Cool Christmas Gift for Someone who is Getting Things Done

The David Allen Company is offering a 2 book hardcover set of David Allen books, Getting Things Done and Ready For Anything. The 2 book set sells for $35.95 (A 20% discount).

To make this the perfect gift set for the GTDer in your life, you can get the book autographed by David Allen! Simply place your order, and let customer service know that you would like autographed copies. Put the word "Autograph" in the notes section of your order.

Pretty cool! I didn't even think you could get these books in hardcover.

You can order the GTD Hardcover Bundle from The David Allen Company online store. Remember to ask for an autograph!

Christmas Shopping with Jott.com

Last week, Jott.com hooked up with Amazon to help with your Holiday shopping.  It's as simple as calling Jott, asking for Amazon, and saying what gift you are looking for.  Within minutes, you get an e-mail from Jott with links to the product at Amazon.com.  Pretty cool.

Here is an example of how it works:

You: Dial Jott
Jott: “Who do you want to Jott?”
You: “Amazon”
Jott: “Amazon, is that correct?”
You: “Yes”
Beep!
You: “iPod Nano” (only state the product or item name; just like you'd type it on Amazon's website)

Jott then sends you an email with the top 5 results for your search, complete with price info and user ratings. Click one of the items in your email and you will be sent right to the product details on Amazon, where you can easily add it to your Wish List or shopping cart.

Very cool!  Check out my review of Jott.com <HERE>.

GTD Digest 2007-11-23

Weekly recap of GTD news and views from around the web

Great tips on tuning Outlook for GTD
Using GTD and Outlook to Organize Projects & Tasks for a Small ...
By Josh Fialkoff
"Getting Things Done," By David Allen As the project manager for a small company, one of my biggest responsibilities is to make sure projects are on track and that clients are satisfied with our work. I wrote a three-part blog post on ...

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3 things GTD has done for Craig...I cannot agree more!
Thanksgiving For GTD (GTD Tuesday)
By Craig Huggart
David Allen talks about the concept of having a "mind like water". That means that we start from a place of peace and respond to situations throughout the day with just the right amount of energy. It's a good definition of "rest". ...

Tips for reviewing your to-do lists
Time Management #7: Review Your Commitments
By Mark McGuinness
In his book Getting Things Done, David Allen suggests that you review your to-do lists as often as you need to in order to feel on top of things. I do a mini-review every morning when I look through my e-mails and other in-trays (from ...

Refining your next action to-do lists
Getting Things Done: A Guide To Next-Action Lists
By reamsnqaez(reamsnqaez)
Getting Things Done (GTD), is a productivity methodology designed by David Allen. GTD increases your productivity by getting things out of your mind, and into a reliable system that you can trust. This frees your mind to work on the ...

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Interesting read. Good tips...
A conversation with Sally McGhee, productivity pioneer and author ...
By Matthew Cornell(Matthew Cornell)
And her experience and knowledge in the field go back twenty years - she was a partner in a company with David Allen, where she helped formulate the essential ideas of modern productivity practices like GTD (which she's taken in ...

An new GTD app under development
Taskmate, the perfect GTD tool ... to be released really soon
By Sven
"For the most part, the applications that are specifically designed for project organizing are way too complex, with too much horsepower to really be functional for 98 percent of what most people need to manage." — David Allen ...

Links to Merlin Mann's (43Folders.com) video on INBOX ZERO. If you haven't see it, you should
"Inbox Zero" Video Presentation
By jeremy
A lot of the content on the site is geared towards Getting Things Done, an action management method of The David Allen Company, and the title of the book which describes the method by David Allen. On July 23rd, Mann gave a Tech Talk ...

A review of some low-tech GTD gear
Cool Gear: GTD® System folders & Zip Pouch
By Eric Mack
The day before I left for Manila, I received a care package from Liz Harward, product manager at The David Allen Company. Inside, was a bunch of goodies for me to evaluate. I'm particularly excited about the new GTD® System file folders ...

