Making It All Work

Many of you, my faithful readers, know I am a huge fan of David Allen, productivity guru and author of the world's best productivity book, "Getting Things Done." His most recent book, called "Making It All Work," was recently released in paperback, and I'm about 30 pages into it.

The promise of this latest book is to guide wayward believers like me toward being able to use the "GTD" system more consistently and more completely. To that end, I've also obtained and started using a computer application called OmniFocus. Optimized for those of us who use Macs, and sporting a matching iPhone app, this program is designed around the GTD principles and intended to support the process of capturing and processing "stuff" to improve productivity.

I'm quite happy so far with how it's all coming together, although I've only been at it for a couple of days. If I don't provide regular reports of how it's working, as well as suggestions as to how it may apply usefully to your life, poke me and ask lots of questions!

Meanwhile, if you are like most of us, overwhelmed with incoming data and struggling to extract meaning from it so you can respond appropriately, you owe it to yourself to read David Allen's books. Very few books about "time management" have spawned a multinational movement, and his have done exactly that. Products, services, Internet communities, and every imaginable tool, toy and accessory have evolved in the wake of GTD. Much of what I recommend and coach with my clients is GTD-derived, and I use the book in my 8-week Strategic Action Mastery development course.

If managing your energy and priorities more effectively is on your list of goals for 2010, drop me a line. I can help.