have put enormous and unnecessary work on their psyche. If you don’t have everything in a system that the system ought to have, there is still no full trust in that system and minimum motivation to keep it up and keep it current. If your “to call” list doesn’t have every single phone call you need to make on all your actionable things, then your mind still has the job of remembering them when you’re at a phone. You’ll probably leave phone slips lying around a desk and in briefcases. There is not full freedom to trust the intuition about which call to make off the list, since it still has the job of remembering and formulating all the options. If your Rolodex is only partially complete, you will probably not be motivated to get all your collected business cards input and cleaned up, as soon as they arrive in your life.

If some errands to run are on the list, but there are others that aren’t, your mind is still trying to remember what you have to do on the way home. If some projects have been identified, but there are many more that haven’t been captured, you’re never quite sure that something is not slipping through a crack somewhere. And because these inventories of to-do’s are incomplete, they often create more pressure on us than they relieve. We will subliminally know that we don’t have everything out in front of us, and we have a mistrust of the tools. The mind continues to be forced to retain the job of remembering and reminding, which it does not do very well.

Most people trust their calendar. Why? Their minds are relatively at ease about appointments because they know they have them all captured – there’s nothing missing in the system. What’s the difference with all the other commitments? Why don’t people have as complete a system, and get to the same level of trust about all of those? Probably because there is a finite amount of calendar items, and they are relatively unambiguous. But the calendar usually holds only about 5% of the commitments we actually have – all the rest need to get done in and around our appointments, and they are often not nearly as clear-cut as our appointments. But the principle is the same. There is a level of trust about our lives and work that is available, if we’d only manage all those actionable things as rigorously and completely as our calendars.

How will you know when your reminders and categories are complete? When will you know how much you have out of your head and into your system? You will only know how much you have left, when there is nothing left!

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Either your head is the best place to hold all your agreements with yourself, or it’s not. (You can guess which way I vote.) I can’t imagine any intellectual justification for halfway in between. Yet most people still have over half their life in their heads. And a partial system is almost worse than none. As my favorite mentor of mine is fond of reminding me from time to time, in regard to life commitments in general--99%’s a bitch, 100%’s a breeze.

“The life-spirit and energy which contribute to the mastery of the creative process, can never be fully engaged by a commitment to a compromise.”

- Robert Fritz

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Incompletion Trigger List What do you have attention on?

Professional Projects started, not completed Projects that need to be started â&#x20AC;&#x153;Look intoâ&#x20AC;? projects Commitments/promises to others

Administration legal issues, insurance, personnel, staffing, policies/procedures, training

Staff hiring, firing, reviews, staff development, communication, morale, feedback, compensation

boss, partners, colleagues, subordinates, others in organization, other professionals, customers, other organizations

Systems

Communications to make/get

phones, computers, software, databases, office equipment, printers, faxes, filing, storage, furniture, fixtures, decorations, supplies, business cards, stationery, personal organizers

calls, emails, voice mails, faxes, letters, memos

Writing to finish/submit reports, evaluations, reviews, proposals, articles, marketing material, instructions, summaries, minutes, rewrites and edits, status reporting, conversation and communication tracking

Sales customers, prospects, leads, sales process, training, relationship building, reporting, relationship tracking, customer service

Meetings

Marketing/promotion

upcoming, need to be set or requested, need to be de-briefed

campaigns, materials, public relations

Waiting for

Read/review books, periodicals, articles

Financial cash, budget, balance sheet, P&L, forecasting, credit line, payables, receivables, petty cash, banks, investors, asset management

Planning/organizing goals, targets, objectives, business plans, marketing plans, financial plans, upcoming events, presentations, meetings, conferences, travel, vacation

Organization development org chart, restructuring, lines of authority, job descriptions, facilities, new systems, change initiatives, leadership, succession planning, culture

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information, delegated projects/tasks, pieces of projects, replies to communications, responses to proposals, answers to questions, submitted items for response/reimbursement, tickets, external actions needed to happen to continue or complete projects...(decisions, changes, implementations, etc.), things ordered

Professional development training, seminars, things to learn, things to find out, skills to develop or practice, books to read, research, formal education (licensing, degrees), career research, resume

Wardrobe professional

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Incompletion Trigger List What do you have attention on?

