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Thursday, July 31, 2008 David Allen on GTD By Diana Hsieh @ 1:20 PM After many years of using David Allen's Getting Things Done method of managing life, I cannot imagine living without it. So I was delighted to find, via Gus, a 45 minute talk he gave to Google introducing GTD. In the video, Allen doesn't talk about the details of how the system works. (For that, you'll have to buy the book. Given its power to transform your whole approach to purposeful endeavors for the better, it's well the few bucks.) Instead, he's giving a broad overview of why GTD works -- unlike any other system of "getting yourself organized." The basic lesson: The mind has identity, and if you want your mind work superbly well in your pursuit of values, then you'd better develop a system of managing information, goals, and actions that respects its capacities and limitations. That system is GTD. Labels: Advice Share |    E-mail Diana Hsieh     PermaLink ()    Comments (New Page)   Subscribe to NoodleFood Blog Posts via Feed Reader   via E-mail Subscribe to NoodleCast Podcasts M4A via iTunes (MP3)   via Feed Reader   via E-mail

Comments
	Friday, August 1, 2008 at 11:11:34 mst Comment ID: #1 Name: Gus Van Horn E-mail: cavanhorn(at)gmail.com URL: http://gusvanhorn.blogspot.com Diana, I first learned of GTD from your blog something like a year ago. It has been a great help to me ever since. Thanks for talking about it here! Gus
	Saturday, August 2, 2008 at 9:13:57 mst Comment ID: #2 Name: John Harris E-mail: John.Harris00 at gmail.com Ok, well I ordered the book today from Amazon.com Here's to it being worth nine bucks. Diana I've got to ask, what is so brilliantly wonderful about this system? What has it really changed, compared to how you used to do things, to now? John.
	Saturday, August 2, 2008 at 9:24:55 mst Comment ID: #3 Name: Diana Hsieh E-mail: diana(at)dianahsieh.com URL: http://www.dianahsieh.com/blog John, The essence of the system is the transfer of **everything** that you need to do (that takes more than 2 minutes) in every area of your life into a totally reliable and flexible external system (whether on your computer or on paper). That means that your mind -- your subconscious -- isn't burdened with keeping track of the hundreds of tasks on your plate. That doesn't just help you manage your projects more effectively and efficiently, it also frees you mind from that cognitive load of remembering that you have to get cat food on the way home from work, that you have to call some guy on the 23rd, etc. Then you can spend that cognitive time and energy thinking about the difficult and interesting things in life. You can also focus fully on the task at hand, because you know that all the stuff that you're not doing at the moment can wait. There's much more to it than that, but that's the essential value of the system.
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