GTD Quarterly

Volume 1 No. 1

GTD - Processes, Perspectives, and Pointers

Welcome to the premier issue of GTD Quarterly

As I cruise at 34,000 feet on one of my regular plane
trips across the U.S., Im reflecting on our purpose for
creating a quarterly magazine a format somewhat
different than simply posting articles on the Web site,
a blog, or an e-mail newsletter. As with many things
Ive decided to do over the years, it just seemed like
the thing to do. In my analysis of why I felt that way,
I realized its because Connect members, in making
more of a commitment to GTD implementation,
will find value in more feature-oriented perspectives
and the kind of practical information this particular
medium and space will allow.
I think, too, that the compilation of topics and their
juxtaposition with each other in this kind of container
will have a meta-message one that will serve
someones intention to be involved with it to begin
with. The nature of a magazine itself whether the
Atlantic, Mens Health, The Week, or Garden Design
seems to affirm a particular style, a standard, and a
focus for me, as I engage with it. Ideally our Quarterly
will bring you that same kind of reinforcement for
the relaxed focus lifestyle and stress-free productivity
that the GTD processes can deliver. It will also (if this
edition is any indication) reflect something else about
the GTD meta-message its as much about the most
mundane as it can be about the sublime.
My style tends to deal with all of it from our Big
(continued on next page)

>>

capture
complete win
Getclarify
Connected

David Allen

If the success or failure of this

planet and of human beings
depended on how I am and what
I do, how would I be and what
would I do?

Buckminster Fuller

GTD Quarterly

Welcome to the premier issue (continued)

Picture things to staplers with a somewhat equal
mix of respect and irreverence. I sincerely attempt
to not take too much too seriously.
Ive also found it fascinating over the years to
observe how the time interval of regular events
whether its meetings, blogs, periodicals, or gettogethers with friends affects the horizon of focus
and the nature of topics that tend to emerge. A
weekly meeting will never address the same things
as a monthly one, which will itself be different
than a quarterly or annual off-site. I think it also
may be true, though to a lesser degree, about the
delivery mode what I read on screen is somehow
different in tone, content, and length than whats in
a monthly magazine. It could be, of course, that my
own subjective filters will be affected by the look and
feel of the form I will likely notice different things
in an article on the Web than I will when I read the
identical piece in newsprint.
So, though I dont know yet what upcoming
editions will contain (the Quarterly will be timely
and fresh, for me at least!) Im looking forward to
my own process of sharing through this kind of
channel, at this frequency. It will likely be more
conversational, more reflective, and maybe even
more opinionated than other things Im doing. I
will certainly have you (as the reader) in mind as
someone with a working familiarity with the GTD
experience and concepts and an expressed interest
and dedication for continued exploration and
development for yourself. That makes for a different
conversation, and one I really like. David

IN THIS ISSUE
GTD Quartely is published quarterly and is available
exclusively to GTD Connect Members.
3

Cleaning and clearing

The 5 Phases of GTD workflow - Restated

The powerful 10 factor

Checklisting

ROI for a paper-based filing system

that works

Writing your own testimonial

One GTD List thats already working for most
everybody

10
10
11
12
13
14

Apropos of nothing special

A case for a soft focus and serendipity

Just a secondis that another blog?

The Budding Gourmet
List Talk

The aspects of things that are most important to us are

hidden, because of their simplicity and their familiarty.
Ludwig Wittgenstein

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>

Cleaning and Clearing

Whats the result if I get rid of this?
Great question to feather into your regular productivity
vocabulary.

A GTD CHALLENGE
Things do not get rid of themselves. There seems to
be a universal law of physics that goes like this: things
that exist want to keep existing, even if theres no good
reason. And I think they have strange, secret, invisible
agents that lurk in our psyche, planting little numbing
seeds like its there, so there must be a good reason its
there.
And stuff changes. Whats useful today may not be so
useful tomorrow and by next week may be irrelevant and
by next month may be seriously in the way of us getting
things done. In addition to inconveniently taking up
physical space, it consumes psychic space, of which we
can all use as much as we can get.
When was the last time you did an inventory of what
you really dont need anymore?

