Check Out Some Checklists

Check Out Some Checklists

“We don’t like checklists. They can be painstaking. They’re not much fun. But I don’t think the issue here is mere laziness. There’s something deeper, more visceral going on when people walk away not only from saving lives but from making money. It somehow feels...
Down to Earth with a Thump

Down to Earth with a Thump

My GTD® origin story is evergreen. There was a point in my life when I had a technical, fairly transactional role that I was doing well in, and to prove that no good deed goes unpunished, I was promoted to manager. I was rubbish at it: woefully unprepared for the rash...
Turn Your Problems Into Projects

Turn Your Problems Into Projects

How to turn your problems into projects, be more successful, and achieve those long-term goals. In a world of change and challenges, here’s an insight into how GTD® can help you to get control of your world and take the right steps to move forward with progress....
How To Be Adaptive During Challenges Like COVID-19

How To Be Adaptive During Challenges Like COVID-19

During such uncertainty and the challenging times that we face with the COVID-19 crisis, it is important to remain nimble and adaptive to get the best out of your productivity and focus. In our latest video, Todd Brown talks about how to keep your Getting Things Done®...
What Does Finished Actually Look Like?

What Does Finished Actually Look Like?

Neuroscientists have confirmed it over and over. Our brains are very clever. So clever and trained that they cannot make out the difference between the real thing and what we imagine. Ever woken up from a nightmare sweating? Wasn’t real. Even though your body had a...
To Adapt or Not to Adapt, That is the Question

To Adapt or Not to Adapt, That is the Question

I always thought I was far too young to be needing check lists. In my mind, check lists were the inevitable accessory for (generally speaking) parents, and in particular my parents, when they were preparing our ski vacations and making sure that everybody in the...
Self-Help Tips For the Christmas Holiday Season

Self-Help Tips For the Christmas Holiday Season

Todd Brown talks about how to use your Getting Things Done® (GTD®) system to help you get through the Christmas holiday season as friction-free as possible. Utilising the right tools and processes to keep you organised during this busy festive period will result in...
How GTD® Enabled Me to Become a Digital Nomad

How GTD® Enabled Me to Become a Digital Nomad

Linda first encountered GTD® in 2011, when she joined Next Action Associates to support the leadership of the organisation with…, well, everything needed to grow a start-up into a going concern. She loves applying the principles of GTD to support her nomadic life and...
Passports and Pinball

Passports and Pinball

Ever seen a pinball machine? Great, then you’ll have a mental image of a metal ball pinging around under glass, side-to-side and up-and-down, flippers flipping and lights flashing for as long as you can stop it from disappearing down the hole. I sometimes use this odd...
A Tale of Two Children

A Tale of Two Children

Any parent with more than one child knows that however identically you think you treat them, kids grow up completely different to each other. It’s a humbling realisation, how little influence you really have. I have two children who have moved through high school two...
GTD on the Planet of the Apes

GTD on the Planet of the Apes

I’m not a fan of fitness. What’s to like? Basically it hurts while I’m doing it, again the next day, and then – go figure – it’s worse again on the day after that. Seemingly not a lot of upside in all of that, but by day three after a workout I’m feeling great and...
“What?” Maybe Better to Ask “Why?”

“What?” Maybe Better to Ask “Why?”

Last week, I hosted a regular conference call with our certified trainers and coaches here in the UK. One of the many hats I wear at Next Action Associates is that of Master Trainer, which basically means that I look after developing and certifying our trainers, and...
Are You Talking To Me?

Are You Talking To Me?

Robert De Niro asks a very important GTD® question with his famous quote in the movie ‘Taxi Driver’. “Are you talking to me?” You wouldn’t believe how many projects are found on lists that don’t ‘talk’ to their owners. First of all, some project names don’t talk to...
What Happens in a GTD Level 2 Seminar?

What Happens in a GTD Level 2 Seminar?

Todd Brown talks about what happens in a GTD® Level 2 Seminar – Projects & Priorities. Covering the key aspects of the Natural Planning Model® and the Horizons of Focus®, the seminar helps take your GTD learning and practice up a notch.
Am I Going in the Right Direction with GTD?

Am I Going in the Right Direction with GTD?

You won’t get the great benefit of seeing your world from a higher perspective in your Weekly Review® without first having a complete Projects list. And… You won’t fully understand why you should keep a complete Projects list until you’re getting the benefit of seeing...
“…Try Something Else”

“…Try Something Else”

I was recently in the audience at a Q&A session with David Allen. My question to him was something I have answered many times myself while running seminars and coaching people and, although I think my answer is quite practised and complete, I wanted to see how...
Hurry Hurry, Come for Your Curry

Hurry Hurry, Come for Your Curry

Lamb jalfrezi, chicken korma, mutton biryani… while the rest of the world was going vegan last month (a.k.a. ‘Veganuary’), there was a defiant outbreak of meat-based curry-making taking place chez moi. The spark for these culinary adventures was the lovely new...
Save the Planet. Next Action:…?

Save the Planet. Next Action:…?

I wasn’t planning to set any goals for this year. Many areas of my life are in reasonable shape as we start the year, so I thought I’d cut myself some slack and had resolved not to be quite so resolute with my targets. It turns out it isn’t that simple. After four-ish...
Checklists Under Stress

Checklists Under Stress

Written by Kelly Forrister; Senior Coach and Presenter at the David Allen Company. I’ve been practicing and teaching David Allen’s productivity methods for over 25 years. I consider myself pretty organised and minimalist in the way I live (so much so that someone...
I Wonder…?

I Wonder…?

Last Christmas I was given a gift so special I became teary-eyed. It was a book by my favourite author and inside the cover was a touching handwritten message from him to me. However, what I found even more remarkable about it, I realised only later, wasn’t the gift...