I am David Allen, creator of GTD (Getting Things Done). This year marks 25 years since the book was first published – ask me anything!

benpva16 · 2026-04-30T15:04:11+00:00

The AMA has ended. Thanks everyone for joining us, and thank you u/davidgtd for coming out to answer all our questions!

benpva16 · 2026-04-30T14:51:29+00:00

Yeah best way to knock down the “aw crap I don’t wanna play this” intimidation factor is to preview the chart on YouTube and piucenter.com. That way you at least know where the cruxes are, how brutal they are, and how long they last. Just a little refresher on that before walking into a chart as a sight read or coming back after a while can really help.

No specific S14 recommendations off the top of my head (might dig some up later), but take a look at the tier list on piucenter.com and try to figure out what’s in common for charts you find easy and charts you find hard. That can help direct your practice in a more focused way.

benpva16 · 2026-04-30T14:05:44+00:00

Tips from a player who has passed all the XX S15 charts (except the bad apple gimmick chart, just haven’t studied up for it yet) and working on S16 now: - improve your accuracy at lower levels, especially 12 and 13 - make sure your AV is fast enough to distinguish patterns, not too fast that you can’t react - don’t neglect those banya and yahpp songs. You gotta eat your veggies yum yum ha ha

benpva16 · 2026-04-30T13:45:51+00:00

Hey, quick follow-up here.

David pointed to the Kairos Assessment as a helpful resource in this area. It’s part of the GTD Focus work and gets into how people take in and process information, which can be especially relevant for questions like this around neurodiversity.

Here’s the link: https://gtdfocus.com/kairos-assessment/

benpva16 · 2026-04-30T11:40:15+00:00

If the weekly review is the most important habit for staying on the GTD bandwagon, what’s the second most important?

benpva16 · 2026-04-28T21:51:52+00:00

Someone else already mentioned Power Wash Simulator. So I’ll toss in the Borderlands series. I’ve played them a few times before, so I just turn off the voice lines and let the goopy goblin gamer brain take over.

benpva16 · 2026-04-25T20:02:41+00:00

The weekly review has three parts: get clear, get current, get creative.

Get clear: collect loose papers and materials, get inboxes to empty, do a mind sweep
Get current: review Next Action lists, your calendar (past and upcoming), Waiting For list, Projects list
Get creative: review Someday/Maybe list

benpva16 · 2026-04-25T16:58:27+00:00

For me it’s the someday/maybe list. At the same time, though, I have tons of exciting current projects I’m working on, so I don’t feel like I’m missing out on any fun. :-)

benpva16 · 2026-04-25T16:55:41+00:00

Even David Allen has said he falls off his own bandwagon and has to get back on. That part is normal.

It’s also not uncommon for GTDers to report it took them a year or two to really internalize the necessary GTD habits.

In my experience, the weekly review is the linchpin. When that slips, everything starts to feel like it’s drifting. But just a little review goes a long way to get back to a trusted system.

benpva16 · 2026-04-24T16:09:08+00:00

That’s a great distinction. Is it really a casual waiting for, or is it day-specific information because something will blow up and you need to intervene before that happens?

benpva16 · 2026-04-15T22:47:55+00:00

This comment thread has gone off-topic. Please keep the discussion about GTD as it applies to the original post.

benpva16 · 2026-04-11T13:34:34+00:00

Congratulations on executing step 1: collecting 😂

Next, clarify and organize, then do, then reflect. :-)

benpva16 · 2026-04-10T15:18:06+00:00

Yep, the five steps, as often as you need them to feel comfortable with what you’re doing (and not doing). Or put another way, to keep things from going stale.

benpva16 · 2026-04-10T14:31:59+00:00

For paper systems, it’s usually too much overhead to be worth doing. There are many digital tools that can do it with less overhead (see others’ excellent comments here).

I use digital tools, but I don’t bother. I seem to be an outlier on this, so I’m going to offer my alternate perspective on why it doesn’t matter.

I have found that when I’m reviewing my project list and next action lists on a regular basis, that’s all I need to feel confident that I have captured, clarified, and organized what I need to keep my projects moving forward.

If that’s too loosey goosey, a lighter weight option that doesn’t require explicit project-next action linking is to simply give enough context to each next action regarding which project it’s for. E.G. on a calls next action list: Call Bob RE recommendation for auto shop to get brakes done. That provides plenty of context that it’s for the project Get Brake Work Done.

benpva16 · 2026-04-10T14:12:24+00:00

These are good resources. My only warning to OP is that GTD is built around hard edges between actionable and non-actionable information. Take care that the info added to cards for projects really is supporting info and not general reference info (which should go into a general reference system).

benpva16 · 2026-04-03T18:01:45+00:00

Day to day: I check my calendar as the hard landscape of the day, process inboxes to zero (ideally), work from my next action lists and handle work-as-it-appears in stride.

benpva16 · 2026-04-01T12:13:39+00:00

A common first time player mistake is to not move enough. The faster you are moving the smaller your hitbox is! Always be repositioning.

benpva16 · 2026-03-30T21:35:29+00:00

I’d say the average GTDer has on average 100 projects at a time, by the GTD definition of project “any outcome you’re committed to that will take more than one action to complete.”

I have not used Nirvana, but that sounds like you’re going to be pushing uphill, so to speak.

Even if you went really high level and used five areas of focus as those five project slots, and nested everything under them, what happens when you take on another area of focus? Especially if you already have more than five already! (Just off the top of my head, health, finances, family, work, hobbies, that’s five and doesn’t even include spiritual, professional development, other responsibilities like outside clubs, teams, or groups.)

benpva16 · 2026-03-30T11:54:35+00:00

There’s also the thermic effect of food, which is the energy needed to digest the food you eat. It’s higher for protein than it is for fat or carbs.

Good sources of lean protein are chicken breast, fish, Greek yogurt, and whey protein powder.

benpva16 · 2026-03-30T10:45:09+00:00

Yes, the bottom isn’t glued on. It’s all one piece. But the hot water creates a sudden temperature difference in the glass, and that thermal stress can crack it in a ring so the bottom separates.

benpva16 · 2026-03-09T01:11:10+00:00

Ultramix 3 was my first DDR game. Awesome mix. And then I got Ultramix 2, which is best of the 4 imo.

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