Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-free Productivity

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Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-free Productivity

3.96 of 5 stars 3.96 · rating details · 24,886 ratings · 1,780 reviews

In today's world of exponentially increased communication and responsibility, yesterday's methods for staying on top just don't work.

Veteran management consultant and trainer David Allen recognizes that "time management" is useless the minute your schedule is interrupted; "setting priorities" isn't relevant when your email is down; "procrastination solutions" won't help if

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Paperback, 282 pages

Published January 24th 2002 by Piatkus Books (first published January 1st 2001)

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Aug 15, 2008 Jamie rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Ironically, looking in to the GTD (Getting Things Done) system has been bouncing around in the back of my head as something to do for quite some time now. This approach to maximizing productivity is popular among the nerdegalian, probably because of its minimum bullshit approach to actually processing, classifying, and executing what the author David Allen calls "stuff to do." This book discusses the GTD system in its entirety and, more importantly, teaches you how to put it in place.

What I real...more Ironically, looking in to the GTD (Getting Things Done) system has been bouncing around in the back of my head as something to do for quite some time now. This approach to maximizing productivity is popular among the nerdegalian, probably because of its minimum bullshit approach to actually processing, classifying, and executing what the author David Allen calls "stuff to do." This book discusses the GTD system in its entirety and, more importantly, teaches you how to put it in place.

What I really liked about Allen's work is that it's very straight forward and focused on implementation. It seems like other self-help books in this vein that I've perused are all about inspiration, defining values, motivating yourself, getting in touch with your inner being and letting loose the full potential of you. To those authors I'd like to say the following: No. Stop it. I don't need nor want that, so you can cram it with walnuts, buddy. GTD, in comparison, is prescriptive. Allen gets touchy-feeling in a few places (such as discussing prioritization or project definition) but the vast majority of the book takes a very practical approach to digging yourself out of whatever mountain of commitments you've gotten yourself under and how to stay on top of it once you get there.

In short, GTD focuses on getting "stuff" --commitments, to do items, reminders to gather information, requests for information or actions, etc.-- out of your short-term memory and into a physical, highly organized system that will remind you of the right stuff at the right time. Dumping everything out of your short-term memory allows you to do something that's very critical to productivity: focus on one thing at a time. If you're confident that your other commitments or to-dos are safely stored away somewhere and will not be lost or buried out of sight, you can devote all your attention, time, and mental energy to one thing before knocking it out and moving on to the next. I like to think of the system as an artificial, external, and infinitely scalable attention span that you can connect to and disconnect from as needed.

That's all well and good, but it's probably not beyond the ken of your average retarded monkey. The tough (and in some places nonintuitive) part is the implementation. Again, there's tons more detail, tricks, and tips in the book, but I'll try to capture the gist of it. There are four major parts to the GTD system:

1. Collecting incoming stuff
2. Processing the stuff
3. Doing the stuff
4. Regularly reviewing your system to make sure your action items and project lists are up to date

Collecting stuff is easy. That's just letting stuff accumulate in your physical or virtual receptacles like inboxes, voice mail, or e-mail.

Processing stuff is more involved. It requires sitting down with your inboxes and emptying them. That doesn't mean immediately doing the work associated with each piece of stuff as you pick it up --prioritization is important. It means taking a piece of stuff --an e-mail, a document, a voice mail-- and doing something with it: act on it right then, file it, trash it, delegate it, or create what Allen calls a "Next Action" item associated with it. Again, the book is replete with practical tips, hacks, tools, and rules of thumb for deciding which of these things to do and how to keep it all straight. Therein lies some of the book's best value, but it's too detailed to go into here.

Doing the stuff is self explanatory, but again I'll emphasize the value of being able to focus on one thing at a time without worrying that other things will be forgotten. It's much more productive and much less stressful.

