{"id":22841,"date":"2025-05-11T16:52:04","date_gmt":"2025-05-11T23:52:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/?p=22841"},"modified":"2025-05-11T21:01:24","modified_gmt":"2025-05-12T04:01:24","slug":"turns-out-gtd-is-childs-play","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/2025\/05\/turns-out-gtd-is-childs-play\/","title":{"rendered":"Turns Out, GTD Is Child’s Play"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Not long ago, I had the chance to spend a couple of hours with a group in the Minneapolis suburbs\u201420 people doing a\u00a0GTD Weekly Review\u00ae\u00a0together. The best part? They were having fun. Even better? They were 8-, 9-, and 10-year-olds. How cool is that?<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Mark Wallace, a second-grade teacher at Highland School in the Edina School District, has been teaching his students GTD. It\u2019s fascinating. This was their structured review session\u2014get clear, get current, and get creative. The kids worked independently with their computers and smartphones, fully engaged.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\u201cGet clear\u201d meant cleaning lockers and tidying up. \u201cGet current\u201d was about checking in on their homework. So I\u00a0knelt down with probably a dozen of\u00a0kids and asked what they were working on. One said \u201cI\u2019m just cleaning up right now.\u201d Another told me, \u201cI\u2019m getting current because I\u2019m behind on some math stuff.\u201d<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Then I asked two students working together what they were up to. \u201cWe\u2019re researching how to design a great interview program on TV.\u201d I said \u201cWell, what about all your other stuff?\u201d. Without missing a beat, they answered \u201cOnce we get clear and get current, we have the freedom to get creative. And so we got to pick a creative project to work on.\u201d<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
And these are kids saying this! It was incredible to see how structured fun could make productivity so natural.\u00a0Before I left, a girl walked up with an old, beaten-up copy of\u00a0Getting Things Done\u00a0<\/em>and said \u201cMy mom would really, really like you to sign this for her.\u201d It was just so cute.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Seeing kids light up as they gain control over their world made me wonder\u2014what if every student had access to these skills? Imagine growing up with GTD as second nature. That\u2019s exactly what Mark Wallace is doing with GTDK-12.<\/div>\n

[Note: This essay appeared in David Allen\u2019s Productive Living Newsletter. Subscribe for free here<\/a>.]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Seeing kids light up as they gain control over their world made me wonder\u2014what if every student had access to these skills? Imagine growing up with GTD as second nature.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":22851,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27,1,716,32],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22841","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-david-allen","category-featured","category-free-resources","category-productivity-tips","entry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nTurns Out, GTD Is Child's Play - Getting Things Done\u00ae<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Seeing kids light up as they gain control over their world made me wonder\u2014what if every student had access to these skills? 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