-in your center drawer

-in your briefcase
-in your closet
-in your garage
-in your bathroom cabinets
-in the trunk (boot) of your car
-on your bookshelves
-on your staff
-on your calendar
-on your computer
-in your product line
-in your relationships
-in your habits
-in your mind

Many of the things you will find have probably at

some point become someday/maybe kinds of things,
and perhaps theres a decent reason to keep them
around, just to keep the option open But what if I
might need it? At least consider migrating those to a
deeper storage area, and limit that space, so as you add
things to it, it forces you to move even older nostalgia
out into the dumpster.

The
phases
of GTD workflow mastery,
restated.
Collect

Crap self-generates but doesnt

self-destruct.

Process

If you dont know what youre doing,

everything is a pain in the ass.

Organize

If you know what youre doing, efficiency

is your only improvement opportunity.

Review

Integrate and consider, or inconsiderately

disintegrate.

Do

Perfection only comes to those who

dont wait.

GTD Quarterly

The Powerful 10 Factor

1. Acceleration
2. Braking
3. Steering
4. Front view
5. Rear view
6. Side views
7. Air/temperature control
8. Sounds/radio/phone
9. Speed
10. Gas/temperature/warning instruments
Though Im not a pilot, Ive asked a couple I
know how many things they are really monitoring
while they fly, and in spite of what seems an
overwhelming number of dials and equipment in
the cockpit, they tell me its about ten things. As a
sailor, I know thats also true for captaining a boat.
How about your office and workstation?

1. Note-taking tool/space
2. In-basket
3. Out-basket
4. Telephone
5. Computer
6. Reference
7. Supply drawer/containers
8. Work-in-progress basket/stacks
9. Visual field (windows, horizons)
10. Dcor
If you look through my more virtual office the
briefcase/bag I carry when I travel, youd see a
similar group of control areas.
1. Spare laptop
2. Phone
3. Palm
4. Writing pad
5. In-basket folder
6. To-office folder
7. Travel support folder
8. Support materials file(s)
9. Critical refills/supplies
10. Reading materials
I had begun to experience this concept in
working with the mentor who trained me in nextaction thinking (Dean Acheson, in 1982). When
we would coach people in recording next actions
on discrete pieces of paper, we would then invite
them to sort those into the categories that made
sense to the client, for which wed then have
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The exchange of good ideas went both ways, with TimeSystem. As I had
discovered the value of keeping virtual action lists separate from the calendar but
conveniently close, we convinced TimeSystem to produce a reverse-folded next-action page
that could be refolded every day against that days page, without rewriting the list.
That has since become a unique selling feature they incorporated
into all their international editions.

10 seems to be a magic number in the

arena of personal productivity. I came across this
idea twenty-five years ago and since then have
continually noticed the many ways it plays out.
When we have something relatively complex that
we need to control, we tend to instinctively sort the
various parts of what were dealing with into about
ten categories to manage it, give or take a couple
(seven to twelve has been my general experience).
When you drive a car, think about how many
things you subliminally pay attention to, to
manage your vehicular experience. Though
a car is an extremely complex machine and
muscular and brain activity exponentially more so,
there is a reduction to about ten things to monitor:

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The Powerful 10 Factor (continued)

them create labeled file folders to hold the action
reminders. There were always between seven and
twelve groups that people would naturally seem to
sort their reminders.
The person who introduced me, though, most
specifically to the idea of the power of 10 in this
regard was Ole Berg, in 1983. Ole was then the
head of TimeSystem in Denmark, the manufacturer
of one of the top paper-based personal organizers in
the world, with the best graphics and look and feel
of all those mid-tech pre-designed systems (still
probably is, for my tastes).
At that time a small consulting and training
group I was part of had arranged for the
TimeSystem planner to be translated into English,
as we acquired the rights to market it in the U.S.,
under the Time Design brand (there already was
a Time System in America, so the name had to be
changed for distribution here).
In one of our many meetings regarding design
for the American version, Ole told us he had
uncovered research that turned him on to the
concept of ten categories as optimal to manage
complexity; and he had built into his organizer a
data bank that incorporated the principle. In
the middle of the notebook he put ten numbered
tabs (1-10) and provided an index page in front of
them, so you could create your own categories for
storing miscellaneous support information, based
upon key areas of focus in your work and life. It
was a very useful and interesting functionality that
we incorporated as we began using the planner as
course material in our productivity seminars from
1983 until the mid-90s (when I decided to wean
our trainings away from any particular tool).
Aside from the interesting and obvious
correlation with ten digits on our bodies and in
our numbering system, it did seem to make sense
when one started to really use the system. What
would the ten areas be, which I would use to
organize support and reference materials? Based
on my consulting experience, I knew that most
peoples jobs could be defined according to four to

