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Posts Tagged GTD

Getting Things Done with Mind Maps

Nov 17

Posted by MichaelDeutch in Mind Map Examples, MindManager, Mindjet, News & Events

11-17-2009 9-08-33 AMLast week, I delivered a webinar presentation to David Allen’s GTD Connect community.

It was great fun to both create and deliver. I mapped out everything that I had wanted to accomplish including the entire content of the presentation. Then, I built my PowerPoint presentation using my map as a guide.

For a full replay of the webinar and to view all the content, sign up for a free trial of GTD Connect or, if you’re already a member, view it here.

I’ve posted (via SlideShare) the highlights of the presentation below… Read the rest of this entry »

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Getting Things Done…with Mindjet

Apr 13

Posted by MichaelDeutch in Mindjet

Happy Monday everyone!

Are you into GTD (David Allen’s Getting Things Done), just getting started with it or wondering what it is?

I’m excited to share my recorded webinar that offers a high level GTD explanation and illustrates how I use mind mapping to ‘get things done’. View the webinar or download the slides.  

 

 

 

 

MindManager GTD Templates:

 

 

And, here are some of the other items I mentioned:

 

 

Related Posts:

 

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About the Author: Michael Deutch is Mindjet’s Chief Evangelist, content contributor for the Mindjet Blog and the Mindjet Connections newsletter. Get more from Michael on Twitter. 

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GTD + Mindjet = Efficient + Effective

Mar 24

Posted by MichaelDeutch in MindManager, Mindjet

Thanks to everyone who attended today’s webinar, Using Mindjet MindManager with David Allen’s Getting Things Done Methodology. As soon as the recording is available, I’ll repost this blog with the link to the recording. It was a pleasure to share with you my practices and also put into practice a presentation approach & style that I picked up at Presentation Camp SF. Would love your feedback!

As promised, here’s are links to the GTD resources that I referenced in the webinar:

And, here are some of the other items I mentioned:

Related Posts:

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Focusing on My Horizons with MindManager & GTD

Mar 19

Posted by MichaelDeutch in Mindjet

One reason I joined Mindjet in early 2007 was because MindManager evoked a great passion in its users and has the potential to improve not only the productivity but also the quality of people’s lives. I had just been introduced to MindManager and mind mapping and, at the time, didn’t realize I was going to be one of those people!

In January, I wrote about how I used David Allen’s Getting Things Done (GTD) process to gain control of my life. The benefits were and still are tangible: an empty inbox, everything in a trusted system, a clean desk and clear mind. Today, I’ll share my tumultuous journey on how I gained greater perspective and improved both my work and personal life.

For over a year, I avoided the second half of the GTD process, which involved completing a map David calls the “Horizons of Focus.” These horizons are the different perspectives of your work and personal life. Sounds easy, doesn’t it?

Let’s take a closer look at these horizons:

  • The Runway: Actions – All the actions and tasks that you engage throughout the day.
  • 10,000 feet: Projects – All your professional and personal projects & multi-step commitments – from fixing a flat tire to completing your next big work initiative.
  • 20,000 feet: Areas of Focus & Responsibility – All the important spheres of life and work that need to be maintained.
  • 30,000 feet: Goals & Objectives – All your short-term goals & objectives.
  • 40,000 feet: Vision – The outline of what you want to be. Focus is on the longer-term future and should be inspirational. Your vision provides clear decision-making criteria.
  • 50,000 feet: Purpose and Values – Your purpose and values; express why you are doing the things that you do.

Download Horizons of Focus Template (requires MindManager)
Launch Horizons of Focus Template with Mindjet Player (requires Adobe Reader)
Get Started Now with a Free MindManager Trial

 

My Fear of Heights

As I started using GTD, I approached the “Horizons of Focus” with caution. I began capturing all my outstanding tasks, commitments, and projects. These are the first levels of the Horizon’s map. What troubled me greatly were the higher altitudes – 20,000 feet and above.

Intuitively, I knew some areas of my life were out of alignment with the “life of my dreams.” As a result, week after week, I put off tackling these “higher horizons” due to the fear of being face-to-face with my current reality. I also feared the choices that I might be confronted with like, “am I really doing what I want to do” or “should I move somewhere where I’ll be happier or more fulfilled?” And finally, if I really look at these questions or put down in writing my answers, would I have the courage to make these changes?

