For more than 20 years, David Allen has been a management consultant and executive coach. Allen’s first book Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity, published in 2001, became a National Bestseller. Allen has been called a personal productivity guru whose work has been featured in Fast Company, Fortune, the Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and other publications.

Getting Things Done is divided into three parts. Part 1 provides an outline for getting control of your life through the five stages of mastering workflow: collection, processing, organizing, reviewing and doing. Part 2, which is well over half the book, repeats a lot of what is said in Part 1, but provides much more detail on the application of Allen’s methodology. Part 3 explains why Allen’s methods work and the benefits to be gained from using his approach.

The entire process, including inputs, processing/thinking, and outputs (actions and action lists), is conveniently summarized in a flowchart provided in the book. Allen’s philosophy is that to be one’s most productive self, one must be able to think clearly. In order to think clearly, one must have completely downloaded from one’s short-term memory or RAM (like computer RAM) all the “open loops” — unfulfilled commitments one has made to oneself. This frees the mind to do naturally what it does best — think about things rather than of things. Allen gives pointers for using one’s critical thinking skills, including three methods for making decisions about what actions to take, in Chapter 9.

Once one has everything off his mind and written down, in paper or electronically, one has to decide, “What’s the next action?” This is THE critical question. Once this is decided, the action must be completed or tracked in a trusted system, such as a Personal Digital Assistant or PDA.

Allen also has a two-minute rule, which states that as one goes through their in-box and determines next actions, any next action that can be completed in two minutes or less should be completed immediately. In this way, a lot of items are touched only once and are forever cleared from “psychic RAM.”

Allen outlines a process for getting RAM cleared in the first place and then for keeping it clear on a daily basis, as new things come into one’s “in” box. The “What’s the next action?” question must be asked on the front-end, when the item from the “in” box is first reviewed.

Applying Allen’s system is put forth as a way for today’s knowledge worker to have a competitive edge in the new millennium. His system is as applicable to one’s home environment and projects as it is to one’s work. He also claims it can help procrastinators.

Getting Things Done is part tools and techniques, part psychology. Allen says that mastering your time enables you to live in the present moment. This may be the true gift of this book.

It’s not easy to see how these concepts help you until you actually do it. So try it.

Buy and read “Getting Things Done”.

Source: Wiki Summaries

Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity

UK – 14th January, 2008 – A free service to help start-ups and small businesses increase their productivity and competitiveness through technology is now available to companies based in Yorkshire & Humber, the South East and the South West regions of England.

The Business IT Guide was developed by e-skills UK in collaboration with market leaders such as Oracle, EDS, IBM, Accenture, Cisco, Microsoft, HP, Smart421 and BT, and has been tested extensively with small businesses.

The Guide is a user friendly online tool that helps businesses access a wide range of high quality, independent advice to help them fully exploit technology.  Advice includes:

• everything a new business needs to know – from complying with legislation to security;
• where to go for trusted information;
• how to properly introduce and manage technology;
• how to deal with the resource implications: cost, training, time; and
• how to plan for growth and changing needs.

There are five separate routes to advice and information via the Guide:

1. a self help tool – designed to help those unsure of their ICT needs;
2. facts – designed to encourage people to take action;
3. hot tips – designed to have an immediate impact;
4. The Guide library – with all 72 Business IT Guides listed; and
5. search facilities.

Keri-Ann Davies, Business Adviser for the Welsh Assembly Government, said:

“In the past I have made use of the Business Link website and found the best practice IT advice very useful.  The Business IT Guide seems to provide more advanced information than was previously available through Business Link, and also includes the built in search facilities and links.  I found it extremely informative.”

“e-Learning can also greatly enhance a small businesses acquisition of skills and delivery of training”, said Sean Griffin, Co-Founder of Learn Skills, the web-based skills and compliance training company, “and it is for that reason that we are developing training programs tailored to the needs of both SMEs and new start-ups.”

Source: e-skills Passport Winter newsletter

Ireland – 25th June 2008 – Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade & Employment Mary Coughlan TD, launched two new FÁS initiatives:

• Training of Workers with Lower Levels of Qualification
• SME Management Development

Ireland’s future economic prosperity will depend on the development of the skills of our workforce. We must continually upgrade the skills of those at work. It is through this process of constantly upskilling our workers that Irish companies will be able to secure a long term competitive advantage.

The SME Management Development initiative is targeted on the need for businesses to also develop the skills of their workforce and therefore enhance productivity and competitiveness. The training programmes are being constructed in such a way that the current and prospective, growth-related, needs of SMEs in Ireland are kept fully up to-date.

Speaking at the launch of the FÁS initiatives the Tanaiste said “In recent years, the Government has significantly increased funding through FÁS for the training and up skilling of persons in employment. This reflects our commitment to improving national competitiveness through training and development. These new FÁS initiatives, which over the next two years will deliver training and development to over 11,500 employed people, collectively represent a total investment of €19 million in the development of our workforce”.

The Tanaiste added “Experience has shown that well-trained managers, who realise the benefits of up-skilling for themselves, are also more likely to recognise the value of across-the-board training for other levels of the workforce.

This in turn facilitates and drives training for workers with lower qualifications. Therefore the suites of courses being launched today are in fact complementary to each other.

The initiatives being launched represent a major step forward in implementing Government policy in this regard, with the objective of ensuring that we have the best educated and most highly trained workforce possible in Ireland going forward”.

FÁS Director General Rody Molloy emphasised “It is those people at the lower end of the labour market who are now the most vulnerable to competition from low cost economies. It is their jobs, which can be most easily replicated. Many of these workers have low levels of skills and educational attainments. This has got to change. In future the key to long-term employment will be through a process of lifelong learning, where the skills of Irish workers, both of jobseekers and those already in employment, will undergo continuous upgrading throughout their careers and not just before they enter the workforce”

Source: FAS Press Release

Why are more companies choosing e-Learning for corporate training?
“e-Learning delivers more training to more people for less money. e-Learning saves time, money, resources, and it delivers measurable, tangible results”, according to Sean Griffin, Co-Founder of Learn Skills, the web-based skills and compliance based company.
Instant access to information is one of the driving factors in today’s Knowledge Economy. Lifelong learning is the key to a successful career. The key to this success is moving knowledge from the people who have it to the people who need it. e-Learning gives you the power to do exactly that. Virtually anyone can sharpen skills or develop new ones.
Key benefits associated with e-Learning with Learn Skills include:

• Inexpensive and Cost Savings: Without travel time or expenses, you’re putting more of your training budget into training, thus saving up to 40 to 60 percent. And students can access their courses as often as they need.
• Accessibility of Training: Deliver knowledge on-demand, with up-to-the-minute information. Learners can access training instantly, when and where they want or need it, either at the office or at home, 24/7.
• Flexibility: Students can choose from a variety of interactive self-paced courses, and they can take advantage of our extensive course listing. They have the option to complete a course in one session and split it into smaller chunks.
• Consistency: e-Learning is a more consistent delivery and not not reliant on the skills and knowledge of the trainer.
• Measurement: Learn Skills provides a selection of tools and applications to monitor learner’s progress, and produce detailed activity reports. You can easily monitor what employees have learned, when they’ve completed courses, how they performed, and their levels of improvement.
• Variety: Hundreds of in-depth courses are available instantly; covering everything from business skills and leadership to workplace safety and IT.

Learn Skills provides you with the learning environment that engages the unsupervised learner, resulting in employees who show more participation, more enthusiasm, and ultimately, greater learning success and increased productivity.

Our staff are ready to help you with any questions you may have, simply contact us.