Regularly reviewing your system is also important, and comes in two flavors: as needed and weekly. You may review your action item list (a.k.a., your "to do list") several times a day as needed, if for nothing but that endorphin rush that comes with checking things off as "done" and deciding what to tackle next. Weekly reviews are also important, and are different in that you take the time to check on your list of active projects and make sure you have a Next Action item for each and every one.

So I really like the book and its system. I'd recommend it to anyone who feels like they're not being productive enough or getting buried in work. Allen only gets mushy and non-specific in a few places that make it seem like he's trying to pad the page count, but the majority of the book is specific, direct, and practical. I also like that Allen is in tune with the modern technology that most professionals encounter. He spends appropriate amounts of time discussing things like e-mail, Outlook and voice mail. He also talks about implementing GTD with high-tech tools like PDAs, Web 2.0 systems, and palmtop computers, but while GTD lends itself well to these kinds of toys, at its heart it is technology agnostic. You could do the whole thing quite effectively with a pen, some paper, and a bunch of file folders. Indeed, some parts of the system, like the tickler file work best that way.(less)

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Sep 11, 2007 Jarrodtrainque added it

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...more 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/(less)

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Feb 05, 2009 Ruben rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2009

I'm really glad my wife and I read this book together. It's already been very helpful in getting us to look at the reason so many things never get done on time or sometimes not at all. The book is well written. The writing is very clear, with lots of examples, though it's a bit dry in the middle and a little flowery on the ends. (That sounds like a description of a scone or something.) We're still working on getting our system set up (I mean filing cabinets for reference material) so I might nee...more

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Apr 27, 2011 Tracy marked it as did-not-finish · review of another edition

I'm listening to this because I need to get a grip on my life.

I can't even focus enough to listen about how to get my life together, much less do it.

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Jul 02, 2008 David rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: nonfiction

I'd heard about David Allen and his "Getting Things Done" system in the past, but I never paid it much attention. I decided to investigate further a little while back, and finally picked up the book two weeks ago. And now I've read it; and I expect I'll go back and re-read this book in a couple months. I may revise my rating at that time.

The things that irritate me in this book are exactly the things I expected might irritate me. There are plenty of the obligatory breezy anecdotes about the clie...more

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Jun 12, 2011 Jonathan rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: No one

Shelves: own

I bought this book, and I read some of it. It sat on a shelf unfinished. I read some more. It sat in my car unfinished. I eventually made the decision to never finish it.

I think this is self-explanatory.

[Later...]

Now I'm reading 26 Reasons Not to Use GTD, and it does a good job of articulating the "ehhhh"ness that I felt while reading this.

And if you think GTD's followers are a little cult-like, check this out: When David Allen says in the acknowledgments "deepest thanks go to my spiritual coac...more

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Jul 29, 2007 Melynda rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I'm a big geek, and here's proof (if you needed it). I learned about GTD from Merlin Mann's 43 Folders site, and became an instant convert. Because I love folders, lists, diagrams, flow charts, of course, but most of all because with GTD, you have to have a labeller. I love my labeller. I love making labels for my files, and admiring them in their serried ranks, all neat and labelly.

And I do actually seem to be getting more done, even when I factor in all the time I spend labelling.

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Mar 01, 2009 Dianna rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recall the last time you went on a significant vacation from work: before you left you cleared all your to-dos, emptied your inbox, tied all the loose ends, and organized the things you'd tackle when you came back. Felt pretty good to leave that last day, right?

David Allen teaches you how to live your life this way: take all your to-dos, projects, etc. then organize them out into Projects, Next Actions, Someday/Maybe projects, Read and Review, and more if you want. Take the Next Actions and eith...more

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Apr 26, 2012 peter rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: audiobooks

I went through parts of this book/lecture series when I was an undergrad, but am revisiting the audiobook now. It provides some very helpful ways to look at life and how you do the things you do.

