How To Increase Your Productivity: David Allen, Author of Getting Things Done

David Allen is most well-known for being the international best-selling author of “Getting Things Done: the Art of Stress-Free Productivity”, a book that has sold over 1.6 million copies and has been translated in over 28+ countries. David is also the creator of the GTD Methodology. For the last 35 years, he’s consulted, trained and coached corporate managers and CEOs at some of the most prestigious corporations in the U.S. and around the world.

In this interview, we talk about:

- David’s journey as a consultant in the leadership development space

- David’s writing journey to writing the international best-seller, Getting Things Done

- Strategies for how people can improve their productivity and feel less overwhelmed by the tasks in their life

__

David's Socials:

Website: https://gettingthingsdone.com/

David’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/gtdguy?lang=en

__

Grateful Living Info:

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9Bo0LHtRJJNJBUYIceg27w

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3Hn4ttttmbWfVqAhWh4Jhi

Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/id1503185956

My Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aroy81547/?hl=en

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/gratefulliving4

Medium: https://gratefulliving4.medium.com/

Approximate Time Stamps:

0:00 Intro

0:56 David’s childhood

2:16 How was losing your father at 9?

2:51 How was being an exchange student in high school?

4:47 What was your mindset in college?

7:30 You got married decently young. Do you have advice on relationships?

8:20 Can you talk about your Cal Berkeley days?

9:47 What led to your big mindset change?

13:14 Any advice on finding your authentic self?

15:11 You were institutionalized at some point, can you talk about that time period?

16:03 Was it hard leaving your Ph.D. program?

17:22 You had 35 jobs before 35, did you feel self-conscious about that and not being more stable?

20:00 What was it like forming a mentor relationship with John Rodgers?

21:52 Any advice on getting into leadership development space?

22:42 What was the first seminar like as a consultant?

25:42 Any advice on advising companies especially ones you've never worked at?

27:15 Meeting your current wife

29:11 Did your life philosophies affect your personal relationships?

30:36 What was it like being an entrepreneur?

32:35 Any advice on building seminar business?

34:50 Any advice on setting prices as a consultant?

36:15 Any advice on working with a significant other?

36:48 When did you hire your first employee?

37:30 How do you look at people copying you?

38:46 Process for writing your book “Getting Things Done”

40:40 What are the major lessons from the book?

41:38 Did you ever find yourself working too hard?

42:44 Were you managing employees when your company got to 32 employees?

44:47 Experiential learning vs. empirical research?

46:13 What’s wrong with writing “mom” on your to do list?

48:15 What do you think CEOs and leaders most often use from GTD?

49:32 If someone feels overcommitted, can they use something from GTD?

51:10 Can you talk about the "purpose" of actions?

53:36 Any advice for people struggling with finding their purpose?

55:03 First action people can implement from GTD

56:08 Any advice for anyone entering speaking business?