Product Description

In today's world, yesterday's methods just don't work. In Getting Things Done, veteran coach and management consultant David Allen shares the breakthrough methods for stress-free performance that he has introduced to tens of thousands of people across the country. Allen's premise is simple: our productivity is directly proportional to our ability to relax. Only when our minds are clear and our thoughts are organized can we achieve effective productivity and unleash our creative potential. In Getting Things Done Allen shows how to:

€ Apply the "do it, delegate it, defer it, drop it" rule to get your in-box to empty
€ Reassess goals and stay focused in changing situations
€ Plan projects as well as get them unstuck
€ Overcome feelings of confusion, anxiety, and being overwhelmed
€ Feel fine about what you're not doing

From core principles to proven tricks, Getting Things Done can transform the way you work, showing you how to pick up the pace without wearing yourself down.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #47 in Books
• Published on: 2002-12-31
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 267 pages

Amazon.com
With first-chapter allusions to martial arts, "flow," "mind like water," and other concepts borrowed from the East (and usually mangled), you'd almost think this self-helper from David Allen should have been called Zen and the Art of Schedule Maintenance.

Not quite. Yes, Getting Things Done offers a complete system for downloading all those free-floating gotta-do's clogging your brain into a sophisticated framework of files and action lists--all purportedly to free your mind to focus on whatever you're working on. However, it still operates from the decidedly Western notion that if we could just get really, really organized, we could turn ourselves into 24/7 productivity machines. (To wit, Allen, whom the New Economy bible Fast Company has dubbed "the personal productivity guru," suggests that instead of meditating on crouching tigers and hidden dragons while you wait for a plane, you should unsheathe that high-tech saber known as the cell phone and attack that list of calls you need to return.)

As whole-life-organizing systems go, Allen's is pretty good, even fun and therapeutic. It starts with the exhortation to take every unaccounted-for scrap of paper in your workstation that you can't junk, The next step is to write down every unaccounted-for gotta-do cramming your head onto its own scrap of paper. Finally, throw the whole stew into a giant "in-basket"

That's where the processing and prioritizing begin; in Allen's system, it get a little convoluted at times, rife as it is with fancy terms, subterms, and sub-subterms for even the simplest concepts. Thank goodness the spine of his system is captured on a straightforward, one-page flowchart that you can pin over your desk and repeatedly consult without having to refer back to the book. That alone is worth the purchase price. Also of value is Allen's ingenious Two-Minute Rule: if there's anything you absolutely must do that you can do right now in two minutes or less, then do it now, thus freeing up your time and mind tenfold over the long term. It's commonsense advice so obvious that most of us completely overlook it, much to our detriment; Allen excels at dispensing such wisdom in this useful, if somewhat belabored, self-improver aimed at everyone from CEOs to soccer moms (who we all know are more organized than most CEOs to start with). --Timothy Murphy

From AudioFile
Productivity trainer and consultant David Allen offers a crash course in basic time management and personal organization. While Allen's reading is a little stiff, his enthusiasm for the topic and his passion for systems comes across loud and clear. Allen's message is concise: Organize yourself to free your mind for greater pursuits. And this simple production makes that daunting task seem possible. It's a quick glimpse at setting goals, clearing clutter, and staying focused. Allen's reading, although one dimensional, suits the nature of the topic, making this worth the time for the effort it will save down the road. H.L.S. © AudioFile 2002, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine

From Booklist
Allen, a management consultant and executive coach, provides insights into attaining maximum efficiency and at the same time relaxing whenever one needs or wants to. Readers learn that there is no single means for perfecting organizational efficiency or productivity; rather, the author offers tools to focus energies strategically and tactically without letting anything fall through the cracks. He provides tips, techniques, and tricks for implementation of his workflow management plan, which has two basic components: capture all the things that need to get done into a workable, dependable system; and discipline oneself to make front-end decisions with an action plan for all inputs into that system. In short, do it (quickly), delegate it (appropriately), or defer it. While an infomercial for the author's consulting practice, this road map for organizational efficiency may help many who have too much to do in too little time, both professionally and in their personal lives. Mary Whaley
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Customer Reviews

Defniitely worth the buy
As with most books like this, a great deal of the content is common sense. But as is always the case with me, formalizing it and explaining it is always what I need.

He explains the natural thought process of a project in order to help you get a grasp of what things need to be done in order to achieve your outstanding goals.

He explains why you can't ever relax because you have so much to do, and how to get over that stress so that you can relax during those times you want to relax!

He gives you a system, which you can use as-is or tailor to your personal taste, that essentially guarantees that nothing gets lost, everything gets done and puts you in control.

I know it sounds like an ad, but as I started with, the content is true and makes sense.

Admittedly, I'm still pretty new at this system, and have to improve how I work with it, but so far I am loving it.

Also, if you have a BlackBerry, look for the "NextAction!" software. It's not great software, but it's good enough to follow the system. The main thing that I don't like about the NextAction! is that I find it difficult to manage the tasks in Microsoft Outlook, so I have to stick with Outlook to manage my mail-based tasks and my BB for my non-mail based tasks, but that's not too bad for me.

De-clutter your office and your mind!
David Allen gives you specific tasks to organize and streamline your life and business. Do it or drop it - words to live by if you want to eliminate clutter in your office and in your mind.

good time management ideas
GTD called it right when it identified broken agreements with self as a source of negative feeling, anxiety, guilt and "disintegrated self-trust". And one cannot be wholly productive when they are nagged by worries of open loops. GTD presents a methodology for remedying this and achieving a "mind like water".

While I still believe in traditional time management principles such as task prioritization, GTD offers some excellent concepts and takeaways: Corralling all your stuff is critical - you can only feel good about what you're not doing ONLY when you know what you're not doing; the notion of Next Actions is simple but invaluable; separating reference and support material from actionable items will keep the system less clogged; the Someday/Maybe list as an outlet for off-the-wall and future tasks; and the four criteria model for choosing actions in the moment works, among others.

GTD makes a strong case for some type of time management or personal organization system. This was my second time through the book and while it was worth the revisit, I wish it gave more specifics on tools; and the lack of mention of Blackerrys and iPhones nearly make the book dated. GTD doesn't offer a panacea; but as David Allen himself states, no system is perfect for tracking projects and tasks, you just need to know you have them and where to find more information. I am looking forward to his upcoming sequel.