Another Merlin Mann video
Merlin Mann's productivity talk at IDEO
By Cory Doctorow
Merlin Mann and David Allen podcast Merlin Mann of 43 Folders interview Boing Boing Boing podcast 008: Merlin Mann Merlin Mann's decluttering roundup Merlin's tips and tricks How to filter out press releases from your email ...

A view of how Marc has implemented GTD - MindMap view. I love the @Braindead category. This is one I need to implement!
My Mindjet Customer Vignette - GTD and Mindmapping
By Marc
I've long been a fan of both Mindjet MindManager and Getting Things Done of course – in fact, I first encountered both when I began working at VanDyke Software back in 2001. Over the years, both have had a big impact on how I tackle the ...

Ian reviews a number of GTD apps for the MAC
Comparing GTD task managers
By Ian Beck
Which Getting Things Done application to use has been on my mind lately, thanks in large part to the public release of OmniFocus which was closely followed by the iGTD 2 previews and my own Things screencast. With so many good-looking ...

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A quick review of GTD cell phones
GTD Insight #9: Productivity and Cell Phones
By Mike
Staying productive on the go is a prime GTD principle and the use of cell phones is another arrow in the quiver. As my own contract is up in less than a month, I've been gearing up for another round of smartphone study. ...

Quick review of 3 GTD apps for the MAC
Getting Things Done Application Roundup
By Jason
Getting Things Done offers a way of organizing your life through the use of projects and contexts. Think of it as an improved version of the to-do list. If you're interested in improving your productivity and reducing stress, ...

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Free GTD App for the MAC
Check Off: Get Things Done Faster
MacApper - Toronto,Ontario,Canada
This GTD program's export features are really nice. From the application, you can export to a few different formats. Two include RTF and HTML. ...

Another GTD App for the MAC
OmniFocus GTD app goes into public beta
By Tim Gaden
GTD Old-timers will immediately recognise OmniFocus's roots in KinklessGTD , Ethan Schoonover's collection of applescripts for Getting Things Done with OmniGroup's OmniOutliner. (Ethan has been a key colloborator on the poject and is ...

A review of another GTD App for the MAC (must be MAC app week!)
Get Things Done; Things First Looks
By admin
Getting Things Done™ (commonly abbreviated as GTD) is an action management method of The David Allen Company, and the title of the book which describes the method by David Allen.[1] GTD rests on the principle that a person needs to move ...

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Keeping your Windows Desktop Organized

Have you ever changed the graphics resolution on your computer or hooked your laptop up to an overhead projector and found yourself with desktop icons scattered all over? This happens to me all of the time.

- I go to a meeting in which I need to present.
- Inevitable, I connect my laptop to an overhead projector that only supports a 640x480 screen resolution.
- When I change my laptop resolution to 640x480, my desktop icons get all jazzed up.

I prefer a nice clean Windows desktop. If I put a shortcut icon in the upper-right corner of my screen, I expect it there regardless of the screen resolution. If only Windows XP were so smart. :(

I found a neat little freeware application that allows me to save my desktop icon placement and restore the saved settings. Quite cool. The application is aptly called Icon Restore and adds Restore/Save Desktop Icon Layout menu choices when you RIGHT-CLICK on your My Computer icon.

I've seen other desktop icon saving apps on the Internet being sold for $10-$50. For my needs, this simple little freeware utility does the trick! Check it out at: http://www.snapfiles.com/reviews/Icon_Restore/iconrestore.html.

Remembering the Next Action for an Email in MS Outlook

When I get a new e-mail, I always follow the 2 minute rule.  That is, if it takes longer that 2 minutes to action the e-mail (read it thoroughly, respond to it, do what it tells me to do, delegate it to someone else, etc), I defer it.  For messages that I know will take longer than 2 minutes to address, I typically know what the next action will be.

First, I open the e-mail and change the Subject Line to reflect the Next Action.  It does not look like Outlook will allow you to change the Subject Line of a newly received message, but you can.  Simply place the cursor next to the word "Subject:" and type away.  For the new Subject Line, I prefer the syntax <ACTION: This is the Next Action>.  This helps make the Next Action stand out for me. 

