Did anyone else listen to the DAVID ALLEN episode on the Tim Ferris Podcast?

I’ve listened to a lot of David Allen podcasts (including both of the MPU episodes), so I assumed I knew what I was getting into when I pressed play on this one… Oh man, was I wrong! I have a brand new perspective on Allen and his story is pretty fascinating.

Ferris & Allen cover GTD, the methodology and its origin story… But you then start hearing much more about Allen’s personal life and his past. He makes it seem as though much of this was already public knowledge, but it was all new to me.

Topics include:

  • Psychics & ESP (extra-sensory perception)
  • Martial arts
  • Living in Amsterdam
  • His origin story
  • His time in a mental institution

This is what I assume @MacSparky and Katie talked about off-air with Allen when he was on MPU :wink:

Links below:

http://#384: David Allen — The Art of Getting Things Done (GTD)

MPU #219:

MPU #254

2 Likes

I found the ESP/psychic thing… well… weird. I’m a scientist so I don’t hold his views and can’t speak for his personal experience. But I agree, it was a very interesting deep dive into his life and experiences. It sort of deepened my appreciation for him as a person, he’s experienced a lot in his life. It was interesting to see how some origins of GTD came about following a period of personal crisis.

Yes. Not what I expected either. Very unique dude.

1 Like

I’m a skeptic on the subject of psychic powers and the occult too. But recently I’ve become far less interested in disproving anything, and more interested in learning about what people believe and why they believe it.

I highly recommend a book called a cult America, by Mitchell Horowitz, who delves into the history of the occult in the United States.

The beliefs may be bogus, but the effects of these beliefs are real, and many of them are good effects.