seven major hats they wore, and those created

obvious and useful ways to structure personal
management support. Asset management
data could go in one section, Administration
materials and checklists in another, Marketing
plans in another. The remaining categories (to
make up ten in total) could be sorted into personal,
avocational, and recreational arenas.
Not only did it provide a sensible way to organize
personally relevant information, it also served as
a good self-management format. As you reviewed
the notebook, it would tend to remind you of
key areas of focus and responsibility, and trigger
creative as well as catch-up thinking appropriately.
Its interesting to note how this still plays out
throughout the GTD approach. If you look at our
suggested set-up of a paper planner, youll notice
eight sections (though some of them could easily
be sub-divided into two or three more). There
are also six Horizons of Focus Purpose, Vision,
Goals, Areas of Focus, Projects and Actions the
latter including the major sub-sections of Actions,
Calendar, and Waiting-Fors. Additionally, there
are usually ten to twelve Areas of Focus for people
to maintain and monitor at certain standards to
maintain life and work.
So what? Knowing about this power of ten
may not transform your life, but it might provide
some useful validation of systems that work for
you, and why they work. If self-management were
self-evident, nothing would be required in terms
of designing formats to train our focus. Wed
just wander around and notice what we needed
to notice, without having to think how we were
doing that or whether there were any improvement
opportunities for our thinking. But theres
something about our great need for simplicity and
coherence that compels us to arrange the chaotic
complexity of our world into structure and form.
Some of them work better than others. I like to get
clues from noticing how we really do it, when no
one is watching

GTD Quarterly

Checklisting
With the hurricanes and 9/11 stuff still in
many of our short-term memories, I recommend
two things that you (and partner and family, if
appropriate) set up, to quiet your mind, if you
havent done them already: (1) an Emergency
Grab List, and (2) an Emergency Auto/Escape Kit.
The Grab List is a checklist of everything
that youd want to grab if you suddenly (I mean
suddenly) found out that you had to evacuate
wherever you are, and you might not be able to get
back to that location for some time (if ever). What
would you take? Whats most important?
You should sit down with your partner or
family or office group and brainstorm this list. I
guarantee youll come up with some things that
you wouldnt think of when the pressures on.
This is definitely one list thats too late to create
when and if you need it.
As with most things in my life, this list got
created for me based on some negative feedback.
One fall day in the late 1990s, Kathryn and I
watched as a wildfire raced over the dry coastal
mountain chaparral toward our home in southern
California. Sure enough, in a short while we heard
the police outside on our road, asking everyone to
evacuate.
At the time our total office (and all its records
and equipment) was also there, in the cottage
behind our house. We had about ten minutes to
pack the car and get out. What should we pack?
Ive been around several fires and floods in
California over the last couple of decades, and as
civilized as this environment may seem in normal
times, I know its possible that in short order you
can be cut off not only from your home, but from
food, water, electricity, gas, etc, for at least a few
hours if not a couple of days. There are a lot of
things that show up in that situation that you
wouldnt think of in any other time and place.

Again, let me remind you: it could happen

to you, and when you least expect it. Make sure
you think it through, ahead of time. What if some
natural (or man-made) disaster struck, where
you are, with virtually no warning? What would
have the most importance or value to you, to do
something about? Are you prepared?
There are factors that come into play that may
not be so obvious

[ ]
How much room do you have in your
vehicle(s)?
How much cash might you need, if you
couldnt get to an ATM any time soon?
How much non-grid power do you need,
for how long?
How much gas would you need in your
vehicles, to navigate the unknown logistics
required?
Whats impossible to replace, if it got
destroyed?
Who might need to know your situation, and
how would you communicate with them?