 

Going Beyond Fear

In the end, my desire for growth – personal, professional and spiritual – was stronger than my fear of change. I wanted to go beyond simply having control in my life to a place where I was in alignment with my highest goals and values.

One day last fall, I sat down and opened up MindManager to my “Horizons of Focus” map and initiated my journey towards alignment. I approached the exercise with the spirit of the ‘visual motor rehearsal’ technique developed by Dr. Denis Waitley in the 1980s. In other words, I didn’t just add content into a map; I visualized the success of each goal and objective. This technique produces within the brain the same pattern of impulses and instructions to your biological systems just as if you were doing the event. If it works for Olympic Athletes, I figured it could work for me too.

During my weekly reviews of tasks and projects, I started to visualize completing my goals and aspirations successfully. The reviews and visualization not only provided a compass to help guide me through my moment-by-moment decisions, it also ensured that I’m building a bridge from my tactical work to achieve my life goals. In a related blog post, GTD Coach Michael Dolan emphasized this point when he shared, “If your agreements are not aligned up to the top, you may be spending your energy on project and actions that really don’t matter according to your higher horizons of agreements.”

My Horizons of Focus map has been an invaluable tool to help prioritize nearly everything that I do. I’ve used it to set up healthier boundaries in my life that let me focus on achieving all of my goals. To my surprise and delight, I’m making significant progress towards many of my goals and new professional and personal opportunities are continuously opening up before me. Perhaps Louise Hay, best-selling inspirational author of “You Can Heal Your Life”, was right when she said “Every thought we think is creating our future.”

 

Get Started Living the Life of Your Dreams

Download a copy of the “Horizon of Focus” MindManager template today and start identifying your goals and creating a path to achieve them!

 

About the Author: Michael Deutch is Mindjet’s Chief Evangelist, content contributor for the Mindjet Blog and the Mindjet Connections newsletter. Get more from Michael on Twitter.

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GTD Summit: Day 2 – Live Blog

Mar 13

Posted by Administrator in News & Events

7:30 AM: Another great breakfast, but no bacon!

8:45 AM: David Allen preaches the principles of Making It All Work and tells us we all have more GTD homework to do if we have the same thought twice!

9:13 AM: We’re walking through the aspects of Control & Perspective. David is hilarious. Haven’t seen him live? Make a point to see him!

9:25 AM: The Basics of GTD Mind Map

10:05 AM: Great chat about the challenges of technology evangelism with Jeff Widman from Venturebeat and Steve Bell from the Pulse of Tech.

10:15 AM: Ron Kaufman gave a passionate (coffee-induced?) presentation on creating a culture of GTD! Ron is author of the #1 bestselling book, "UP Your Service! Strategies and Action Steps to Delight Your Customers NOW!"

10:21 AM: Now up, Dave Logan. Dave asks Ron, "Is there an organ in your body that produces coffee?" Dave’s now talking about tribes & creating shared values. Dave discussed the tribe cultures and GTD. Love all the enthusiasm here at the Summit. Dave closed with a passionate call to action that it’s up to us to…"save the economy & give our kids something to look forward to!" He later added, "we’re in a recession and it’s a terrible thing to waste!"

10:35 AM: Sanjiv Mirchandani, president for Personal Investing Products and Marketing for Fidelity Investments, explains how by not only having ‘values’ but by living by these ‘values’ are the keys to Fidelity’s success.

10:47 AM: Neil Mendelson, Mindjet’s VP of Products is at our booth today talking with customers and prospects. If you’re here, say hi to Neil.

10:48 AM: Michael Winston throws away his speech and ad-hoc delivers his presentation. Focus: Speed of change! "Now, your best customer can become your biggest competitor." It has become a disorienting time. Michael quoted hockey great Wayne Gretsky, "I don’t skate to where the puck is, I skate to where I KNOW it will be!" But, with change happening so fast, how do we know which direction to go in? "Now that you know what the rules are, there are no rules!"

