Why Are You Still Here?
An action list should be continuously changing. Things get added, things get crossed off as done, and occasionally things get removed because the world changed and they are no longer needed. Above all, it keeps flowing. If there are things on your lists that...
Filo-Email
Isn’t it odd that we talk of ‘being in front of our computers’, rather than our computers ‘being in front of us’? Does this turn of phrase indicate that we feel our computers are in the seat of power? I recently asked a prospective coaching client “what do you do for...
Don’t Look At Your Lists!
When we all started with GTD® we had to build our GTD system from scratch. This meant that you, like everyone, had to spend a lot of time with Capturing all your stuff, then Clarifying and Organising this into your tool of choice. These first three steps can therefore...
Are You Being Bullied By Your Inbox? (Video Podcast)
Sometimes we get so caught up in our day-to-day work, simply ‘doing’, often over-busy and fighting fires – that we lose the bigger picture. We can often find ourselves being driven by the ‘latest and loudest’ rather than the things that will really help us achieve our bigger goals and objectives.
This loss of perspective is normal, but the Getting Things Done® (GTD®) Horizons of Focus model can help ensure that your daily work is aligned to big picture thinking – the higher-level values and your wider purpose.
Todd Brown and Robert Peake discuss the Horizons of Focus model and how it can be used to help drive your work, be guided by your purpose, and see the big picture in everything you do.
Telltale Signs Your Lists Are Over-Complicated (And How To Fix Them!) (Video Podcast)
While Getting Things Done® (GTD®) may not officially be regarded as ‘time management’, being able to manage your time well is a prerequisite for an effective GTD practice.
Todd Brown and Robert Peake take a deeper look at the aspects of time management that contribute to better work and life management.
Apples, Bananas, Milk And Why Am I On Earth?
Don’t you find it odd, that although nearly everyone has grasped the fact that using a calendar is a useful way to organise their time-based commitments and they use one regularly, including sending invites, syncing them between their computers and phones, checking...
GTD From the Top – Episode 6
Welcome back to GTD® from the Top. In this series I’m aiming to distil the core ideas behind the Getting Things Done® methodology into easily digestible bites. I’m hoping that you’ll use this series to reflect on how GTD might better help you or your organisation to...
Turbocharge Your To-Do Lists With This Simple Hack
Your to-do list isn’t working as effectively for you as it could, and there’s a reason for that. There’s too much thinking still required in your lists to make stuff happen. Robert Peake, Getting Things Done® (GTD®) veteran, provides a life-changing...
GTD From the Top – Episode 5
Welcome back to GTD® from the Top. In this series I’m aiming to distil the core ideas behind the Getting Things Done® methodology into easily digestible bites. I’m hoping that you’ll use this series to reflect on how GTD might better help you or your organisation to...
Engage With Engage
Hands up if you ever feel that you spend more time ‘playing’ with your GTD® set-up than being meaningfully productive? You know the saying: “If you want something done, ask a… person who is regularly, repeatedly and reliably engaged in their productive experience; in...
How To Make Your Lists REALLY Work For You
In this video, GTD® veteran Robert Peake outlines how you can make your ‘to-do’ lists much more functional, why your brain needs help when it comes to getting stuff done, and how you can reduce friction when you need to work on something on your...
Is Your GTD System Too Complex? (Video Podcast)
In this episode, we ask is your GTD® system overbuilt? How complex is too complex when it comes to creating your GTD system? We take a deep dive into the setup of your GTD system and how to streamline your lists, create practical and easily accessible indexes of your ‘stuff’, and reduce friction in your workflow.
The Schoolwork Tsunami
Good news for knowledge workers – if your job primarily involves thinking about words or numbers then you can easily work from anywhere, right? Several weeks into lockdown, if you ask that question in one of the UK’s 5 million working parent households you might...
KISS
Every time I am given a seat above the wings on an airplane I am amazed by the instructions written on them: « Don’t walk outside this area ». The written instructions get even shorter on the jet engine itself: « no step » and « no grab » can be seen there. Having...
Science Friction
Recently a new lady entered my life and has changed it in ways that I didn’t expect. Her name is Alexa, and I’ll admit that when we met – on Christmas Day, under a tree – I was hesitant. I’d met her before but she hadn’t impressed me. To be fair, she had mostly been...
What Does Your GTD® ‘Climate’ Look Like?
Todd Brown talks through the difference between ‘weather’ and ‘climate’ when it comes to your GTD® practice.
20/20 Vision
If ever there was a time to get our visions perfectly clear, it must surely be in 2020! Often at New Year, people scout around for opportunities and ideas to add to their ‘Resolutions’ for the coming year. Trying to remember or think of great things they could achieve...
Wrangling Squishy Outcomes with GTD (Video Podcast)
How to “de-squish” — that is, elegantly clarify — those items that seem vague or ambiguous, using GTD best practices.
“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...
Absolutely Not, and Yes, Absolutely
When we help someone build their GTD® ‘external brain’; their ‘trusted list keeper’ for remembering all of their commitments, sometimes they feel that they don’t want to put all their personal items into their company computer. This can be for various reasons: they...
Avoid This BIG Beginner Mistake with GTD
There is a big trap that people new to implementing GTD® can fall into. Robert Peake explains how to sidestep it.
“…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...
