Time & Location

Friday, September 7, 2007, 3:15PM - 4:00PM, Conservatory

Speakers

Marc Orchant (Moderator), Tech Editor, blognation USA
Ismael Ghalimi, Chief Executive Officer, Intalio
Mark Mader, Chief Executive Officer, Smartsheet.com
Tim Norton, Chief Executive Officer, PlanHQ
Michael Sliwinski, Founder, Nozbe
Robert Walker, Founder, Vitalist

Abstract

From the moderator (Marc): I've been using David Allen's Getting Things Done (GTD) methods since 2001 when I was first exposed to his approach to "stress-free productivity" shortly after the book was first published. David and I have gotten to know each other well over the years and I currently do an occasional podcast with him called Tech GTD for his GTD Connect subscription service. I have blogged and podcasted about GTD for years. It has had a profound affect on my work and my play.

If you spend anytime in the blogosphere, you've certainly noticed that techies love GTD. David thinks this is because techies in general and developers in particular are big fans of structure — especially ones they can manipulate and GTD combines those two qualities very nicely. In the past year, a number of web-based tools have emerged that are specifically built with GTD in mind.

Nozbe — developed by Michael Sliwinski who is traveling all the way from Poland to join us in this discussion — is an excellent example of just such a tool and, as an added bonus, he's recently made an iPhone optimized version (iNozbe) available as well.

Robert Walker, one of the creators of Vitalist, will be on the panel. Vitalist provides another option for web-based GTD management of projects and actions and provides, in addition to an iPhone-optimized UI, a gadget for iGoogle, the personalized home page offered by... well, you know.

Mark Mader, CEO of Smartsheet, will also be on the panel. Smartsheet.com was a big winner at the recent Under the Radar event taking home both a Best in Show and Best in Category award. This online application combines a spreadhseet interface with e-mail and file sharing to provide an interactive solution to team productivity that combines essential Office 2.0 qualities with a framework that can be readily adapted to follow many GTD principles.

Tim Norton is traveling all the way from New Zealand to be with us in San Francisco. Tim is CEO of PlanHQ, a web-based application that helps focus a company on it's goals and plan how to achieve them — a very GTD-like approach to starting or growing a company.

GTD is well suited for the work anywhere, anytime approach that is Office 2.0 and the panel will discuss the way technology solutions can be used to align with David Allen's core productivity principles to help you achieve a "mind like water" — I'll explain in the session, it's a GTD thing.

If you're already using GTD or have been curious about why so many bloggers, technologists, and business people have been buzzing about this approach to productivity, please come prepared with questions, anecdotes, and stories. Every time I'm involved in a group discussion about Getting Things Done, I walk away with new ideas about how to get more done, be less stressed about what I have to do, and feel ready to go tackle my inbox and get it empty!

Notes

GTD is a registered trademark of The David Allen Company.

References

• David Allen & Co.