Next, I move the e-mail to a folder called @Review & Action.  This is the folder I use to hold pending tasks.

When it's time for me to address open tasks, I simply open my @Review & Action folder and I quickly know what I need to do for each e-mail contained in that folder.

Permanently Deleting e-mails in Outlook

Today, I offer up a powerful and handy key combination for Outlook users - SHIFT-DELETE. SHIFT-DELETE will permanently delete a message, task, memo, or calendar entry. Unlike using the DELETE key by itself (which simply moves items to the DELETED ITEMS folder), SHIFT-DELETE will permanently delete the selected item. There are no "get backs" with SHIFT-DELETE; the item is gone, removed from existence, never to be retrieved again. Thus, use SHIFT-DELETE with care.

Shortcut Key of the Week

Recently, I published numerous articles detailing Windows shortcut keys. CTRL-ALT-SHIFT key combinations to do things. The challenge is to remember these obscure key combinations to make your life easier; to get things done.

Unfortunately, unless you actually are a computer, you will not remember all of these shortcut keys. With that, I offer you the shortcut key of the week (shortcuts in bite size pieces). A once a week tip; easy to digest; easy to remember.

Today's shortcut key tip for Windows...

ALT-F4 - Close a Window

Yes, obvious to some, but a secret to most. You can use ALT-F4 to close the current window in Windows Vista/XP/95/2000/NT/ETC..

GTD Digest 2007-11-18

Weekly recap of GTD news and views from around the web

GREAT Tips on IM usage and etiquette
17 Tips to Be Productive with Instant Messaging
WebWorkerDaily - San Francisco,CA,USA
However, if done right, IM can be a great tool for connecting with others, networking, getting things done quickly, and being productive. ...

David Allen's thoughts on building trust in your system
David Allen: Are You Micro-Managing Your Mind?
By David Allen(webmaster@huffingtonpost.com)
One of the greatest traps in growing a business is also a pitfall for self management: if you don't trust your system, you can't let go of operational details and you'll limit your ability to create at a bigger level.

5 great tips for GTD beginners and good reminders for GTD veterans
Five Tips for the GTD Beginner
By Al
It has been a few weeks that I have been using David Allen's Getting Things Done system. My first impression was that a lot of the steps seem obvious and that I was already partially doing it, but I am finding out that implementing the ...

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Great list of Web based GTD Applications
GTD NINJA: 50+ Websites For the Kickass Control Freak
By Jon Pape
Simple GTD - Set your tasks, locations and check them off all... simply. SnapPages - Organize and share calendars, photos, friends easily. Time Tracker - A to-do list with a timer. TracksLife - Makes it possible to keep track of just ...

A review of David Allens tickler filing product
GTD Tickler Files - David Allen Co.'s vs. DIY
By Patrick Ng(Patrick Ng)
I've been using David Allen's GTD Tickler Filing system for a while using Lion's manila folder labeled with Dymo's tapes. It has been a highly valuable tool for me and things started to organize by themselves pretty well just because I ...

A nice set of links to GTD resources
Productivity Toolbox: 37+ Tools for Taking Action and Getting ...
By SmallFuel Marketing, Inc.(SmallFuel Marketing, Inc.)
Lifehack.org Lifehack.org (not the same as lifehacker.com) is a daily digest of productivity pointers, tips for getting things done, and useful life hacks. This blog is a great read for anyone looking to get more done. ...

Links to a pretty cool idea for Windows desktop wallpaper for organzing your icons
GTD for Moleskine
By Stephen
Click here for your free sample of the DIY GTD Calendar. An updated version for 2008 with dates and months pre-populated is available now, click this link to visit the HD BizBlog Shop. Click Here to create a professional cover for your ...

A good post with some more GTD tips an tricks
Time Management #6: Get Things Off Your Mind
By Mark McGuinness
No, it's not an ancient Zen text – these words are lifted from David Allen's best-selling book on productivity, Getting Things Done. When I read this section of the book, I grasped the true value of having a system for managing your ...

