GTD Virtual Study Group

Tools matter. Ever have a part of your workflow be changed, and then all of a sudden things don't go as smoothly as they normally do? The struggle with a change in workflow is real! We've experienced it when our favorite tools shut down, or make some major overhaul changes, or when we change jobs and have to use a different OS. Check out the Official GTD® Virtual Study Group website for resources from the call and more:

Every so often we experience a bit of friction with our task management system. What causes this? What signs can you look for that your system needs a bit of a clean up? What things might you need to look to clean up? On this episode we share our experiences over the years with what we look for and triggers us to do a clean up. Enjoy! Check out the Official GTD® Virtual Study Group website for resources from the call and more:

We had a number of topics come up before the call, and rather than decide on just one, we decided to do an "Ask the VSG" and touch on them all. We start with looking at what a weekly review looks like, then talked a bit using GTD to help establish routines, followed by revisiting higher horizons and even a little project planning. Enjoy! Check out the Official GTD® Virtual Study Group website for resources from the call and more:

In GTD®, it's important to have a trusted system. But does that mean that you have one app to store everything? In this call we talk about how we have our systems set up -- personal vs business or all combined, using separate apps for specific things like shopping lists. And how we manage tasks from shared project teams or from others. And lots of apps were shared. Enjoy!! Check out the Official GTD® Virtual Study Group website for resources from the call and more:

With all of your project's next actions defined and captured on context lists, how do you know what to do first? And next? In this episode, we dive into different perspectives and solutions for prioritizing actions and being able to trust our systems are helping us see what we need to see, when we need to see it. Enjoy! Check out the Official GTD® Virtual Study Group website for resources from the call and more:

Working with partners is tricky, especially if they don't practice the same process and systems that you do (GTD®). So how do you get on the same page? How do you approach getting their involvement or buy in? How do you practice empathy for both yourself and others? We dive into this and so much more in this episode. Enjoy! Check out the Official GTD® Virtual Study Group website for resources from the call and more:

Projects, Actions, and even Areas of Focus and Responsibility are pretty easy to define. The higher horizons, not so much. In this episode, we talk about the higher horizons, how we've developed them, and how we use them to guide our life's work. Definitely a great listen if you're struggling with the higher horizons... and just know that we all have, so you're not alone! Check out the Official GTD® Virtual Study Group website for resources from the call and more:

We had some fun just wandering around without a set topic in this episode. We talked about all sorts of stuff -- system bankruptcy, dealing with backlog, someday/maybe management, collaboration on projects and shared task management, system tweaking, areas of focus, horizons of focus, and everything in between... Enjoy! Check out the Official GTD® Virtual Study Group website for resources from the call and more:

The future is really upon us! ChatGPT and AI are really starting to take a hold and our world is going to look very different to us all very soon. In this episode we talk about what that might really look like in our lives and in our GTD® worlds. What we'd like to image it doing to help support us, and how we really want to approach this shift that is coming. Enjoy! Check out the Official GTD® Virtual Study Group website for resources from the call and more:

One of the tricky things in keeping hard edges in a task management system is capturing and processing projects and tasks without enough clarity around them. Sometimes our verbs seem actionable, but might be a bit vague in reality. Same with next actions which might actually be a project. In this episode, we dive into these ideas and the friction they cause in our systems and look at solutions to bring clarity and engagement. Enjoy! Check out the Official GTD® Virtual Study Group website for resources from the call and more:

We all experience friction in our systems from time to time. One way to look at this is as an opportunity to make some improvements to our systems and workflows. In this episode, we talk about what that looks like and some things we've discovered over time... as well as, some tools that might be useful. Enjoy! Check out the Official GTD® Virtual Study Group website for resources from the call and more:

Our systems get so much better with the little minor tweaks we make to our systems. We're not talking the tool swapping/hopping here. We're talking about all the little ideas picked up along the way (maybe on GTDVSG) and tried in our systems. Sometimes they work, sometimes they don't, and then sometimes they are pivotal to making our systems sing! Enjoy! Check out the Official GTD® Virtual Study Group website for resources from the call and more:

Happy New Year! In this special episode, Ray Sidney-Smith and Michelle Gunn talk about a 12-week program that Ray is running for the GTD® community -- Getting Things Done® Workbook Study Group. It starts January 3rd, 2022. Sign up at , then search under courses. A very special thank you to Ray Sidney-Smith for offering this program and all that he does in support of our GTD® community!!! Check out the Official GTD® Virtual Study Group website for resources from the call and more:

