Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity

Not so with David Allen's "Getting Things Done." He offers clear, concise insights on action-oriented steps anyone can implement to make their worklife more productive and stress free. (He recommends the same approach for dealing with your personal life, and while they may work in this context, I'm not sure how many folks really want to run my family like a business).

Yes, a lot of Allen's advice is simple common sense and he tends to offer lists which simply added pages instead of help. Nonetheless, he presents obvious insights in useful context by showing how they've worked with his clients and it's simple to skip the unnecessary lists. The key is (and this is why I awarded five stars instead of four) Allen's advice is aimed at folks who live in the real world. You can actually implement what he talks about and see results.

While the book may not change your life, it will certainly help you keep it organized and focused. "Getting Things Done" is an ideal gift for the colleague who is more of a "big picture"-type than a detail person.


A MUST-READ FOR WORK-AT-HOME MOMS   September 8, 2005
Heather Ivester (Georgia)
32 out of 32 found this review helpful

GETTING THINGS DONE is the book everyone's talking about. If you haven't read it, you need to get a copy. I didn't buy this book for myself; it was a gift from someone who knows I get overwhelmed at times trying to manage a home business as well as a busy household. (What to do about thousands of emails! What to do about 80 million exciting projects I want to get involved with! What to do about getting kids' school papers organized! What to do about supper!)

I've read tons of books on getting organized, but I can say this one is the grand finale. Here's what I used to do: make a daily to-do list that I think about all day. Worry about the things I didn't get around to doing. Talk about how worried I am about the things I need to do. Then go to bed discouraged, transferring my to-do list to another day.

Forget this system. It doesn't work, and it makes you one stressed-out person. Especially if you're a mom, and you can't accomplish all the things you know you COULD accomplish if it were just you. You've got a house full of people and pets and projects and plans that interrupt your goal-setting and list-making.

David Allen's system is a beautiful thing. Don't throw away your leather calendar, your Blackberry, or PDA -- whatever it is that you use -- keep it. Just use your calendar to record those events that must be etched in stone: work deadlines, doctor appointments, birthday parties, soccer games, the day you're supposed to bring a meal to someone, etc. You'll need your calendar for those things. But DON"T use it to make a to-do list.

First of all, you've got to process all of your STUFF and start thinking in terms of in-box. Allen says the reason why people are stressed out is because there are so many "open loops" in their lives -- things they mull over that aren't complete. Instead, you need to think in terms of "What's the next action?" Make a list of your projects, and put it into a folder, labeled "Project list." This includes anything that is an open loop that you need to get done.

Next, take a single sheet of paper for each open loop and write "Next action" at the top. So, instead of writing, "Tires" on your list when your car needs new tires, you'll write the steps you need to do. 1) Call Fred who knows the good place to get new tires. 2) Call tire place and check out prices 3) Make appt. 4) Drop car off to get new tires. Using this method allows you to completely free your mind because it's all written down, allowing you to have a "mind like water."

What works well about this Next-Action technique is that you can make productive use of minutes here and there throughout the day when your energy or concentration may not be at their maximum. If you're stuck in the carpool line, make a few calls on your cell phone (but DON'T waste time talking on your cell phone when your kids are in the car! Talk to your kids! That's my personal pet peeve when I see parents ignoring their kids to talk on their cell phone...)

Allen says, "This is one of the best reasons for having very clean edges to your personal management system; it makes it easy to continue doing productive activity when you're not in top form."

What's the end result? The author says, "When people with whom you interact notice that without fail you receive, process, and organize in an airtight manner the exchanges and agreements they have with you, they begin to trust you in a unique way...It noticeably enhances your mental well-being and improves the power of your communications and relationships, both personally and professionally."

The ultimate goal of this incredible system is that your mind is freed up to do what you REALLY love to do, and that is THINK. Don't most of us wish we could just FOCUS when we want to without our minds jumping around to the meat we've got to thaw, the vet appointment we need to make, the errand we forgot to run, etc.? YES!

Well, I've oversimplified things to write this review. Just get the book and read it. Allen also has an active website where you can find a helpful community of people all implementing this system. What I liked most about the book is that Allen says it's the brightest, most imaginative people who really struggle -- because we think of all the possible outcomes and we freeze our agendas. Using his techniques to "do it, defer it, delegate it, or drop it," we can forge ahead.

Enough said. I've got to go get some things done.

--Reviewed by Heather Lynn Ivester


This book rocks - and it gives you a good reason to get a Label Maker!   November 29, 2005
Brian Henderson (Boston, MA)
30 out of 30 found this review helpful

This is an excellent book. If you find yourself overwhelmed with too much to do and not enough time, or just find yourself disorganized frequently, his system is a great start. You should really just go buy this one.

First he recommends you go out and get yourself a label maker, a bunch of folders, and get them ready.

The process will take place in five big steps. Take this seriously for a second...

(1) collect
(2) process
(3) organize
(4) decide
(5) act
REVIEW weekly.

To recap.

(1) collect
Clear your head of any thoughts you have to do related to work, life, love, spirituality, friendships, bills, and collect of of these thoughts on separate pieces of paper. use recycled paper.

(2) process
Then process this giant pile... your inbox... into folders. Follow Allen's two-minute rule. If there's anything you can do right now in two minutes or less, then do it now, thus freeing up your time and mind. See also: Quadrant 1 (Covey). The reason some of us can't sleep well he says, is because there are a lot of leftover "to-do" floating around in our head.
Everytime you have a thought, make a commitment, or get a new responsibility - write it down.

(3) organize
Is it simple or complex?
Simple Issues: schedule time to solve problem (will it take 1 hr or 3-4 hours?)
Complex Issues: break into simple issues, schedule like above into a calendar.
He uses a Palm Pilot / Pocket PC like device (maybe even a tablet PC at times).
Create a "waiting for" list for things that require other people's time.

Schedule your tasks and create folders for everything (label makers make it fun).

(4) decide
Can you finish it in two minutes? if yes, finish it. If not, keep it see above.

(5) act
Follow your schedule and live your life... don't worry if you screw up, review weekly and you will get better.

He also recommends creating a folder for things you want to do someday/maybe. I added sailing to my someday/maybe and ended up taking a class on sailing this past summer.

http://quickbook.blogspot.com/



I Don't Care Who You Are, You Need This Book!   January 15, 2001
Ross Sivertsen (Plano, Texas United States)
35 out of 36 found this review helpful

Although I've never been to any of his workshops, I have been following David Allen's principles through his web site and newsletter. His book collects it all. His idea of putting things together and managing them through a workflow is both simple, elegant and possibly the most powerful productivity concept I've run across. This book is written in a no non-sense and conversational style with plenty of ideas and ways to implement them. I honestly believe I have freed between eight and ten hours a week of time and completely cleared my desk of clutter in large part because of his suggestions.