There are some key points in this book that can really change how you conduct your life. For me, a few of the big things are:

(1) if you keep everything you worry about doing in your mind, you'll have more anxiety. Instead you should write everything down that you have to do in some sort of trusted system...more

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Jul 27, 2008 Josh rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Everyone

I have not had much success applying strategies from productivity gurus. I am referring to books like "The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People" by Steven Covey, and other books which share use top-down strategies to order our lives. There are two reasons why these have not worked for me. The first is technical: day-to-day life happens on the level of "stuff". The myriad of small tasks of varying importance and in multiple contexts hampers the effectiveness of top-down approaches. The second...more I have not had much success applying strategies from productivity gurus. I am referring to books like "The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People" by Steven Covey, and other books which share use top-down strategies to order our lives. There are two reasons why these have not worked for me. The first is technical: day-to-day life happens on the level of "stuff". The myriad of small tasks of varying importance and in multiple contexts hampers the effectiveness of top-down approaches. The second reason is a personal one. The entire mindset of these books is very unappealing to me. Books which simplify and systemize our entire lives, such as Covey's books, seem to suck the imagination and life right out of living. Peter Pan would barf and toss these books to his crocodile buddy.

Incredibly, one productivity book has managed to overcome my objections: David Allen's "Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity" has succeeded where other books failed. "Getting Things Done" (from now on I'll refer to it as GTD) has made quite a splash since its release in 2001. It's influence is already pervasive and some of the most useful blogs on the internet swear by it. I probably see it randomly mentioned every week. So for anyone who doesn't know much about it, I'd like to summarize the book and at the same time show how beneficial Allen's method has been for me.

First of all, GTD is not a top-down approach. Allen explains that "...most people are so embroiled in commitments on a day-to-day level that their ability to focus successfully on the larger horizon is seriously impaired. Consequently, a bottom-up approach is usually more effective." Allen is dead on. I already do plenty of big-picture thinking, and it really hasn't helped me deal with the nitty-gritty details of whatever messy projects and tasks are on my plate. Allen admits that a lot of times what is needed are a few tricks. GTD has equipped me to better deal with my responsibilities, and in some cases gave me some trick that helped make all the difference.

The second problem I've had with productivity books is more complex. I believe it is important to maintain a little bit of a child-like disposition in life. My impressions of the professional world are that it creates uniformity and kills creativity. It's very easy to figure out where my attitudes come from: I grew up watching Mary Poppins and Peter Pan, and Peter Pan was the first "big book" that I owned and read. I think I got that book out of my grandpa's library after his funeral. Both of these stories portray growing up as a very dangerous thing to do, and I've never stopped worrying that I will become old, dry, boring, and bored. But whether I like it or not, life happens, and responsibilities accumulate. And here is how "Getting Things Done" succeeds where others fail: without wasting time suggesting a cookie-cutter pattern for my life, it aids in conquering mundane tasks and responisibilities so that my energy can return to the activities that excite me. As I've implemented Allen's method, I've found myself able to mentally relax and in general am feeling a lot more creative again. That's pretty much fantastic!

Here is a quick summary of the GTD method. Allen describes a five-stage workflow: collecting anything that commands our attention, processing, organizing the results, reviewing the options, and taking action. Going through these steps for the first time is a huge project; Allen suggests taking several days to do this. It took me quite awhile to get all the papers and "open-loops" collected or written down, and several hours of work to organize them. Fortunately, Allen does plenty of hand-holding through this. If someone as absent minded and flighty as myself can do it, anyone can. Allen also includes chapters on developing and tracking projects (really excellent stuff) and deciding what to do next at any given moment. As a manual, it is very well written. It gives brief overviews of everything before going into greater detail. By the time you are implementing it, you already have a decent grasp of the material.

