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David Allen Quotes
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David Allen is a productivity consultant who is best known as the creator of the time management method known as "Getting Things Done". Wikipedia  

✵ 28. December 1945   •   Other names דיוויד אלן, Девід Аллен, 戴维·艾伦, 戴維·艾倫, Дэвід Алан
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David Allen: 119   quotes 1   like

David Allen Quotes

“If you're already in a mess, you're not free to make one.”

David Allen

24 March 2011 https://twitter.com/gtdguy/status/51036707474259968
Official Twitter profile (@gtdguy) https://twitter.com/gtdguy

“An overwhelming amount of potential work to do is cool. Otherwise people would never go to a gym.”

David Allen

24 February 2011 https://twitter.com/gtdguy/status/40795144949080064
Official Twitter profile (@gtdguy) https://twitter.com/gtdguy

People

“Does something have your attention because you want it to, or because you're avoiding it?”

David Allen

31 August 2009 https://twitter.com/gtdguy/status/3669905898
Official Twitter profile (@gtdguy) https://twitter.com/gtdguy

“Productivity requires expansiveness & spontaneity as much as structure & control.”

David Allen

10 March 2011 https://twitter.com/gtdguy/status/45656789341044736
Official Twitter profile (@gtdguy) https://twitter.com/gtdguy

“Defaulting to ur psyche as ur system instead of an objective one makes maintaining the system too much trouble.”

David Allen

14 January 2010 https://twitter.com/gtdguy/status/7740792975
Official Twitter profile (@gtdguy) https://twitter.com/gtdguy

“Your mind receives, remembers, & reminds, & sucks at all 3, compared to an objective external system a la GTD.”

David Allen

7 December 2009 https://twitter.com/gtdguy/status/6439523499
Official Twitter profile (@gtdguy) https://twitter.com/gtdguy

“How much attention have I given what really deserves my attention today?”

David Allen

23 October 2010 https://twitter.com/gtdguy/status/28465522068
Official Twitter profile (@gtdguy) https://twitter.com/gtdguy

“The purpose of a purpose? Tunes you to meaningful things you wouldn't be aware of, otherwise.”

David Allen

23 May 2012 https://twitter.com/gtdguy/status/205390843010498561
Official Twitter profile (@gtdguy) https://twitter.com/gtdguy

“Am working as hard as I can to find out what it's OK I'm NOT going to be dong, this weekend!”

David Allen

28 January 2011 https://twitter.com/gtdguy/status/31120917924941826
Official Twitter profile (@gtdguy) https://twitter.com/gtdguy

“What would your ideal exec ass't let you know - & when - & where? That should inform your best #GTD system.”

David Allen

25 June 2012 https://twitter.com/gtdguy/status/217464360359043072
Official Twitter profile (@gtdguy) https://twitter.com/gtdguy

“Appropriate focus on the right stuff gives the freedom to not have to focus on anything, on a regular basis.”

David Allen

6 September 2012 https://twitter.com/gtdguy/status/243865172614189058
Official Twitter profile (@gtdguy) https://twitter.com/gtdguy

Freedom

“What do you want to have true? Pick something between total fantasy & 51% believable, get going, & readjust as you learn.”

David Allen

17 January 2011 https://twitter.com/gtdguy/status/26824930679062528
Official Twitter profile (@gtdguy) https://twitter.com/gtdguy

Learning

“Your tools are only as good as they serve your intention. What do you want to have true? What Do you need to have viewable re: that?”

David Allen

15 November 2011 https://twitter.com/gtdguy/status/136655692730863616
Official Twitter profile (@gtdguy) https://twitter.com/gtdguy

“You talk to yourself 50,000 times a day. What's 300 emails? #SmallBizChat”

David Allen

3 June 2010 https://twitter.com/gtdguy/status/15287285385
Official Twitter profile (@gtdguy) https://twitter.com/gtdguy

Time

“How, and how often, you relate to your system is an essential part of your system.”

David Allen

22 January 2011 https://twitter.com/gtdguy/status/28879937448448001
Official Twitter profile (@gtdguy) https://twitter.com/gtdguy

Parting

“Making decisions requires energy, but not deciding about whether to decide requires even more energy.”

David Allen

4 February 2010 https://twitter.com/gtdguy/status/8640608559
Official Twitter profile (@gtdguy) https://twitter.com/gtdguy

Decision

“If u magically had 0 emails, in 10 days you'd be back to what you had. Issue is not volume, but tolerance of backlog.”

