David Allen Quotes

Your mind is for having ideas, not holding them.

You can do anything, but not everything.

Much of the stress that people feel doesn't come from having too much to do. It comes from not finishing what they've started.

You can't manage time, you actually only manage what you do during time. So the management issue is not so much about time, it's more about how do you manage your focus, how do you manage your actions and your activities in terms of what you do.

Things rarely get stuck because of lack of time. They get stuck because the doing of them has not been defined.

Small things done consistently, in strategic places, create major impact.

Your ability to generate power is directly proportional to your ability to relax

If you don't pay attention to the things that have your attention, you'll give them more attention than they deserve.

First of all, if it's on your mind, your mind isn't clear. Anything you consider unfinished in any way must be captured in a trusted system outside your mind, or what I call a collection bucket, that you know you'll come back to regularly and sort through.

You can claim that God is guiding you and revealing to you the answer or solution to your problem. Accept the truth that the nature of Infinite Intelligence is to respond to you, and you will receive an answer without the aid of any man. You can boldly affirm, “I am whole, perfect, strong, loving, illumined, prosperous and inspired.” As you continue to affirm these truths and feel and believe what you claim, without the help or cooperation of anyone, you will express what you feel to be true. Remember, whatever you attach to I AM, you become.

The sense of anxiety and guilt doesn't come from having too much to do; it's the automatic result of breaking agreements with yourself.

It's easier to change directions if you are in motion.

What you'll tend to avoid doing is probably the most important thing you need to do because it'll probably be the most daunting and the most potentially successful thing you could be doing and that's usually out of people's comfort zone.

You can do anything, but you can't do everything

Most often, the reason something is "on your mind" is that you want it to be different than it currently is, and yet: you haven't clarified exactly what the intended outcomes is; you haven't decided what the very next physical action step is; and/or you haven't put reminders of the outcome and the action required in a system you trust. That's why it's on your mind.

A successful executive is one that solves bigger problems than he/she creates.

Want freedom? Get organized. Want to get organized? Get creative.

My opinion is that anybody offended by breastfeeding is staring too hard

Once a week, do a thorough review of all your projects in as much detail as you need to. If you do, your systems will work. If you don't, no system will work.

Most people move actually into high performance in a crisis because that creates the kind of focus that creates high performance.

A lot of people have nothing very well organized, and a lot of people have nothing, very well organized.

'I need milk' and 'I need to decide whether to buy this company' both tie up space in psychic RAM. The solution is simple. Write it down. Look at it. Do it or say to yourself 'not now'.

Sometimes the biggest gain in productive energy will come from cleaning the cobwebs, dealing with old business, and clearing the desks—cutting loose debris that's impeding forward motion.

The great secret about goals and visions is not the future they describe but the change in the present they engender.

It's hard to be fully creative without structure and constraint. Try to paint without a canvas. Creativity and freedom are two sides of the same coin. I like the best of both worlds. Want freedom? Get organized. Want to get organized? Get creative.