Allen sold me in the early chapters, so I dived in with both feet. It took awhile, but the results are wonderful. I have no loose unorganized papers anywhere. Before I did GTD, my mind felt like it was completely in knots. It's felt that way for years. Now that I don't carry the anxiety of lots of unidentified mental baggage and millions of unsorted papers, my mind feels relaxed and focused. GTD also helps me keep a clear picture of any tasks in front of me, and it's much easier to decide what to do next. Tackling a "next action" list feels a bit like a game. I hope to get one down to zero someday. I am more productive and am feeling more energetic. The method is also somewhat flexible: everyone's implementation will vary a bit. I use a clipboard with next-action divded by context, big wallets to hold file folders in place of a file cabinet, basic office supplies, a paper calendar, and four trays for "inbox", "next action / outbox", "data entry" (for business cards and such), and "waiting for". Very low tech, which is how I like it.

Only time will tell what effect all this will have on me. Increased responsibilities will be the real test of GTD's effectiveness. Although GTD will hold special appeal to workaholics and productivity worshippers, it is potentially beneficial to anyone who struggles to keep track of all the little tasks we need to get done. Check it out!(less)

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Jan 19, 2008 Mike rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I heard a lot about this book in various Apple and scholarly blogs. It has a rabid following amongst technology types and some academics. As I LOVE my to do list, and am prone to stressing out about things on said list, I was intrigued enough to check the book out.

I didn't read the entire book, but I did get a lot out of it. His basic point is that in order to have a clear mind for concentrating on the task at hand, you need to have a system in place to capture all of the projects/tasks rattlin...more

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Sep 01, 2007 Steve rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: busy people

You've got too much to do and you're trying to juggle it all. How do you manage the overload of tasks? David Allen's "Getting Things Done" book offers a comprehensive, it-makes-sense system for keeping all of your various tasks under control.

The basic idea of the system is that your brain is unreliable and focuses on the wrong things at the wrong times, so you need to either work on something as soon as it arrives or use a system that you trust holds all of your pending work-to-do. Since so much...more

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Jul 16, 2008 Hannah rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Hannah by: professor from Leading and Managing Organizations class

I like reading about organizing my life and being more productive, but I think the major lessons of this book could have been condensed in a page or two. Here are the things I remember:

- 2 minute rule: if you remember to do something and it takes you less than two minutes to do it, just go ahead and do it
- write things down in lists so that they don't float around your head and nag at you all of the time
- check your lists frequently and often, actually doing the things on the list (or delegating...more

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Mar 21, 2012 Bill rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: management

How To Get Things Done has help me immensely in "getting organised". It was quite hard work to read, perhaps because I only wanted to read it as fast as I was putting things into practice -- and so it has taken me about 3 years to read it all the way through!! The key ideas have been a) collecting and recording every single input into a trusted system of lists etc b) the 2 minute rule (deal with it immediately if it takes less than 2 minutes) c) the "Next Action": never record somthing in vague...more

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Sep 27, 2007 Tracy rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: folks feeling overwhelmed by all they have to do

I've not yet fully put this system into place, so I'll have to hold off on the final review, but so far what I've put in place is helping. The author's contention is that taking care of the details and emphasizing the "Next Action" habit creates the freedom for more creative and longer-term thinking. Following up with the little things is also important for maintaining trust in any group, whether it's a business, community organization, or family. I'd recommend this book for anyone who is respon...more

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Dec 02, 2008 Tony rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

David's ideas are very basic but also extremely liberating. Unlike Covey who focuses on values and visions, Allen gets down to the nitty-gritty of accomplishing everyday tasks I did not agree with everything he had to say, but the ideas I have implimented have been amazing. The simple concept of starting the 2 minute rule has done wonders for me. I would recommend this read to all professionals. One quick warning. At times Allen can be repeative, seeming to give a million examples for the same t...more

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Mar 03, 2009 Michelle Powers rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Tried the print and the audio and just couldn't grasp the system which would enable me to get lots and lots of stuff done in an easy manner without struggle. I guess once you get through the book, nothing else seems like as much of a struggle.

I should have known it wasn’t for me, when the author said “stop making to-do lists.” I mean, really, what would I do with all the cute sticky note pads I have?

