Don’t Look At Your Lists!

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...
How To Be Productive When You’re Not Feeling It

How To Be Productive When You’re Not Feeling It

Do you ever find that when you’re trying to get things done, you’re just not ‘feeling it’? It happens to all of us – we run out of creative energy, capacity to think, or just experience a bit of a blank. Sometimes, it’s good to...
Turbocharge Your To-Do Lists With This Simple Hack

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...
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...
Sweet Dreams

Sweet Dreams

“Sweet dreams are made of this / who am I to disagree? / I travel the world and the seven seas / everybody’s looking for something.” -Eurythmics Sleep means energy, and energy is precious. Just ask any new parent, shift worker, or long-haul pilot. In...
Are Your Lists Making You Lazy?

Are Your Lists Making You Lazy?

Are you lazy? If you’re reading this, probably not. As my colleague Todd Brown explains over on our YouTube channel, GTD® tends to attract people who are already motivated and successful. To paraphrase Steve Jobs, GTDers are usually folks who are looking to put a dent...
In Praise of the Short Sub-List

In Praise of the Short Sub-List

In their newfound enthusiasm for discovering the freedom and relief of getting everything out of their head, journeymen GTD® practitioners can fall into the trap of believing that small lists are inherently bad. Indeed, David Allen, creator of the Getting Things Done®...
Going beyond the basic checklist

Going beyond the basic checklist

Scott Walker (not his real name) is a good friend of mine. He has nine black belts. Note, they are not in Judo or some other martial art. They have been acquired as a result of arriving at a hotel, looking for a belt for his trousers, and realising that it was still...
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...
NOT Getting Things Done

NOT Getting Things Done

In a recent seminar I clocked that one of the participants was not happy. He was trying to be, but his question betrayed considerable doubt: “Love the lists”, he said, “but I still don’t have any more time than I did before. When am I going to actually do the things...
Eating the Menu

Eating the Menu

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...
How much would you pay for this?

How much would you pay for this?

  I’ve had an idea for a service business. It’s about helping people to make sure they’re reminded about the things they need to do in their lives. It’ll work like this. You tell it what you want to be reminded about, and it will remind you. It will remind you at...
Keeping it All in Focus

Keeping it All in Focus

“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...