Of course theres a strange phenomenon in the

physics of the universe which I call the voodoo
of preventive maintenance once you make the
checklist for this kind of circumstance, youll likely
never need it.
So, this is one list you should absolutely
makenow!
There are numerous disaster readiness kits
referenced on the Web, such as http://www.ready.
gov/america/index.html for Homeland Security
basics.
I could pass on several of these checklists, but
Im not going to. You should create your own. If
you buy into someone elses idea of what you need
to be concerned about, in an emergency,
(continued on next page)

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Checklisting (continued)

-water
-food
-first aid
-clothing, for all weather variables
-bedding and shelter
-tools and supplies, (especially for communications,
food preparation, sanitation)

-important documents
-irreplaceable items (artwork, antiques, journals, etc.)
-prescription drugs
-cash on hand
-access to fuel

Thank you to the David Allen team. I recently

became the victim of identity theft, but the
structures and organizational principles and
firewalls I have in place will pull me through
this trial. God bless. BH, Superior, CO, USA

This reinforces one

of the core principles of
productivity when you
most need the results of
having it all together is
when you dont have
the time to get it
all together.

youre likely to dismiss it as something relatively

unimportant, and nothing youll actually refer to
and use, in the real event. You need to make a real
list, in real time, about real things you care about.
It could be a great exercise to do with your
family or partner. Brainstorm it together. Really
put yourself in the worst-case situation what
would you not have access to that you now take for
granted? What would you want to have extras of,
for yourself or others, in case the situation extended
longer than you might expect?

As life would have it, after writing the above

article, we were recently visited again by a similar
wildfire threat in Ojai. I was still traveling back
east, and Kathryn was at home. My emergency
grab checklist came in very handy for us via a
phone call to quickly update with a few things
that werent on it, and lay out plans for a quick
evacuation if required. And my preventive
maintenance voodoo seemed to still have its mojo
wonderfully the winds shifted in our favor and we
were out of danger. But, it was really great to have
that list already prepared!
In a similar vein, we received a lovely thank-you
card from someone recently:

What firewalls checklists, backups, reference
materials, etc. do you still need to put in place?
If youre like me, there are niggly little places
inside of your subliminal spaces that you wont
know are creating pressure, until you handle what
makes that niggling go away.

GTD Quarterly

ROI for a paper based filing system that works

Jane von Bergen (who recently interviewed me for a
NY Times piece) was quoted in The Week as saying
Every lost piece of paper costs a business $120
The article continues: That might seem
exaggerated, until you consider how much time
you waste looking for misplaced documents. Experts estimate these hunts gobble up to 30 percent
of employees time, costing a company with 100
employees $1.5 million a year.
So, when people begin to implement a GTDfriendly, simple, elegant general-reference paper
filing system, and they feel like their life has been
transformed (many actually use that word!) the
response may not be so strange after all. I think if
I were the owner of a 100-person company and I
found an extra 1.5 mil, Id feel like something
transformational had happened too!

Every lost piece of paper costs a business $120

)


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Writing your own testimonials

There have been some significant times in my
life and work when I was really in the dark about
how to proceed with some writing or workshop
design project the inspiration quotient was in the
pits, my muse on extended leave somewhere. One
of the best techniques Ive found to use in those
situations was writing third-party testimonials to
the end result.
This seminar was brilliant! Totally perfect for
my situation. Helped me XYZ more than I could
have imagined. Etc.
Both books that Ive published were started
that way. Almost the first things I wrote were the
reviews and endorsements that would represent
wild success. I also made up who wrote them.
Did they turn out exactly that way? Well, certainly
not word for word; and the people who wrote them
werent the people I had made up in the beginning. But the essence of them was very close, and
the authors were of a similar caliber to the ones
that I had pretended.
That kind of make-believe can be extremely useful. Its gotten me over some major humps in my
writing and thinking.
But a caution here: by affirming those kinds of
standards, it raised my internal bar about the quality of the output significantly, which caused me
to take a good bit longer to finish Getting Things
Done. At one point I trashed a years worth of
work by dumping the whole first draft and starting
over. It simply wouldnt have gotten those reviews.

