Blood and fire are two inputs that make their priorities clear: drop everything! And call an ambulance or find a fire extinguisher, because nothing matters more. In the course of teaching GTD, people regularly ask about effective prioritisation, and what they are...
It’s a nice place. You have been here before, and recall how much you like the food. Yet as you scan down the first page of the menu, your breath quickens and your pulse shoots up. Turning to the second page, your eyes widen; you are practically hyperventilating...
“The happiness of most people we know is not ruined by great catastrophes or fatal errors, but by the repetition of slowly destructive little things.” -Ernest Diminet It is getting harder to focus in the information age. By “focus” we tend...
At a dinner party recently, the question began to circulate. I could feel it coming my way, and had my usual habits at the ready–mumbling something about “a sort of executive coaching” or “productivity training”, suitably vague to move...
“Your ability to generate power is directly proportional to your ability to relax.” -David Allen One of the hallmarks of true productivity is a sense of fulfilment. In a recent article, I looked at the difference between performance as in professional...
Nothing can undo the relaxed, happy glow of a nice long holiday like coming back to an email inbox overflowing with hundreds (thousands?) of unread messages. Now comes the time when you must disable that guardian angel, your out-of-office message, and...
We have all seen the automobile ads where their makers claim to be “redefining performance” in their industry. The truth is, we speakers of English have been redefining the very word “performance” for some time, and the trajectory is somewhat...
Do you understand the basics of the Getting Things Done, but are struggling to find the time to implement it well? Have you been using GTD off and on for a while, but have recently “fallen off the wagon”? Here is a quick, simple diagnostic exercise that...
Growing up in a small town in the Sonoran desert, I loved matinees. Besides the film, the theatre was cool and dark. My first summer in London, I suggested a weekend matinee to my English wife. “We can’t,” she replied, incredulous, “the sun is...
You have a safety net. Whatever acrobatic manoeuvres will be required in the working week ahead, you can leap from platform to swinging trapeze with confidence. Someone down there is going to catch you if you fall. That someone, strangely enough, is you. As I...
Have you ever stopped to think how much of your life you spend in meetings? Done well, they can be incredibly powerful, but very often they end up being inefficient and a drain. Having both attended countless meetings myself, and coached many senior executives...
“Baby Steps, get on a bus. Baby Steps, get on a bus.” -Bob Wiley (played by Bill Murray) in “What About Bob?” As a practicing poet, I often “trick myself” into creative flow. It is as if when I look at a subject directly, the...
Scalability is the holy grail of good business practice–both for big companies looking to get bigger, and one-person bands just starting out. The Getting Things Done (GTD®) method is an extremely powerful approach to “scale” an individual’s...
Growing up in the American Southwest, I have long been acquainted with a familiar parable about the young greenhorn (inexperienced rancher) attempting to brand cattle. What I never realised is how relevant the tale is to twenty-first-century knowledge work. The story...
“Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful.” -William Morris The Japanese personal organiser Marie Kondo recommends thinking of one’s possessions as animate, and treating them with according...
Fourteen years in to my GTD practice, I am still making new discoveries. Last week I attended our new second day public seminar. One of the points we make in this follow-on course is that people often “compartmentalise” their use of GTD to their...
“Do few things but do them well.” -Donovan I overestimate myself. Turns out, I am not the only one. Early on in my career, I learned that if I expected everything to go according to an ideal estimate, I would often end up with a mess. The “Pick Any...
What a lovely warm summer we have had here in the UK. Too bad it seems to be over in August. As crisper weather returns, I recognise winter on the horizon. The cold, bleary days make me want to hibernate, and the lack of sun can start to get me down. Yet thanks to my...
My best friend in high school was an excellent French horn player. He was so good, in fact, that he was promoted to drum major of the school band. From this point on, his job was no longer to play the French horn, but to instead beat time with a baton and lead the...
Recently, I touched on how Areas of Focus can help you to keep areas that matter to you on track and in balance individually. This particular horizon of focus is also incredibly useful to teams. In the spirit of the current World Cup football matches, I’d like to...
“If I am not for myself, who will be for me? If I am not for others, what am I? And if not now, when?” ― Rabbi Hillel Organisations have systems–from organograms to annual reviews–designed to ensure that the right people focus on the right...
Switching is not free. Whether you are moving house or changing mobile phone provider, some amount of time, money, and energy will be involved in making the switch. That is crystal clear in the real world, yet I often see people responding to interruptions at a rate...
Have you ever gotten lost in the enjoyment of a task? Chances are it was something you were able to do well, but that also challenged you on some level. This lovely feeling, of being both competent and stretched at the same time, is something I crave, and have sought...
Pretty much since I’ve been in business, there has been a discussion about leading versus managing. Recently I got to wondering: what, really, is the difference between a “manager” and a “leader”? Great leaders need to manage, at least a bit,...
