Thursday, November 15, 2012
David Allen on How to Fix Your Life
The Atlantic: As I mentioned earlier today, I've been writing about and learning from the productivity expert David Allen for nearly a decade. Eight years ago, I wrote a profile of him for the magazine. In our newest issue I have highlights from a conversation I had with him, about coping with the modern nightmare of email and all-hours connectedness. This is the kickoff to a monthly series in which Alexis Madrigal and I will take turns interviewing interesting and influential figures in the tech world.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
4 comments:
This is ok at giving you one person’s way of working with all of the technology that is around us and how to make it more manageable for everyone. But this type of organization takes a lot of trial and error before you get it right and have a system that works for that person. Also these systems are always changing because of technology and different work environments. I know for me notes on my computer work well and I am constantly changing the way I do it because I am not absolutely happy with it yet. Also this article has a point that email should not consume you along with text messaging.
Really you just have to find what works for you. You could find a million different people saying a million different things about what "fixed their life." This one just happens to be a journalist, so he wrote an article. I don't thinks that ability to communicate one's opinion to the masses makes it any more valid. Others just don't have the means. The way described in this article may just not work for some, and be great for others. The only true way to improve one's time management and organization is through experimentation. Find it, use it, own it. And share it, but don't promote it as the only way. And don't get ofended if it doesn't work for someone else.
I love David Allen's GTD and I tried restructuring my lists in order to become more productive. I use "Remember The Milk" but this article makes a great point about the dangers of using an online tool because it is way less "in-my-face" than, say, my agenda. Looking at the three programs he talks about using, it seems that only one of them is free. I don't know how I feel about paying for those sorts of applications but perhaps eventually it would be a good investment. The Brain is something particularly interesting and since it's a free download may be something I look into actually using, but since it is also online I am unsure that it will have any less of the problems that I run into with Remember The Milk.
Allen's points about email are, as always, enlightening. I never understood the reason for email being so addictive, but the random spurts of positive reinforcement makes a lot of sense. The GSA reminds me of Buddhist philosophy, which is to essentially exist wherever you are, and just as Allen talks about, this is increasingly hard for us. It is both detrimental to our productivity and happiness.
I think this is great place for people to start. It offers tips and solutions of how to go about managing your day, blocking time, etc. Also the author recommends Lotus Notes so its a great place to start with applications like that. I have found for me personally I am just as content with google's calendar system because it syncs with my contacts,calendar, etc. Like many have said it's a great starting point but it's all about personal preference.
Post a Comment