While some know of David Allen by his book or seminars, I've had the good fortune to get to know David personally and be coached by him. I worked for David for many years and in that time, he has become a friend, mentor and colleague. I know his approach to personal productivity works and I can testify that he practices what he preaches about productivity.
At its core, his message is not a difficult one. It goes like this: 1) Get things off your mind, 2) Make a list of your outcomes and actions, 3) Organize these appropriately, 4) Review your lists, and 5) Make informed choices about what to do (or not do). Putting these things into practice and making them a habit takes some effort. (David and I even collaborated on cool software that makes this easy for users of IBM collaboration solutions.)
Like an iceberg, there's more below the surface and there's a lot of deep thinking that has gone into how to communicate the power that comes from these principles. Long before this approach became known around the world as his "Getting Things Done" (GTD) methodology David was teaching and refining the same model with clients. I've been listening to David's presentations on productivity and getting things done for 20 years (I even coproduced his first GTD cassette album which tells you how long ago that was). Yet, I never tire of hearing David speak. In fact, each time I listen I pick up something new that I can apply in my own life.
While the essence of GTD hasn't changed substantially, David's presentation continues to be refined with an emphasis on clarity, application and motivation. I'm continually amazed at the clarity that David brings to his message of what it takes to get things done and this TEDx presentation is no exception. Even if you are familiar with or practice the GTD approach, you'll be inspired by David's recent presentation at Claremont College.