Personal Projects started, not completed

Waiting for

Projects that need to be started

mail order, repairs, reimbursements, loaned items, information, rsvpâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s

Projects - other organizations

Home/household

service, community, volunteer, spiritual organization

calls, emails, faxes, cards, letters, thank-youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s

real estate, repairs, construction, remodeling, landlords, heating and A/C, plumbing, electricity, roofs, landscaping, driveways, garages, walls, floors, ceilings, decor, furniture, utilities, appliances, lights and wiring, kitchen stuff, laundry, places to purge, cleaning, organizing, storage areas

Upcoming events

Health

birthdays, anniversaries, weddings, graduations, outings, holidays, vacation, travel, dinners, parties, receptions, cultural events, sporting events

Personal development

Commitments/promises to others spouse, partner, children, parents, family, friends, professionals, returnable items

Communications to make/get

support and maintenance, doctors, dentist, optometrist, specialists, checkups, diet, food, exercise classes, seminars, education, coaching, career, creative expressions

Family projects/activities with spouse, partner, children, parents, relatives

Transportation

Administration

autos, bikes, motorcycles, maintenance, repair, commuting, tickets, reservations

home office supplies, equipment, phones, answering machines, computers, internet, TV, DVD, appliances, entertainment, filing, storage, tools

Clothes

Leisure

Pets

books, music, videos, travel, places to visit, people to visit, web surfing, photography, sports equipment, hobbies, cooking, recreation

Financial bills, banks, investments, loans, taxes, budget, insurance, mortgage, accountants

Legal wills, trusts, estate, legal affairs

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professional, casual, formal, sports, accessories, luggage, repairs, tailoring health, training, supplies

Errands hardware store, pharmacy, department stores, bank, cleaners, stationers, malls, gifts, office supply, groceries

Community neighborhood, neighbors, service work, schools, civic involvements

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Personal Inventory Control If you let the stockpile of your commitments run amuck, it creates ambient anxiety and unnecessary stress. You’ll let that happen if you’re using your psyche instead of a system to keep track of those “open loops.” Managing a complete, current, and objective inventory of your agreements, in a seamless and leak proof container (not your mind), is the only way out. You must be able to renegotiate those agreements with yourself, almost moment to moment, so they’re not inordinately pulling on your psyche and undermining your self trust. In other words, you can only feel good about what you’re not doing, when you know what you’re not doing.

Here are the keys for having nothing on your mind (other than what you want on your mind):

- Have and use a ubiquitous personal “capture” tool •

Write down any and every potentially useful idea and all should’s, need-to’s, and want-to’s, when and where they occur to you.

- Have and use pens and legal pads wherever you think, work, communicate •

Take notes while you talk, think, and listen. If the writing tools are not at hand, you’ll resist the process. Have junior legal pads at every phone.

- After you write on your pads, tear and toss the pages into your in-basket •

Keep the pads clean for new input.

- Process and clean out your in-basket daily (like you do your answering machine) •

If you avoid deciding what you’re going to do about the content of the notes, or what they mean to you, sooner than later, you’ll subvert the whole flow.

- Organize your resulting actions, projects, reference and support material accordingly •

Have a good system of lists that can group things of like nature (all your calls, all the things to do for errands, etc.), plus an easy-to-use filing system for projects notes.

- Review your lists of projects and possible actions consistently enough to trust you’re not missing anything •

At least once a week remind yourself of all projects that you are still committed to finish, and what you need to do next on each one.

If you follow these guidelines for corralling your commitments, you’ll find that (1) you’ll become more conscious and mature about what you commit to (you will start to self-regulate more automatically), and (2) you’ll get increasingly comfortable with a big list of undone things. Both of those are critical outcomes for a sustainable life- and workstyle. ©David Allen & Company 2002-2006. All rights reserved.

