BERT VERDONCK, lifehacker & networking coach » GTD

GTD with fun

bertverdonck — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 16:27:54 +0000

“Getting Things Done with Fun”

- Bert Verdonck -

This is definitely another perfect quote for me. GTDWF, Getting Things Done with Fun! What I really mean is that a lot of people are so focused on GTD alone that their life becomes a mechanical process. They might have a “mind like water”, but are they happy? Do they have fun? Some successful GTD-addicts don’t know what to do with their free time? How’s that possible? Why did they start applying GTD in the first place?

So, as a Creator, I know that I always want to improve things. I am great at starting new things and new projects. And I admit, I am sometimes less of a finsiher. But, I am always looking to have fun! And the fun takes me to some extra steps, sometimes the necessary ones to finish a certain project. Here is my advice : Have fun, always!

It’s up to you to do something with it (or not). And if you’d be looking for ways to improve your life, how would you approach GTD with more fun? What action do you take?

Anyway, have fun in the process, always

David Allen Dinner

bertverdonck — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 14:13:49 +0000

I am excited! Tonight I’ll be having dinner with Mr. GTD himself, David Allen, in Amsterdam. How cool is that?

I keep you posted on his insights and my experience

Have fun, always,

Bert Verdonck
Lifehacker & Life Coach

David Allen Interview

bertverdonck — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 23:02:10 +0000

David Allen, auteur van “Getting Things Done” (GTD) en “Making It All Work”, omschrijft zichzelf als een zeer luie persoon. Naast enkele basiselementen beschrijft hij wat GTD uniek maakt en vertelt hij over hoe het 4 jaar duurde om GTD te publiceren. Een audio-fragment ligt zijn levensfilosofie toe en hij sluit af met een concrete tip.

Lees het volledige artikel op lifehacking.nl!

David Allen

bertverdonck — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 23:27:11 +0000

Getting Things Done was in 2008 what was the 4-Hour Workweek (Tim Ferris) in 2007 for me…probably the best book I have read last year

So, David Allen is as you all know, one of the most sought after global experts in the field of productive work. He is one of the gurus for the lifehacking community and a great guy. How would I know? Well, I interviewed him lately!

And you can have a chance of seeing David Allen live as well, because he’s coming over to Europe. On the 17th februari, he’s in Dortmund (Germany) and on the 19th in Amsterdam (the Netherlands). I am definitely going to the Dortmund event: the Making it all work – seminar!

Would you like to go too ? Let me know and I’ll buy you a drink!

Would you like to have a chance at winning a free ticket? Or do you just want to give the organisers a helping hand? Then take 5 minutes to fill out this questionnaire about GTD. Yes, you’ll get it done in less than 5 minutes and they really, really need a 100 more people to take the questionnaire

Of course, check my blog regularly, because I’ll be back with some great insights from the interview with David!

Enjoy every day,

Bert Verdonck
Lifehacker & Life Coach

Productivity Myth

bertverdonck — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 15:31:10 +0000

Some people tell me they don’t have time for (creating) a system. They need to change right now, but have no time for change. So, they keep running things like before. And guess what? Yes, they actually get similar results! On top of that, they keep on complaining, because nothing ever changes and they keep on going nowhere.

Another thing they believe is that if they spend time setting up and maintaining a todo-list and doing regular (weekly?) reviews, they’ll never get anything done.

Of course, most systems take some time to get set up, but once you start using your system, the time you use in “maintenance” is more than compensating for the time you save not having to think about what to do (next)– or making up for the things you didn’t remember to do. So, you see, having a system creates extra time!

I know, improving your system will save you more time, so you have to invest in making things better…every time! This will cost you more time in the beginning, but it will save you more and more. Now, if someone shows you a shortcut on how to get things done in a smarter, more efficient way, you are actually improving a lot.

Then the choice is yours what you would do with the extra time you have saved. You could invest it in saving more time in other areas of your life, or you could have more fun with friends and family or you could spend it with doing nothing and not using the shortcut at all. This way you can continue to complain and demotivate others But that’s not who we are, right?

So, what would you do? And what does your system looks like?

Read this article, if you want to read more on productivity myths.

Enjoy every day,

Bert Verdonck
Lifehacker

Lifehacking Academy Maarssen

bertverdonck — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 20:56:21 +0000

Vandaag naar de nieuwste Lifehacking Academy in Maarssen geweest. In één woord : FANTASTISCH!

Het is een evenement voor professionals die meer tijd over willen houden voor de dingen die er echt toe doen! Zoals bijvoorbeeld manieren om slimmer samen te werken of om efficiënter te communiceren met Social Media. Uiteraard kon David Allen’s GTD niet ontbreken (meer hier over binnenkort!) en was het Tools en Gadget Hour bijzonder geslaagd!

Ook Taco’s Fingertips heeft me geboeid, binnenkort een aparte blog hierover…

Martijn, Anja, Frank en alle anderen hebben er opnieuw een mooi professioneel event van gemaakt. Ik ben er bij de volgende opnieuw bij! Jij ook?

Enjoy every day,

Bert Verdonck
Lifehacker

Getting Things Started

bertverdonck — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 20:08:57 +0000

A lot of lifehacks are inspired by David Allen’s bestseller Getting Things Done (GTD). You also know that I am into Roger Hamilton’s Wealth Dynamics (Creator!). Now, if I combine the best of both worlds, I come up with Getting Things Started (GTS). This suits me better!

With GTS I am in flow, because I create stuff. I love it and it comes naturally and easily. I think about problems and solve it, mostly with lifehacks, but in a way I am really great at GTS. I get the overall picture and get my solution across.

Looking at GTD however, makes me realize that it is quite a different ballgame. Being a creative person makes me loose focus sometimes, head in the clouds and it means working on different things at the same time. That works just fine for me, but it takes a lot of energy, because I keep on starting new things and well, I often don’t finish them…On top of that it takes even more energy, because when the fun (for me it’s creating the solution) is gone, all that remains is hard work to get things done. In my former professional life, I used to be a project manager (long time ago!) and I was excellent at solving every hurdle along the way and at motivating my team to deliver on time. If it was a boring project, with few challenges, it took me ages to deliver. Now I know why

So, what lesson did I learn from all this?
That to stay in flow, I must focus on my creator-profile (Getting Things Started!) and build a dreamteam that is excellent at finishing stuff, Getting Things Done!

By the way, what kind of person are you? An outstanding starter? Or a great finisher?

Enjoy every day,
Bert Verdonck
Create, Connect & Contribute