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A GTD Testimonial
How GTD changed my life
By Emily(Emily)
At my fast-paced job in the "real world," I was introduced to the book Getting Things Done by David Allen. I do not know how I did anything at work before this book! This book gave clear INSTRUCTIONS for all the things I was having ...

Views on GTD from a new GTDer
Organizing for low stress
By amg1
She picked up the book "Getting Things Done/The Art of Stress-Free Productivity" by David Allen and she says it's transformed her life. When she was over here, she took one sorrowful look at my colored stickees all lined up on my desk ...

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GTD thoughts from like, ya know, a Valley Girl...
How to get over email
By Keith Lard(Getting Things Done)
Email is just so, like, hello? Here are [info] keithlard's top tips for not being, you know, all 2006 on it. Have one inbox. Gmail can pull mail from several different accounts into one. Read it via the web interface or download it to ...

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Casual Day Friday Video

It's casual day Friday. Time to relax; End the work week on a quiet note; Time to spend quality time with the family...

With that, I share with you my casual Friday night activity.  My animoto family vacation video.  For those who do not know what animoto is, check out my write-up at; http://www.mygtdstuff.com/2007/09/photographs-music-very-cool-slide-show.html

Tonight, I created a neat little animoto video of my last family vacation to Northern Wisconsin.  See it at; http://animoto.com/play/6109dab17f4e99721c5069b46efef45a

Internet Explorer Shortcut Keys

There are just a few keyboard shortcuts I use in Internet Explorer religiously.  Those include:

CTRL-ENTER: This is my favorite.  When typing in the URL of a website, you can skip the "www" and the ".com".  For example, in the address box, enter google, then CTRL-ENTER and low and behold, the address turns into www.google.com. 

CTRL-F: Find on the page.  Looking for a specific word, use CTRL-F.

CTRL-N: opens a new Internet Explorer Window.

ALT-LeftArrow & ALT-RightArrow: Simulates the Explorer Back and Forward button.  Quite handy.

Microsoft includes a number of other Internet Explorer keyboard shortcuts, but I can never seem to remember them.  Maybe you can.  Here is the complete list.

To do this                                Press this key

Display Internet Explorer Help or to      F1
display context Help about an item in
a dialog box

Toggle between full-screen and other      F11
views in the browser

Move forward through the items on a       TAB
Web page, the Address box, or the
Links box

Move through the items on a Web page,     SHIFT+TAB
the Address box, or the Links box

Go to your Home page                      ALT+HOME

Go to the next page                       ALT+RIGHT ARROW

Go to the previous page                   ALT+LEFT ARROW or BACKSPACE

Display a shortcut menu for a link        SHIFT+F10

Move forward between frames               CTRL+TAB or F6

Move back between frames                  SHIFT+CTRL+TAB

Scroll toward the beginning of a          UP ARROW
document

Scroll toward the end of a document       DOWN ARROW

Scroll toward the beginning of a          PAGE UP
document in larger increments

Scroll toward the end of a document       PAGE DOWN
in larger increments

Move to the beginning of a document       HOME

Move to the end of a document             END

Find on this page                         CTRL+F

Refresh the current Web page              F5 or CTRL+R

Refresh the current Web page, even if     CTRL+F5
the time stamp for the Web version and
your locally stored version are the same 

Stop downloading a page                   ESC

Go to a new location                      CTRL+O or CTRL+L

Open a new window                         CTRL+N

Close the current window                  CTRL+W

Save the current page                     CTRL+S

Print the current page or active frame    CTRL+P

Activate a selected link                  ENTER

Open the Search box                       CTRL+E

Open the Favorites box                    CTRL+I

Open the History box                      CTRL+H

In the History or Favorites boxes,        CTRL+click
open multiple folders

GTD Digest 2007-11-11

Weekly recap of GTD news and views from around the web

Zen habits E-book (Zen to Done) released. This is on my must read list.
Top 100 Blogger Releases eBook on Getting Things Done
By Darren Rowse
Regular readers of ProBlogger will be familiar with Leo Babauta who has written several guest posts for me on this blog. In fact Leo is a serial guest poster and has consistently produced great content on numerous blogs for some time ...

