#139: Stop The Overwhelm: Veterinary Productivity Secrets from the Getting Things Done Master. With David Allen

Veterinary practice can be unpredictable, exhausting, and full of interruptions - not that conducive to getting things done, right? But what if you could handle it all with mind-like-water calm?

In this episode I pick the brain of productivity legend David Allen, creator of Getting Things Done (GTD), to show you exactly how. This isn’t about squeezing more into your day — it’s about cutting mental clutter, regaining focus, and feeling in control, even when it all hits the fan.You'll learn simple, actionable GTD strategies that busy vets can use today:

Master the 5 GTD steps for veterinary practice:

• Capture: Never lose track of to-dos in a busy clinic again
• Clarify: Break down complex patient tasks into clear next steps
• Organise: Build bulletproof systems your whole team can trust
• Reflect: Create powerful review routines for team rounds and personal clarity
• Engage: Focus on what matters, when it matters

Beat interruptions without losing your mind

• Why task-switching drains your brain — and what to do instead.
• The simple tools that keep you sane and focused.
• How to ‘park’ distractions and re-engage fast.

Transform team rounds and communication

• The secret to closing open loops (and reducing anxiety for everyone)
• How structured reflection makes complex caseloads manageable
• Balancing roles and flexibility for smooth team dynamics

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Topics and Timestamps

03:09 Mind Like Water: The Key to Clarity

05:15 Challenges in Veterinary Productivity

20:33 Practical Tips for Capturing Tasks

28:58 Managing Multiple Projects and Tasks

29:26 The Importance of Knowing the Next Step

30:14 Dealing with Task Shifting and Interruptions

32:25 Organizing Physical and Mental Spaces

35:43 Team Dynamics and Productivity

38:02 Effective Rounds42:20 Balancing Defined Roles and Flexibility

47:35 Book recommendations 

48:49 Pass along question

• Capture Everything That Has Your Attention: Veterinarians face constant interruptions and a multitude of tasks related to different patients. To manage this, it's crucial to capture every thought, task, and commitment that arises. David Allen suggests using low-tech methods like a paper pad and pen or a physical in-tray for immediate capture. Digital tools like Braintoss (which sends captured items to email) can also be used, provided they are emptied regularly into a trusted system. The key is to get these items out of your head, which Allen describes as "a crappy office... for having ideas not for holding them". This prevents mental clutter and the feeling of low-level anxiety caused by trying to remember everything.
• Clarify What Each Captured Item Means and What Action is Required: Once items are captured, the next step is to clarify what they are and what needs to be done about them. This involves asking:
  • Is it actionable? If not, it should be trashed, incubated (put on hold for later review), or kept for reference.
  • What is the desired outcome? For a veterinary context, this could be the successful treatment and discharge of a patient.
  • What is the very next action? This needs to be specific (e.g., "call Mrs. Jones about blood results," "do x-rays for Fluffy"). Allen emphasises that defining both the desired outcome and the next action are the "zeros and ones of productivity". In the context of multiple patients, each patient can be seen as a "project" with a series of next actions required to reach the desired outcome (e.g., getting the patient to the discharge point).
• Organise the Results of Your Thinking: The outcomes of the clarification stage need to be organised into a trusted system. This system serves as a reminder of what needs to be done and when. For veterinarians, this could involve:
  • Maintaining easily viewable and complete lists of phone calls to make, lab results to check, and procedures to perform.
  • Using practice management software effectively to track appointments and tasks.
  • Utilising the physical in-tray as a temporary holding space for notes and reminders that need further processing.
  • Organising next actions by context (e.g., calls to make, things to do at the surgery station).
• Reflect and Review Your Commitments Regularly: To avoid being driven by the "latest and loudest," it's essential to step back and review the totality of your commitments. For individual veterinarians, this could mean regularly looking at their task lists and project statuses to ensure they have a clear picture of what needs to be done. In a team setting, this reflection process happens during hospital rounds. To make rounds more effective:
  • Someone needs to own or be accountable for running the rounds.
  • The focus should be on identifying "open loops" – tasks or situations that are not yet resolved or where the next action is unclear.
  • Rounds should aim to clarify the status of projects (patients), define next steps, and ensure that the necessary information is shared, especially during shift handovers.
• Engage with Your Work with Clarity and Confidence: By consistently capturing, clarifying, organising, and reflecting, veterinarians can engage with their work with a clear and uncluttered mind, leading to a sense of confidence rather than operating out of hope. This allows for more focused and effective action, enabling them to handle the unpredictable nature of clinical practice more effectively.

