I bought this book after read some remarks in the Internet and magazines. Part I is the best one, where you get to know the basics and concepts about GTD. Part 2 is how the author does implement these basics and concepts in his day-by-day. Not for everyone. Part 3, just skip it. I wouldn't tell a friend to buy the book.

This book was practical and useful for me at home. I love the "tricks" that Allen teaches in this book and have been using them for about two weeks. I am doing the things I always knew I should be doing. Having it all out of my head has made a big difference for me. I have used many other systems and have kept the big picture parts of those systems because Allen says this system is about the nitty-gritty, actually getting things done, but you still need the big picture tools.

I am starting a new job and I feel as though my life is organized enough NOT to have to worry about what I am leaving undone. After 7 years of full time school, I had 4 garbage bags of paper in my overstuffed file drawer. Now, I remember the lesson, if you have it but can't find it, what's the point of having it? This helps me to know what to keep and what to toss. It is a worthwhile investment even if you only use a few of the tricks that he teaches to increase your organization.

I got this book at the same time as Getting Organized: Improving Focus, Organization and Productivity in the hope that one or both would help me tame my crazy life as a middle manager in a software company. Both books have something to offer - in my review of Getting Organized, I suggested skimming or reading several books and articles and taking the best suggestions from each.

While "Getting Organized" takes a Cliff's Notes approach with two-page chapters that take about two or three minutes each to digest, Getting Things Done goes more in depth, almost to a fault. I found that the first few chapters of Getting Things Done were much better written than the other book, and also stayed more technology-neutral, leaving it to the reader to decide whether to use paper files, day planners, PDAs, or list management software.

As others have written, the "processing stuff" flowchart that appears early on (page 32) is worthy of being printed, framed and sat on your desk for daily reference. It's the best summary I've seen of the different types of input items we all deal with and the choices we can and should make when dealing with them.

There's also a lot of meaty stuff that encourages you to think about your work habits and how you segment your time: Right now, am I categorizing input items or am I working on individual items? What's my energy level and mood right now and how should that affect what I do next? Do I have five minutes free or a solid hour?

I'm still developing my system, but essentially I use a combination of list management software (the excellent Remember the Milk) and email/calendaring (Gmail and Outlook) to keep track of things. I have one list per major area of responsibility ("Home - Finance", "Home - Medical", "Work - Management", "Work - Project xx", etc.) and I add things to the lists as I think of them. The author of the other book (Getting Organized) kind of pooh-poohs making huge to-do lists, but personally I agree with David Allen that getting that stuff out of your mind and into a list management system is key to being able to relax and pick what area to work next. You don't have to ever *do* every list item - in fact, trying to "finish" all your lists just isn't possible and the last list item is always "die a peaceful death" - but you should at least brainstorm it out once to clear your head. Usually the first time you do this you end up with 200 or so items - that's ok.

Now that I have my lists created, I make sure to spend some time each morning deciding not which items to complete that day, but which list(s) to focus on. I might block out a solid hour using Outlook to work on management or HR items, and another hour to catch up on email. When that "meeting with myself" pops up, I just go to the related list and grab the top priority item from the list - that way no area of focus gets starved.

I also like Allen's rule about Doing It Now if it takes two minutes or less, but I'd add the caveat that it's possible (for me at least) to find enough two-minute tasks to fill a whole day. So I would time-box it: spend 30 minutes doing as many 2-minute items as you can, then do something bigger.

I haven't finished the book yet, as I've already found plenty of things to try and am finding success, but that's ok. If you buy this don't feel duty-bound to read every last word the first week. Just learn, assimilate, test, repeat.

Good stuff overall.

Any information on being more organised and reducing stress in our lives is worth reading. Even people who are generally organised will gain benefits fom this book. We all have areas of our lives that could be more productive, less cluttered and more stress-free. Definitely worth a read.

Real Life Dramas - Volume One

Darren G. Burton

This book has helped me so much! I have read it once and am starting to work my way through it again, because it's easy to read but takes real discipline to implement. I am by nature highly disorganized--my desk is perennially piled high and deep, and bills may be found anywhere in my house.

By taking the first steps towards implementing this I've already become more confident in my ability to manage the almost overwhelming amount of responsibilities and tasks that multiply like bunnies.