A review of ZTD + other tips
Book Review: Zen to Done
By Scott Young
Think of it as GTD, formatted to easily fit into your life. Leo's suggestions take the daunting task of becoming organized and productive and break them down into easy, practical steps. If you're still struggling with organization, ...

A good article on getting things done through others
Becoming a Master of Persuasion
Entrepreneur - USA
Management can be defined as "getting things done through others." To be a manager you must be an expert at persuading and influencing others to work in a ...

6 EXCELLENT keys to managing your workday
6 Keys to a Winning Workflow
By Nick
Over the last couple of years, I've spent a lot of time reading and researching techniques others use to establish an effective workflow, or method of getting things done. While there is no "one size fits all" method, I believe everyone ...

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Tips on avoiding interruptions
Eliminate interruptions before better concentration
By LauraStack
Interruptions abound—a co-worker drops by to chat, the phone rings, and your boss sends you an email to handle something, pronto—all at the same time. With a flurry of activity, you respond to these various demands. ...

Links to a good GTD mini-series
Three Key GTD Principles, and Three I'd Like to Add
By danstalcup
I am a big fan of David Allen's Getting Things Done productivity system, also known as GTD. The book is commonly referred to as the bible of productivity, and with good reason: many of the principles are so logical and common-sense, ...

A quick overview of GTD for students
Organizing School Work with GTD
By Arjun Muralidharan
I use TaskPaper, because it's flexible and adapts to my whimsical changes I make to the "holy" GTD paradigm as and when I wish. I use iCal and Mail To-Dos for all non-school-subject related items. Did I leave any neat details out?

A cool YouTube video on a book about To-Do Lists ...and YES, I am thinking about ordering the book!
A book about to do lists
By Joan(Joan)
To do lists are one of the centerpieces of any organization system. I like to see what other people do with their to do lists, for example in blogs like To-do list. Sasha Cagen, a true to-do-list-ologist is the writer in charge of To-do ...

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Thoughts on maintaining a broad view of what's important on your lists
GTD Meets Parkinson's Law
By telecommatt
Now here's an interesting thought for all of us GTD'ers. The danger of simply creating a list and checking things off as they are completed is that we'll never actually save any time. Unless we focus on completing the project instead of ...

Thoughts on building a better GTD tool
GTD Online - Things To Consider, Things To Do
By John
After my last post about my online gtd system and my first post about how to best implement GTD online, I've had quite a few questions about how I do GTD online. Since I first started looking for a way to organize myself online and move ...

"How I GTD" sharing
My GTD book
By Administrator
This is my GTD book, took me at least an hour to create it with some help. Spending an hour in creating it has actually made me use it. I feel good ol pen and paper is better for implementing GTD especially for lazy bums like me. ...

Looking to meet some GTDers in Columbia, Md
Up for a GTD Meet-up?
By Miss Newburn
I'm looking to meet up with other GTD system users locally. For ideas, support, insights and occasional encouragement. Basically, I want to connect with others for peer-to-peer support. I've been using the system for a little over a ...

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Trials and tribulations of a GTDer. Because everyone has a blog these days...
Brief update on GTD/organisation stuff/Gmail
By Stuart
But, further to my various mentions of GTD over the summer, I have been trying to implement a GTD-based system on my PDA using just the in-built apps, and it basically works. My to-do list has context-based categories (@email, @pc, ...

A book on GTD with Outlook. Read the reviews before buying...
Take Back Your Life!: Using Microsoft Office Outlook 2007 to Get ...
Not a good place to start so I tried David Allen's book 'Getting Things Done'. It was a great start and gave me foundation. I then moved on to Sally McGhee's book Take Back Your Life! for Outlook 2003. Awesome! That helped me integrate ...

Some people have waaaaay too much time on their hands...
What David Allen Is Not Getting Done
By Gary Fisk(Gary Fisk)
Wired magazine recently ran a great article on personal productivity guru David Allen. His "Getting Things Done" (GTD) approach to managing work and life is described in the article, as well as his eclectic past history. ...