• Don't leave open loops: When an interruption occurs, make a quick note of what you were doing before addressing the interruption.
• Use a physical in-tray: If interrupted, put whatever you were working on (notes, patient files) into your in-tray. This serves as a physical reminder of where you left off.
• Train your team: Encourage colleagues to drop non-urgent requests into your in-tray rather than interrupting you directly. This requires trust that the items in the in-tray will be dealt with appropriately.

• Define team focus: Regularly identify what has the team's attention to ensure everyone is aware of key priorities.
• Clarify roles and responsibilities: While specific roles are important for accountability, flexibility is also crucial in a dynamic environment like a veterinary clinic. Teams need clear "rules of engagement" and standards that allow individuals to step outside their defined roles when necessary.
• Implement effective reflection processes: Regular team meetings or rounds should focus on the status of all ongoing cases and situations, ensuring that next actions are clear and assigned.
• Learn from experience: Conduct debriefs after challenging situations to identify what went wrong, why, and how processes can be improved.

• Choose a Capture Tool That Suits You: Allen personally uses low-tech methods like a paper pad and pen at his desk and a note taker wallet with a pen in his back pocket. These are reliable, require no batteries or Wi-Fi, and are readily available for capturing thoughts as they arise. For digital capture, he uses an app called Braintoss on his iPad, which immediately sends anything entered to his email, a "trusted place to throw it". The key is to find a tool that you will consistently use.
• Keep Your Capture Tools Accessible: Whether it's a notebook in your pocket, a pad on your desk, or a digital app on your phone or tablet, ensure your chosen capture tools are always within easy reach. This minimises the friction of capturing a thought before it's forgotten.
• Capture Everything That Has Your Attention: Don't filter or judge what you capture at this stage. Any thought, task, reminder, or idea that pops into your head should be written down. In a busy environment like a veterinary clinic, this might include "call Mrs. Jones," "do the x rays for fluffy," or a reminder about a lab result.
• Establish a Physical Inbox: Consider implementing a physical inbox in your workspace. This can be a tray or a designated spot where you can put any notes, documents, or physical reminders you collect throughout the day. Allen finds his physical in-basket "really quite helpful in terms of if you're getting a lot of interruptions or you're getting a lot of things you don't expect". Encourage colleagues to also use this inbox to drop off requests instead of directly interrupting you.
• Don't Let Captured Items Linger: The capture stage is only the first step. For your system to be truly trusted, you need to process what you've captured regularly. This leads to the clarify stage, where you decide what each captured item means and what action, if any, is required. If you don't process your captured items, they can become as chaotic as your head, with notes scattered everywhere.
• Empty Digital Capture Regularly: If you choose digital capture methods, ensure you empty them regularly into your trusted system. Allen's use of Braintoss, which sends items directly to his email, ensures that captured thoughts are in a place he checks.
• Train Yourself and Others: If you work in a team, you can train everybody around you to use your capture system, such as dropping notes into your in-tray instead of interrupting you. However, this requires you to then deal with the note in your in basket; otherwise, people will resort to interrupting you again.
• Embrace Low-Tech Simplicity: Allen notes that "with every click, you lose people", highlighting the simplicity and directness of low-tech capture methods. For individuals who find digital systems overwhelming or distracting, a simple paper and pen can be a more reliable starting point.