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May 16, 2007 Sarah Heffern rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: disorganized people with too much free time

Shelves: productivity, self-help

This book should have been a 3,000-word article. It was full of useless details (e.g. listing the types of materials out of which an inbox might be made), redundant to the point of making me crazy, and overflowing with multi-step systems for this, that, and the other (seriously, keeping the 3- or 4- or 6-step filters straight would require flashcards).

While it had some useful tips, I can't imagine anyone having the free time to implement the system fully. Clearly, though, I am wrong in this, jus...more

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Oct 25, 2011 Robert rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Since it might take less than two minutes to write this review, I'll just do it now... The two-minute rule is one of the only things I remember from this book (which I read more than five years ago). I generally like the rule, but have found it problematic when something else also comes to mind, and I forget what that was within two minutes =)

By the time I came to read this, I had already learned many productivity strategies from other books and programs. Perhaps I might have walked away with m...more

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Aug 21, 2007 Letitia rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

David Allen's smirking white male face on the cover of this book may convince that he's successful...but the man should reserve his smirk for one on one business dealings. The biggest issue with this book is, I couldn't get it done. Getting Things Done is written for a non-existent audience: a procrastinator with enough motivation to actually plow through Allen's dry instruction manual.

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Jan 20, 2012 Henk-Jan van der Klis rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: effectiviteit, time, management

David Allen's Getting things done , een ogenschijnlijk simpel, maar doeltreffend systeem om stuff (binnenkomende mails, verzoeken, telefoontjes, taken, plannen, wensen en projecten) te verwerken, is ook in het Nederlands vertaald. De titel Doe het nu! dekt net niet de lading, aangezien verwijderen, delegeren of aan een datum koppelen ook een mogelijkheid is. De mix van het besluitvormingsdiagram dat de werkstroom verwerkt, wordt gelardeerd met voorbeelden, suggesties en aanverwante hulpmiddelen...more

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May 13, 2011 Nancy Schober rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Several people mentioned this book on the 'books that changed my life thread' that I thought I would give it a gander. I seem to be on a streak of reading books by crackpots: ([return][return]I can see where this highly organized system for running your life might cause problems with someone who was already OCD. But still I'm a bit miffed I wasn't given something like this in my high school senior Study Skills class.[return][return]David Allen's system covers the nuts & bolts that Steven Cov...more

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May 21, 2013 Duncan rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

"Oh, I do GTD" everyone says. "Do it, Delegate it, Defer it", it's simple. But the majority of people seem to never get around to actually reading it. And, well, no, it's not quite that simple. And yes, you should absolutely should read this book. And yes, this is a rant about a particular task management system and how it would be great for you. I know the cliche. But perhaps this time you'll actually pull your finger out and actually read the thing. It took me seven years before I finally did....more "Oh, I do GTD" everyone says. "Do it, Delegate it, Defer it", it's simple. But the majority of people seem to never get around to actually reading it. And, well, no, it's not quite that simple. And yes, you should absolutely should read this book. And yes, this is a rant about a particular task management system and how it would be great for you. I know the cliche. But perhaps this time you'll actually pull your finger out and actually read the thing. It took me seven years before I finally did...

School these days prepares us pretty horribly for dealing with the multitude of inputs to our lives that slap us this way and that minute-to-minute and day-to-day. Usually people end up running several todo lists when things get overwhelming, but these are just partial brain-dumps that temporarily alleviate the deluge. The GTD system is pretty simple at its core, and much of the book is actually dedicated to implementing it. The ideas are pretty simple - firstly you get everything out of your head and into some external management system that you trust. Then you use a pretty simple algorithm (that's where the "do it, delegate it, defer it" line comes from, but that's only a part of it) to deal with new stuff that comes at you. Then, the process of "getting things done" really comes down to essentially having two dimensions on your data. One is the "project" and the other is the "context". When you plan things you use a project view: what needs to be done to complete this project (a project being anything with more than one step, and anything that is just one step ending up in a general "miscellaneous" project). The second is the "context", which is much like the todo lists you're probably sporadically utilising at the moment, only they contain /everything/ that you need to do in a particular place (supermarket, home, work, byt the computer, visiting mom and dad, at the chemist, ...) so that you never end up thinking "what was that thing that I need to do in this place", and then remembering when it's too late.