I think the subtitle is a little bit of exaggerated advertising..."Stress-free" is probably unattainable for most of us; but this book WILL help you lower your stress levels quite a bit if you have trouble managing all your responsibilities, and if you put it into action.

It's chock full of fun and wise quotes, which keep it interesting. And David Allen gives some excellent advice that can improve your personal quality of life and any organization's culture. I recommend it for leaders, managers, and anyone who's naturally not super organized.

David Allen's book "Getting Things Done" is the center of a cult. And cult, in this instance, is not a pejorative - it's a compliment.

Allen has written a classic book on approaching life.

Write everything down. Sort it. Do some things immediately, do some later. Everything must be out of your mind and on a list.

It sounds so simple - and it is so difficult to consistently put into practice.

Allen is, in my opinion, something approaching a genius. If not a genius, then a very bright man who has glimpsed the way to making your life, as he says, productive without stress.

I just wish I could actually get all his concepts into practice.

Jerry

This book could also be titled "The quintaessence of time management".
Im usually very skeptical of self help books, but I trusted the person who recommended it to me. If you read it carefully, it explains to you the root cause of procrastination and how to fight it. Particularly the "two minute rule" changed the way I do things. Now I have my room clean most of the time.
The book is not perfect. I think its filled with many unnecessary content, but I found this book so useful and inspiring that its a minor detail for me. You can really feel the author's enthusiasm about his mission of changing the readers life.
Give it a shot. The time and money youll invest in this book youll likely get recovered soon.

This was a well written book with some excellent points on item management. However, I think his system falls short in an electronic age where information flow is much greater than in the past. I have even used his Outlook plug-in to try and implement his system electronically, but it becomes too combersome over a simple traditional filing methodology.

He disdains master to-do lists because nothing ever gets done according to him. As a business consultant working on 5-6 projects at a time I have found it is quite necessary to have master to-do lists in order to prioritize major milestones/tasks from different projects. I found more overhead trying to use his system when managing many projects.

I do agree on some major points in his book. Writing down everything you have to do, does in fact help relieve stress/worry. I think his system probably works best for individuals working on single threaded projects or departments within a single company. I recommend this book, even if you don't use his system.

What a pleasant surprise this book was. Yes, it is about getting things done in business and also in one's personal life without being stressed, but there is also a strong spiritual quality to the way it is explained. David Allen has a way with words that goes deeper than just providing information in a "matter of fact" way. It all makes a lot of sense and is easy to follow without having to be familiar with anything else that's been written about the subject. I highly recommend this book to anybody who wants to de-clutter all areas of his/her life.

The book presents the substance of David Allen's approach to personal productivity. There are lots of sound principles delivered in an undogmatic way. I'm still on my initial read but it'll take a lot of work to fully apply the system. I'm confident nonetheless that the investment in time and effort will pay off.

I just finished listening to the audio book, "The 4 Hour Work Week," which was an amazing book. Maybe that's why when I began listening to this book, I had a hard time staying awake. I kept asking myself, when is this guy going to get to the point? Why doesn't he just come out and say it? Stop worring about sounding educated and teach me something.

To be honest, I could not listen to the entire book. Maybe there are some good things in there, but I had heard enough to know I wasn't going to waste any more of my time. I am currently listening to "The 4 hour work week" again.

I thought this was going to be another one of those self help type books that had a lot of good thoughts but nothing practical in it. This book is quite the opposite. In the first few chapters, you are already able to apply some simple principles and get yourself organized quickly. I highly recommend this book to anyone with a lot going on in your life. A fantastic way to reduce your stress believe it or not.

and this book will organize your life. make the time as a priority, and it's a life-changer - for the good. consistency is the key, though. if not on top of weekly reviews, you just fall back to the natural state of disorder.
if you're committed, you'll fly.

This book is quick and easy to read. It offers a unique approach to time management and productivity. Very helpful! Anyone who needs to multi-task will find it useful!

This book has totally revolutionized the way I handle my incoming work and file what I've done. David's tips for organization, filing, and even productivity were just what I needed.

I haven't finished doing all the work I need to do to take full advantage of his knowledge, but I'm getting there. Restructuring my desk space was hard work but oh so worth it.

Thanks to this book, I can now FIND that email I know I saved... somewhere.

