{"id":3864,"date":"2010-06-14T09:58:19","date_gmt":"2010-06-14T17:58:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.gtdtimes.com\/?p=3864"},"modified":"2014-02-03T14:31:10","modified_gmt":"2014-02-03T22:31:10","slug":"you-are-in-control-when-you-can-see-it-all","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/2010\/06\/you-are-in-control-when-you-can-see-it-all\/","title":{"rendered":"You are in control when you can see it all"},"content":{"rendered":"

No matter what level or field we find ourselves on, whether it is the corporate\/professional aspect or our personal\/home life, we set priorities and act on what we think is important. We could call that “simplifying” our lives. And by that we do not mean lowering our standards, but rather focusing on the ones that are most important to us.<\/p>\n

This same world view somehow seems to be plagued with jargon about priorities: how to set them, how to classify them, and how to sort them out. It claims to give us a sense that we are somehow in control. Several of my clients are feeling overwhelmed by the amount of the stuff they have to process and even more so as their resources to make the things they need to make happen get reduced, sometimes to the point of scarcity. So their question is “how do I set my priorities in any given day, so I know I am not wasting my time? So I know I am doing the right thing?”\u00a0 The underlying question may well be, “How do I know that I am in control, so that what I am doing is the most relevant; the one that adds the most value?”
\nNo one really knows what the best choice is until everything that is really “on his or her plate” can be seen accurately. Our suggestion is that you work from a complete life-list, where the inventories of everything you need to do, have agreed to do, be responsible for, would love in your life, are waiting for, etc. is listed and reviewed regularly. When that happens, you can rest assured that any decision you make regarding what you do is the best possible decision you can make.<\/p>\n

That is because you really have got all the elements at play and the good feeling you will have about a particular choice, that excludes other actions that could also be acted upon, will come from knowing exactly what your choices are.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou have more to do than you can possibly do. You just need to feel good about your choices.\u201d David Allen<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In the Getting Things Done seminar<\/a>, we go over a model for choosing actions in the moment, based on 4 criteria: Context, Time Available, Energy Available, and Priority. Context refers to the location and setting you\u2019re in. Are you in the location where the action can happen; do you have the tools you need: office, home, phone, computer, etc. The time available will determine what kind of work you\u2019re willing and able to do. If you have 5 minutes or 2 hours, time will affect your choices. The third criterion is your energy level. How much energy do you have? There are times when you\u2019re fresh and ready for clients, and other times when you\u2019re toast and it\u2019s best to purge the files, water the plants and\/or fill your stapler\u2026 And finally, after you\u2019ve considered your context, time and energy, now you can ask, \u201cWhat\u2019s the best thing for me to be doing?\u201d (This info can be found in more detail in David\u2019s book,\u00a0 Getting Things Done<\/em>, Chapter 9, “Doing: Making the Best Action Choices.”)<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery decision to act is an intuitive one. The challenge is to migrate from hoping it\u2019s the right choice to trusting it\u2019s the right choice.\u201d David Allen<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

David Allen has said it more than once, “You can only feel good about what you are not doing, when you know what you are not doing.” It is important then to keep collecting, processing and organizing information, so that the system you review periodically earns your trust.\u00a0 Paradoxically, your outer environment will still do what it does, regardless of your efforts to make it do something “better.” Creating a system that captures the “whims” of the outer environment does and will help you do the best you can with what you\u2019ve got. Thus it is called “controlling” your inner environment.<\/p>\n

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

Ana Maria Gonzalez is responsible for comprehensive planning and management of the international expansion strategy for the David Allen Company.\u00a0 Ana Maria has more than 10 years of experience as executive coach and trilingual management development trainer with The David Allen Company. <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

