David Allen follow-up
Had a great day on Tuesday attending David Allen‘s Roadmap seminar. What luck to find myself in Vermont these days, where the Green Mountain Coffee Foundation sponsored his seminar here and opened it up to the public. I’ve wanted to hear David in person since I discovered his work way back in 1997 and it was great to finally get that chance.
At a point where my semester is quickly becoming extraordinarily busy, it was very enjoyable and worthwhile to spend a day as a student for a change. David’s a master teacher and I left there feeling that getting things done will be less of an issue for me this fall.
I’ve spent part of the last week trying to close the gaps in my system and to make a complete list of all my projects and tasks at hand. I even discovered a few that I’d forgotten about while I was sitting in the seminar! It was a great refresher for me in the nuances of David’s system. The greatest part of the seminar for me, though, was in getting a better sense of how the horizontal axis of his system (clarifying, organizing, and engaging with your “stuff” to transform it into actions) connects to your ability to focus on the vertical horizons which takes us beyond projects and actions to things like one’s goals, vision, and purpose. I have to say that over the last three years I’ve been so consumed with dealing somewhat inefficiently with my stuff that I’ve not thought much about the larger picture.
Already in the last couple of days I am feeling more relaxed because I am more certain that my system has caught all the open loops. It’s given me time here and there to think a bit more about that vertical horizon. And that has been a great thing for me.