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Outlook add-in for managing your e-mail
E-Mail Overload? ClearContext Promises Help
PC World - USA
... he described as similar to, but less detailed and restrictive than, productivity regimens such as those of Getting Things Done or Franklin Covey Co. ...

GTD software for your BlackBerry
BBTask PRO! Simplifies BlackBerry® Task Management
Emediawire (press release) - Ferndale,WA,USA
BBTask PRO! also provides Quick Cat ,which expedites category access, while supporting Getting Things Done (GTD) methodology. "Many of our customers have ...

GTD on your iPhone
To-do List Management on the iPhone
By John Wilger(John Wilger)
I've been a fan of trying to do something along the lines of GTD for a while now, but the missing link has always been a convenient way to keep the "to-do" lists with me on the go. I tried using good old fashion pen and paper, ...

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Single click desktop with XP

I stumbled across a pretty cool Windows XP tip today. It allows you to use a single click to access the icons on your desktop, similar to a web page link in Internet Explorer (or Firefox if you prefer). As a frequent web user, I found this single click desktop functionality far more intuitive versus the traditional Windows double click.

To turn this feature on click your START menu, then: SETTINGS -> CONTROL PANEL

From the Control Panel window, select Folder Options

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lastly, Select Single Click to Open an Item
and Underline icon titles consistent with my browser

Clearing up a cluttered Inbox Part 4 - 10 Tips

In recent posts, I discussed different tactics for keeping your inbox clutter free.

• Cleaning up Meeting Responses

• Dealing with Out of Office Messages

• Auto Filing your Newsletters

Today, I offer up 10 more of my favorite Outlook Inbox management tips.

1. If the incoming e-mail message has time related actions associated with it, move it to your calendar.
   
2. Set a maximum dwell time for incoming messages. For example, if you cannot answer the message within 2 minutes, defer it. I move anything that I need to spend more than 2 minutes thinking about to an @Action folder. My @Action folder contains e-mails I need to spend time thinking about before responding.
   
3. Quick Review and File. E-mail folders are inexpensive. If you get an email that you may need to review later, file it in an existing folder or create a new folder to hold the e-mail. For example, I recently got an e-mail discussing my companies new parking policy. I gave it a quick review, got what I needed out of it and filed it away in a folder called "Parking Policy". If I need to refer to it later or share it with someone else, I can easily find it.
   
4. Not sure if you really need that latest message. Delete it. Be bold! 'nuff said!
   
5. If it's something not related to work, rather it's something you want to follow-up on when you get home, I recommend filing that e-mail in an @Home folder. Review your @Home folder when you are @ Home.
   
6. Don't respond immediately. Ever get an e-mail question sent to a large distribution list of people? You don't always need to drop everything and answer that e-mail. Once in a while, let someone else give the answer. You've got more important work to do.
   
7. Turn off those evil Outlook incoming e-mail notifications. Is seeing the latest incoming e-mail message really worth the interruption?
   
8. Quickly delegate the incoming e-mail message. Don't forget to create a follow-up system for your delegated e-mails.
   
9. Use an Outlook Out-of-Office reminder when you are away from the office. Let people know when you on on vacation so that they know not to fill your inbox in your absence.
   
10. Set aside specific times to check your incoming e-mail. 8am - Noon - 4:30pm. Once an hour. Once every 2 hours. Whatever works best for you. The trick here is to not let yourself fall into the easy trap of "living in your inbox".

Got any other good inbox management tips? Leave a comment!

Clearing up a cluttered Inbox Part 3 – Newsletters

I used to get a ton of e-mail newsletters, industry news and other long, detailed, "read later" information in my inbox.  The obvious step one to cleaning up these types of e-mails is to unsubscribe from the ones I don't read.  That alone save me a bunch of e-mail!

Next, I didn't want them cluttering my inbox.  I want to read them when I decide I have time to read them.  For that, I turn to my old friend; the Outlook folder and the Outlook rule.