This book is theraputic and probably saved me thousands on a shrink! I also got Mr Instability a while back for my career problems and it was also excellent! Self Help books are really becoming effective these days!

I've been looking for a good personal workflow management system and this one delivers. It was easy to understand and I had it up and running in about a day. After about 4 weeks, i find myself more adaptable and able to accommodate more projects without working harder. I'm going to stick with it to see where it leads...

Most of David Allen's advice is common sense, but it is the sort of common sense you wouldn't tend to focus on without a guide like this. Allen's method for productivity relies heavily on keeping track of your obligations, keeping them organized, and preventing procrastination. The methods are clear and easy to implement but elegant enough to inspire you.

I read the Kindle version and initially was a bit worried that the flowcharts would not show up correctly. They do work well on the Kindle, though, and have tiny but ultimately readable text.

I heartily suggest this book to anyone needing to get a grip on their obligations and projects. There is a large online following with many resources to support thebook and its practices. Buy the book and then dive into a rich and productive experience.

If you don't have time for one more thing in your life, read Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity. While that advice may seem counterproductive, and a little crazy, (where will you find time to read it?) this book will assuredly give you some realistic advice about getting all those projects completed while staying sane.

This first thing that's apparent about this book is the author's enthusiasm. He presents workable solutions with this contagious "can-do" attitude. He uses a basic premise that everything we do--whether it's an assignment or work-related task--has a specific place and time. Once that's understood, it's easier to put those activities into the right slot in our lives. This provides a sense of freedom even though deadlines are mounting. Time is no longer the enemy; it's merely the container.

By having all these tasks in their proper places, it's almost like opening a filing cabinet, working on a specific project, then replacing the file and closing the drawer. There is a start and finish time and everything gets done. That terrible overwhelming feeling vanishes.

Another interesting aspect the author develops is how to achieve those wonderful moments when we are so in tune with our work, that it's really effortless. His strategies for managing time actually open up the unconscious mind by freeing it of negative stress. In other words, when our work is properly scheduled, we are cut loose of time constraints and are able to grab hold of maximum creativity and productivity. Even though there are still deadlines to meet, we would have already dealt with them before starting the project. Time is put in its proper place as well.

While author David Allen's advice is really on the mark, at times his system gets a little complicated. He coins some fancy terms and sub-terms that make these principles seem complex. But the gist of his ideas is presented on a one-page flowchart that makes the price of this book worthwhile. This single page is a terrific review of the key concepts.

Although some of his ideas may seem like good old-fashioned common sense, the author takes these thoughts and puts them within a system that operates in the contemporary workplace. Readers should be prepared to actually try out these ideas and not just read the book and put it on a shelf. Have a notebook handy to start organizing your thoughts and begin prioritizing your actions based on the advice presented.

One of the best pieces of advice, and one that can be immediately put into action, is the Two-Minute Rule. This states that if you need to do something and you can do it in two minutes or less, do it now, and therefore free up your mind and time. Ultimately, by completing these smaller, quicker tasks, you will gain an enormous amount of time and freedom of thought for those larger assignments. It works!

These pages have the power to unlock you from the chains of time that limit your actions and thinking. When you are finished reading this book, you will have learned some genuine principles that can be put into your life right now. The investment of time you put into reading this book will increase your productivity level and decrease your stress.

Raymond Le Blanc, psychotherapist & economist
Author:Achieving Objectives Made Easy! Practical goal setting tools & proven time management techniques

As someone who has unsuccessfully tried numerous products and methods to get organized—from the overly involved FranklinCovey system to Julie Morgenstern's Organizing from the Inside Out series to various other organizational self-help tomes—this book helped me change my life dramatically and once and for all. Other reviewers have already asserted here the finer points of the system. There are just a few points I want to add.

First, you can adapt "GTD" to pretty much any way you want to work. This is especially suited to creative types who would otherwise eschew more corporate solutions that tend to be very structured or require you to buy specific products. GTD doesn't require you to purchase a specific product or type of system; you can of course use a planner, but you could also use a stack of index cards held together with a binder clip. Or a Moleskine notebook. Or Post-It notes strung together with rubber bands. It's your choice. You can be creative with this system. You can even adjust the different procedures involved, depending on your needs.

