What Mindfulness and Daydreaming Have to Do With Getting Things Done A podcast interview with David Allen, who developed one of the most popular and successful productivity methods out there.
By Lewis Howes Edited by Dan Bova
This story originally appeared on Lewis Howes
Not many of us can say we were using email back in 1983.
That's the year I was born, so I definitely wasn't.
But can you imagine seeing the evolution of email, the internet, smart phones, etc. if you'd been a part of it from the beginning?
Today's guest on The School of Greatness has done just that.
David Allen is a master (I call him Mr. Miyagi) of productivity, and not just because he's been using email for that long.
In fact, David admits that he is lazy and as easily distracted as the rest of us.
But he hasn't let that stop him from developing one of the most popular and successful productivity methods out there: Getting Things Done.
He wrote his landmark book on the topic 15 years ago, but he is re-releasing an updated edition this year to include everything he has learned since.
I got to interview him about several topics, but I was especially interested in what he said about the importance of letting yourself daydream in between focused periods of work. Which is something I already do.
David opens up the vault of his mind in this episode and shares some powerful strategies and ideas about how to manage your email effectively, how to consciously handle unplanned urgent tasks, and how to apply order to chaos.
I am very confident you will love Episode 145 as much as I did as David Allen teaches us how to get things done.
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In This Episode, You Will Learn:
- Why it's increasingly important to find ways to keep your head clear and stay productive
- The addictions that constant updates via smartphones are causing
- The myth of multi-tasking (it doesn't work when trying to be productive)
- The 2 Minute Rule – any email you can answer in 2 minutes or less, you should reply to right away
- How to focus on only what you are doing instead of being distracted by all your other to-dos
- The importance of day dreaming after doing something productive
- Why you need to have a standing catch-up date with all your projects once per week
- How to have a "mind like water" and how that helps you react properly to situations
- The difference between having direction and having discipline
- What job he learned the most from (managing a Texaco service station in LA in the 70s)
- The 5 Steps to Apply Order to Chaos
- His top productivity tips for entrepreneurs
- Plus much more…