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Stalking the Wild Projects Perhaps the most profound result of creating a complete and accurately defined inventory of our projects is how it can propel us to do something positive and concrete about ephemeral and ambiguous situations that have our attention. We are all capable of taking dominion over every problem or challenging situation we encounter. But this doesn’t happen by itself. Nailing down the real outcome we’re committed to in those situations, when “the answer” is still not clear, takes awareness and focus. There is a subtlety and rigorous mental discipline required to create that “complete and accurately defined inventory of our projects.”

Defining a “project” as “anything you’re committed to complete that takes more than one step” means that most people have between thirty and a hundred projects. Though many are somewhat obvious (hire a new assistant, set up the new computer, finish moving in), many aren’t. And as mundane as making a complete version of this kind of list may seem, it is key to masterful self-management.

It’s challenging enough to get someone to write down even the most evident projects (it takes some guts to face objectively all the commitments you’ve made with yourself). And even when you think you have your “total list” of projects, it seldom is. The ones that will elude you are the projects that you can’t even see yet as projects. They are the situations you implicitly have committed to change or improve, but haven’t gotten a grip on yet.

Often what will hang you up are uncomfortable, unfamiliar, or distracting circumstances you find yourself in, for which you haven’t yet gotten clear about how you’re going to relate to them. For example: •

Potential professional relationships: “Acme Brick has approached us about a joint venture, but I’m not sure that’s something we want to do right now.” “Smedley Company has asked for a proposal, but I don’t know if we even want to do work for them.”

•

Sticky interpersonal situations: “My sister and her husband continue to avoid talking to me about the money they owe us.” “I don’t know if I can stand working for the person I have as my boss much longer.”

•

Personal development issues and opportunities: “I’m frustrated that I’m not further along in my career.” “I’m not sure if I should take time to learn more computer skills.”

•

Miscellaneous life and work situations: “I’m concerned about what Mom is going to do now about her house.” “We’re frustrated about the latest changes in the policies of our organization.” “I’ve got to do something about my energy.” “I don’t know how to deal with the troubles Jimmy is having in school this year.”

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DavidAllen Then, because people don’t in the moment “have the answer” to the situation, they don’t take the opportunity to define a project of resolution, clarification, or research. If the above inner dialogs were part of your reality, your “Projects” list might begin to look something like this: “Research possible JV with Acme Brick,” “Clarify money issue with my sister,” “Evaluate career change opportunities,” “Resolve Mom’s living situation,” etc.

Then, and only then, can real next actions be determined which will be the key to your positive engagement with still vague and ambiguous things. Something that has been gnawing at your psyche melts away as you “Call Maria re: suggestions for elder care options” and “E-mail Chuck/Sally/Bertrand re: meeting about Acme offer.” You don’t need the final solution to take away the pressure -- you just need forward motion toward it.

Training yourself to identify all the things that are “yanking your chain” at any level of your awareness and define for each a positive result and an action to take to move toward it - that’s installing an extremely productive behavior, and a mark of significant maturity.

“Confusion is a word we’ve invented for an order which is not understood.” - Henry Miller

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The Freedom in Naming Your “Stuff” I have been reminded over and over again in working with executives over the years why so much of the GTD implementation process is empowering to so many people: when things we have allowed into our inner or outer world are appropriately and accurately identified for what they are and what they mean to us, we feel curiously freed from them. Accurately naming things that are in our world gives us power over them, while leaving them unnamed allows them a certain hold on our minds.

Various primitive people have beliefs that giving someone your name gives them a certain ability to exert influence over you. Whether that has any truth to it, I’m not sure. But from my own experience, when something that has potential meaning to me is named, it is more known; and when it is known, its potential hold on me is released.

For instance, if you’d just label all your crap “Crap,” you’d probably feel a lot better. If someone had to call Organization Paramedics for you because you’re so out of control, they could simply bring in a big box labeled “All the Stuff I Don’t Know What It Is or What to Do with It.” They’d scour your whole environment and throw everything in that box that fits in that category. In an hour you’d be totally organized – if you didn’t know where something was, you’d now know where it was! The best part would be that the totality of the rest of your world would not have any of that “stuff” in it, and a fresh breeze would be blowing through your psyche.

A good example of this is having a binder on a shelf without a label or title on the spine. Most people are not aware of the slight pressure that unnamed thing maintains on your brain. But if you create a very visible label for it, you’ll notice being more relaxed about it whenever you walk past it. The same is true for storage boxes and file drawers.

More subtly, do you have any problems that you haven’t identified as projects yet? Got anything you’ve been thinking about that needs clarification, resolution, or looking into, that you don’t have on a Projects list yet, which you can look at regularly to keep actions moving toward? Do you have piles of things around your office or your house that have unidentified agreements sitting within them (is this to read? to toss? to file?) Are there things that you think you need to be moving on but you haven’t defined what “moving” looks like physically or visibly yet (next action)?

If you do, then there is good news for you--there is potential energy and freedom embedded there that is available to you...if you name them! If you don’t, well, it’s just the opposite. The problem is that most people have never fully gotten to the place where everything was really categorized appropriately, according to all the different types and amounts of agreements with themselves. You won’t know how much restriction you are actually working under, until you get rid of it, and see how different you feel.

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© 1998 to 2006 The David Allen Company

Naming anything we’re experiencing lessens its grip on us. If I’m feeling negative, when I realize it and call it “negativity” I instantly have greater freedom of choice about what to do with or about it. When I’m just in it, and haven’t recognized, acknowledged and accepted it for what it is, I am more of its victim than its master.

A big key is to name things as accurately as possible. If we mislabel, we run the risk of locking ourselves into limitation and stagnation. To say “I’m a totally disorganized person” is probably not true (you couldn’t get out of bed, if that were true). To say “my thoughts and paperwork about my finances are disorganized” might be much more accurate and would lend direction and energy toward resolution of the situation.

Categorizing is to be used for freedom, not constriction. Many people avoid categorizing because they are avoiding making a decision about something. Should I read this article? File it? Throw it away? Pass it on to someone? But in the short-term freedom of not deciding, they then constrict themselves with the pressure that they ought to be deciding. I use my tickler file as an elegant tool to deal with this. I’ll often get things in my inbasket that I just don’t know what to do with them yet (especially particularly cool things I might want to buy). I just ask myself “when will I be smarter?” and tickle it to show up again then. It’s perfectly fine to decide not to decide. You just need name those things as such, and park them in a decide-not-to-decide system.

Disorganization is simply a discrepancy between where something is and what it means to you. The freedom comes from ensuring that everything has its proper ID badge, so it can get in the right line.

The truth that sets us free is often the one we don’t want to hear.

--Unknown

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© 1998 to 2006 The David Allen Company

Three-Dimensional Self Management For many years I have been teaching about the horizontal and vertical aspects of productivity. “Horizontal” represents the ability to quiet distractions and maintain a complete and total inventory of things to do across the whole spectrum of our day-to-day engagements. For instance, when you have a phone and time, you have available every call you need and want to make and your head is clear enough to make them. Basically, you’re feeling OK about what you’re not doing, because your available list of options is complete. “Vertical” represents the ability to view what you’re doing from the appropriate horizon and to shift your focus as required. You analyze your strategic plan in one moment, answer e-mails in the next, reconnect with your core values when you need to, review all your projects weekly, tweak your lifestyle visions with your partner creatively and proactively.

You’re facile in your ability to frame which kind of thinking you need to be doing, about what, and when.

It’s about both control and perspective. And if self management can be interpreted as how well our actions match our priorities, or simply how good our choices are about what we’re doing, then we must have equal capability in each of these dimensions to be at our best.

Can you have one without the other - control without perspective, or vision without control? Ultimately, no. If you’re out of control, it’s almost impossible to maintain appropriate perspective. And if you can’t see things from the right altitude, you’ll lose control at some point. But relatively speaking, yes – there can be an imbalance.

On a matrix of control vs. perspective, there are four quadrants: low control and low perspective, high control and low perspective, low control and high perspective, high perspective and high control. Each of these is at least a little familiar to all of us as a state we may find ourselves in.

