GTD - Making It All Work

Want to know more about David Allen's new book? GTD - Making It All Work: Winning at the Game of Work and Business of Life, here is a full chapter excerpt on bNet.

Creativity and Play. Book review of "The Red Rubber Ball at Work" by Kevin Carroll

A fascinating book about the serious business of play is "The Red Rubber Ball at Work". Its all about play at work. Kevin Carroll reminds us of our childhood connections to play and of how often we have forgotten how. Forgotten how to play and the fun of it all.

Using a creative mix of book, internet, links and video, you are encouraged to discover your own game. Scoring in Business is like play. As in GTD like David Allen points out: its about "winning at the game of work and the business of life".

In this book we meet many successful people who have not forgotten how to play at work. I particularly enjoyed reading the different perspectives of play taken from different angles in peoples lives. Memories of childhood and how these childrens games and play went on to form the successes in adult life. Successes in every sense, part and walk of life.

Challenge yourself! And challenge your children to learn to play (with) music and share a lifetime of ways "to tap into imagination, be more inventive and discover new things" as Kevin Carroll discovered when he took up playing the Cello again.



At whatever age music and singing is a very creative way of learning. Like a recent school concert that my twins gave of Mozarts Requiem. Rehersals started several weeks ago. These were disciplined, repetitive and structured, teaching the children to listen to their own voice and that of the whole choir.

I was taken by the enthusiasm with which this singing project was undertaken. Shown in little comments, like Thomas coming home from school one afternoon "I want to learn Latin!" "Why?" "So I can understand what I am singing!"

Singing in the adult choir, I was able to experience how everything came together with orchestra, choir and finally the concert. Mozart's Requiem is a powerfully moving piece many will remember from the Film Amadeus. Days later the twins are still singing parts of the Requiem.

The Red Rubber Ball at Work needs to be understood from a child's perspective. And remembering how I loved to play as a child, I share Kevin's belief that play is essential to growth and development of healthy children.

At a young age, more important than learning to read or write, is learning to play. Many educators (and researchers) of young children realize the need for more playtime in spite of some worrying trends by national Governments.

Play is many things at work and Kevin shares interviews with authors such as Seth Godin, Malcolm Gladwell and Paulo Coehlo:

• Play is innovation
• Play is results
• Play is teamwork
• Play is leadership
• Play is curiosity

And now for something completly different! Monty Python - Office Sketch.


Please use the comments to share what your game is? Where is your ball? Which colour is yours?

GTD balancing act in three steps: The weekly review with kids

“Work and play are words used for the same thing under differing conditions” —Mark Twain

All good things come in three’s—just like the steps of the weekly review:

1. Get Clear
2. Get Current
3. Get Creative

Getting work done

First get clear. Collect everything in one place—the loose bits of paper, assignments, toys, (school) books and randomly ordered thoughts. Put it all in one place, like the IN basket. Then work it down until you get it is empty.

Doing this for myself regularly keeps me in control. Similarly with my children, the effects are most obvious when I am not asked where the clean socks or trousers are—the wash-IN basket is empty.

Or where that missing library book is to be found. And when my daughter has the conversation with me about doing less English at school so that she can concentrate more on her Russian. (We speak German together at home).

The balance between work and play

Then get current. Connecting with everything and identifying what to do with or about it, is a balancing act.

This is most obvious to me in the moment of now. In reviewing everything, I know how and when to keep in balance. That careful balancing act between work and play.

“The richest and fullest lives attempt to achieve inner balance between 3 realms: work, love and play. That to pursue one realm to the disregard of the other is to open oneself to ultimate sadness in older age. Whereas to pursue all 3 with equal dedication, is to make possible a life not only with achievement but with serenity.” —Doris Kearns Goodwin.
Doris Kearns Goodwin on learning from past presidents | Video on TED.com

How often do you get to play?

Get creative. Creative ideas seem easy for kids. Wild outrageous and seriously fun things are so easy for kids because it’s most like play.

Sometimes it is also important to do just nothing. Sit out in the garden and enjoy the view of how the seasons change. Or enjoy a coffee in your favorite café—doing nothing. Not even with your notebook. Just doing nothing can be the most productive time of the day. Kids do it (almost) all the time.

“Hey what are you doing?” — “Oh? Nothing!”

The habit of GTD

The music of GTD

The GTD weekly review is a great habit. Almost everywhere I read about its importance. Also the struggles some have. A recent lecture at school helped me understand why I struggle and how I learn.

Learning new habits

A habit is something we all have plenty of. Learning a new one takes time. Children are quick to learn but like me need time to make it their own. It takes something like 4 weeks to aquire a habit.

Every day diligent repetition of a task helps make that a habit. It takes a year to make a habit part of me. A skill. Longer still until that habit reaches perfection.

Music lessons and GTD

My children each play their own instrument. Charlotte the violin, Judit cello and Thomas piano. The daily rhythm of playing is important to establish. Weekly lessons support the practicing habit.

Orchestra rehersals and regular concerts bring joy to music. And the christmas street concerts are not only great fun, but raise extra pocket money too.

Goals and projects

"I want to play every weekend at the Market!" What do you need to do to get there? When can you play? How many songs do you know? Which are fitting for Christmas? Which piece are you going to learn next?

Focusing on these goals means we often forget that we are learning about habits. Its just about having fun!

Getting the (wash-) IN basket to empty

Getting wash done

I love the way David starts the RoadMap seminar: "this is all about the lazy way of getting things done". It just got me thinking. Where can I find more time for fun?

Getting the wash-IN basket to empty. It can be done in 2 minutes. Not all of it. However each stage in the process need not take longer. Be that collecting or processing, organising or reviewing - doing the wash, even big piles of it, takes me a couple of minutes at each stage.

Collect all the socks

We all need to do the wash. The piles grow everyday, especially with children. Mostly clothes just get dumped on the floor. In the oddest places too, like a left sock under the car seat or a sweater next to the sofa and a hat on the kitchen table. As a visiting friend once pointed out "this house is lived in!".

Collection is a continuous daily task to the wash-in basket.

Process, organise and colour code

What is this? Processing the wash-in basket gets done quickly. Involving the children can make this a fun task. It also takes the mystery out of what happens to my dirty trousers. And gives understanding to the question: where is my favorite shirt?

• COLLECT - all the socks and dirty stuff
• PROCESS - sort and colour code, one at a time
• ORGANISE - machine or hand wash? Dryer or hang it up?
• REVIEW - fold or iron, keep it or pass stuff on
• DO - putting it back, one thing at a time!

Like Michael Sliwinski mentioned in his last post on GTDtimes, doing things, like the wash, is all about the 2 minute rule.

Delegate it

I delegate tasks for the children. In fact they organise their own lists of who does what each week (more on lists in another posting). Collecting and putting away the wash for example are great habits to foster.