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Today’s post is from Mike St. Pierre of The Daily Saint.

What follows is very GTD.  Ok, so its sort of GTD but I think you’ll appreciate it nonetheless!

I first stumbled upon Dan Pink a summer ago at an educator’s conference in Louisville, KY.  His book, A Whole New Mind, was groundbreaking for me as it pointed to a new reality in the workplace.  His latest book, The Adventures of Johnny Bunko: The Last Career Guide You’ll Ever Need does not disappoint.

Bunko is described as “America’s first business book in the Japanese comic format known as manga – and the last career guide you’ll ever need.”  As my son is big into comic books these days, Bunko was right up my alley and proved a quick read.  It essentially follows a man who lives in cubicle nation and discovers six secrets to doing well at work and at life.

Aided by the sort-of-attractive Diana, who appears only when Johnny activates his magic chopsticks, Johnny goes from depressed to top dog in his workplace, The Boggs Corporation.  The story line is full of dips and turns and Johnny is joined by several pals along the way.  Think of it as a road trip via the office and its myriad deadlines.

So what are the six secrets that Diana reveals?

1. There is no plan.
2. Think strengths, not weaknesses.
3. It’s not about you.
4. Persistence trumps talent.
5. Make excellent mistakes.
6. Leave an imprint.

I’m not going to detail each of these because the book is just too darn good and you’ll want to read it for yourself!  I loved it not only because I dig the author’s points (and they are not just from the cuff- each is rooted in research and experience) but because I am a graphical creative type who appreciates a new form of writing, I mean, drawing.

FOR FOLLOW UP

Once you’ve picked up the book, be sure to listen to some of Dan Pink’s talks and keynotes.  He is funny, down to earth and elaborates on many of the points found in Johnny Bunko.  Enjoy!

If you found this post useful, please share it with your friends on Twitter using the tinylink http://tinyurl.com/aadkpu. Thanks, I appreciate it! Feel free to comment below, I enjoy discussing these ideas. ~@Stephen

work.life.creativity. » Blog Archive » 5 Killer Cross-Platform, Open Source Productivity Tools

GTD-Free
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If you’re new to GTD or just need some help keeping in line with the Getting Things Done methodology, then GTD-Free is an excellent app to begin working with. Basically, GTD-Free aims to be a complete, desktop-based system for Getting Things Done, from task and project management to handling your digital “tickler” file. The great thing about GTD-Free is its simple, tabbed interface that guides you through the GTD steps: Collect, Process, Organize/Review, and Execute. If you’re stuck with a lot of stuff in your head, and not sure how to get it out and get it done, then GTD-Free is for you! GTD-Free is also a “portable” app, so you can easily put it on a USB drive and run from anywhere!

* http://gtd-free.sourceforge.net/

If you found this post useful, please share it with your friends on Twitter using the tinylink http://tinyurl.com/cp4o5e. Thanks, I appreciate it! Feel free to comment below, I enjoy discussing these ideas. ~@Stephen

Today’s guest post is from Mike St. Pierre of The Daily Saint.

It’s good to look back from time to time and see what you’ve written about a particular topic.  In this case, David Allen’s GTD system takes center stage.  Enjoy!

Can GTD Improve Your Handyman Skills

Using GTD Radar to Spot Open Loops

The Mainstreaming of Getting Things Done

GTD Insight #36: Building Resolve after a Mess Up

GTD Insight #19: The Power of Freshening

How GTD Helps Teams Think

My Walkaround Version of GTD

Carefree GTD

GTD Doubleshot

Teaching GTD to Young People

If you found this post useful, please share it with your friends on Twitter using the tinylink http://tinyurl.com/bp3ldb. Thanks, I appreciate it! Feel free to comment below, I enjoy discussing these ideas. ~@Stephen

Dave has a great post, a story, really, that leads to a description of his Ubiquitous capture tool

Open the cabinet to the right of the refrigerator, just above the pink laminate counter top, and you would have found my mother’s recipes. Unlike your mom’s collection, Carol’s never saw the inside of a cookbook. Instead, they hung from the back of the door with yellowing strips of tape.

A Hellman’s mayonnaise label with a potato salad recipe hung next to my grandmother’s hand-written instructions for stuffed squid. There were pages ripped from Family Circle magazine, supermarket hand-outs, 3×5 index cards, torn business envelopes with their postmarked stamps intact … anything flat enough to write on and light enough to stick to a pine cupboard door was used to capture a recipe.

[…]

While the fly strip method of recipe storage keeps everything accessible, it isn’t much of a filing system. Linguini with anchovy paste rubs up against blueberry cheesecake, which is something that should never happen, not even in print.

Like most messes, my mother’s organizational style had the tendency to spread, like an invading army, or syphilis. The inside of my dad’s garage looked like a yard sale threw up, and the state of the basement was something I won’t even mention.

What all this means is that I’ve got chaos in my blood. It didn’t become problematic until I started working for myself. Those painful moments of realization — “Oh, I really need to …” — were becoming more common, and always at the least opportune times. Remembering to tell the cable company that I’ve been issued a new debit card is of no use at 60 m.p.h. on Route 6.

Thankfully, I found David Allen’s Getting Things Done, and it truly changed my life. When you’ve got a trusted system in place, your brain stops pestering you. When you’ve got your pending tasks sorted by context, you relax. What’s more, you get stuff done (I think that’s where he got the name).

One of the crucial aspects of a GTD system is the ubiquitous capture tool. Basically, Dave wants you to write down, or “capture,” any thought, task, or “open loop” as he calls them for later procesing. Which is a fancy way to say “write shit down.” It’s simple, low tech and — brace yourselves — it works.

Read more –>

If you found this post useful, please share it with your friends on Twitter using the tinylink http://tinyurl.com/dfu48e. Thanks, I appreciate it! Feel free to comment below, I enjoy discussing these ideas. ~@Stephen