David Allen

20 July 2011 https://twitter.com/gtdguy/status/93804918770638848
Official Twitter profile (@gtdguy) https://twitter.com/gtdguy

“Staying in control daily, weekly, & yearly requires different things for each. Handling one doesn't handle the others.”

David Allen

24 May 2012 https://twitter.com/gtdguy/status/205804670864732161
Official Twitter profile (@gtdguy) https://twitter.com/gtdguy

“Is what you're about to do more likely to expand or limit your ability to get what you really want? Executive intelligence.”

David Allen

15 October 2010 https://twitter.com/gtdguy/status/27408641313
Official Twitter profile (@gtdguy) https://twitter.com/gtdguy

Intelligence

“Your ability to deal w/surprise is in inverse relation to the amount of your backlog of "stuff."”

David Allen

4 September 2010 https://twitter.com/gtdguy/status/22924717953
Official Twitter profile (@gtdguy) https://twitter.com/gtdguy

“Point of in-box empty: having a complete, current inventory of what matters, so you deal clearly with what's new & what's now.”

David Allen

18 January 2011 https://twitter.com/gtdguy/status/27164314544635904
Official Twitter profile (@gtdguy) https://twitter.com/gtdguy

Box

“Trying to ignore secondarily meaningful things gives them more meaning than they deserve.”

David Allen

30 January 2010 https://twitter.com/gtdguy/status/8421130524
Official Twitter profile (@gtdguy) https://twitter.com/gtdguy

“Simply ask & answer: if we were being wildly successful in fulfilling our purpose, what would it look, sound, & feel like? #SmallBizChat”

David Allen

3 June 2010 https://twitter.com/gtdguy/status/15286917857
Official Twitter profile (@gtdguy) https://twitter.com/gtdguy

Feeling , Success

“Not stopping to really catch up (Weekly Review, GTDers!) means trying to catch up constantly & never getting there.”

David Allen

9 August 2010 https://twitter.com/gtdguy/status/20673625150
Official Twitter profile (@gtdguy) https://twitter.com/gtdguy

“Organizing without first capturing & clarifying what needs organizing is simply rearranging your angst.”

David Allen

31 January 2012 https://twitter.com/gtdguy/status/164480736064311296
Official Twitter profile (@gtdguy) https://twitter.com/gtdguy

“Clearing the deck is great, but sailing adventurous waters is the real game. (Just can't do it w/out a clear deck.)”

David Allen

10 March 2010 https://twitter.com/gtdguy/status/10288329405
Official Twitter profile (@gtdguy) https://twitter.com/gtdguy

Game , Water

“If you figured out why making a list reduces overwhelm & confusion, you'd keep nothing in your head the rest of your life.”

David Allen

12 May 2010 https://twitter.com/gtdguy/status/13858760270
Official Twitter profile (@gtdguy) https://twitter.com/gtdguy

Life

“Only issues in life: u know what u want, but not how to get it; or u don't know what u want. Solution: #GTD”

David Allen

13 February 2011 https://twitter.com/gtdguy/status/36571301049155584
Official Twitter profile (@gtdguy) https://twitter.com/gtdguy

Life

“Good ideas are infinitely available. We've just limited our availablitly to them. The music's not in the radio.”

David Allen

3 December 2009 https://twitter.com/gtdguy/status/6297004027
Official Twitter profile (@gtdguy) https://twitter.com/gtdguy

Music , Idea

“Over-prepare. Then go with the flow.”

David Allen

28 December 2009 https://twitter.com/gtdguy/status/7105732411
Official Twitter profile (@gtdguy) https://twitter.com/gtdguy

“The greater your confidence w/how to achieve control & focus, as needed, the wilder & crazier you can be.”

David Allen

4 February 2012 https://twitter.com/gtdguy/status/165951252906250240
Official Twitter profile (@gtdguy) https://twitter.com/gtdguy

Confidence

“Outcome/next-action thinking, before you must, prepares you for when you must. And that time will come.”

David Allen

29 September 2011 https://twitter.com/gtdguy/status/119375427386089472
Official Twitter profile (@gtdguy) https://twitter.com/gtdguy

Thinking , Time

“Great news about lots of email is how consistently it forces you to get clear what's really meaningful to your work/life.”

David Allen

23 March 2010 https://twitter.com/gtdguy/status/10943941311
Official Twitter profile (@gtdguy) https://twitter.com/gtdguy

Life

“I've never had to go very far to learn everything I have learned. I just had to care about something & pay attention.”