For me, I created a folder called @Lists to hold this type of "read me later" e-mail.  @Read works just as well. 

To create a rule that moves certain messages to my @Lists folder, I right click on the e-mail, select Create Rule... Then, Check the From and the Move e-mail to folder checkboxes.  Lastly, click Select folder and find the @Lists folder.

That's it.  No more newsletters cluttering my inbox.

 

GTD Digest 2007-11-04

Weekly recap of GTD news and views from around the web

A comprehensive list of GTD related software. Well written
ATPM 13.02 - Next Actions: A Survey of the GTD App Landscape
The 2001 publication of David Allen's Getting Things Done stirred a revolution of organized, productive work environments for thousands. ...

ZenHabits.NET puts a Zen twist on GTD. Good read. You will find a tip or two (or three) here
Zen To Done (ZTD): The Ultimate Simple Productivity System | zen ...
A modification of the ever-popular Getting Things Done (GTD) system by Dave Allen, .... Getting Things Done » Blog Archive » 10 Questions for Leo Babauta of ...

I am a big proponent of this... If you're mind get's "stuck", try taking a walk. Simple, yet effective.
Getting Things Done – Take a Walk
By David B. Bohl
I posted on Monday about taking a lesson from the students who attend Wisconsin Badgers home football games. Today, I'll delve more deeply into the reasons we need to take a break. Have you ever found yourself sitting at your desk, ...

5 cool tips for achieving InboxZERO
Five Simple Hacks to Get Your Email Inbox to Empty
WebWorkerDaily - San Francisco,CA,USA
You've probably read a few articles on how to get your email inbox to empty (if not, read David Allen, Merlin Mann, or even a couple articles by me). ...

Dealing with the feeling of being overwhelmed
How To Deal With Being Overwhelmed - 6 Steps Back To Normal
By jasonivers@yahoo.com (Jason)
It doesn't really matter how small the task or the action is... this is simply about starting down the path to getting things done and out of the way. You're taking action to build your momentum. Once you have momentum, ...

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A pretty cool Mind Map of GTD. To view the full mind-map, see: https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNwXwyXvk14JldAiNXkK1J2lwIfPWdgW5jXNG-POL5w5p11hKrDh4YZO1r0BIjlimgzPH9HEpQRla9bJQtTBSaF6Nc9-3bHtDwv6DdYY_2ojK2GVH9ZIiXVJTFbcpBPUVaA7dPuHk_S5rb/s1600-h/workflow+diagram.jpg
Kidney Notes - Exploring Health 2.0: Mindmap of "Getting Things ...
Mindmap of "Getting Things Done" by David Allen · The GTD Mindmap / Flowchart has been updated. The new version is here. ...

How to GTD for bloggers
Comment on GTD for Bloggers: The Art of Stress-free Blogging by ...
By Stasigr
Hello, very nice site, keep up good job! Admin good, very good.

David Allen's weekly post at Huffington Post. I can't say it identifies the "sliver bullet" for dealing with interruptions, but it's a good read nonetheless.
David Allen: Curing Interruptitus
By David Allen
The David Allen Company is a professional training, coaching, and management consulting organization, based in Ojai, California. Its purpose is to enhance performance and improve the quality of life by providing the world's best ...

A good (albeit rather long) interview with David Allen
David Allen
David Allen is an international author, lecturer and founder and president of the David Allen Company, a management consulting, coaching and training ...

Tips for using Microsoft Outlook to GTD
Getting Things Done and Microsoft Outlook
By Peter O'Kelly
I finally got around to finishing Getting Things Done, after having it on my expansive unread-book shelf for ~6 months (what's the emoticon for self-deprecating irony?...). I wish I'd thought to explore the Wikipedia entry on GTD before ...

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Trials and tribulations of a GTD newbie and a hard drive crash
Forget email bankruptcy; try Getting Things Done bankruptcy
Brazen Centrist - USA
I used to write a lot about productivity, until I started reading blogs and discovered David Allen's world of Getting Things Done. I discovered that some of ...

