posted at 13:48:51
By Flipping Heck!

Posted In
Blogging

David Allen has just announced the launch of the David Allen Collection, a range of "Beautiful Leather Desk Accessories Designed by David Allen and manufactured by Fedon of Italy!". Sounds too good to be true right? Well, you know what they say "If it sounds to good to be true...."

I had a quick look at the store and the prices are astronomical; $85 (approx £44) for a leather bound folio and a couple of graph paper pads (which you could pick up for about £15 at Staples); $99 - Yes! $99 for a desk tray. A desk Tray!

David Allen Vision Collection

David Allen Collection "Vision" Set - A bargain at only $835

Talk about cashing in on a name.

Do people seriously think that these items will be any better than those bought from Office Depot or Wal*Mart? Do they they that they'll be able to get more done?

Remember:

It's not the tool you use, it's the way that you use it

Sure, a £45 document wallet may look a heck of a lot flashier than the one from Tescos, but a PDA looks flashier than a Moleskine. What does it matter if it sits unused in a draw (which reminds me, I really need to get my PDA out of the draw!)?

I apologose somewhat for the rant-i....

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Jan

19th
2006

GTD In American Way

posted at 12:59:50
By Flipping Heck!

Posted In
GTD/Productivity

There's a really good article in "American Way" about "Getting Things Done". Here's a little taster:

"It's as powerful a tool as any I've ever seen," says Andrew Hoxsey, owner and operator of the Napa Wine Company in Oakville, California. "I have done things I just couldn't have done without the methodology." Kim Hagerty, chairman of Michigan-based Hagerty Insurance and CEO of the Hagerty Group, its management group, calls GTD "an amazing system, and not just an organizational system. It's a lifestyle change as much as anything else."

Followers of Allen, who speak a language of RAM Dumps, Next Actions, Weekly Reviews, 43 Folders, 10,000-Foot Views, and Open Loops, say the GTD effect isn't limited to individuals; numerous small and large companies have also been transformed by Allen's teachings....

The full article "Time Bandits" By Chris Tucker can be found here.

Jan

16th
2006

David Allen PodCast

posted at 16:28:57
By Flipping Heck!

Posted In
GTD/Productivity

Over at the Podcast Network, the Cranky Middle Manager Show has run a good interview with David Allen on various aspects of GTD. It's well worth a listen and certainly cleared up a couple of queries I had about projects.

I know I'm technically not a middle manager and don't really have any aspirations to be but the Cranky Middle Manager Show is a good listen and a Podcast that I'd heartily recommend.

Jan

12th
2006

David Allen on GTD

posted at 10:58:38
By Flipping Heck!

Posted In
GTD/Productivity

There's an interesting article featuring David Allen and his "Getting Thing Done" methodology over at IEEE Spectrum Online.

"It's been fascinating to see the rise of my star in the geek world. One of the reasons geeks love GTD is because it's a closed system. It tells you what to do with everything: it's really a knowledge management model. And geeks are lazy, just like me, so they're into how automated they can make the system. And geeks are early adopters. They're willing to give up whatever they're doing to find a better thing to do."
David Allen

Enjoy!

Sep

8th
2005

What is GTD?

posted at 10:33:23
By Flipping Heck!

Posted In
GTD/Productivity

Getting Things Done has been developed by David Allen (http://www.davidco.com/) as "A Work-Life Management System... that transforms personal overwhelm and overload into an integrated system of stress-free productivity".

Sounds a bit pompous doesn't it? Put in my terms basically what it does is it allows me to organise and process projects/tasks in a set manner, it's helped me to remember to do things, reply to emails/letters a lot faster than normal and remember where I've put things.

The GTD process is split into three basic categories; capture, define and organise. When you first start off using the GTD method you have to go through everything (and I mean everything) and place it in your "Inbox", from there you sort through it one item at a time and decide on the "next action".

Capture

To capture the information you literally bung it all in an in-tray or big box, this will then be the future repository for all further captured items.

Define

Once an Item has been captured you need to define what it is and what you're going to do with it, this is the "next action".

The next action will depend on the item and whether you need to use it or not.
The next action could be: