08 - Getting Things Done (GTD) Revisited: More Done or More Present? - David Allen
"Your mind is for having ideas, not holding them."
28.10.2026 95 min
Zusammenfassung & Show Notes
Is GTD just a system for getting more done? With David Allen, creator of Getting Things Done, we explore what a clear head really gives you: focus when it’s time to act, and openness for what you can’t plan. For anyone who wants less mental noise and more presence. 🧭
ℹ️ About this episode
Attention has become the scarcest resource of our time and everything unresolved keeps pulling at it. David Allen, creator of Getting Things Done, walks us through the five steps of GTD and the six horizons of focus, from your next phone call to your life purpose. Together we explore GTD as a balance between focused attention and open awareness, David's idea of "appropriate engagement", his 15 years of practicing Holacracy in his own company, and how to deal with global crises you can't do anything about but sit in your head as open loops. GTD makes the plannable available so we can be available for the unplannable. You’ll leave with a clear map of the method – and a better question than “How do I get more done?”: What has my attention, and does it deserve it?
🎙️ Guest – David Allen
David Allen is the creator of the Getting Things Done® methodology and author of the bestseller Getting Things Done (2001), published in over 28 languages. A consultant, coach and educator for over four decades, he is considered a leading authority on personal and organizational productivity.
🔴 Topics
- GTD in a nutshell: five steps – capture, clarify, organize, reflect, engage
- David’s path: from his mentor Dean and a 1,000-manager pilot at Lockheed in 1983/84 to the book in 2001
- Capture: get everything that has your attention out of your head – your mind is a poor reminder system that wakes you at 3 a.m. about things you can’t act on. The "second brain" and the "inner committee"
- Clarify: What’s the outcome? What’s the next action? Simple questions most people only ask when a crisis forces them to
- Organize: park things where you’ll see them at the right time and place – lists by context, waiting for, agendas and someday/maybe
- Reflect: why the weekly review is the cornerstone – without it, everything crawls back into your head – and why it’s a surprisingly creative process
- The six horizons of focus: connecting today’s actions to your areas of responsibility, goals, vision and purpose
- Engage: choosing what to do by context, time, energy and priority – and trusting your intuition, including the afternoon nap
- GTD as a polarity between focused attention and open awareness – and David's concept of "appropriate engagement" and a "mind like water" state. Not working harder, but being engaged at the right level with every part of your life, from your health to your spiritual life
- Common traps: optimizing the system instead of doing the work
- GTD in teams – the osmotic effect of one person getting their act together, and why teams without GTD need more meetings
- The polycrisis as an open loop: what to do with what you can't change ("accept it, ignore it or play with it" – like gravity)
- Aging and GTD: less complexity, same practice – David still "eats his own dog food"
🔗 Links & Resources
- GTD on YouTube
- David Allen – Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity (2001, revised edition 2015)
- David Allen & Edward Lamont – Team: Getting Things Done with Others (2024)
- Our attention–awareness polarity map of GTD ☯️
👥 Hosts
Tobias Klose – Consultant and facilitator of collaboration, conflict resolution, and organizational transformation. He connects the development of inner and relational maturity with resilient, effective structures. With a business background, founder and integral-systemic Agile and Holacracy Coach.
Dennis Wittrock – freelance trainer and consultant for collaboration and self-organization, certified Holacracy Master Coach, co-founder of the Integral European Conference, and former managing director of the Integral Forum Germany. Author of the book "Understanding Holacracy. Criticism - Research - Practice"
Dennis Wittrock – freelance trainer and consultant for collaboration and self-organization, certified Holacracy Master Coach, co-founder of the Integral European Conference, and former managing director of the Integral Forum Germany. Author of the book "Understanding Holacracy. Criticism - Research - Practice"
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🇺🇸 This podcast is bilingual with episodes in German and English. 🇩🇪 Dieser Podcast ist zweisprachig mit Folgen auf Deutsch und Englisch.