Covey versus Allen: Let battle commence!

Just who has the “best” personal productivity system, Covey or Allen?

In the September 1, 2008 issues of Fortune, the David Allen method was chosen as the most practical approach over Covey and another well known productivity coach. Here’s what I think of the article?

Book cover via Amazon

Get a copy of this article by clicking HERE

I think the article is a very accurate summary of at least two of the methods, Stephen Covey and David Allen’s GTD. I am not familiar with Jim Loehr’s method so I can’t comment. From what I read, I agree with the author’s assessment.

My personal bottom line is that David Allen’s system was the most useful, Loehr’s the most energizing, and Covey’s the most profound. Whether I’ll be able to keep up all these new habits remains to be seen. All I know is that right now my office is now perfectly organized I’m clear about my life’s purpose.

I agree with Lieven that it doesn’t have to be either/or. However, most people couldn’t afford to run all three programs in parallel (based on both time and money costs.) A primary difference, in my opinion, is that David Allen’s is the most holistic and frees up my energy to enjoy life in the present, not at some “vision” point in the future.

What I really like about the GTD method is that it focuses on the now and frees up your mind to allow it to work on more meaningful work/projects/tasks – this in turn will solve your big life purpose/goals. I have been working with GTD for several years and have outstanding results – even from the very beginning with implementing the A-Z file system along with saying “what is the next action here” – you will see immediate results.

There are pieces of both the Covey and the Loehr approach built into the GTD method. Best of all, you can implement GTD quickly (and inexpensively – just buy the books and support materials). The weekly review is key to putting it all together.

And finally, another important aspect, the GTD trusted system can be implemented with just plain paper and/or electronic system (or a hybrid) – there are plenty of interesting tools to support paper, electronic and hybrid implementations.

In summary: I’m grateful that the Fortune writer chose GTD over Covey and the other coach. Although I thought the deeper aspects of GTD were not included in the article, I still would have liked to see more about the necessity to close “open loops” and the power of “mind like water.”

What do you think? Leave a comment below:

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10 Comments

John B. Kendrick on September 26th, 2008

I used and taught Covey and Daytimer for many years before reading David Allen's GTD book and switching to GTD. And then I found an application that allows me to view my entire GTD at work on my Win machine, at home on my Macs and even on my cell phone. And another app lets me call in tasks to my GTD without any writing or typing, great for those thoughts that hit me while driving. I've written about my experiences with GTD in a blog post at http://johnkendrick.wordpress.com/2008/03/27/mo... John

DavidPalmer on October 1st, 2008

I agree GTD is a good system but unlike Covey's philosophy (unless I am reading it wrong) it is very focussed on the individual aplying it, whereas the Covey system is also focussed on the interpersonal relationships within which tasks and time have to be managed. No reason why one cannot apply both philosophies.

qamanager on October 1st, 2008

I agree. GTD seems to concentrate more on the day-to-day tasks and the higher level overview it suggests seems somehow tagged onto the philosophy. This is a great article exploring this point further:

http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2005/02/the-es...

DavidPalmer on October 1st, 2008

Qamanager – thanks for supporting me and taking me to that page. It says it better than I could! I certainly changed my management of office and paper to a GTD-type methodology and I have the tidiest trays, desk and in-box in the office. I am surrounded by people with piles of paper, desks all akimbo with post-its galore, all moaning about being busy while I play Solitaire, carry out my core tasks AND in-house personal development training delivery (and other sidelines requiring my attention). But apparently, my time management ability is not of interest to them. Whose the fool, here?

Further Thoughts on the Recent Fortune Productivity Coach Comparison | rob-thompson.com on October 3rd, 2008

[...] James Loehr’s Human Performance Institute. In case you missed the article, Rob Thompson of Rob Thompson.com has gone to the trouble of making it available online [...]

qamanager on October 5th, 2008

hi David: Whose the fool, here? Erm …. not you I think?

Further Thoughts on the Recent Fortune Productivity Coach Comparison | GTD Times on October 14th, 2008

[...] James Loehr’s Human Performance Institute. In case you missed the article, Rob Thompson of Rob Thompson.com has gone to the trouble of making it available online [...]

Organize IT Recap: Barack Obama, Productivity Myths That Hold You Back And A Comparison Of The Productivity Gurus - Practical advice on personal development, productivity and GTD on November 7th, 2008

[...] Magazine reviewed three productivity gurus, Stephen Covey, David Allen and James Loehr. Thanks to Rob Thompson, you can view it online (GTD Times have also discussed it). The article provides a nice summary of [...]

tai chinh ngan hang on August 11th, 2009

Great post, thanks for sharing

vitiligo on August 25th, 2009

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