GTD Level 2 & 3 Trainings preparation - Next Action Partners

Logan

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Just recently I had my yearly goals meeting with my boss for 2022. When we came to the topic of my training needs I asked him if it would be possible to have the company sponsor a professional GTD training. And you know what, I got the commitment by the company to pay for two of the 3 possible GTD Level trainings. Difficult as it was I chose to book GTD Level 2 and GTD Level 3 trainings. I feel a little bad, because I‘m a kind of afraid to have missed something not participating in GTD Level 1 training. Also, I don‘t want to slow down the group during the training sessions.
On the other hand I think I‘m not that bad in GTD. Read the books multiple times. Have my calendar, next action lists, project list(s), waiting for, maybe/someday list and my higher level in a good shape. Do my Weekly Reviews weekly to their full length. Achieved constantly inbox zero with about 100-120 e-mails a day (and still too many appointments). Gave a intro to GTD presentation at my company to about 180 people. And I think I got all the principles (5 phases of project planning, six level model for reviewing my work, threefold nature identifying daily work, four-criteria model for choosing actions…

Now to my question
  • Did anyone of you take the GTD Level 2 and 3 trainings?
  • Could I make extra preparations (especially for my/the first GTD Level 2 course)?

I am really happy and exited being allowed to participate in the training and want to take as much as possible with me from it.

Best wishes and health to you all
 
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Murray

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I loved the level 2 training with Productivity First (Australia)

This is based only on my own experience, but I would say the preparation for getting the most out of Level 2 would be twofold:

- Reflect on how your system is functioning and meeting your needs. And perhaps get things up to date at whatever level feels like it needs it.

- Create the time and psychic space to be able to dive into the training with your full attention and energy, and be prepared to have some homework that will require thinking about some of your real stuff. Certainly project planning is one example of what to expect to be working on here. In my case, Komal offered the level 2 training as 5 sessions each in the middle of the day, and I was able to take the week off work so it was kind of like a level 2 retreat experience for me. Fantastic but clearly not practical for everyone.

By the way, I did the level 1 training after practicing GTD for years and still got a lot out of it. Again, just my experience.

Enjoy!
 

Logan

Registered
@Murray, thanks for you reply.

Regarding… „Reflect on how your system is functioning and meeting your needs. And perhaps get things up to date at whatever level feels like it needs it.“
>> Thanks for that point. Already started thinking about that. The two points I noticed are the time perspective and some kind of stale projects. For the first I‘m wondering if there‘s something missing for me between my goals and my projects. With GTD I can handle a lot of stuff, but from agile I‘ve learned it’s more important to finish 10 out of 20 projects rather than having 20 projects at 50% over a longer period of time. Regarding stale projects I‘ve recently remembered Meg Edwards talking about your tasks/projects either attract or repel you. So, I added a new tag to my system called „I‘m repelled by this“. Each of the tasks and projects I come upon where I think there‘s something not quite right gets tagged. Then in some quiet time I reprocess them to make things attractive.

Regarding… „Create the time and psychic space to be able to dive into the training…“
>> Although, I am in the middle of a big rollout I took the whole day off to focus purely on the training. Unfortunately, it starts late (9am to 5pm). Having some time after the training will be difficult, but I see your point. I will figure something out.

Regarding… „did the level 1 training after practicing GTD for years and still got a lot out of it“
>> Could you please give one example to make me understand what type of insight you gained? As I wrote, just had two shots for the 3 trainings and had to choose.

They‘ll send me some material 5 days ahead of the training to prepare. That‘s another reason why I‘m currently working hard to be good at what GTD Level 1 could have taught.
 

Murray

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"took the whole day off to focus purely on the training"... Sounds like you're preparing very well!

My comments re level 1 were intended for general discussion amongst anyone reading this, and were not meant to imply I believed you should not start with level 2. If you and your trainer are happy for you to start there then that is all that matters. And from what you have shared your system sounds pretty solid re the fundamentals.
 

Murray

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Oh and another tip to prepare if you get a chance is to re-read or skim the chapter in the GTD book about project planning. But otherwise that's something you can totally do later after the seminar.
 

Logan

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Oh and another tip to prepare if you get a chance is to re-read or skim the chapter in the GTD book about project planning. But otherwise that's something you can totally do later after the seminar.
Are you referring to chapter 10 „Getting Projects Under Control“?
 

Murray

Registered
Are you referring to chapter 10 „Getting Projects Under Control“?
Moreso chapter 3 "Getting Projects Creatively Under Way: The Five Phases of Project Planning", because it lays out the framework of how to shift from seeking horizontal control to seeking vertical focus.

And as you are reading that (if you get a chance before the training), also have in the back of your mind that you will need to pick one or two or three of your own projects to work on using this framework. In my course this involved talking through one of the projects with a partner in a breakout Zoom room, so I picked something that wasn't too intensely personal when reflecting on the purpose and vision etc.
 

Logan

Registered
Moreso chapter 3 "Getting Projects Creatively Under Way: The Five Phases of Project Planning", because it lays out the framework of how to shift from seeking horizontal control to seeking vertical focus.

And as you are reading that (if you get a chance before the training), also have in the back of your mind that you will need to pick one or two or three of your own projects to work on using this framework. In my course this involved talking through one of the projects with a partner in a breakout Zoom room, so I picked something that wasn't too intensely personal when reflecting on the purpose and vision etc.
Thanks Murray,
worked through chapter 3, too. Always surprised again what new findings I get reading the book again.

Just got the preparation material few days ago. One of the topics mentioned is connecting the different levels of the horizons of focus. That made me do some thinking of how I can maintain these connections without making my system more complicated. I know it should work with separate lists for each horizon, but as kind of a visual person I think it would help to see them.

Looking forward to the training (Thursday 28th of April 2022). Thanks for your input helping me prepare.
 
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