No matter what level or field we find ourselves on, whether it is the corporate\/professional aspect or our personal\/home life, we set priorities and act on what we think is important. We could call that “simplifying” our lives. And by that we do not mean lowering our standards, but rather focusing on the ones that … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “You are in control when you can see it all”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","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":[32],"tags":[22,29,61,69,46,91,100,105,108,109,110,122],"class_list":["post-3864","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-productivity-tips","tag-getting-things-done","tag-gtd","tag-trusted-system","tag-implementing-gtd","tag-implementation","tag-david-allen-company","tag-tips-and-tricks","tag-priorities","tag-coaching","tag-gtd-best-practices","tag-gtd-coaching","tag-productivity","entry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nYou are in control when you can see it all<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Ana Maria Gonzalez, coach & presenter with the David Allen Company, shares the GTD perspective on control.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/2010\/06\/you-are-in-control-when-you-can-see-it-all\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"You are in control when you can see it all\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Ana Maria Gonzalez, coach & presenter with the David Allen Company, shares the GTD perspective on control.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/2010\/06\/you-are-in-control-when-you-can-see-it-all\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Getting Things Done\u00ae\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/gettingthingsdone\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2010-06-14T17:58:19+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2014-02-03T22:31:10+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/gtdtimes\/2010\/06\/gtwanamaria.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"GTD Times Staff\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@gtdtimes\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@gtdtimes\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"GTD Times Staff\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/2010\/06\/you-are-in-control-when-you-can-see-it-all\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/2010\/06\/you-are-in-control-when-you-can-see-it-all\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"GTD Times Staff\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/#\/schema\/person\/52d8dfa5db8d4e8792586794625c12a4\"},\"headline\":\"You are in control when you can see it all\",\"datePublished\":\"2010-06-14T17:58:19+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2014-02-03T22:31:10+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/2010\/06\/you-are-in-control-when-you-can-see-it-all\/\"},\"wordCount\":719,\"commentCount\":2,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/2010\/06\/you-are-in-control-when-you-can-see-it-all\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/gtdtimes\/2010\/06\/gtwanamaria.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Getting Things Done\",\"GTD\",\"trusted system\",\"Implementing GTD\",\"Implementation\",\"David Allen Company\",\"Tips and Tricks\",\"priorities\",\"coaching\",\"GTD Best Practices\",\"gtd coaching\",\"Productivity\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Productivity Tips\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/2010\/06\/you-are-in-control-when-you-can-see-it-all\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/2010\/06\/you-are-in-control-when-you-can-see-it-all\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/2010\/06\/you-are-in-control-when-you-can-see-it-all\/\",\"name\":\"You are in control when you can see it all\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/2010\/06\/you-are-in-control-when-you-can-see-it-all\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/2010\/06\/you-are-in-control-when-you-can-see-it-all\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/gtdtimes\/2010\/06\/gtwanamaria.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2010-06-14T17:58:19+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2014-02-03T22:31:10+00:00\",\"description\":\"Ana Maria Gonzalez, coach & presenter with the David Allen Company, shares the GTD perspective on control.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/2010\/06\/you-are-in-control-when-you-can-see-it-all\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/2010\/06\/you-are-in-control-when-you-can-see-it-all\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/2010\/06\/you-are-in-control-when-you-can-see-it-all\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/gtdtimes\/2010\/06\/gtwanamaria.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/gtdtimes\/2010\/06\/gtwanamaria.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/2010\/06\/you-are-in-control-when-you-can-see-it-all\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"You are in control when you can see it all\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/\",\"name\":\"Getting Things Done\u00ae\",\"description\":\"David Allen's GTD\u00ae Methodology\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Getting Things Done\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/gtd-logo.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/gtd-logo.png\",\"width\":370,\"height\":338,\"caption\":\"Getting Things Done\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/gettingthingsdone\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/gtdtimes\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/gtdtimes\/\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/groups\/2328651\/\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/#\/schema\/person\/52d8dfa5db8d4e8792586794625c12a4\",\"name\":\"GTD Times Staff\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4df22f74cebc078fff6e9f4d8e6e74a980295dec0849d6ab2d6b303ee0c92030?