The Schoolwork Tsunami

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

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...
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...
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...
Absolutely Not, and Yes, Absolutely

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...
“…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...
Creation and Completion with GTD

Creation and Completion with GTD

As knowledge workers, it can be hard to grasp that our work is never going to be ‘done’. The idea is to be constructively engaged in our process of creation and completion. Some thoughts around how GTD® can help you optimise the flow of your work.
20 Seconds to Comply

20 Seconds to Comply

Yum. Sea Bass or T-Bone? Delightful options for sure, but as I pondered the choice, I felt uneasy. I was sitting in my living room browsing the online menu for a meal that was still six weeks away and, along with everyone else in our party, I’d been emailed the link...
Mind How You Go

Mind How You Go

“All that is very well,” answered Candide, “but let us cultivate our garden.” -Voltaire I was fuming. I could feel the blood surging up to my head, fuelling a litany of judgmental thoughts. Brexit. Trump. That maniac on the M1. Something had...
Back to basics with David Allen

Back to basics with David Allen

We’re deep into the season of office parties, mulled wine and mince pies here in London, and as the nights continue to draw in I find myself in a reflective mood. Around this time of year, I like to remind myself of the core ideas behind GTD®, by way of reaffirming my...
Four Things to Do to Make the Most of Your Year-End

Four Things to Do to Make the Most of Your Year-End

Well, the end of the year is around the corner. Snuck up on you, did it? You’re not alone. The good news is that for many of us, as things slow down toward year-end, we can find the space between the holiday parties to refine our GTD® systems and practices. Here are...
Show me the money

Show me the money

The occasional thud you may have been hearing in the neighbourhood lately isn’t the sound of huge falling conkers but the sound of credit card statements hitting people’s mats. Yes – all that holiday fun coming home to roost. The flights, the hotel and that...
How to run a Reggae night

How to run a Reggae night

In his own words he looks like an accountant or a dentist, so how did an English gent from the Cotswolds become the undisputed world champion of the Reggae soundclash, a gladiatorial arena where DJs compete track-by-track to win the crowd, and only the brave survive?...
A penny for your thoughts

A penny for your thoughts

It’s a sun-filled summer afternoon and you’re strolling happily down the street when a flash of light catches your eye from pavement ahead. You instinctively tell yourself it’s probably just shiny litter but your eyes linger, widen and then sparkle with delight. Yes,...
The alarming drag of auto-nag

The alarming drag of auto-nag

Like so many of us, I have a love-hate relationship with the alarm clock on my phone. I often hate how early it wakes me up, but of course love that it does so reliably. Like the bookmark, whose simple virtues I extolled in a previous article, the alarm clock is...
The discipline of bad breath

The discipline of bad breath

Mr Melnyk, my grade 2 teacher, was a lovely guy. As one of only two males and the only Ukrainian on the teaching staff at my primary school, he was a poster child for diversity well before his time, and a great athlete to boot. In theory, someone for little boys to...
Are your next actions causing you to do house work?

Are your next actions causing you to do house work?

It’s the 1st of January and I’m cooking and cleaning; which can only mean one thing… I’m procrastinating and I have something more important to do.  Believe it or not when you have some thing big or difficult to do and you end up doing house work instead it can...
Relax. No, Really.

Relax. No, Really.

“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...