11:15 AM: Panel Q&A. This was a great session! Winding down, heading for lunch & the Mindjet booth. More sessions in the afternoon, including "Best Practices to Good Habits: Can I Make It Stick", "GTD and Sales, Customers & Relationships"…

Pre-lunch Updated Summit Map (scroll down for final map)

12:50 PM: Danny Bader kicks off "Best Practices to Good Habits:  Can I Make GTD Stick" by leading a song! Vocalists on this panel include: Coach Meg Edwards, Chief Innovator at NetCentrics Dean Hering, co-head of CRA’s Internal Communication Consulting practice, Alan Nelson, and Jim Whitton is a Regional Director for The Hunger Project (THP). Jim, give me a call – let’s talk about how mind mapping can help the Project!

1:02 PM: How do you keep GTD going? Alan Nelson: We have behavioral issues (e.g. we’re overweight. we can exercise, change diet and/or lifestyle). 9:1 odds against us changing our behavior! Well, let’s switch to some more positive thoughts. Here’s a great set of tips from the panelists:

  1. Bundle the 2 minute rule; otherwise you’re dealing with email all day
  2. Try not looking at your email if you already know what you’re going to do in the AM
  3. Eliminate distractions – Turn off your email notifications, instant messenger!
  4. Scan with purpose
  5. Iterate more
  6. Break weekly reviews into chunks over 3 days if you’re having trouble doing it weekly
  7. Date your next actions - if you haven’t done it in months, maybe it’s not worth doing, defer it, someday / maybe
  8. Use timers! Try a kitchen timer; you know the old fashioned kind where you hear the noise! That’ll get you moving.
  9. Make productivity fun!
  10. Throwing things out counts as being productive
  11. Try hiding the stuff in a closeable inbox! REDUCE your stress to INCREASE your productivity.
  12. Open your system immediately to your CALENDAR, not your email
  13. Make sure you have VERBS in your project lists otherwise how will you know what done looks like? e.g. "finalize taxes" instead of "taxes"
  14. Ask "Why does your project exist" and answer in a single sentence.
  15. What are the
  16. Define for yourself, what does wild success look like?
  17. Eliminate drag in your system (how long does it take your PC to start up?)
  18. Control what you can control. Let go of what you can’t.
  19. Use your labeler!
  20. Eliminate choices when possible. (read Paradox of Choice)
  21. Consider calling weekly review your "WEEKLY REFLECTION", Ask what it all means?
  22. Do it the way it works best for you!
  23. Take the liberty to review whenever you have time to review
  24. Don’t be in a position where you can’t find something quickly
  25. Be results religious but process agnostic
  26. Want others to GTD? Model the behavior.
  27. Keep Lists: Books to read, wines to try, etc…
  28. Working with staff that aren’t GTDers? Have them create a list for stuff that they’re waiting for from you (waiting for list), a list of what they’re working on (project list), and a list of their important relationships (e.g. client status). Don’t force the terminology, but enforce the behavior!

Wow, great power tips on making GTD work for you!

Updated: GTD Summit Map (scroll down for final map)

Next up, today I’ll make it: Getting Email to Zero. This next session’s being led by my neighbor, GTD Coach Michael Dolan and Coach Chris McIntyer.

2:45 PM: Just snapped a photo with the CEO from The Brain and Wendy & Amy Mack, the two daughters of eProductivity’s founder, Eric Mack. The Macks grew up with GTD and each uses different software for their school work. Wendy is a Mindjet MindManager user while her twin Amy uses The Brain. Will post the picture when I get a copy emailed to me.

2:52 PM: Getting Email to Zero. Only a handful of people sitting in the coach’s corner as Michael and Chris educate us on how to go from 1000s of emails to ZERO! Then, how to keep it at zero. Behind us, about 100 people checking out the exhibit tables.

Some e-mail management tips (see map for more):

  • Turn off the ‘rings and dings’
  • Remember to categorize your emails that become tasks with contexts
  • If you ‘right-click’ drag and drop emails to tasks, you can bring attachments with them!