One of the most important pieces of our GTD® practices is our "trusted system" which includes our external brain or second brain. We talk about this in depth -- What do you use for an external brain? How do you get thing in there when it comes at you in ways you're not expecting? What workarounds do you have? So many great ideas in this episode! Enjoy! Check out the Official GTD® Virtual Study Group website for resources from the call and more:

An important part of our system is our reference materials. Many of us use Evernote and they had just come out with some major updates at the time of this recording, so we dove into reference filing with a focus on Evernote. Some great insight from people who really leverage Evernote! Also applicable to other apps, of course. Enjoy! Check out the Official GTD® Virtual Study Group website for resources from the call and much more:

In this call from 2021, we talk about the challenges of working from home and non-stop video conferencing as knowledge workers all over the world were forced into this new dynamic because of COVID stay-at-home mandates. We've now had a couple of years (who saw that coming?!) to adjust, but much of the same challenges remain. This is a great episode with lots of great insight! Enjoy! Check out the Official GTD Virtual Study Group website for resources from the call and more:

So you've got a bunch of projects or a couple of huge projects with lots of moving pieces. How do you keep all those plates spinning without any falling plates? What's the workflow to help you see the big picture while still managing all the next actions? We talk about this in the abstract, but also in a tangible way. Bullet journal, anyone? This episode is overflowing with tips and ideas! Enjoy! Check out the Official GTD Virtual Study Group website for resources from the call and more:

In this episode we discuss Contexts and how they are used in today’s world. Contexts and their relevance has been a controversial topic for years since people have mini computers in their pockets so all contexts are available all the time, almost. But then came a pandemic and we’re all home 24x7. So now what? The GTDVSG dives in and talks about what contexts mean to us in this new reality. Check out the Official GTD® Virtual Study Group website for resources from the call and more:

How do you improve your estimations of project timelines, or task timing? It’s such a vital piece of managing projects and managing expectations — of clients, of partners, of teammates, of spouses... of ourselves! In this episode we talk about how we all try to tackle this in our own worlds. Thanks to Alex K for suggesting this episode's topic via our Facebook Group! Check out the Official GTD® Virtual Study Group website for resources from the call and more:

Our world is a little topsy turvy at the moment. We’re all experiencing a paradigm shift that was not a personal choice any of us made. So how can you adapt and cope with it all? How can GTD help to serve you and bring a little normalcy to your world. We dive into that and share what we’ve been doing, what’s been working and not working. A big THANK YOU to our essential service workers!!! Stay safe, VSGer’s! ❤️ Check out the Official GTD® Virtual Study Group website for resources from the call and more:

Sometimes it's tricky to separate our personal and professional lives in our systems. Sometimes we have to due to requirements, but if we don’t then things can get a little muddled. So how do we keep our systems working for us? And then there’s the struggle to get our partners/colleagues/teammates to also do GTD. We talk about all this and more in this episode of the GTDVSG! Enjoy! Check out the Official GTD® Virtual Study Group website for resources from the call and more:

Continuing the topic of Focusing on Goals from last episode, today we shared some more practical ideas around making those goals become projects and next actions. We talked about SMART goals, as well as, flexibility, and periodic reviews for alignment. And we looked defining those amorphous goals, you know... the ones that sound like pipe dreams. Who doesn’t need a little help with that?! Enjoy! Check out the Official GTD® Virtual Study Group website for resources from the call and more:

We’re getting started on considering this past year and planning for the upcoming year a little early! What did you do differently this year that worked? What new tricks did you implement that benefited your process? What started to really click and why? We dive into all this and so much more on this episode! Enjoy! Check out the Official GTD® Virtual Study Group website for resources from the call and more:

Today we talk transitions, like leaving a job, starting a job, moving, etc. Transitions are also a great time to take a look at your higher horizons and see if there are bigger shifts at play in your world, or if maybe they should be. We dive into multiple levels of the conversation in this episode. Enjoy! Check out the Official GTD® Virtual Study Group website for resources from the call and more:

This is the recap for Day Two of the #GTDSummit which happened in Amsterdam in June 2019. The theme of the Summit from David Allen: The strategic value of space There are no problems, only projects Again, there was way too much content in the Summit to cover in an hour recap, but we did our best. 😉 Enjoy!! Check out the Official GTD® Virtual Study Group website for resources for the call and more:

So the #GTDSummit 2019 just happened in Amsterdam. And, WOW, was it awesome! By popular request, we’re doing a recap of the summit. In this episode we cover much of Day One of the Summit. We’ll cover Day Two in the next episode. There was way too much content in the Summit to cover in an hour, but we did our best. 😉 Enjoy!! The theme of the Summit from David Allen: The strategic value of space There are no problems, only projects Official GTD® Virtual Study Group website: