David Allen (born December 28, 1945) is an American author and productivity consultant. He created the time management method Getting Things Done.
Careers Allen grew up in Shreveport, Louisiana where he acted and won a state championship in debate. He attended New College (now New College of Florida) in Sarasota, Florida, and completed graduate work in American history at the University of California, Berkeley.Keith H. Hammonds, April 30, 2000. "You can do anything – but not everything" Fast Company, retrieved April 8, 2010
After graduate school, Allen began using heroin and was briefly institutionalized.Wolf, Gary. September 25, 2007 Getting Things Done Guru David Allen and His Cult of Hyperefficiency Wired : 15.10 He is an ordained minister with the Movement of Spiritual Inner Awareness.Jack Coats, 2000. "David Allen – Ministering to the Business Community" The New Day Herald online retrieved January 18, 2008Jack Coats, 2000. "Getting Things Done: David Allen's Keys to Completion" The New Day Herald online retrieved October 24, 2007 He claims to have had 35 professions before age 35.David E. Williams, February 9, 2007 Cutting through the clutter to get things done CNN He began applying his perspective on productivity with businesses in the 1980s when he began consulting at Lockheed's human resources department.
Publications Allen has written three books: Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity, which describes his productivity program; Ready for Anything: 52 Productivity Principles for Work and Life, a collection of newsletter articles he has written; Making It All Work: Winning at the Game of Work and Business of Life, a follow-up to his first book. In 2015, he also wrote a new updated version of Getting Things Done: the Art of Stress-Free Productivity.
In 2024, David Allen has co-authored Team: Getting Things Done with Others on how to work effectively in groups using GTD Principles.
Personal life Allen lived in Ojai, California with his fourth wife, Kathryn. In 2014, they moved to Amsterdam in the Netherlands.
Bibliography
References
Further reading Beardsley, David. (April 1998) "Don't Manage Time, Manage Yourself." Fast Company. Issue 14, p. 64. Fallows, James. (July/August 2004) "Organize Your Life!." Atlantic Monthly. Vol. 294, No. 1, pp. 171–2. Wolf, Gary. September 25, 2007 Getting Things Done Guru David Allen and His Cult of Hyperefficiency Wired : 15.10
External links
The David Allen Company website Crucial Learning's Getting Things Done course