Updated: GTD Summit Map (scroll down for final map)

3:42 PM: The Next Niche in Job Sites:

GTDers for Hire

Companies Hiring GTDers

5:00 PM: Final Session with David is about to start…cue theme music, video is playing!

Wow, what a conference! Here’s what the participants had to say:

Updated: Final Summit Map

Amazing conference. Thanks to everyone who I met, all the tweets and great conversations! Let’s keep connecting and getting it all done together!

For more GTD maps, info about GTD partner add-ins, podcasts and webinars, check out this GTD post.

 

About the Author: Michael Deutch is Mindjet’s Chief Evangelist, content contributor for the Mindjet Blog and the Mindjet Connections newsletter. Get more from Michael on Twitter.

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GTD Summit Day 1 – Live Blog

Mar 12

Posted by MichaelDeutch in News & Events

8:53 AM: It’s incredibly exciting, sitting at the GTD summit in the front row. On my right, David Allen’s Time Keeper sits with her stop watch, getting ready for the event.

8:55 AM: David walks onto the stage and welcomes everyone. Wonders aloud, what’s the best way to share his spin on the world with us. "GTD" was published during the dot bomb…"Making It All Work" was published during the sub-prime crisis…David promised to warn us before his next book!

9ish: Guy Kawasaki joins David in a lively discussion…map to follow shortly.

9:35 AM: Keynote wraps up. Here’s the map.

9:35 AM to 10:25 AM: Getting Things Done 2.0 Panel is kicking off right now! At the table, David Allen, Guy Kawasaki, Jim Fallows, Major General Randy Fulhart, Marshall Goldsmith, and Paul Saff.

9:53 AM: Guy Kawasaki’s speechless (well, sort of) after seeing Major General Randy Fulhart’s touching presentation and best use of ’stock photography’ that he’s ever seen. Guy has his check book out and wants to take the airforce public!

10:06 AM: Uh oh, battery is running out and no plugs in sight! Marshall Goldsmith ran a great exercise where we became peer coaches to the people next to us and asked our partners to call us every night for the next year and they’d ask us a series of yes/no, 1-10 ranking questions like, "Did I learn something new today?", "Was I generous today?", "Did I talk to my children today?", etc… The trouble isn’t understanding, it’s execution. Updated map.

10:09 AM: Next up, Jim Fallows…I value in GTD: How it scales, you can get back on the wagon if you fall off, clarity, it combines the highest levels (spirituality, thinking) with practicality (43 folders, labels, etc…). The real message of GTD…the parts that make us most human often depend on these practical things (e.g. 43 folders, etc…).

10:28: AM: Guy Kawasaki debates with Paul. How do you separate the signal from the noise?

Panel closed! Updated map!

11:00 AM: David tweeted that he’s changing clothes in his room as the Self Management as Strategy panel kicks in.

11:35 AM: Leadership Mapped Out! Battery update…I’m pretending to be ‘the press’ now and charging up. Should learn from Jim Fallows and have extra batteries! Yes, I’ve added that to my GTD system :)

.

Coming soon…Lunch, some time at the Mindjet booth and the GTD coaching session – "Getting Email to Zero". Yes, it can be done!

1:30 PM: Ok, just back after some great chats with Meg Edwards about GTD and raising children. How do you deal with children that don’t respond well when you ask them to ‘get things done’? If explaining or showing the consequences doesn’t work, try elevating the discussion to higher levels in the horizon. Meg’s advice was to explain that her role as a parent was to ‘teach’ certain things to her children and she asked her child for support in that process in making her a good parent. She explained this to a GTD buddy of mine, Drew, who I met at a Chicago training over a year ago. For Drew, this meant explaining to his child the values in their household and they needed to live in a shared space and everyone needs to take care of it together.

2:00 PM: Missing my GTD session but having a great conversation with Wendy Mack, the daughter of eProductivity founder, Eric Mack. Wendy was explaining to me how she applies GTD to her school work, her robotics’ projects. She’s also a HUGE fan of mind mapping and I’ve asked her to help write a future blog here on MindManager for School work. I look forward to her future post! And world, look out for Wendy and her twin sister Amy! 