Your imagination is
lifes preview of coming
attractions. Albert Einstein

GTD Quarterly

One GTD List thats already working for most everybody

If you ever feel like you need to defend the
reason for having all the GTD lists of all your next
actions, ask whoever is skeptical if they are sitting
around trying to remember what appointments
they have on their calendar for next week. Theyre
probably not biting their nails about where they
need to be next Thursday at 4pm theyre probably not even thinking about it. Why? Because
they have their appointments tracked in a system
they trust a calendar they trust theyll review at
the appropriate time and place.
So, why not have the same lack of distraction
about all the things that you need to be reminded
of?
A calendar is nothing more than a list of
next actions in the context of sequence in time
something to look at when time is of concern.
My Calls list is the same thing a list of next
actions that can be done from any phone, to be
reviewed when I have time and a phone. In the

same way Im not distracted by trying to remember

and remind myself about who to call its in a
trusted system. The problem with most peoples
system is that the calendar is the only list they
trust, and more than 95% of what they really need
to keep track of is not a set of appointments but all
the things to be done around them.
So, now that you have the secret, esoteric knowledge of GTD lists (Wow the benefits of being in
the Exalted Order of Connect!), youll probably
never need to defend them.

Apropos of nothing special

-In a Microsoft-conducted survey of 38,000 people, the average e-mail volume of
workers per day was 50.
-A Wall Street Journal article last year reported the growing number of senior
professionals who are outfitting their second (vacation) homes with fully-equipped high
tech offices. Upside was the increase in executive productivity. Downside was lack of
connectivity in far-away places, overwhelmed staff on the receiving end of increased
executive productivity, and angry spouses.
-Average computer use can contain more than three million mouse-clicks a year, with
the cursor traveling more than a hundred miles. (Source: www.quillmouse.com)

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The case for a soft focus and serendipity

A senior executive at Fidelity sent me the following delightful little story he had heard, because it
reminded him of things GTD. [Apologies for lack
of attribution to whomever the source of the story
might be.]
A young man goes to a famous guru and says,
I am seeking enlightenment. If I work with you,
how long will it take me? The guru sizes him up
and says, Ten years.
The young man protests, Thats too long! What
if I totally dedicated myself - slept only 3 hours a
night; gave up my profession; didnt have a social
life and spent all my time striving to reach
enlightenment? The guru says, Well in that case
it will take you twenty years.
The young man looks puzzled. Why? The
guru says, With your eyes so firmly fixed on the
goal you have no eyes left to see how to get there.
The executive wrote, This reminded me of you
for some reason because in those moments that
Im truly empty and have it all out of my head
(not that often but sometimes), I find myself much
more open to new opportunities and insights from
which breakthroughs sometimes come. Otherwise
those opportunities can pass you by without you
even noticing. Indeed.
It seems that many of the interesting, creative,
and constructive things that Ive realized and experienced in my life have happened sort of sideways.
I wasnt exactly looking for it, at least consciously
in the moment, but it slipped in and took me by
surprise. I might have missed them were I too
focused on where I thought I wanted to go.
As the little story above suggests, strict adherence to goals and outcomes can in some cases be
a distraction and even an avoidance of what really
might be most meaningful to us. Ive suggested
for years, relative to goal-setting, that (1) we
should be very aware of how powerful images like
goals can be, and (2) we need to lighten up about

them. I have noticed a lurking seriousness about

the whole goal-setting process, perhaps fueled by
the self-help culture that has made setting clear
goals such a cornerstone of all the various success formulae.
Because theres such a premium placed on this
kind of rigorous inventing of your desired future,
people tend to resist the whole endeavor, because,
well, what if the goal I pick is not the right one?
So they either dont set any at all or get so invested
in the one they do pick that they get myopic and
inflexible.
I say, set fifty goals and see which ones stick
around for you. Then pick the best one you can,
viewed from where you sit, and then be totally
open to changing your mind and your focus when
you get better information.
Its true that if you dont know where youre
going, any road will do. Its also true that if you
look too hard at where youre going, you might
miss a fabulously positive surprise.

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GTD Quarterly

Just a secondis that another Blog?

According to Technorati, nowadays theres a new
blog every second. Every second? What does this
mean? I suppose its a version of the continuing
need for human beings to express and connect.
(If a blog exists in the desert and theres nobody
around to read it, is it really a blog?!)
Its the bathroom graffiti, the gossip column, the
corkboard on the wall at the local Laundromat,
the cocktail party conversation, the front porch.
Its notes passed back and forth in the boring class,
posters created in high school to get elected to the
Student Council. Its the locals kibitzing on the
benches of the global village green. Technology
has made it possible for so many people to be connected now more by context than by country. So I
suppose blogging will become as ubiquitous as any
of those other interactive, doesnt-have-to-be-goodto-get-said-and-read forums. Can fourteen million
people be wrong? (Dont answer that.)
Several recent articles have commented about
the possibility that blogging has reached its peak.
I mean, how long can you continue to carry on a
similarly framed conversation at the same level?
(Dont answer that, either.) I heard someone say,
with cool and fashionable disdain, Blogging is so
2005.
My bet is that blogging will continue for some
people in some circumstances as a great medium
for their message. And even for those who step
into it and for whatever reason decide to stop (as
I have), there will likely be some great things to
learn from the experience, as there were for me.
But I realized, too, that if what blogging means
is using the web to periodically post personal
thinking and useful information around a topic,
Ive been blogging since I created my website in
1997, and Ill probably continue to do that in some
form for the foreseeable future. It just may not be
in the running diary format that created the name.