Second, anyone who criticizes GTD for being "obvious" or "simple common sense that doesn't need to be explained in a book" has missed the point entirely. GTD works precisely because it is based on common sense techniques that many people have been using for years. The beauty is that its intended audience are those who do not understand how to enact the simple organizational measures that their more organized peers intuitively understand. I suppose the worst you could accuse David Allen of is being the first person to actually write down common-sense techniques for organizing oneself.

Third, if you plan to buy this book and adopt this system, you should be aware of the huge online presence of others who have done the same. David Allen's own www.davidco.com and Merlin Mann's www.43folders.com are just two examples; there's a large online family of people out there who love and use GTD, exchanging ideas, methods, products, etc. In other words, not only is GTD tweakable for your own ends, but you'll have lots of people to talk to about it too.

I'm a young adult who's been in the professional world for about a year and a half. I found that the one skill that no college or high school could ever seem to teach me was good time management and project organization. It was just something I never took seriously because someone else was always there to tell me what to do and when it needed done.

This book has empowered me to organize the many projects that I have as the Assistant Director at a year round Camping and Retreat facility. I can now get more done in less time and with SIGNIFICANTLY less stress. David Allen is a smart man.

This is an excellent booked filled with practical advice and methods to get your personal and professional lives organized, more productive and less stressful. The methods are quite simple and common sense but extremely valuable. This book can help anyone become more organized and more productive.

I would highly recommend this book for anyone needing a useful and practical system to become more successful and will be recommending it to many of my clients!

Such a simple concept yet a freeing exercise when done which allows you to lose that mental weight/baggage and become more creative and productive. Highly recommend for all, especially people with big task lists, or people who always have a lot of things to remember to do. :-) Make Today Great! Tom Beal

Provides excellent perspective on task prioritization, effective utilitzation of personnel and a balanced approach to work.

What a great DVD. I bought the abridged version as I was a bit intimdated by the full length 7 hr version. Listed to each CD twice before proceeding and have really been able to successfully implement several of David Allen's strategies.

Great product. Highly recommend for today's middle manager -- applies to everyone, not just C-level execs.

Well written, good explanations and applications that integrate directly into my lifestyle. This is a good book for anyone trying to get a handle on an overwhelming 'to-do' list, but wants to do it THEIR way. This book contains several different organizational tools to apply as needed.

For the first time ever, my inbox is empty and I feel like I've got things "under control". My anxiety level is down and I can truly focus on current projects and actions without an open loop of stuff turning through my head!

This book stressed me out. The idea of making complex flowcharts and triple-layed to-do lists doesn't exactly ease any stress in my life. I would spend more time figuring out where to put things than I would actually doing them. Maybe someone who is already extremely type A+ and list-making by nature would find some tips in here to make their to-do list more glorified. But I suspect that if you're reading this review, you're not that person. (Type A+ people don't take time for reviews, they just click "buy"). :)

Also, I am not a fan of the wasteful lifestyle advocated by the overuse of a paper filing system. With companies making such huge efforts to go green these days, it seemed rather antiquated (not mention environmently hazardous) to print out copies of your emails and file them. Besides being eco un-friendly, I find that paper files create clutter and clutter is stressful.

Real solutions to productivity do not come from filing systems. The problem isn't necessarily your disorganization. Usually the problem is that you have too much work assigned to you. Solutions to being overworked:

1. Delegate, delegate, delegate!
2. Talk to your manager about hiring more employees
3. Eliminate wasteful tasks
4. Find a new job (seriously)
5. Simplify your life outside of work. Buy less, shop less, and spend your time with friends/family. Go outside and exercise. Turn off the TV and go to bed an hour early. Eat healthy foods. Read for fun (not this book!)

Doing those things will make a you a less-stressed, more productive person.

The bottom line is that the busier you get the more you have to make lists of things to do. The system in this book give's you a way to organize your list making. I was already into making lists of things to do, but ended up with more than one and still missed items i should have been doing. With David's system you have a single destination for the different kinds of items you want to track so you don't get confused with multiple lists of similar items.

Like any self-help book, it's a bit cheesy at times. However, there are a lot of VERY useful tips and practices in here. Even if you only use a few, it's worth it reading. Be prepared to do some work to get the full benefit of his method.

David Allen's premise (which is a good one) in "Getting Things Done - The Art Of Stress Free Productivity", is that the skills needed to become more productive are not new to us. We know how to do the things we need to do. It's more a matter of making a commitment, jumping in, and then having a system to ensure we keep it up. Allen helps us on all three challenges.

On making a commitment Allen provides ample and simple concepts, case scenarios and a good dose of common sense. The introduction and chapter one should provide enough push to get anyone started. For example, he suggests that for everything we think we need to do (or get done) we should:
* Clarify the intended outcome - "What do we really want to achieve?"
* What's the next physical action needed to move us toward the outcome?
* Then, to maintain our commitment, put both the outcome and actions into a system - one that works for us (not a "one size fits all" approach)

I liked this book. It is well written and easy to follow. Everything he says makes sense. I particularly liked the core concept diagram which was repeated at the appropriate places throughout the book. What's most important in a book like this, is that Allen provides enough tools, concepts and techniques for anyone to become more productive. As a reviewer of a self-help book, it's a good sign that I have implemented some of Allen's suggestions. Highly recommended.

Bob Selden, author What To Do When You Become The Boss: How new managers become successful managers

I heard about this system on NPR. They said hi-tech junkies were hooked on its low tech system of organizing 'your life'. So, I read it. At first, it seemed like another one of those books aimed squarely at managers and the clueless laptop bearing execu-troids that I support in my job. The language is vague and feels like an infomercial when you read it. There is a lot of name dropping and I can see where it would appeal to the people who make the entire IT department go to a big meeting to watch the video version of "Who Moved My Cheese" right before they start the big round of lay-off's.

But as I read it, I began to see through the fog of seminar speak and distill some gems of functionality. There's gold in that there double-talk! (If you're willing to dig for it.)

I just finished reading the book. Now I'm going back through it in order to simplify the information and work up a system I can handle. Which, to be fair, the author advises. There are plenty of places in the book where he says you can modify the system so it meets your specific needs. He goes into way too much detail on trivial points and leaves out some things that I think need clearing up. You can figure out what he meant if you read it a few times and refer back to earlier passages as you go.

I like the part where you get everything out of your head and on paper or recorded somewhere. I have plenty of ideas that I forget about then have to figure out again later. I like the Next Actions list and the "Tickler File" / Calendar that you can use to remind yourself about things you might be interested in later but don't have time to think about right now. I LOVE the 2 minute rule. I started applying that the second I read it and already my life has improved. I like the part where you get rid of junk that you don't need lying around anymore. But, I don't think there will ever be a 'delegate' box on my flowchart. That's where I think it's aimed at managers rather than people who actually work.

I want to give the "GTD" system 4 stars and the actual book 3 stars because of all the double talk and repetitiveness. If you are someone who needs this system you'll love it, if not, you'll hate it. In regard to earlier reviewers who commented on it changing their life (or not). This book is about "Getting things done" not about meditation. It's about productivity. (Whatever that means.) I'm using it to simplify the way I handle the day to day tasks that I've never been able to get under control. If you feel like you spend your time reacting to things that happen rather than making things happen you might find it useful. This is a system for organizing work flow not a path to enlightenment.

I was a skeptical buyer, but bought this book based on high recommendations. If you are overwhelmed with all you have to do, this book will minimally teach you some easy to implement techniques for capturing your to-dos and managing them. At best, it just might change your life. The system, while simple, is VERY detailed and "anal retentive," as my husband puts it. The entire system may not work for everyone, but you will find many gems along the way. I highly recommend it!

I didn't want to buy this book but a "95% percent of people buy the book on this page persuaded me", maybe it's a percentage that becomes self-fulfillng after a while, or after a few disciple buy it initially.

258 pages of how to plan, you would have thought a simple and effective planning system could be more concise but maybe half these pages are quotes from people telling you how "great" this book is, namedropping everywhere, always a warning sign in my mind.

Most probably written by a guy who has spent his professional life reading books and lecturing others "those who can, do, those who can't teach (or write books and deliver seminars".

In future i will employ my "blockbuster" rule on book likes this, if there is too much hype for movie (now Book), beware, be careful and caveat emptor.

words like 'distributed cognition', buckets, focus, best-action, systematic format. zzzzzzzzzzzzz

I would have returned it had it not been for the fact that i had it shipped abroad.

also contains the must-have wisdom quotes throughout, here's a cracker:

"I would not give a fig for the simplicity on this side of complexity, but i would give my life for the simplicity on the other side of complexity"

Lovely!

