QUESTION: Is there something else besides GTD worth exploring in the area of personal process management?
DAVID ALLEN: Frankly there is nothing in the area of “personal process management” beyond the GTD process itself. Many people mistake GTD as something that has to have all the suggestions in the book in some format; and most people think of GTD as a “system” instead of a “systematic process,” which it really is. Anything that “customizes” GTD or says it goes beyond it is simply saying that for some people in certain circumstances that systematic process may look like x, y, or z.
Whatever gets something off someone’s mind, that creates more cognitive space and freedom to be present and put your attention where you want it, with no distraction, is GTD. IF you could hire 40 people to follow you around, wherever, to whom you could trust off-loading any ideas or potential future reminders about anything and walk you through whatever thinking you need to be doing about anything, at the appropriate time…you don’t need any tool or additional process. That would be GTD, as well.
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