GTD for CIOs

[mkeithley]

Don’t make New Year’s Resolutions – Do a Year-End Review instead

Don’t make New Year’s Resolutions – Do a Year-End Review instead

Now that 2019 is upon us, it’s time to decide what we want to change about ourselves in the new year.  It’s only natural to think in terms of fresh starts and new opportunities when the calendar changes, but resolving to change is one thing and making those changes stick is another.

This is the time of year we all do self-reflection and resolve to improve ourselves in the new year.  As most…

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[mkeithley]

How to Make Doing a Weekly Review a Habit

How to Make Doing a Weekly Review a Habit

At this time of the year many people want to get back on the GTD bandwagon because they are in a reflective mode of self improvement. If you read my last post Don’t make New Year’s Resolutions (do a Year-End Review instead) then you are in a great place to start 2016. Now, all you need to do is figure out how you are going to do your weekly reviews consistently on an ongoing basis. Inherently,…

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[mkeithley]

Don't make New Year's Resolutions!

Don’t make New Year’s Resolutions!

A new year is upon us, which means it’s time to break out the champagne and decide what we want to change about ourselves in the new year. It’s only natural to think in terms of fresh starts and new opportunities when the calendar changes, but as many of us know, resolving to change is one thing. Making those changes stick is another. Don’t make New Year’s Resolutions. Do a Year-End Review…

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[mkeithley]

The 5 phases of GTD – Phase 1 “Capture”

The 5 phases of GTD – Phase 1 “Capture”

The capture phase is fairly self explanatory. Whenever you have a thought or action comes to mind that you need or want to do something with (David Allen calls it “stuff) then you need to capture it in a place that your mind will trust that it won’t get lost. This place is called your “trusted system” and it is the key building block of the GTD system. If your stuff is not being directly managed…

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[mkeithley]

Use GTD to facilitate Work-Life Integration

Use GTD to facilitate Work-Life Integration

Most people today have so many demands on their time that there is literally not enough time in a day to get it all done. We all strive for some kind of work-life balance but the reality of todays always-on world is there is no true separation between work and the rest of your life. Everything is integrated together such that what we really strive for is successful work-life integration. I have…

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[mkeithley]

Leverage digital tools to become a digital leader

Leverage digital tools to become a digital leader

As a CIO in today’s fast-paced world it has become increasingly difficult to stay on top of all the relevant information, knowledge and ideas that I need to provide the level of digital leadership I aspire to. And, because there are only 24 hours in a day, I need to become more efficient in consuming information. Digital tools can make learning more efficient. Digital leaders are life-long…

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[mkeithley]

A guaranteed way to leave work and feel a sense of accomplishment every day

Using a 10-minute Daily Review is a sure-fire way to leave work every day and feel a sense of accomplishment. Additionally, you will enjoy the corresponding decrease in stress that comes with knowing you completed everything you wanted to get done for the day. If you follow GTD and keep your trusted system up to date with specific Next Actions for your Projects, then it is easy to do this by…

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[mkeithley]

Taming email communications - part 3

A few years ago, Merlin Mann conceived the notion of Inbox Zero. In a speech at Google he eloquently described what it is we all want: to finally gain control of our overflowing inboxes, and ultimately, our lives. The concept was simple; we need to aim for zero mail in our inbox. Easier said than done, right? How many people’s email inboxes are really empty at anytime during the day? Not many.…

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[mkeithley]

Taming email communications - part 2

In my last post I described the three challenges that email presents in today’s modern life. Now, I want to tell you about what is driving the desire to “kill email” and what some companies are doing about it. The desire to “kill email” More and more we hear of people declaring “email bankruptcy” by marking them all as read, and starting from scratch. Clearly there is a growing frustration with…

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[mkeithley]

Taming email communications - part 1

Taming email communications – part 1

For years, email has been scourge of business communications and many of us blame email for our woes. We love blaming “technology” because but it’s harder for us to look in the mirror and be honest with ourselves. If we do, then we’ll realize that the problem isn’t email; it’s how we use it. The days of blaming email are over. To say that you are buried in email is really saying that you are…

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[mkeithley]

Why GTD is so important to successful Work-Life integration

Why GTD is so important to successful Work-Life integration

In today’s world “Work-Life Balance” is an impossible fairy tale. If we are honest with ourselves, all we can strive for is successful “Work-Life Integration.” I say this because work-life balance implies that what you do professionally and what you do personally are somehow at odds – a zero-sum game that requires us to strike a 50-50 balance.

Work-life integration, by contrast, suggests that at…

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[mkeithley]

Why I use Evernote for my Trusted System

Many people (either consciously or unconsciously) try to keep track of everything they need to do in their mind, which is a big mistake. Our brains are optimized for fast decision-making, not storage.  Trying to juggle too many things in your head at the same time is a major reason we get stressed out when there’s a lot of stuff going on.

The best way to stop mentally stressing and start being…

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[mkeithley]

Start 2015 off with a Yearly Review

Start 2015 off with a Yearly Review

This is the time of year we all do self-reflection and resolve to improve ourselves in the new year.  As most everyone knows making resolutions like “I’m going to lose weight” rarely are successful.  The main reason for this is these goals are not put in a context that will allow for long-term success.  Once the initial “eat better and get to the gym” wears off and we are stuck in the daily grind…

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[mkeithley]

Additional tools to keep up with information overload

In my last post, I discussed that as a CIO in today’s fast-paced world it has become increasingly difficult to stay on top of all the relevant news and information I need to be successful in my job. I explained how I use Feedly to process hundreds to headlines per day with ease.

Unfortunately, not all content I need to stay on top of my game comes as a RSS feed or the sources do come as RSS feeds…

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[mkeithley]

Use Feedly to keep up with information overload

Use Feedly to keep up with information overload

As a CIO in today’s fast-paced world it has become increasingly difficult to stay on top of all the relevant news and information I need to be successful in my job.

The days of reading a local newspaper, subscribing to a few trade journals, magazines  and watching the news to keep up are long gone. Similarly, surfing the web to try to keep up with everything is not a viable option as it just…

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[mkeithley]

How to decrease the stress in your life

How to decrease the stress in your life

There is a reason David Allen’s first book is called “Getting Things Done – The Art of Stress Free Productivity.” The reason is because practicing GTD provides the most systematic and effective way to manage all the commitments you have to yourself and others. GTD’s key benefit is freedom – freedom from the sources of distraction and stress in your life.

Not sure you believe me? Well there is…

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[mkeithley]

Fall off the GTD Bandwagon? Here's how to get back on!

Fall off the GTD Bandwagon? Here’s how to get back on!

Everyone who tries to practice GTD at one time or another “falls off the bandwagon” and this is usually do to not doing a Weekly Review for a few weeks in a row. Subconsciously, your brain knows you do not have a complete list of your commitments in your trusted system so it not longer trusts your system. So, your brain starts trying to remember your commitments and as a result, it all comes off…

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