020. David Allen: On Productivity and Spontaneity

TODAY'S GUEST David Allen is one of the world's most influential thinkers on productivity. His 35 years experience as a management consultant and executive coach have earned him worldwide recognition. His bestselling book, the groundbreaking "Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity", has sold millions and been published in thirty languages; and the "GTD" methodology it describes has become a global phenomenon, being taught by training companies in more than ninety countries. David, his company, and his partners are dedicated to teaching people how to stay relaxed and productive in our fast paced world.

EPISODE SUMMARY

In this conversation we discuss:

[2:58] Life during the COVID pandemic, living in the Netherlands

[6:23] Effects of COVID on GTD implementation

[9:13] Loving Magic, Models and Systems

[11:30] Crucial Design Innovations in Tech

[14:43] Early Attempts at GTD Software

[16:14] Being an Exchange Student in Zurich in high school

[18:53] Choosing an experimental Liberal Arts college

[23:19] Becoming a spiritual seeker in the 60s and 70s

[27:01] Helping businesses improve their process

[28:40] Searching for models

[30:28] The roots of GTD

[31:48] First big corporate break

[34:26] The Getting Things Done book

[35:44] What is GTD?

[37:57] Is GTD the Natural way of planning?

[41:49] The Design of GTD

[45:47] Iterative Development

[47:39] To GTD or Not to GTD?

[49:08] Geeking out over the reMarkable Tablet

[53:55] The spiritual aspects of GTD

[1:00:32] GTD and spontaneity

[1:05:02] The Dao of small things

[1:07:06] Does David Allen have unproductive days?

[1:09:18] GTD and Pipelines

[1:13:31] A short sermon from David Allen

EPISODE LINKS

• David's Links
  • 🌍 GettingThingsDone.com
  • 🌍 GTDConnect.com
  • 📘 Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity
  • 📕 Ready for Anything: 52 Productivity Principles for Getting Things Done
  • 📔 Making It All Work: Winning at the Game of Work and the Business of Life
  • 📣 Twitter: @gtdguy
  • 📺 David Allen's TEDx Talk
• Other Things Discussed
  • 🌎 John-Roger.org
  • 🌎 Charles Simonyi, Software Engineer
  • 🌎 I Ching
  • 📔 Daodejing
  • 🌎 Rumi, the Sufi poet
  • 📝 reMarkable Tablet

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