David Allen
David Allen
Notable for his self-help books Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity (2001) and Making It All Work: Winning at the Game of Work and Business of Life (2008), Allen formulated a method of time management called "Getting Things Done" and founded both Actioneer, Inc. and the David Allen Company.
ProfessionEntrepreneur
Date of Birth28 December 1945
moving people focus
Most people move actually into high performance in a crisis because that creates the kind of focus that creates high performance.
stuck getting-things-done lack-of-time
Things rarely get stuck because of lack of time. They get stuck because the doing of them has not been defined.
thinking people way
People allow themselves to get distracted; I think ultimately, probably the biggest thing that gets in the way of people doing what they ought to be doing at any point in time is distraction.
stress commitment people
Most of the stress people experience comes from inappropriately managed commitments they make or accept.
stress people creative
If we didn't have any stress, we'd never grow and you'd probably wouldn't test your mettle and you'd probably wouldn't come up with a lot of creative stuff that people come up with by being somewhat on the edge.
taken done outcomes
You don't actually do a project; you can only do action steps related to it. When enough of the right action steps have been taken, some situation will have been created that matches your initial picture of the outcome closely enough that you can call it "done.
inspirational wisdom powerful
You can do anything, but not everything.
successful people important
What you'll tend to avoid doing is probably the most important thing you need to do because it'll probably be the most daunting and the most potentially successful thing you could be doing and that's usually out of people's comfort zone.
inspirational encouraging encouragement
If you don't pay appropriate attention to what has your attention, it will take more of your attention than it deserves.
positive choices focus
A vision of a desired future allows you to engage and identify immediately in your focus with an improved condition. It changes what you perceive and how you perform NOW. It's not about achieving something in time. It's rather about the quality of choices you are making in this moment - what you choose to perceive, feel, and do. It's about getting the most out of your experience.
causes doe getting-things-done
Anything that causes you to overreact or underreact can control you, and often does.
brain outcomes steps
Decide the outcome and the action step, put reminders of those somewhere your brain trusts youll see them at the right time, and listen to your brain breathe easier.
steps action projects
You don't actually do a project; you can only do action steps related to it.
decision reason force
The reason that deadline actually can work very well for you is what it forces you to do is make decisions.