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4df22f74cebc078fff6e9f4d8e6e74a980295dec0849d6ab2d6b303ee0c92030?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"GTD Times Staff\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/author\/webadmin\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"You are in control when you can see it all","description":"Ana Maria Gonzalez, coach & presenter with the David Allen Company, shares the GTD perspective on control.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/2010\/06\/you-are-in-control-when-you-can-see-it-all\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"You are in control when you can see it all","og_description":"Ana Maria Gonzalez, coach & presenter with the David Allen Company, shares the GTD perspective on control.","og_url":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/2010\/06\/you-are-in-control-when-you-can-see-it-all\/","og_site_name":"Getting Things Done\u00ae","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/gettingthingsdone\/","article_published_time":"2010-06-14T17:58:19+00:00","article_modified_time":"2014-02-03T22:31:10+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/gtdtimes\/2010\/06\/gtwanamaria.jpg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"GTD Times Staff","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@gtdtimes","twitter_site":"@gtdtimes","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"GTD Times Staff","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/2010\/06\/you-are-in-control-when-you-can-see-it-all\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/2010\/06\/you-are-in-control-when-you-can-see-it-all\/"},"author":{"name":"GTD Times Staff","@id":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/#\/schema\/person\/52d8dfa5db8d4e8792586794625c12a4"},"headline":"You are in control when you can see it all","datePublished":"2010-06-14T17:58:19+00:00","dateModified":"2014-02-03T22:31:10+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/2010\/06\/you-are-in-control-when-you-can-see-it-all\/"},"wordCount":719,"commentCount":2,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/2010\/06\/you-are-in-control-when-you-can-see-it-all\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/gtdtimes\/2010\/06\/gtwanamaria.jpg","keywords":["Getting Things Done","GTD","trusted system","Implementing GTD","Implementation","David Allen Company","Tips and Tricks","priorities","coaching","GTD Best Practices","gtd coaching","Productivity"],"articleSection":["Productivity Tips"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/2010\/06\/you-are-in-control-when-you-can-see-it-all\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/2010\/06\/you-are-in-control-when-you-can-see-it-all\/","url":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/2010\/06\/you-are-in-control-when-you-can-see-it-all\/","name":"You are in control when you can see it all","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/2010\/06\/you-are-in-control-when-you-can-see-it-all\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/2010\/06\/you-are-in-control-when-you-can-see-it-all\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/gtdtimes\/2010\/06\/gtwanamaria.jpg","datePublished":"2010-06-14T17:58:19+00:00","dateModified":"2014-02-03T22:31:10+00:00","description":"Ana Maria Gonzalez, coach & presenter with the David Allen Company, shares the GTD perspective on control.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/2010\/06\/you-are-in-control-when-you-can-see-it-all\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/2010\/06\/you-are-in-control-when-you-can-see-it-all\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/2010\/06\/you-are-in-control-when-you-can-see-it-all\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/gtdtimes\/2010\/06\/gtwanamaria.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/gtdtimes\/2010\/06\/gtwanamaria.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/2010\/06\/you-are-in-control-when-you-can-see-it-all\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"You are in control when you can see it all"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/","name":"Getting Things Done\u00ae","description":"David Allen's GTD\u00ae Methodology","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/#organization","name":"Getting Things Done","url":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/gtd-logo.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/gtd-logo.png","width":370,"height":338,"caption":"Getting Things Done"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/gettingthingsdone\/","https:\/\/x.com\/gtdtimes","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/gtdtimes\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/groups\/2328651\/"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/#\/schema\/person\/52d8dfa5db8d4e8792586794625c12a4","name":"GTD Times Staff","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4df22f74cebc078fff6e9f4d8e6e74a980295dec0849d6ab2d6b303ee0c92030?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4df22f74cebc078fff6e9f4d8e6e74a980295dec0849d6ab2d6b303ee0c92030?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"GTD Times Staff"},"url":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/author\/webadmin\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3864","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3864"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3864\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3864"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3864"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3864"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}