I was fortunate enough this past Friday to participate in the Making It All Work seminar instructed by Mr. GTD himself, David Allen. As many of you who read this blog know, GTD (Getting Things Done) is a productivity philosophy first explained in David Allen’s book Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress Free Productivity. The main goal of the process is to get ideas out of your head so that there’s room to think of more creative ideas and to live in the very zen-like state of “mind like water”.
I’ve been studying GTD for about two years and seeing how I can integrate it into my life. While I’ve read books, participated in online forums and study groups, this seminar was great in filling in the gaps and bringing things together for me.
Here are some of the tidbits that I picked up in this session, and I can say that they are applicable to just about every area of one’s life:
- The optimal state is being in control, relaxed, and focused.
- Concentration minus distractions = Power
- Getting something off your mind frees up a lot of energy, so figure out where to put ideas so that you’ll find them again. That’s why we put the trash next to the door so we’ll remember to take it out in the morning.
- What frazzled us most is when we don’t know what to do with something, put it down, and pick it up again not knowing what to do with it.
- People blow fuses because they don’t know where to start.
- “Trust in Allah but tie up your camel.”
- Fear = Fantasized Experience Appearing Real
- We have a stasis with what we are comfortable. The only way to change is to make ourselves uncomfortable where we are. Until then, we won’t move.
While there were lots of other things I got out of the seminar, that’s all I can process now. If you’re interested in learning more about freeing up your mind, here are some resources I’ve found helpful.
- David Allen Company
- GTD Starter Kit
- GTD Virtual Study Group (A great podcast founded by Tara Rodden Robinson. You can also here the episode where I was a guest speaker talking about using GTD in your Career Development.)
- 45 minute presentation by David Allen on GTD at Google
So, what are you doing to stop the voices in your head?