Tips for Getting Things Done (in a really, really small font)
'Getting Things Done' In An Efficient Way
Clearing the clutter from your mind can increase your proficiency and efficiency — and doing so is much easier than you may think.

A refresher of keeping your inbox clean
Inbox Zero: Keeping e-mail manageable
UST Bulletin Today - St. Paul,MN,USA
There is a management technique proffered by the David Allen Co. called "GTD" or getting things done. The basic precept of this philosophy is that people ...

A quick read on GTD in action
A Time To Procrastinate (GTD Tuesday)
By Craig Huggart
People inside and outside the practice of Getting Things Done (GTD) often mistake the system for a way to cram more into every moment. This couldn't be further from the truth. GTD is a way to get all your todos out of your head and into ...

GTD Tip: Batching
Batch Blogging Tasks for Maximum Effeciency
By Michael Martine
David Allen of GTD fame and Timothy Ferriss of the 4-Hour Work Week are advocates of batching. I've been using it myself to great effectiveness to manage my schedule (I have a full time job and clients to help in addition to blogging ...

Another good review of Jott. I love Jott!
Jott– My GTD Safety Net
By dnaphil
I wanted this week to talk about what is rapidly becoming one of my favorite web services. The funny part is, that I almost never visit the site. The service is called Jott, and if you are not familiar with the service, allow me to gush ...

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Links to some real-time videoconferencing software and Fields Notes Notebook (does not look like they are available yet.
Two cool new tools
Like many of you, I'ma productivity geek -- an devotee of David Allen, a fan of 43 Folders, a lover of Lifehacker. That's why October 2007 has been so exciting. This month I discovered two of the best new tools -- one high-tech, ...

GTD on Linix tips
Weekend picks #017
By Babis Konstantinidis
In theory there is nothing wrong about Getting Things Done. The only problem is that sometime the theory of GTD is just a theory and the work you have is time consuming regardless David Allen. I recently had a large number (around 500) ...

You gotta start somewhere. Seems like clearing out those 1000's of business cards would be a good place to start.
GTD, sort of
By Jay Cross
David Allen is a charming speaker and his Getting Things Done is a compelling book. That's not enough to convince me to run my priorities by file folder, so I am implementing a few moves in the spirit of GTD. ...

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A review of Clear Context IMS Pro - GTD Tool for Windows/Outlook
ClearContext IMS Professional v3 Windows Software for Getting ...
By Bruce Eisner
I'ma big fan of David Allen's Getting Things Done. For a great introduction to this system, check out this Getting Things Done: The Art Of Stress-Free Productivity audio. The diagram to the left is from D*I*Y Planner Hipster PDA Edition ...

WebRunner
WebRunner with the most simpleToDo/GTD lists available online!!!
By kzap
going off of the lifehacker article and elaborating on the utmost potential of such an app...

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How I use Outlook Tasks – Keeping it simple

As noted in one of Kelly Forrister’s recent posts, she talked about over-engineering your GTD system. I’ve been there. I have been the victim of my own over-engineering. I found myself spending more time managing my lists than actioning my lists.

I eventually learned to simplify. Here is the simple method I use to manage my tasks in Microsoft Outlook.

1. I keep it current. I review my tasks at least once a day. I clear out the completed items. I add any new items.
   
   
2. I use as few categories as possible. I have just a handful of categories:
   1. @ACTION – Things I need to do (General typically work related things)
   2. @AGENDAS – Topics or meetings I need to prepare for. For example: I have an @Agenda task for “Meetings with my Boss”. When I think of new things I need to review with my boss, I update that task item.
   3. @HOME – Personal things I need to do for my personal life, non-work related.
   4. @SOMEDAY – Stuff I want to do someday
   5. BLOG – Ideas for blog entries. This could easily be an @Agenda task, but I prefer to have them more visible by creating a separate category.
      

3. Lastly, I use a task view that show’s me all of my Outlook tasks by category. In the Task view, click “Customize Current View” and select the following options:
   
   That’s about it. No grand scheme to categorize every nit and nat. After many months of trial and error, it turns out that a few simple categories works best for me.