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by: David Allen Dewey Decimal Number: 158 EAN: 9780749922641 ISBN: 0749922648 Label: Piatkus Books Manufacturer: Piatkus Books Number Of Pages: 282 Publication Date: January 24, 2002 Publisher: Piatkus Books Sales Rank: 664735 Studio: Piatkus Books Related Items:
Editorial Review: Product Description: Is your workload overwhelming? Does it just keep mounting up while your stress levels reach fever pitch? In Getting Things Done David Allen teaches you how to keep a clear head, relax and organise your thoughts while implementing the methods that he has introduced at organisations like Microsoft, Lockheed and the US Department of Justice: Learn the 'do it, delegate it, defer it, drop it' principle to empty your in-tray. Handle e-mail, paperwork and unexpected demands in a system of self-management. Plan and progress projects. Reasses goals and stay focused. Apply the two minute rule when deciding what to do now and what to defer. Overcome feelings of anxiety and being overwhelmed. With clear and specific methods and advice, David Allen's tried and trusted formula for business efficiency could transform the way you operate and your experience of work. Amazon.com Review: 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 Average Rating:
 Rating:  - Would prevent you from getting things done...I purchased this book since it has such high reviews on Amazon. Unfortunately, all the book provides are obsessive techniques on how to organize your tasks. Still, you would come up with them yourself anyway as they are all basic common sense. If anything, taking the time to read this book takes precious time from your schedule to really get things done... Sorry, but after reading this book I am not more organized than I've been before, and my tendency to procrastinate is ... Read More Rating:  - A pamphlet would have sufficed.David Allen's Getting Things Done system is actually quite useful, but you certainly don't need to read this book to implement it. In fact, reading the book might turn you away from the methodology as it did me. There are definite, glaring problems with Allen's style. For example, he relies heavily on hypothetical cases, often providing examples that are very similar. This makes for a dull, repetitive read, and the simplicity of the examples makes the repetition seem a little offensive. ... Read More Rating:  - A great self-help book for those who want to knock off one of their new year resolutionsThis is a great book. I was skeptical of these self-help books but after I got it as a gift for the new year last year, I found it to be very helpful in changing the way I handle my work. I found myself happier and less stressed and having more free time from the advice in this book. Well worth it! Rating: - Goodbye Franklin Covey and DaytimerFinally, the one true organizational system that focuses on outcome (productivity) instead of process. It actually clears your mind. Throughout the years, I have received formal and recurring employer sponsored training in both Daytimer and Franklin Covey organizational and time management system. These were primarily paper based approaches. While clearly capable and expansive (if not expensive) systems (when properly trained), they engage you in processes that can be overwhelming. Simply ... Read More Rating: - Some useful information, but not that great of a bookThis book is about organization. It says very little about prioritization and time-management. It contains nothing about actually *planning* or *doing* anything. The system boils down to making elaborate "what I need to do next" lists for every project you want to accomplish in your life, and to review and update these lists often. For every item on your list, either trash it, delegate it, save it for later, or just do it. It's good advice if you find yourself stuck at a roadblock or overwhelmed by a sheer ... Read More |