It's a great system, and the only thing I could say about the book is that it could do with an update to make it more modern. These days you really can use a task management app for most of the stuff that he suggests that you write out on paper. I use Omnifocus myself after experimenting with some other less pricey apps. The advantage of Omnifocus is that it's not a general task management app, it's specifically tailored to GTD, and it does that extremely well. You have an inbox to dump things to, in order to get them out of your head. Then you move those things to the general miscellaneous bucket list, or to a project of their own. You break down the projects into tasks and to everything you assign a context. Then wherever you are (be it at the computer using the mac app, or out and about somewhere using the iPhone app, you have everything right there at your finger tips.

Well, that's probably enough ranting about the merits of GTD. It's definitely worth looking at as a way to solve your perpetually swamped, disorganised and hectic life, and to get rid of all those "piles" of "suff" that you leave everywhere and you'll definitely get round to sorting out one of these days...(less)

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May 15, 2013 Loren rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I'm always looking for a way to get more stuff done and this system comes recommended by everyone from the owner of the Samovar Tea Houses to Unclutterer. After reading the book, I'm not sure I've bought into the cult, but it did underline some of the things I already do: keep a master to-do list, review it every week, keep a daily list of priorities.

I'm not sure I hold with the whole two-minutes rule, where you do all the things that you can finish in two minutes. That strikes me as a way to pu...more

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May 13, 2013 Erika RS rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

A couple months ago, I attended a seminar for GTD. At the seminar we each received a copy of the book. You can read better summaries of the GTD system than I feel like writing, so instead I will focus on the book itself and whether or not it is worth reading given the plethora of information online.

The first few chapters are an overview of the methodology, especially as it applies to mastering workflow and to project planning. The first two chapters, the general overview and the overview of the...more

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May 01, 2013 Patrick rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: personal-mba, business

Getting Things Done (or GTD to those in the know) is a productivity methodology that has many adherents in the tech world. It provides a rigid system based on simple principles and a very simple process (Collect, Process, Organize, Review, Do) that helps clear your mind and ensure nothing slips through the cracks. (If you want to know more, look it up. It's all over the web.)

I appreciated the fact that this is based upon the author's real-world experience as a productivity consultant, and I appr...more

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Mar 31, 2013 Kaat V rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

"Prettig en efficiënt werken zonder stress", wie wil dat niet ? Daarom kocht ik mij het boek Getting Things Done van David Allen. Ik probeer iedere dag een hoofdstuk te lezen, wie weet lukt het nog : dat stressloos en efficiënt werken !

Drie hoofdstukken heb ik ondertussen gelezen en tot nu toe zijn de hoge verwachtingen die ik had niet echt ingelost. Misschien komt dat omdat dit niet het eerste boek is dat ik lees over timemanagement, projectplanning of efficiëntie.

Toch vind ik het voor mezelf g...more

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Mar 31, 2013 Anthony Deluca rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Getting Things Done
By: David Allen
Copyright 2001
Reviewed October 2006.

The main idea conveyed in Getting Things Done is that getting stray thoughts that are not directly related to one’s present task out of one’s mind is the key to enabling the focus one needs to perform at peak productivity level. The book briefly talks about this theory and why it is true, then it quickly jumps into outlining a very regimented method of getting and staying organized.