But the shake-out of wholl stick around with

this phenomenon and who wont, in the longer
view, is simply a reflection of any new medium that
emerges which is relatively easy to engage with. It
will always be the best way for some things to be
expressed, for connection and communication, to
and from some people.
Think: postcards.

In the right key one can say

anything. In the wrong key,
nothing: the only delicate
part is the establishment of
the key. George Bernard Shaw

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The Budding Gourmet

A great list passed on to us of those things that
wed like to pretend we know what they really are,
but when pressed, we may not(thanks to
Connect member Lori Andersen!).
Beurre blanc - A basic French sauce made from
white wine, vinegar, shallots and butter.
Carmelized - Cooked over moderate heat until the
natural sugars break down.
Carpaccio - Thinly sliced raw beef, often drizzled
with olive oil and lemon juice. Term is occasionally
used to describe thinly sliced raw vegetables, such
as fennel carpaccio.
Coulis - A thick sauce often made from pureed
fruit.
Creme anglaise- A custard sauce that can be
served hot or cold.
Emulsion - The result of slowly mixing two liquids
that dont easily combine.
Essence - A distillate or extract.
Ganache - An icing made from chocolate and
heavy cream.
Granita - Frozen liquid and sugar that is stirred
frequently during freezing to create a granular
consistency.
Gratinee - Sprinkled with bread crumbs or cheese
and heated until golden.
Julienne- Anything cut into thin, matchstick-size
strips.
Napoleon - Layers of puff pastry and cream

filling, but the term can also refer to anything that

comes stacked.
Panna Cotta An eggless custard served chilled
Pico de Gallo - A combination of finely diced
fresh ingredients - typically tomatoes, onions,
chillies, and cilantro.
Poached - Cooked while submerged in barely
simmering liquid. A delicate flavor results
Reduction - The result of rapidly boiling a liquid
until it becomes a thick, intensely flavored sauce
or syrup.
Seared - Quickly browned over high heat,
typically in a skillet, and often with butter. This
seals in juices and flavor and results in a crisp,
browned crust.
Seviche - Raw fish or seafood marinated in citrus
juice. The acid cooks the fish.
Succotash - A dish of cooked corn, lima beans
and butter.
Wilted - Gently sauteed until the leaves soften.

Woody Allen said that 90% of success is just

showing up. I think the other 10% might be having the vocabulary!

Life is too short to stuff a mushroom

Storm Jameson

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GTD Quarterly

List Talk
Probably the most universal how-to question for
GTD neophytes is this: How do I keep track of all
the things that youre recommending I keep out of
my head? Whats the best tool?
The answer is pretty simple: however you most
effectively can create and review lists.
You will need a good filing system, an in-basket
and a ubiquitous capture tool, a box for stuff to
read, and maybe a tickler file; but for the most
part, all you need are lists. But youll need several.
And they need to be complete. And youll need a
place to keep them.
For many newbies, the multiple lists they may
get a chance to see in any of our systems tend to
overwhelm them, at first glance. The various classifications we recommend as best practices present
a significant increase in complexity over what
most pre-GTDers are working with: a calendar and
some amorphous kind of to-do list, at best. Their
responses to our typical sets of lists (calls, office,
errands, agendas for boss, agenda for staff meeting,
projects, someday/maybes, etc.) are Thats so
much work [to set up and maintain]! and/or
Thats so confusing!
The cause of their push-back is twofold. First,
few people on the planet, prior to GTD, have had
any commitment at all to capturing and objectifying everything theyre committed to. So, indeed,
if all you wanted to keep track of is what they are
currently keeping track of (outside their head), you
probably wouldnt need more than the one to-do
list they have. And secondly, because of the incredible amount of input, distraction, rapid change,
and consequent over-commitment gnawing at
everyones gut, there is a huge desire for simplification to relieve the pressure. People often come to
GTD for that relief and are negatively surprised to
see what looks to them like additional work and
complication. My God look at all those lists!
As someone gets just a little further into the

