David Allen (born December 28, 1945) is an American author and productivity consultant.

Allen grew up in Shreveport, Louisiana where he acted and won a state championship in debate.

[8] Allen has written three books: Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity,[9] which describes his productivity program; Ready for Anything: 52 Productivity Principles for Work and Life,[10] a collection of newsletter articles he has written; Making It All Work: Winning at the Game of Work and Business of Life, a follow-up to his first book.

In 2015, he also wrote a new updated version of Getting Things Done: the Art of Stress-Free Productivity.

[citation needed] In 2024, David Allen has co-authored Team: Getting Things Done with Others on how to work effectively in groups using GTD Principles.