Fully implemented, the method in this book is...more

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Feb 02, 2013 Inga rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: non-fictional

Endlich habe ich dieses Buch auch zuende gelesen: David Allen, Wie ich die Dinge geregelt kriege.
Ich bin für gewöhnlich ein schlechter Sachbuchleser und ein noch schlechterer Ratgeberleser. Dieses Buch habe ich gezielt ausgewählt, weil ich immer mal wieder das Gefühl hatte, die Fülle meiner Aufgaben überrennt mich und ich bekomme die Dinge eben nicht mehr alle geregelt.
Das im Buch beschriebene Unbehagen, dass man eigentlich auch nicht so genau weiß, was man alles gerade machen müsste und nicht s...more

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Jan 17, 2013 Tryn rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: self-improvement, simplicity

Since the age of 14 I’ve been obsessed with how to make the most of each day, how to use my time to the greatest effect. So I’ve read a fair number of books on this topic and gleaned principles along the way. This is the best book of its kind I have read so far. Maybe I feel this way because David Allen takes a similar approach to my own in getting things done. He confirm that some of my intuitive time-management practices are sound and effective. Allen also taught me how to refine those process...more Since the age of 14 I’ve been obsessed with how to make the most of each day, how to use my time to the greatest effect. So I’ve read a fair number of books on this topic and gleaned principles along the way. This is the best book of its kind I have read so far. Maybe I feel this way because David Allen takes a similar approach to my own in getting things done. He confirm that some of my intuitive time-management practices are sound and effective. Allen also taught me how to refine those processes and make them more conscious. And he added new strategies to my repertoire that I am excited to incorporate.

Besides all the practical strategies I got from this book, I relearned an important life principle, this time through the lens of productivity. Tasks you tell yourself to do or projects that you make an agreement with yourself to take care of and then don't do not only clutter your mind and make it hard to concentrate on anything, they actually feel like broken promises to yourself and weigh on your spirit. To have what the author describes as a “mind like water,” meaning a mind that is fluid, creative, relaxed, and capable of sustained attention, requires that you know what you have to do right away and what you have agreed with yourself you can put off. You have to be able to feel good about what you are not doing right now in order to feel good about what you are doing right now.

If you keep agreements with yourself, you will feel peaceful. If you break them you will feel bogged down and guilty. The mind and spirit do not differentiate between small, relatively insignificant tasks, like getting your carpets cleaned, which you told yourself you would do this month or important life resolutions, like spending more time with your children, which you to told yourself you would do this month as well. They are both just broken agreements that weigh on you if you don’t follow through.

So here is the biggest gem from this book: Renegotiate with yourself often. This is how you keep a mind like water. You renegotiate your list. You go through your in-box every day and assign everything a spot. You look at each project on your project list at least once a week, deciding what the next action is and adding it to the appropriate list, determining when you will do it. Allen says that the day most people feel best about their work is the day before they go on vacation because that is when most people take the time to renegotiate their to-do list and reassign every task a spot. You can feel like that all the time if you regularly process your in-box, assign everything a spot, and then frequently renegotiate what will be done and when.

Allen acknowledges that there is never enough time in this life to do everything. But when you have a good system, you can feel peaceful about what you are choosing to do at each moment and enter fully into the experience with attention and presence of mind.

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About David Allen

David Allen is a productivity consultant who is best known as the creator of the Getting Things Done time management method.

He is the founder of the David Allen Company, which is focused on productivity, action management and executive coaching. His Getting Things Done method is part of his coaching efforts. He was also one of the founders of Actioneer, Inc., a company specializing in productivity...more

More about David Allen...

Books by David Allen

Ready for Anything: 52 Productivity Principles for Getting Things Done

Making It All Work: Winning at the Game of Work and Business of Life

Getting Things Done...Fast!: The Ultimate Stress-Free Productivity System

The Facilitator's Book of Questions: Tools for Looking Together at Student and Teacher Work

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Quotes from How to Get Things Done

“If you don't pay appropriate attention to what has your attention, it will take more of your attention than it deserves.” — 29 people liked it

“Most people feel best about their work the week before their vacation, but it's not because of the vacation itself. What do you do the last week before you leave on a big trip? You clean up, close up, clarify, and renegotiate all your agreements with yourself and others. I just suggest that you do this weekly instead of yearly.” — 12 people liked it

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