2:24 PM: Jumped into a GTD Coaching session on the Natural Planning model…All of this can be mapped out with MindManager:

  • Purpose / guiding principles (Why are we doing this?)
  • Mission / vision / goals / successful outcome (What would wild success look, sound, or feel like?)
  • Brainstorming (How would we accomplish it?)
  • Organizing (identify components, subcomponents, sequences, events, and/or priorities; what must occur and in what order? When do we do these things?)
  • What are your next actions (Where do we start?)

GTD Presenter Danny Bader building a Mind Map with the help of the audience participation.

3:14 PM: GTD Coaches Chris McIntyre and James Stevenson teach a packed room how to REALLY use Microsoft Outlook. Great ways to transform your email app into a productivity tool.

3:29 PM: Below, you see Chris begging us to use GTD…no, Chris was showing how to customize Outlook to make it work for you instead of making you do all the work!

3:40 PM: Making it Up and Making it Happen! Moderator Bruce Somers introduces some super sharp serial entrepreneurs Frode Odegard (who met Mindjet for lunch yesterday), Buzz Bruggeman, John de Souza, and Peter Gallant.

Buzz shares that for entrepreneurs, it’s not whether your plan will change, it’s when it will change. It’s discipline and focus that separates success from failure.

Day 1 mind map of GTD Summit!

Off to the book signing, Mindjet table, shoot a video for David Allen & co and the GTD Connect mixer. What a day.

Stay tuned, more tomorrow!

About the Author: Michael Deutch is Mindjet’s Chief Evangelist, content contributor for the Mindjet Blog and the Mindjet Connections newsletter. Get more from Michael on Twitter.

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Live Blogging At The GTD Summit

Mar 11

Posted by MichaelDeutch in News & Events

Tonight is the kick-off for the GTD Summit here in San Francisco. If you haven’t noticed, David Allen and his GTD method of Getting Things Done have really taken off! David is a long time fan of mapping and has been using MindManager for years.

So, I’m going to attempt to do some live blogging and tweeting at the event. I’ll post Summit updates, quotes, reactions, photos and some maps. Ambitious? Maybe. Hopefully all the technology will cooperate!  

 

Tonight’s Activities: Register and then schmooze at the welcome reception. When no one’s looking, I’ll sneak out and head to another event. Shhh, don’t tell anyone. I’ll also be minimizing my emails for the next few days — so if you’d like to contact me, use Twitter or the Mindjet blog comments!  

 

Thursday: The Mindjet team will be at our exhibit table while I sneak off and map out and blog the following sessions:

  • 5:30 AM: Get up and start loading up on Java to Get Things Done!
  • 7:30 AM to 8:45 AM: More coffee and breakfast with productivity people
  • 8:45 AM to 9:35 AM: Keynote Address with David Allen and Guy Kawasaki. Guy, I want to meet you!
  • 9:35 AM to 10:25 AM: Getting Things Done 2.0 Panel
  • 10:30 AM: Attempt to update blog…
  • 10:45 AM to 12:15 PM:  Self-management as Strategy: GTD and Leadership
  • 12:15 PM to 12:45 PM: - Quick lunch and another blog update!
  • 12:45 PM to 1:30 PM: Coaches’ Theater: Getting Email to Zero. Personal favorite. Tough to do but priceless!
  • 1:30 PM to 3:00 PM: Innovation – Getting New Stuff Done
  • 2:45 PM to 3:30 PM: Coaches’ Theater: Mastering GTD & Outlook®
  • 3:30 PM to 5:00 PM: Entrepreneurs and GTD – Making It Up and Making It Happen
  • 5:00 PM to 6:00 PM: Book Signing and blog posting!
  • 6:00 PM to 7:00 PM: GTD Connect Members’ Reception
  • 8:00 PM: Rest up for another summit day!  

 

 

Friday: Well, I’ll fill you in on that later.

 

 

Haven’t had enough GTD yet? Here are some related posts:

 

 

Have GTD questions that you want answered? I’ll corner a coach (Danny B, look out!) and ask for you. Add your comments below!

 

About the Author: Michael Deutch is Mindjet’s Chief Evangelist, content contributor for the Mindjet Blog and the Mindjet Connections newsletter. Get more from Michael on Twitter. 

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