1. Low control, low perspective = the Reactor. Driven by latest and loudest, working simply to relieve the most obvious and immediate pressures and pains.

2. High control, low perspective = the Micro Manager. Obsessed with containing and ordering detail, neglecting the Why question and the bigger-picture realities. Constrained with inordinate structure and lack of flexibility.

3. Low control, high perspective = the Crazy Maker. Fabulous ideas, by the minute, unrealistically overcommitting focus and resources. Lack of appropriate structures and systems.

4. High control, high perspective = Master and Commander. Keeping the eye on the prize with attention to critical detail, holding steady with a firm but flexible hand.

Which one describes you, today, right now? Are you reading this essay to avoid getting more control or perspective, or because you have them? davidco.com

© 1998 to 2006 The David Allen Company

I’m in and out of each one of these configurations, several times a day. I may start out having gotten it all together, sailing ahead as the captain of my ship. I then get a crazy idea, make one phone call, and turn my world upside down. I get overcome by the new problems or possibilities and I’m crashing on rocky shoals. In my excitement or nervousness I then decide to prune another tiny branch off a maple tree outside my office (can I get control of something, please!?) No matter. The key is not forever staying at optimum perspective and control – it’s having a good GPS system and knowing how to right the vessel and get back on course when it wavers and when I get around to getting it together again.

This was the inspiration for my latest version of our public seminar, and why it’s called “The RoadMap” – to chart the currents of the waters of control and perspective (and the lack thereof), so we can more easily identify where we are and what kind of activity and focus will have the most value for us, at any moment. Most people’s initial positive experience with the Getting Things Done method is centered around the getting-control aspect – making sense and getting a handle on all the “stuff” coming at us and clogging up our brains and our lives.

Rightly so, because you must pay attention to the level that most has your attention, first. But once we have things relatively stable, there must be an equal focus on the right focus. We need to know and trust why we are subscribing to that magazine in the in-basket, not just that we can park it in Read/Review. Is it something that’s getting us to where we’re going, mapping to what’s really important to us now, or just momentum from an old inspiration that needs updating, and should be canceled? Getting Things Done (GTD) is about making sense of and managing multiple priorities, with the best models for rapidly gaining control and perspective – critical for self management.

But hey, what’s the third dimension?

Ah, it’s acknowledging and consciously engaging with that which constantly pulls us, guides us, and impels us toward creativity and coherence. It’s the recognition and participation with something that promotes perspective and control, almost magically, and yet trancends them. It’s the thing that, in the worst and best of circumstances and when it often makes no sense, gives us the experience of acceptance, surrender, intuition, courage, and forgiveness. It’s our heart.

“The salvation of this human world lies nowhere else than in the human heart, in the human power to reflect, in human meekness and in human responsibility.” – Vaclav Havel

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© 1998 to 2006 The David Allen Company

DavidAllen

The Threefold Nature of Work Why do people complain that there’s no time to get their work done? Because there is more work to do than the work they think they have to do.

Many times people we work with express frustration that they “can’t get any of their work done” because of the overwhelming amount of interruptions, email, and other inputs that show up during the course of a normal day. “I can’t get my work done, because there is so much (other) work to do!”

If you are ever in that frustrated state, it might help to understand the threefold nature of what constitutes your “work.”

You have a choice of doing three very different things when you work – pre-defined work, ad hoc work, and defining your work.

1. Pre-defined Work This is what you would be doing all day if you got no new input or interruptions of any sort. You would probably be working off the inventory of actions and projects that you came in with – work that you have already determined needs doing. There are the phone calls you need to make, the documents you need to draft, the ideas you need to outline on the project, etc. That list of things to potentially be doing, when you have some discretionary time, would be challenging enough to sift through given your volume (most professionals have 150-200 of these discrete actions). But what you are very often faced with is the necessity (and opportunity) to do...

