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From Amazon
Not quite. Yes, Getting Things Done offers a complete system for downloading all those free-floating gotta-dos 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 organised, 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 sabre known as the mobile phone and attack that list of calls you need to return.)
As whole-life-organising 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 prioritising 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 common sense 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 belaboured, self-improver aimed at everyone from CEOs to football mums (who, we all know, are more organised than most CEOs to start with). --Timothy Murphy --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
From Booklist
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
It's possible for a person to have an overwhelming number of things to do and still function productively with a clear head and a positive sense of relaxed control. Read the first page
Concordance
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Most helpful customer reviews
15 of 16 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
It changed my life,
By
This review is from: Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity (Paperback)
David Allen is considered to be one the top five Management consultants in North America according to a Forbes article. I now understand why.The basic concepts in his book are simple enough and are represented by a flow chart, but there are so many other golden nuggets of "best practice" information within this book that you have to study it to get them all. I've read the book and listened to his second (audio) book "Ready for anything" four times in a row just to reinforce the great points within this book. The result of implimenting his structure of workflow has suprisingly allowed me to act with more freedom and creativity in my job and a reduction in stress. I can even find stuff easily since setting up my folders and buying a label making machine (his recommendation). He's really on to something big with his "next action" thinking approach (chapter 11) and his two-minute rule. One of the best books I've read in the last three years.
16 of 18 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars
7-Habits, then "First Things First", THEN this book,
By Robert B. Towry "Bob" (CO United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity (Paperback)
Strengths: How to manage the never-ending flow of taskings and redirected taskings for those who work in unorganized cultures. Fairly simple. Can be implemented without fancy tools.Weaknesses: Still essentially prioritizing emergencies. You may believe that if your in-box is empty you were effective today. To balance the weaknesses, read Steven Covey's "7-Habits of Highly Effective People", and the book on Habit 3, "First Things First". The older, pre-Franklin-Covey merger book is better than the current offering. The weakness of the Allen book is that it does not force you to think about your roles and goals, leaving you in the trap of the urgent, being unconsciously unbalanced and never asking the question: How can I prevent these issues, how can I keep the main thing the main thing, and what about the long-term? The Covey offerings are a little weak (only a little) in handling the myriad and changing tasks that disorganized managers and organizations throw at you. Covey assumes you have a fair about of autonomy in your work life, that you are responsible for results, not for performing tasks. Bottom line: Read (in this order): "7-Habits", "First Things First", and then Allen. In a hurry? Read First Things First, then the others in the order indicated.
9 of 11 people found the following review helpful
2.0 out of 5 stars
Frustrated,
By A Customer
This review is from: Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity (Paperback)
The Amazon.com review said it well: convoluted, lots of fancy terms, subterms and sub-subterms for the simplest concepts. I find myself spending a lot of time figuring out what he's trying to say. The first three chapters are all theory, added perhaps to make the book respectably sized... much time is spent "telling us what he's going to tell us." I also find it difficult to take a couple of days (or more)to collect all the "to-do" actions in my life; a lot of bosses may have a problem with that, too. I'm still working with it, though, trying to see if I can get to the system that all these people are raving about.
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