It helped me organize both my home and office desks. And that wasn't easy.

Allen's core ideas are excellent but need to be laid out more concisely; his expansion on them only confused me, and more orderly; the 43 folders idea should have been introduced earlier in the book. I found myself irritated that he should have been saving me time but he was wasting it with endless alternate methods.

First off, what I didn't like about the book":

* too long; I felt he had about 30% too much content in there. Chapters 4 - 10 are "the meat", with Chapters 11 -1 3 providing the next level of useful detail.

* the first 3 chapters could either be significantly trimmed or eliminated

* the margin quotes interspersed throughout the book were interesting to read, but I found them distracting and not really adding a lot to comprehension of the content (I like reading quotes from people, and gather that Robert Allen does as well...)

That said...

I strongly recommend this book for people who really want to get "their lives" under control. I've implemented his recommendations and have benefited from DRASTIC productivity increases - and less stress and more relaxed time with my family.

While reading it I found myself taking issue with some of his suggestions, and dropped my objection when I implemented his recommendations (my justification was that what I had been doing so far wasn't getting me the intended results, so...try something different).

I'm glad I did. My wife has noticed a difference and I feel a lot less stress (and this review is starting to sound like a fabulous new diet pill commercial! :P )

Anyway, I strongly recommend this and if you are trying to have a process or system to more effectively what you want to have in your life. It's cheap to implement and the benefits are immediate.

After reading all the comments and positive reviews, I was looking forward to this book as a tool to help me better process the information that comes across my desk. While I did get some good ideas, this text is far too long for the content, which could (and should) be summarized in about 20 pages. As it is, this information is interspersed among nearly 260 pages of text, much of which pertains to the philosophy of the author's approach. Personally, the benefit gained from the ideas presented did not justify the time it took to read.

I realize a lot of people have given this book a 5-star review, however I was very disappointed in it. I have read five or six time management books in the past week as research for a class. This one in particular had several flaws, in my opinion. This is not a time management book that would be useful for everyone. It does address projects that could apply at home, but there is never the sense that the author is aware of the daily chores that take up so much time - such as laundry, dishes, grocery shopping, etc. He encourages more ways to do office work at home on and on weekends. At one point he actually says that some of his most stressed clients are the ones who work all day, then have to go home and deal with their spouse and screaming children, and they are lucky if they have a long commute. I was very disappointed and somewhat shocked to read that! Maybe that was because I had just read a different book that was much more geared toward family, and stressed getting the work done so you can focus on your true values and priorities.
The book is somewhat hard to follow, because the author offers several different methods rather than just one, and they are mixed throughout the book. On a positive note, he does address overall organizational methods in the book, as well as time management.

I have always thought that being more effective is really what many people need. The need to clarify with your manager or customers what you really need to do for them and to prioritize what they tell you, things like that.

David Allen's book opened up my mind to an area, I believe, is neglected by many - efficiency.

David's system has greatly improved my own efficiency. I have reconfigured my Palm and I can tell you that I feel a lot more in control. And I am sure I have been a lot more productive than ever before!

Really, this book makes it sound difficult to stay organized and get things done! Too much jumping around and difficult to read.

A very detailed and comprehensive guide to time saving techniques. A great guide to getting organised. Lots of intricate ideas on how to break down jobs into smaller pieces and thereby free up your time. I would recommend this book to every business and career orientated person.

I didn't even know that I needed a system to improve my productivity, least my personal productivity. It wasn't until six months ago, while I was choking in my job with lots of unfinished projects that I learnt about lifehacks and productivity systems. I read about the David Allen's GTD, tried some tricks... and they made wonders!

Once Amazoned and read, this book hasn't quite changed my life but has taught me neat tricks to manage it better. Nowadays I know what am I doing ( in terms of ongoing job and personal projects), where am I going and which are the next steps that I want to take.

The main achievement of the system is to translate the workload of remembering what do you need to do from your mind to an external trusted system (be it a high-tech Palm or a pen-and-paper notebook).

