The GTD® Virtual Study Group

Delve into the art of capturing thoughts and tasks effectively! Explore techniques like journaling and using digital tools to streamline your workflow. Learn the nuances of managing new information and the emotional weight of unaddressed tasks. Discover strategies for capturing ideas during social interactions without losing the moment. Plus, get practical tips for connecting with the community and enhancing your productivity through effective task management!

Inside the virtual studio today is my guest Joel Zaslofsky. Joel is also the self-titled Chief Simplifier, Curator, and Founder at ValueofSimple.com. He hosts the popular Smart and Simple Matters podcast and most recently, the author of Experience Curating: How to Gain Focus, Increase Influence, and Simplify Your Life. In this episode, we dig deep into understanding simplicity, minimalism, the art of capturing information, and how to be more mindful and curate your existence. What I learned was that curating is actually tied very closely to the tenants of capturing, processing, organizing, and reviewing in GTD®.  You'll be as fascinated as me as Joel talks about how his personal renaissance began led him to leaving a cushy six-figure corporate job to lead what many would consider to be an unconventional career path. He set out to help people simplify, organize, and be money wise. He says his goals are straightforward: to help you rock the unsexy and undervalued side of life. -Daniel Official GTD® Virtual Study Group website:

A great call covering a mixed bag of GTD topics, asked and answered by those on the live call. We started out with a follow-up to last month’s call hearing about Mike Schroff’s implementation using OneNote. From there we moved on to overflowing email inboxes, Inbox Zero, collaborative platforms, ‘mind like water’, weekly reviews, daily reviews, and more. A little something for everyone in this fun call! Hope you enjoy! Official GTD® Virtual Study Group website:

In this podcast, we'll talk about what happens when you veer off the GTD path! A listener wrote in asking specifically, “…for those who decide to not rigidly conform to the GTD rules, what is their understanding of the principles involved, and why do they choose not to follow the rules in these cases?”  What an excellent topic, right?! We're really excited to hear from folks on that topic, as well as, what parts of the GTD® methodology they couldn’t live without, plus what modifications or additions they’ve included in their systems. Official GTD® Virtual Study Group website:

In an incredibly exclusive event, I had heavy hitters Hal Elrod, Craig Jarrow, Laura Vankerkam, and Mike Vardy join me in a virtual roundtable to talk about whether it is better to start your day before the sun rises, or wait until after the sun goes down to really ramp up your productivity. This topic has become increasingly more and more popular as so many people are looking to squeeze in as many hours as they can to get things done. In this episode, we talk about the basics of rising early, what the research tells us, what the blogosphere is saying, and most importantly, whether you love to rise early or stay up late, we talked about how to create a successful plan to help you become more productive, more successful, and more passionate about life! Plus, you may be surprised to know that Hal wakes up at 3:30AM -- just and hour and a half after Mike has gone to sleep! There were so many marvelous nuggets of wisdom shared by these very well known folks in the productivity and motivational space. You absolutely need to listen to every minute of this recording to soak in all of the fabulous pieces of advice. Here's their incredible bios ... and don't forget, listen to every minute of this program! -Daniel Official GTD® Virtual Study Group website:

Happy New Year! This was a great call with lots of engagement! A couple of concepts around focus and intentionality have been really hot topics in the productivity space lately, what with the new year approaching and all. A big one is Chris Brogan’s “My Three Words”. And, similarly, in Daniel’s latest interview for GTD® VSG with Timo Kiander, I was really struck with Timo’s approach to intentionality and focus. He explained how he made a conscious choice to gain hours in his day by getting up early to get his workouts in. And he was intentional in his other choices of what to do, or not do, in order to stay on focus. I thought with the new year upon us, why not have a conversation around focus, intentionality, Horizons of Focus, Areas of Focus and Responsibility, and how we can all benefit from building that into our GTD® systems to support us throughout the year. -Michelle Official GTD® Virtual Study Group website:

I had the pleasure of having Timo Kiander, the Productive Superdad in our virtual studio. You're really going to enjoy this interview! Timo is a full time blogger at , runs the , has written for Lifehack.org, Dumb Little Man, WorkAwesome.com, ProBlogger, IQTell, Think Traffic, he's been on other podcasts such as Entrepreneur Idea Dads, been interviewed by Time Management Magazine, and so many more. Most recently, he wrote a book called . On top of all that he spends his fee time running marathons and triathlons! What a great interview and I can't wait for you to listen to this latest exclusive podcast! -Daniel Official GTD® Virtual Study Group website:

In this GTD Virtual Study group live call, we talked about the conundrum of whether to use one productivity system or two. There was a lot of very good feedback and exchange on the call about whether or not to separate work and personal tasks managers and calendars. Thanks to one of our GTD VSG listeners, DeAngelis Bright, for suggesting this topic! Official GTD® Virtual Study Group website:

We had on the virtual studio, Ryder Carroll, the creator of a new way of taking notes and getting things done, The Bullet Journal. This Bullet Journal system is not only highly innovative, shows incredible entrepeneurialship on Ryder’s part, and reinforces a huge point for me, which is that if you are smart, hard working, believe in something passionately, and can develop a sound strategic business plan, you can make anything happen online. His website is gorgeous, his video is simply awesome and Ryder’s Bullet Journal has sparked tons of comments online, generated lots of fan-based blog posts, and overall, has absolutely gone viral! In this episode, I ask Ryder what prompted him to create this system. His story is truly personal and it reinforced a very important point for me - that productivity is so very personal. Yet, anyone can leverage his system as a framework and develop their own system with his as a foundation. In many ways, it is like what so many people have done with Getting Things Done methodology. We also talked about whether he is all analog all the time. You may be surprised by his answer! Lastly, I took many of your questions that you pre-submitted online to me. Official GTD® Virtual Study Group website:

In this episode of the GTD Virtual Study Group, we covered to big topics! The first is my big announcement regarding the format of the study group, and the second is our topic for our group discussion today on overwhelm. First, my big announcement! On the fourth Thursday of each month, I’ll be releasing an exclusive interview with another expert in the productivity space. I will have recorded that program over the weekend on my free time, which allows me to spend all of my focus during the week where it should be with my clients. And, on the second Thursday of each month, we will have the live call. And so, I have decided to bring on a co-host to help me with the live portion of the program. Who else better to have as a co-host then a GTD Virtual Study Group listener since 2009, an avid GTD follower, and someone who has spent her professional life in management, project management, and people management across multiple industries. Someone who is adept at listening to people and organizational needs to help build solutions. That person is Michelle Gunn. You're going to love this show! Michelle is an amazing moderator and in this first program with her co-hosting, she helped moderate an incredibly amazing and inspiring conversation on how to overcome that feeling of overwhelm. Please welcome Michelle as the new co-host of the program!! Official GTD® Virtual Study Group website: