[.ca] Getting Things Done (ISBN 0670889067)

From Amazon.co.uk:
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-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

Great:
This is an excellent book on time management and organizational skills. I picked it up with another excellent book called Stop Working by Rohan Hall. Both books are amazing and are required reading for anyone serious about becoming successful in today's challenging world.

get things done:
Does David Allen's system really differ from other "time management" systems? I would say an unqualified yes based on my experience with the GTD process so far. In the one week since the book's been out I have made more progress with regard to collecting my stuff than previous attempts I have made in the past 6 years. I have actually started a filing system. More importantly, I am starting to deal with the "stuff" in my life faster and more efficiently. Just learning how to deal with "stuff" is a pretty big deal to me. My problem is that I have obsessive compulsive disorder, and it shows up in my life as compulsive hoarding. Couple the hoarding with attention deficit disorder and you have the ingredients for potentially disastrous living. In short, I have a damn difficult time staying on top of things and tend to struggle at times. David's method offers a practical yet elegant solution to staying on top of things. It starts with collecting the stuff, or as David calls it the "incomplete" and getting them out of your head into an external system that can be trusted. Then you process what's collected and then you organize it.

Practical, Actionable Help Has Arrived:
This is one of those books that is bound to end up "dog-earred" on your desk or nightstand. In my current workgroup, we have started a "book club." Each member reviews two chapters of the book and then we look for ways to implement the ideas in our personal/professional lives. It is amazing how well received the book has been and the creative ways people have come up with to improve their own time/project/work management. One of the top 10 books on our reading group list! Two other recent top 10 books (which are great companions) are: THE WORLD IS FLAT (Friedman) and THE BLACK BOOK OF OUTSOURCING (Brown & Wilson)

From Chaos To Order...:
I used to be all over the place. My desk was a mess, papers piling upon books piling upon stacks of scribbled notes. My desktop PC had icons covering the whole screen with documents and using the search feature in Windows to find a document was the only way I could find anything. Then I discovered GTD. Within two weeks of applying the system, my life has completely transformed. Result? I was able to literally increase my productivity in my personal life and career by at least 5 fold. I am not a naturally very organized person so this was a godsend. Before this I tried Franklin Covey, Brian Tracy and Anthonny Robbins Time Management stuff and none of it has worked for me. This is the only system that has worked for me consistently, that fits the natural process of organizing.

Fantastic Read:
This book is fantastic! It helped me improve my organizational skills and paved the way for better time management. As a Software Engineer and Interweb Guru, the constant bombardment of "stuff" in my life was in desperate need of cleansing and restructuring. Thanks to David, I have effectively implemented a system that keeps my information clutter to a minimum and helps keep my mind clear to work on more useful tasks. A must read for professionals today.