Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity by David Allen
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Book Reviews of Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity
Book Review: Best I've read, different than the rest
Summary: 5 Stars
Mr. Allen's insightful and concrete program is exceptional - it's different than all the other information I've gleaned on the topic. It gets away from "procrastination" and "time mangement" and truly articulates "How to Get Stuff Done". I've been through much of the generic "Time Management" material, including most of Brian Tracey and others like Rita Emmett's "Procrastinator's Handbook". It's much different than the generic "A-B-C prioritizing" / "important but not urgent" concepts. Mr. Allen's system is simple, yet comprehensive and presented in a business-oriented fashon (but it works remarkably well for both personal and business application). Highly recommended.Book Review: A OK book, but just another "guru".
Summary: 3 Stars
I bought this book after read some remarks in the Internet and magazines. Part I is the best one, where you get to know the basics and concepts about GTD. Part 2 is how the author does implement these basics and concepts in his day-by-day. Not for everyone. Part 3, just skip it. I wouldn't tell a friend to buy the book.Book Review: Too long but still excellent
Summary: 4 Stars
I got this book at the same time as Getting Organized: Improving Focus, Organization and Productivity in the hope that one or both would help me tame my crazy life as a middle manager in a software company. Both books have something to offer - in my review of Getting Organized, I suggested skimming or reading several books and articles and taking the best suggestions from each.
While "Getting Organized" takes a Cliff's Notes approach with two-page chapters that take about two or three minutes each to digest, Getting Things Done goes more in depth, almost to a fault. I found that the first few chapters of Getting Things Done were much better written than the other book, and also stayed more technology-neutral, leaving it to the reader to decide whether to use paper files, day planners, PDAs, or list management software.
As others have written, the "processing stuff" flowchart that appears early on (page 32) is worthy of being printed, framed and sat on your desk for daily reference. It's the best summary I've seen of the different types of input items we all deal with and the choices we can and should make when dealing with them.
There's also a lot of meaty stuff that encourages you to think about your work habits and how you segment your time: Right now, am I categorizing input items or am I working on individual items? What's my energy level and mood right now and how should that affect what I do next? Do I have five minutes free or a solid hour?
I'm still developing my system, but essentially I use a combination of list management software (the excellent Remember the Milk) and email/calendaring (Gmail and Outlook) to keep track of things. I have one list per major area of responsibility ("Home - Finance", "Home - Medical", "Work - Management", "Work - Project xx", etc.) and I add things to the lists as I think of them. The author of the other book (Getting Organized) kind of pooh-poohs making huge to-do lists, but personally I agree with David Allen that getting that stuff out of your mind and into a list management system is key to being able to relax and pick what area to work next. You don't have to ever *do* every list item - in fact, trying to "finish" all your lists just isn't possible and the last list item is always "die a peaceful death" - but you should at least brainstorm it out once to clear your head. Usually the first time you do this you end up with 200 or so items - that's ok.
Now that I have my lists created, I make sure to spend some time each morning deciding not which items to complete that day, but which list(s) to focus on. I might block out a solid hour using Outlook to work on management or HR items, and another hour to catch up on email. When that "meeting with myself" pops up, I just go to the related list and grab the top priority item from the list - that way no area of focus gets starved.
I also like Allen's rule about Doing It Now if it takes two minutes or less, but I'd add the caveat that it's possible (for me at least) to find enough two-minute tasks to fill a whole day. So I would time-box it: spend 30 minutes doing as many 2-minute items as you can, then do something bigger.
I haven't finished the book yet, as I've already found plenty of things to try and am finding success, but that's ok. If you buy this don't feel duty-bound to read every last word the first week. Just learn, assimilate, test, repeat.
Good stuff overall.
Book Review: Practical and useful
Summary: 5 Stars
This book was practical and useful for me at home. I love the "tricks" that Allen teaches in this book and have been using them for about two weeks. I am doing the things I always knew I should be doing. Having it all out of my head has made a big difference for me. I have used many other systems and have kept the big picture parts of those systems because Allen says this system is about the nitty-gritty, actually getting things done, but you still need the big picture tools.
I am starting a new job and I feel as though my life is organized enough NOT to have to worry about what I am leaving undone. After 7 years of full time school, I had 4 garbage bags of paper in my overstuffed file drawer. Now, I remember the lesson, if you have it but can't find it, what's the point of having it? This helps me to know what to keep and what to toss. It is a worthwhile investment even if you only use a few of the tricks that he teaches to increase your organization.
Book Review: Good For All
Summary: 5 Stars
Any information on being more organised and reducing stress in our lives is worth reading. Even people who are generally organised will gain benefits fom this book. We all have areas of our lives that could be more productive, less cluttered and more stress-free. Definitely worth a read.
Real Life Dramas - Volume One
Darren G. Burton