Quotes from David Allen

Simple, clear purpose and principles give rise to complex and intelligent behavior. Complex rules and regulations give rise to simple and stupid behavior.

There is always more to do than you can do, and you can do only one thing at a time. The key is to feel as good about what you're not doing as about what you are doing at that moment. Time

the calendar should be sacred territory. If you write something there, it must get done that day or not at all.

When a culture adopts "What's the next action?" as a standard operating query, there's an automatic increase in energy, productivity, clarity, and focus.

the real problem is a lack of clarity and definition about what a project really is, and what associated next-action steps are required.

Keep everything in your head or out of your head. If it's in between, you won't trust either one.

Purpose defines success.

Chaos isn't the problem; how long it takes to find coherence is the real game. —Doc Childre and Bruce Cryer

is magic in being in the present in your life. I'm always amazed at the power of clear observation simply about what's going on, what's true. Finding out the exact details of your personal finances, clarifying the historical data about the company you're buying, or getting the facts about who really said what to whom in an interpersonal conflict can be constructive, if not downright healing.

This constant, unproductive preoccupation with all the things we have to do is the single largest consumer of time and energy. —Kerry Gleeson

The big secret to efficient creative and productive thinking and action is to put the right things in your focus at the right time.

The world can only be grasped by action, not by contemplation. The hand is more important than the eye. . . . The hand is the cutting edge of the mind. —J. Bronowski

Even if you've already decided on the next step you'll take to resolve a problem, your mind can't let go until and unless you park a reminder in a place it knows you will, without fail, look.

Getting things done requires two basic components: defining (1) what "done" means (outcome) and (2) what "doing" looks like (action). And these are far from self-evident for most people about most things that have their attention.

three different kinds of activities you can be engaged in: Doing predefined work Doing work as it shows up Defining your work Doing

Horizontal control maintains coherence across all the activities in which you are involved. Vertical control, in contrast, manages thinking up and down the track of individual topics and projects.

Anything you consider unfinished in any way must be captured in a trusted system outside your mind, or what I call a collection tool, that you know you'll come back to regularly and sort through. Second

In fact, life itself is nothing more than one long practice session, an endless effort of refining our motions.

Rule your mind or it will rule you. —Horace Between

of listings for volumes that offer advice on how to improve your work habits, your health, your productivity, and your overall success in life. Some of what they say is typically dressed-up common sense. A fraction of it is baloney. Much of it is worth reading one time, if that

You must use your mind to get things off your mind. An

The number of coulds, shoulds, might-want-tos, and ought-tos they generate in their minds are way out beyond what they have recorded anywhere else. Many

Aumentar la calidad de nuestro pensamiento y compromisos no disminuye la cantidad de cosas potencialmente relevantes e importantes que hay que gestionar.

No software, seminar, cool notebook, smartphone, or even personal mission statement will give you more than twenty-four hours in a day