The book is well structured, the points are well explained and the language is fresh and near to you. Though I would recommend also to google the gtd as well to learn about particular examples on how different people from different background have modified the system to their own needs. It will help you to do it yourself.

As a consultant to small business, I am always looking for tools that will help folks with their productivity. This book is a gem. Rather than providing a "locked in system" that requires you to organize in one particular way - using one particular set of tools; this book is much more than that. It reveals the larger scope of underlying process and then gives the reader ideas about how to resolve gaps without being too prescriptive and narrow about the actual system one might employ. This is a very accessible book. Even doing a quick glance and picking up a few key ideas (such as the 2 minute rule) will immediately pay off in terms of taking back control of what often seems to be an endless stream of To Dos that there never seems to be enough time to manage. 5 Stars !!!

This CD may have good content but the way he speaks it is really hard to focus on what point he is trying to convey. I usually find these type of CD's very helpful but I constantly found myself drifting off and not following this one.

For several years now, as I progress in my career, I had been starting to think that I might be suffering from Attention Deficit Disorder. I have struggled for a long time with giving any focus to any task at hand within the workplace. My mind would work as hard as possible to move from one topic to the next, never committing to any one task, and leaving me feeling like I was never getting anything done - all this with a great deal of disruptive anxiety.

After reading the GTD book, I realized that the problem wasn't my attention, but the human inability to multitask. I think we misunderstand the notion of multitasking as meaning, being able to juggle many simultaneous projects and challenges at once, with ease and poise. I used to think this actually meant, doing all of these tasks at the same time. If you do a little research, you'll see that this is contrary to the way the human mind works, and not really something anyone can do at all. What we CAN do, is organize, make sense of, and prioritize many open tasks into a trusted system that really enables you to know what's on your plate, and what needs to get done next. Our minds simply can't process too many different things at once. At the heart of the GTD system, is getting these things out of your head, and into a trusted system.

Getting Things Done gave me the tools to manage my work tasks in a way that literally restored sanity to my world, and freed my mind of the spinning cycles it was wasting in continually trying to track every detail of every project going on. I manage a team of 10 people and 15 different clients. I have implemented a number of systems around different pieces of my job but each one always lacks something, doesn't quite serve its purpose, and often becomes more onerous to keep up than it's worth. GTD gave me 1 simple system for everything I ever need to get done or keep track of. I now at a moments notice know the status on every project, task, client, and team member - full with notes for agendas for upcoming meetings with everyone I team with.

I bought and read this book two years ago. I saw the value in the concepts and implemented a few small things in my life, but I didn't keep up and didn't really benefit. I recently reached a point of chaos at work and rediscovered the book. I gave it a chance and did a full implementation of the system, with a few tweaks, and I don't see how i could ever turn back at this point.

There are some pieces of the book that were not helpful to me - the sections on brainstorming and scoping projects were something i think i already do well, but certainly the bulk of the book is extremely helpful. Check it out.

this book was recommended by a friend. i found it to be very helpful indeed great book!

There are a lot of ideas compacted into this small book. I think there are a lot of useable suggestions. You might not be able to apply all the concepts in this book but it will get you thinking about how to organize yourself, get things done...

...Because the title seems pretty blah. But this is an excellent book, full of great ideas. It gave me a grip on things I've struggled with for 35+ years of having to organize my own office stuff and busy schedule. Increased productivity, removed stress, made my desk and my brain look better too. I bought one for my 2 sons and my pastor, something I've never done before. Great read!

While this book does have some valuable, if not simple, ideas, it is presented in a long-winded fashion which repeats itself. I ultimately found this book helpful, but think it is overhyped. My main complaints are:

1. Does not harness information technology:

Allen's methods resort to old-fashioned write everything down and put it in a file or pile system. He actually tells people to print every email in their Outlook account, delete the emails, and then file the paper copies.

2. Paper-based system. As I just said, printing out every one of your emails to get organized is obviously inefficient--and a huge waste of paper. This is old thinking applied to new technology, and it doesn't fit. You could instead teach a system of email folders (and even automatic sorting) to accomplish the same task.

3. This book is long winded. The principles and practices are simple. The presentation is not. It is as if Allen feels he needs us to read everything three times to remember it.

In conclusion--there has to be a better way to get organized than this book. Nothing in the book is rocket science, however, so it is easy to adapt to your own system.