Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity

Some Good Advice!: Allen's approach to managing yourself and your world is very good advice on how to be more productive and satisfied. This book is filled with practical, hands-on ideas, tips, tools, and techniques for more effective self-management. Many of us feel overwhelmed and out of control in today's fast-paced world. This book and the book [[ASIN:1434322580 Understanding: Train of Thought]] are great ways to get a handle on all that “stuff” in our lives and figure out how to better manage the flow of information that never seems to stop. Five stars all the way!

I'll take the system and principles of Getting Things Done to my professional and personal life for the years!

I started reading while performing the system by my own, and is incredible the productivity boost I've got from work and the projects at home. Most importantly is the tranquility with which I can leave work every day or go to sleep every night without the feeling that something is forgotten because I know the system reminds me of “next actions” that I must take in the most convenient time and place.

The power of the key principles. Capturing Habit, Next-Action and, Outcome Focusing.

In my Capturing Habit stage, I feel like using a Pensieve from the Harry Potter series, taking off my mind everything that has to be remembered and clearing my RAM to have ideas and enjoy my current activity after all “Your Brain is for having ideas not storing them.” -David Allen

“How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time”.
The power of the Next-Action where overwhelming projects become a set of doable tasks, one by one is done until a big project is completed.

In my professional life and do to other experiences I was aware of the power of Outcome Focusing, where I trace back the steps from the End goal to my Next-Action.

I only wish I have finished this book when it was released and I personally think this system should be something though on High-School or as a common class in college.

In the future, I would certainly recommend this book to all my mentees.

Like most self-help book, there's a certain hokeyness you need to get past to read it. Unlike most self-help books, this actually has useful ideas and information. I can say as someone who's perpetually disorganized, this book won't magically transform you into a productivity guru. The writing often acts like a magic bullet, which no productivity method is. But GTD does give good strategies for how to spend less time fretting about everything you have to do and more time doing them. And, for me, that's pretty valuable.

I do think that some of his ideas are useful (like how important it is to clarify what your goal/project/commitment is and then write down the first physical actions you need to take to complete it), but, quoting another reviewer, the book is “profoundly American”. It's extremely repetitive and the jargon he came up with to make his book sound more edgy makes the reading experience a lot less pleasant. I found myself frequently annoyed with his expressions. His system could have been summed up in 30-50 pages, but that wouldn't make a bestseller, would it? Also, while the overall idea of his system is good, I don't see how it can be described stress-free and globally practical. It gets quite complicated as you get deeper into it, you end up spending so much time planning that you are exhausted by the time you need to take action. I'm sure it's a wonderful tool for the exceedingly anal, but I doubt the majority can apply this to their lives. However, if you don't follow it letter by letter, you can take the couple of useful ideas, adapt them and come up with a system of your own. Experimentation is the key.

I don't think this book has aged well. I think I heard that he recently released a new version that is more up to date. That being said, I think there's some good knowledge to be gained here. Unfortunately, I felt as though I already knew most of what he was discussing through my own personal productivity quest. I think the biggest gains to be had were the examples and how to actually go about implementing a system to have a more productive life. I would probably recommend the newer version so the examples are more up to date.

I've had this on my shelf for ages. I first got it after hearing Merlin interviewing David Allen, and soon gave up because his monotonous voice on the audiobook talking about business douchebaggery bored me to tears. In Back to Work #95 LINK, Merlin persuades Dan to read the book as prep for the next show, so I went back to it and listened to it myself. And yep, once again, monotonous voice talking about business douchebaggery. However I did bear it to the end and I didn't learn ANYTHING that I haven't already learned from hearing Merlin talk about productivity. And when I listen to Merlin talking about it, I get so much out of it it's quite ridiculous. I have implemented a lot of GTD into my workflow without having read the book and it helps me tremendously.

So my recommendation to anyone who is not a business douchebag and is wondering whether to read this book, don't bother. Instead, read Merlin's stuff and listen to his podcasts. If you're the corporate boardroom type, maybe give the book a whirl, but if you're not into filing cabinets, golfing weekends and big cigars, Merlin's the go-to guy for you. Start with the podcast linked above, which has loads of links in the shownotes, including Merlin's article on 43folders.com: Getting started with GTD

This is a book I've read at least 4 times, and honestly, every time has been totally worthwhile. I'd recommend this to anyone who feels there is any way at all that they could possibly get more out of their life than they currently are.

Getting Things Done (GTD) is the definitive time management book. There are tons of other options out there, but this is definitely the place to start. Even if you don't feel every part of the GTD system is “for you,” there are still going to be quite a few “nuggets” that will make it well worth your time. Most people will be able to immediately implement some part of the whole system, which focuses on utilizing lists to unload your brain of all the things you should be doing. Nuggets like “the 2 minute rule” and “what is the next step?” can absolutely change your life. Even teenagers would benefit from the knowledge here.

The writing style is very easy to follow and feels very “friendly.” No business knowledge or other specialized knowledge is necessary. This also isn't just for “big business executives” in any way. I honestly feel everyone could significantly improve things in their life from the busiest of doctors to school-age teenagers during their summer months.

It all comes down to a few questions:
1. What do you really want to achieve on a short-term, medium-term, and long-term basis?
2. What things need to happen to help you achieve those things?
3. Is what you're doing right now getting you closer to achieving your goals?
4. What is the very next step you need to take to make progress?
And then make sure you write these things down in a way that you frequently review it, add to it, mark off your steps.

Personally, this is a book I return to every few years and I try to read it early in the year. It helps with not just goal accomplishment, but also with reminders to look not just at the here and now, but also looking at your 1 year, 3 year and even longer-term trajectory of your life.