Getting-things-done rookies are often shocked by the length of their task lists. As Allen recalls, in his consulting work, he soon found he needed two full uninterrupted days to help executives go through and clarify everything they were supposed to be doing. The process of simply listing tasks for which they were responsible often took “six hours or more.”35 Gone are the days of the “productive” executive consulting his Day-Timer, then carefully listing out the six things he hoped to accomplish. In the modern world, knowledge workers now feel under siege by obligations.
