Total, Relaxed Organization, The Blog

Client Questions: I am interested in TRO training, but should I still get Total Workday Control by Michael Linenberger or Getting Things Done by David Allen?

How does TRO training differ from TWC and GTD? Or are they the same?

How would I benefit from TRO over Total Workday Control or Getting Things Done?

Answer from Kevin Crenshaw, Priacta Head Coach and co-author of The TRO Field Guide:

Great question. There is no need to get Michael Linenberger’s Total Workday Control or David Allen’s Getting Things Done if you get Total, Relaxed Organization training.

TRO is a new approach that merges Michael Linenberger’s great ideas like prioritization dates and “Today” lists with David Allen’s GTD principles and a Covey-like top-down approach. It actually makes a simpler and easier-to-maintain system when you’re done.

The TRO Online Training System is a complete training. It steps you though the entire process of organizing your office, setting up your new workflow from start to finish, and setting up your views and task lists. Unlike GTD, which is “tool agnostic,” TRO trains you on the specific tools you use. It supports task lists besides just Microsoft Outlook, and it customizes the training for your particular task list, calendar, smart phone, and email program. You select those tools when you start your training. (If you’ve got Outlook, we recommend using Trog Bar as your task list because it integrates brilliantly with Outlook and gives you smart views for your task lists. Your Trog Bar registration is free with any training if you choose Trog Bar as your training tool, so this is another advantage of TRO training.)

The TRO Online Training system also lets you download the training as an eBook (PDF) so you can read and train at your leisure.

As far as GTD goes, TRO is built solidly on a foundation of GTD principles. However, TRO offers significant advantages over traditional GTD approaches.

NOTE: If you’ve already read either Getting Things Done or Total Workday Control, you will find TRO training very easy to master, and you’ll enjoy significant productivity gains quickly.