Book Review: Getting Things Done by David Allen

The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People raised the bar.  In addition to professional competence, it added VALUES, and even got an example of things that you didn’t even NEED to do.  The four quadrant system was a great prism of looking at things, and yes, it’s still important.

But there was–for me–a disconnect.  Getting into Quadrant 2 (which David Allen Calls “mind like water”), a state where we’re doing with important, but not urgent things…is tougher than it looks.  Covey doesn’t have specific tools, he doesn’t give you tips any more than to say “do the big stuff first,” and the rest will follow.

But what if you forget something?

What if priorities change?

What if you’re deeply invested in something that’s not working?

That’s where Getitng THings Done comes in.  It is “as simple as it needs to be, but no more,”and that famous Einstein quote is found throughout the book.

The essence of GTD (and it has a HUGE cult on the net), is this:

• Put stuff in buckets, not in your brain.
• Check your buckets.
• Have something with you to remember your “someday/maybe” stuff.
  • i.e. a pen and paper/voice recorder/palm organizer
• Think of “todos” as stuff…
• Have a Someday/Maybe file.
• Think in terms of NEXT ACTIONS, not The whole thing.
• Drop more stuff.
• Get rid of hanging files (oh, yes)
• Set up your environment to be conducive to organization.

The Someday/Maybe is-for me–the biggest deal. It gives me some permission to NOT DO some of those “nice to do”things, and to not feel guilt.  You know you’ll get back to it someday, and if you’re working the system, and you trust the system, there won’t be much of a problem with this.
In just a couple of weeks after having read this, I have decreased my stress dramatically, and I’ve enhanced my productivity.  I think–without exaggeration–that this will create a 7 to 15 fold increase in what I can get done in the same amount of time.   That this will probably lead me to delegate more, and not do more.

Without becoming a workaholic, this system gives you the tools to fly through normal tasks and get ahead with almost zero stress.  It acknowledges the human psyche and it acknowledges that there are “Back of mind” things that weigh on us, and disrupt us.

Things I learned and did because of this book:

• Keep something to collect thoughts.
• Write down more stuff.
• Stuff not to dos
• Next actions, not projects.
• Keep a weekly 1-2 hour appointment for collecting stuff.
• Have buckets, know what they are.
• Use the hell out of google notebook. (A lot of my blog’s sidebar has been replaced by google notebook).

Google GTD.  Go to your half price books, or wherever, and BUY THIS BOOK.

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