Does this sound familiar?... No matter how well you plan your day, the day seems to get away from you and at the end of it you never seem to finish all of the tasks you anticipated finishing? This is the story of my life! It feels out of control. Thankfully there's a way out - it's called "GTD" (Getting Things Done), a time management, or more appropriately, life management methodology developed by best-selling author David Allen. This methodology is outlined in great detail in Getting Things Done, which is one of my all-time favorite business books.

Recently I had the distinct pleasure of sitting down with David Allen for a fascinating discussion. I asked him for solutions to the problems that still plagued me, despite being an enthusiastic student of GTD (I've written about GTD on multiple occasions).

David gives some some excellent answers on how to...

• eliminate time-stealing distractions,
• how avoidance affects success,
• how crisis negatively impacts your ability to think intelligently,
• how sometimes waiting until the last minute is the best way to get things done,
• the importance of emptying your email inbox,
• the usefulness of virtual assistants,
• and how the biggest barrier to self-expression and self-actualization is our own selves.

"You can't manage time," David said. "You actually only manage what you do during time. So the management issue is not so much about time, it's more about how you manage your focus, how you manage your actions and your activities in terms of what you do. That's one of the problems with that whole field of time management -- they mislabel the problem. Because they label the problem as time, everyone thinks that the calendar is going to be your solution, and it isn't."

In a deadline-driven, time-sensitive, stress-filled world, having the right strategies to deal with your myriad of responsibilities is essential to avoiding burnout and remaining permanently productive. With some elements of your professional life, David's advice is simple to apply, such as merely paying attention to what has your attention. With other things, you may find yourself facing off against tightly-held, self-destructive habits and behaviors that will prove difficult to disown.

Check out the podcast audio MP3 and read my article about the interview published this week on MarketingProfs.com.

I just got back from dinner with web content guru Gerry McGovern. I so enjoy our conversations; Gerry is such a smart guy. (BTW, hire him if you have a website or intranet and you want to learn how to make the content better). One of the many things we discussed was the concept of living a busy but unproductive life. So much of our lives is spent being "busy" but not terribly productive. It's an easy trap to fall into. I found in one of his past newsletters some wise words from Gerry on the topic of being busy:

"How often have you claimed to be 'too busy?' What exactly does that mean? For me it's an excuse. It means that I didn't do something because it just wasn't important enough for me to do. Or else it means I did something quickly, being too busy to do it right.

Being too busy is never an excuse. There have been 24 hours in a day for a long time now. There are 60 seconds in a minute, 60 minutes in an hour, seven days in a week. If you can't manage your own time, you shouldn't be allowed manage anyone else's.

Those who are always too busy are always on the phone. They're always on the Internet. Always firing off emails. Always flicking channels. Always late for meetings. Never get their reports in on time. Never can give you any time. Always communicating. Always communicating."

If only they'd stop and think sometimes.

This evening Gerry shared with me this quote from Edward de Bono: "Think slowly." He goes on to say: if you’re lucky, you may find one big idea during your lifetime. So, take your time because you’ve got plenty of time.

For me, what really puts this rat race called life into perspective is the following quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson:

“To laugh often and much
To win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children
To earn the appreciation of honest critics, and to endure the betrayal of false friends,
To appreciate beauty, to find the best in others,
To leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition
To know that even one life has breathed easier because you have lived,
This is to have succeeded