2. Work As It Appears The phone rings. It’s not on your lists or your calendar. But you take the call, nonetheless, and consequently spend twenty minutes talking to a client of yours about a potentially important, or at least an interesting, topic. Before you’re off that call, your boss sends you an instant message to schedule a half hour meeting in the afternoon to update you on a new development and get your input on it. You acknowledge back “OK” while you’re still talking to the client. For that meeting, though, you know immediately that you are going to need to update two spreadsheets and surf the Web about a company that’s been on your radar pertaining to this project, before you walk in. That means do it now, or otherwise not eat lunch. In this scenario you are doing the work as it shows up to be done. You are actually defining your work rapidly in this case, and choosing to do the new stuff instead of any of the pre-determined potential activities. Many of us have whole days of this nature. We can’t get to anything on our action lists because the ad-hoc nature of the day wound up defining and requiring our total focus, non-stop.

That, added to our inventory of pre-defined work, creates a substantial volume of on-deck options for things to be doing. But then there’s the e-mail constantly filling up your in-basket. And meeting notes from last night still on the legal pad on the corner of your desk. And the fourteen voicemails that you keep saving because they mean something you might need to do, but you don’t know exactly what yet. And more voicemails coming in during the day. So, in addition to all the stuff on your lists and all the stuff coming at you during the day that you have to engage with as it shows up, you know there’s still the on-going requirement to be...

3. Defining Work This is processing and emptying your in-basket, your email, your meeting notes, etc. – assessing the new inputs and making decisions about what needs to be done about them. You may do some quick actions as you define them

©David Allen & Company 2002-2007. All rights reserved.

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DavidAllen (a la the two-minute rule), delegate things to others (to be tracked on your “Waiting For...” list), and you will probably be adding more action items and projects to your inventory of defined work, as you review and think about the meaning of the content of those notes. “Oh yeah, I told Raphael I would call him back about possible times to meet next week...”

This activity of defining work, based upon the constant flow of new incoming information and communication, requires an average of one hour per day, for the typical professional. That’s just to stay current – not to clean up and process any backlog that may have accumulated prior to today.

So what? Everything I have described so far is common sense, or at least a common awareness about the way things really are. Here’s the rub: I have noticed that many people act as if (2) is some sort of burden to endure, and (3) is some irrelevant activity aside from their work. “I have my list of things to do. Why am I being burdened with things that aren’t on my lists, and why am I now in addition having to deal with all of these e-mails, voicemails, conversation notes, business cards, receipts, and tons of other inputs coming at me from my outside world?”

I don’t get it. It’s all your work. Some is done when it appears, and some is done when you choose to do it instead of what’s showing up. And processing input is required to trust that the inventory of your pre-defined work is complete enough to evaluate its contents against your new options of things to do.

Are you truly pretending that your boss doesn’t have the authority to reallocate your focus toward a new and unexpected priority? Get real. Are you honestly saying that now the world is at fault for reconfiguring itself to present you with things you weren’t aware of twelve hours ago? Get a grip. And how long can you honestly say you are comfortable doing anything, without checking your voicemail or e-mail?

The key is how efficiently and effectively you know how to process new stuff, and how functional your system is for maintaining and reviewing your inventory of commitments. Then you accept and manage the input processing as a critical component, you review the whole game frequently enough to know (in your gut) how to evaluate the surprises and unexpected work, and you have a sufficiently functional system for capturing and managing all the various rivers and streams of this complex environment, to feel at least OK about what you’re not doing. Master key to life.

How much of which kind of work to do, when, is the eternal dance of the workday. You can’t really do more than one of them at a time, though you can get really fast with processing work while you’re on hold on the phone, and waiting for meetings to start. There may be interruptions that are allowed that are not functional or valuable, but managing those is just tactical to your definition of your job. It’s an eternal challenge of allocating limited resources (the definition of “management”) – it’s not an inherent problem.

How much of your day and week do you need to assume is going to be ad hoc and unexpected? How much of your day really is required for cleaning up your in-baskets so that you can trust your backlog doesn’t have landmines and unseen priorities lurking? When are you dedicating critical executive time for updating your contents and maybe improving your own process for capturing, clarifying, organizing, and reviewing your work?

Get your habits and your systems up to handling it. And get used to it.

David

©David Allen & Company 2002-2007. All rights reserved.

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The Need For a “Total Life To-Do List” The concept of daily or weekly to-do lists is as outdated as rotary phones. We need to have a total, holographic view of everything we want to accomplish, and all the actions required to start any of them. And we need to have access to views of those actions whenever we actually might be able to do them.

Most everyone I come across in my clients’ organizations are up to their eyeballs in work, and feel overwhelmed.

Strategy and triage are indeed required to address that, but at least as important is the requirement for people to set up their lives to get a lot more efficient about getting a lot more done in a day.

To steal from a Motorola strategy, we need to “mine the bandwidth.” They developed technology utilizing the more discreet areas “between the lines” in the radio frequencies already in place. Similarly we need to be ready for, and take advantage of, the weird uneven time and energy spaces we find ourselves in.

Ever have the attention span of a gnat... either externally imposed (like on the tarmac at O’Hare) or internally generated (like 4:30 PM on a day of six meetings, five of which were brutal)? Ever have a short (but still unknown) time period, with informal distraction, like waiting for a late meeting to start? Ever get a five-hour plane trip with minimal interruptions?

There are very few times and places we really have the appropriate energy level, tools, and uninterrupted time frames to work on some of our “most important” work. The rest of the day, we shouldn’t be feeling guilty that we’re not working on “job one.” Rather, we should be maximizing our productivity by picking things to do (that we’re going to do anyway, sometime) that match the situation.

Catch up on the FYI-type Read-and-Review material while waiting for meetings. Water your plants and fill your stapler when your brain is toast. Call Marriott and make a reservation when you have ten minutes before you board. Problem is, most people don’t have all those options already figured out and put in appropriately accessible buckets to rummage through when those situations appear. And mostly when those weird time slots happen they don’t have the energy to remember them or figure them out.

It’s a subtle and fine line between doing less important items as a way to procrastinate, and doing them because it is the most productive thing you can do effectively. At worst it’s an energizing way to waste time semi-productively.

At best, it’s keeping the decks clear and optimally utilizing yourself as a resource.

We all have times when we think more effectively, and times when we should not be thinking at all.

- Daniel Cohen davidco.com

© 1998 to 2006 The David Allen Company

Why “Getting Organized” Usually Hasn’t Worked I had another BFO the other day (that’s a Blinding Flash of the Obvious): one of the reasons most people are to some degree allergic to “getting organized” is the consistent lack of success they have experienced over the years with how they’ve approached the whole process of to-do lists.

The reason those lists have not worked is because they were an attempt to compress very different and relatively sophisticated and discrete functions into one event and context. If you try to make something too simple, it will make it seem even more complex and difficult. Yes, we’ve all been up against the wall from time to time of too many things screaming at us in our head, and we got temporary relief from “making a list.” But we’re in a very different and more multifaceted world than that band-aid can manage as an on-going procedure.

When most people sit down to write one of those lists, they are actually trying to combine at one time all five of the phases we have defined for mastering workflow: collect, process, organize, review, and do. They are simultaneously attempting to grab things out of their mind, decide what they mean, arrange them in some logical or meaningful fashion, jumping immediately to an evaluation of each against each other and deciding what they need to do “most importantly.” One is usually rewarded with a short-term payoff of the crisis of confusion relieved, but left with still a vague sense of gnawing vulnerability to what’s uncaptured, unprocessed, unorganized, unseen, and underestimated.

We have discovered over many years of research and coaching that these phased aspects of workflow management are optimally done as separate activities. You need to collect everything on your mind first, little or big. Then you need to assess each individual particle of that inventory: is it actionable? If so, what’s the outcome? What’s the next action? You then need to organize all the results of that thinking into appropriate categories. At that point you can clearly review all your options of what to do, and make the best choices, given all the criteria for making those decisions (time, energy, context, priorities, etc.)

Managing yourself is simple, but it is not simplistic.

Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler.

- Albert Einstein

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