David Allen

19 January 2010 https://twitter.com/gtdguy/status/7933461617
Official Twitter profile (@gtdguy) https://twitter.com/gtdguy

Learning

“What maps do you need to review, to see where you are & what to do next? Core to self-management systems.”

David Allen

23 August 2012 https://twitter.com/gtdguy/status/238837461663490048
Official Twitter profile (@gtdguy) https://twitter.com/gtdguy

“Using your head to manage your life = creativity constipation.”

David Allen

19 July 2012 https://twitter.com/gtdguy/status/226141872467369984
Official Twitter profile (@gtdguy) https://twitter.com/gtdguy

Life

“The coolest things I do usually aren't on my lists, but because of them.”

David Allen

23 November 2009 https://twitter.com/gtdguy/status/5965843348
Official Twitter profile (@gtdguy) https://twitter.com/gtdguy

“Organizations' problems can all be traced to someone not telling the right someone what had their attention, when it did.”

David Allen

12 May 2010 https://twitter.com/gtdguy/status/13822827287
Official Twitter profile (@gtdguy) https://twitter.com/gtdguy

Problem

“Secret to finding, quickly, the corner pieces, then the outside edges, to the jigsaw puzzle of life: GTD”

David Allen

13 December 2009 https://twitter.com/gtdguy/status/6614086802
Official Twitter profile (@gtdguy) https://twitter.com/gtdguy

Life , Secret

“Top need for top professionals: psychic space. Fewer distractions & more contexts for thinking. Not more time.”

David Allen

12 October 2010 https://twitter.com/gtdguy/status/27175167967
Official Twitter profile (@gtdguy) https://twitter.com/gtdguy

Thinking , Time

“The nature of creative thinking runs counter to the nature of dealing w/its output. Ability & system to do both is freedom. GTD.”

David Allen

2 July 2010 https://twitter.com/gtdguy/status/17537630593
Official Twitter profile (@gtdguy) https://twitter.com/gtdguy

Nature , Thinking , Freedom

“Every thought deserves its own place in the universe. How & where do you capture yours?”

David Allen

7 February 2010 https://twitter.com/gtdguy/status/8780594220
Official Twitter profile (@gtdguy) https://twitter.com/gtdguy

Universe

“It takes a healthy sense of self to feel OK with nothing happening in your head.”

David Allen

3 June 2011 https://twitter.com/gtdguy/status/76664470704889857
Official Twitter profile (@gtdguy) https://twitter.com/gtdguy

Feeling , Sense

“The balance you have between drive & patience may be your master key to success.”

David Allen

26 October 2011 https://twitter.com/gtdguy/status/129326605360316416
Official Twitter profile (@gtdguy) https://twitter.com/gtdguy

Success , Patience

“Rivers of creative flow are log jammed w/ heads holding on to incompletions, old business, & avoided decisions.”

David Allen

26 December 2011 https://twitter.com/gtdguy/status/151401985902526464
Official Twitter profile (@gtdguy) https://twitter.com/gtdguy

Business , Decision

“Engaging in complexity is a key to simplicity. Fear of it will haunt your inner recesses.”

David Allen

12 November 2011 https://twitter.com/gtdguy/status/135526192148267009
Official Twitter profile (@gtdguy) https://twitter.com/gtdguy

Fear

“A big surprise is coming toward you. How clear do you want to be about all your current commitments, when it hits?”

David Allen

19 October 2009 https://twitter.com/gtdguy/status/4977274727
Official Twitter profile (@gtdguy) https://twitter.com/gtdguy

“The present-ness demanded by a crisis is possible w/out crisis. Understand the keys to appropriate engagement. GTD.”

David Allen

13 August 2012 https://twitter.com/gtdguy/status/235132922565369857
Official Twitter profile (@gtdguy) https://twitter.com/gtdguy

Understanding

“Cool how many layers of my mind there are to clear, each time I do it…& how different my world is then.”

David Allen

12 February 2011 https://twitter.com/gtdguy/status/36269718428073984
Official Twitter profile (@gtdguy) https://twitter.com/gtdguy

World , Time

“Your system is not your tech - it's the nature of the content & the behavior w/which you engage with it.”

David Allen

26 June 2010 https://twitter.com/gtdguy/status/17062938246
Official Twitter profile (@gtdguy) https://twitter.com/gtdguy

Behavior , Nature