game, however, and is willing to try out some

version of our recommended set of lists, they begin
to experience the clarity and focus thats been unavailable using his/her previous system. Heres why:
Theres an interesting phenomenon which was
explained to me once as a key cybernetic principle:
in order to create simplicity amidst complexity, your system must be equally complex. The
corollary to that would be that if youre trying to
manage something very complex with too simple
a system, it will over-complexify it! And thats just
what Ive seen over these many years as a coach
and educator. Peoples lives are way more sophisticated, intricate, and multifaceted than the systems
they are using to manage them. A calendar and todo list pale as puny weapons against that kind of
universe. In some ways their incompleteness and
insufficiency just make the situation worse.
On the other hand, the system (and lists
therein) cant got too complicated. For many who
step into GTD and taste the transformative power
of its BFOs (Blinding Flashes of the Obvious), they
swing on the pendulum too far in the other direction. They over-classify. This seems particularly to
afflict the technophiles, who often try to create too
many lists with too many subsets and connectors
and relationships. They find themselves getting
hung up with only a partial implementation of the
method and rationalizing that they found a way
that works better for them. Though that in itself,
if true, would actually still be GTD (as GTD is an
approach, not really a system), the reality is, from
our experience in working with many of these folks
after the fact, they just get themselves detoured
because of the burden of their complexities.
GTD requires some important thinking on
the front end (meaning, outcome and action
determinations especially). But if you have to
think too much before you can put something on
a list (will this task require a 3 or 6 level of
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14

capture clarify complete win

>

List Talk (continued)

energy on a scale of 10 to accomplish it?) youre
likely to run into quicksand in trying to work it.
Your system has to be easy enough (and complete
enough) that you will be motivated to work it even
when you have the flu. The system is only as good
as what youre willing to maintain when you dont
feel like it. Its fine to let your inner geek create a
system for yourself on a rainy Saturday, but it had
better be tested and continue to work amidst the
firehose-gushing realities of Monday mid-mornings as well.
So theres a sensitive center point to find and
maintain in terms of how to keep track of your
multiple commitments and information not too
simple, not too complicated. You gotta get your
porridge just right.
In our experience the standard GTD classifications for lists come close for most people next
actions by context, projects, somedays, agendas by
person and meeting, etc. Simple, flat lists without
a whole lot of structured trappings that may get in
the way, once theyre in these discrete buckets.
Consequently, the best personal management
tools will be whatever manages those kinds of
lists most easily for someone. My educated guess
is that, for senior professionals, about a third are
most comfortable with simple pieces of paper or
documents inside folders (e.g. a file called Calls
with post-its, call-back slips, or just papers torn off
pads for their at-phone reminders).

A third probably prefer some form of loose-leaf

planner or notebook, with their lists on separate
single pieces of paper within tabbed sections.
And at least a third like some digital form of list
management usually the tasks within a desktop
or PDA application sorted by a category as the list
title.
The good news is that once you really get comfortable with what kind of lists you can maintain
the easiest and which support the most elegant
simplicity for your focus, you could use any of
these tools with equal ease. Thats why, as weve
noticed with many GTDers who have been in this
game long enough, they sometimes find themselves shifting comfortably from one to the other,
as how they spend their time changes with shifts
in life- and work styles. Ive met several hi-techoriented people whove gone retro and taken up
a new version of a paper planner again.
So, if you have any level of angst about what
list-organizing tool is best for you relax. Find
a happy medium between what tool is already
comfortable for you and what tool is attracting
you, and get going. You really wont know whats
going to work best until you engage with the GTD
model for a few weeks. The important thing is to
train yourself to collect and process your stuff in
the most efficient and effective way, and organize
the results of that in some way.
Let the lists fall where they may.

Peoples lives are way more sophisticated,

intricate, and multifaceted than the systems they
are using to manage them.

page 15

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GTD Quarterly

DavidAllen
A smarter way to work and live

www.gtdconnect.com