It was only four years ago that I
wrote in the Atlantic about
David Allen, the "productivity expert" and inventor of the influential Getting Things Done (
GTD) approach to life. I say "only" four years because it feels as if Allen and his outlook have been with me for a much longer time.
It's hard to top the wonderful
LifeHacker blog as a source for practical tips about
gadgetry workplace tools, habits, and shortcuts, many in the GTD spirit. But for the last six months, David Allen's organization has been operating its own "official" blog, called
GTD Times. I like it -- and as a sample, I direct your attention to
this recent post, arguing that you really do become dumber and slower if you try to do too many things at the same time. This applies not only to that modern plague of texting-while-driving (or walking) but also to having a zillion IM and other popup windows on your screen while you work. For doubters, there is a
sobering online test to demonstrate the point, taken from the book
The Myth of Multitasking.
What other point was I going to make? I forget, I was thinking about something else...
