I like reading about organizing my life and being more productive, but I think the major lessons of this book could have been condensed in a page or two. Here are the things I remember:

- 2 minute rule: if you remember to do something and it takes you less than two minutes to do it, just go ahead and do it
- write things down in lists so that they don't float around your head and nag at you all of the time
- check your lists frequently and often, actually doing the things on the list (or delegating them, or archiving the info), otherwise you will lose faith in the system and it will never work
- get a filing cabinet, label-maker, and shredder; create a simple filing system and use your filing system often
- "tickler system" is a series of files for each day of the year. You file stuff away to be reminded or "tickled" on that specific day (i.e. magazine subscription renewal, buying tickets to a play, etc)

How To Get Things Done has help me immensely in "getting organised". It was quite hard work to read, perhaps because I only wanted to read it as fast as I was putting things into practice -- and so it has taken me about 3 years to read it all the way through!! The key ideas have been a) collecting and recording every single input into a trusted system of lists etc b) the 2 minute rule (deal with it immediately if it takes less than 2 minutes) c) the "Next Action": never record somthing in vague terms, instead define exactly what needs to be done next. I haven't implemented the whole David Allen system, but it's still proving helpful. One of the best things was that every time I read a chapter it motivated me to be very productive for about a day!

4.0 Stars

I was somewhat skeptical to pick up such a famous self-help book. (Usually, that kind of cover would make me run in the other direction.) However, I took a chance on this book because of the overwhelming praise from the the Book Riot community.

I can honestly say that this book has changed how I organize my personal and professional life. The concepts in this book are relatively simple, but designed into a brilliant system for managing our over-flowing "to do" lists. I have already started following many of the GTD practices and am already noticing a difference in my stress levels. I've gone from feeling overwhelmed to feeling productive and in control. I would recommend this book to anyone looking to improve the management systems in their lives, either at work or at home. The advice in the book can be applied broadly to any aspect of one's life.

My only complaint is with the book itself, which could have been much shorter. The first section is essentially one long introduction, which was unnecessary. For a book about productivity, Allen could have written a much shorter, more concise book.

I would recommend reading the revised 2015, which was rewritten to include more modern productivity tools, such as smart phones.

Why You Should Read It: Time is the only real scarce resource. We are all battling for more of it. The only way to have more is to spend it wisely.


Review:

I just finished Getting Things Done. I know. I’m a little late to the game. It was a quick read and I loved the premise. There were no doubt some clear productivity “ah-ha’s” as I read. I have spent a lot of time learning and developing my own productivity system over the years and I’m excited to implement a few more of Allan’s nuggets. Most of the things he mentions are not totally novel but the package he puts them in catches an eye.

Top 6 Ways to Quadruple Productivity and Have a Little More Time to Enjoy Life:

1. “What is the next task that will get me toward my desired outcome?” This is the biggest point Allen drives home. Always ask this question upon completion of a meeting or task. This alone will put your productivity through the roof. Let this be the last time that you leave the site of a goal, plan or meeting without a clearly defined and scheduled next action item to make it a reality.

2. Plan Your Week. Spend at least a half hour or an hour at the beginning (or end) of each week taking stock of what you accomplished the prior week, what you didn’t accomplish, what you learned and what your desired outcomes are for the week to come. Many people dive right into the week with no plan of what they want their week to look like. And then get frustrated when nothing gets done. Be intentional and get committed. Things will start to happen. Spend an hour sharpening the saw to makes the week’s cutting all the easier. I have been doing this every week for years.

3. Schedule It. Things do not get done unless you schedule them. By definition in order for a task to be completed it must physically occupy some portion of your life. Lists have become so arbitrary. They get longer and longer and are rarely prioritized, leaving you overwhelmed when everything doesn’t get checked off. Also, the average person drastically under estimates how long something will take (at least we’re optimistic). This causes them to put 27 hours worth of work on one day’s list. Reserving time on your calendar forces you to be honest with yourself and get completed only what is reasonable in the time you have available. Proper expectations are a huge part of getting things done.

4. Schedule A Buffer. We have now come to grips with the fact that everything takes longer than expected. Now except the fact that things always come up that we didn’t plan. They take time and sometimes they have to happen right away. Schedule buffer time for these. I literally block off an hour or two each day that simply says “buffer time”. It almost always gets filled up with something urgent and unexpected and when it doesn’t, I have an hour of my life back–an amazing feeling. That’s when it’s time to get outside and have some fun (or do whatever you like to do with spare time–other than check email).

5. Give Yourself Strict and Short Deadlines. This is not contradictory to Schedule It. Yes, things take longer than expected, and they also will take up as much time as you have available. We call this Parkinson’s Law. The time required to complete a project is directly proportional to the time you have available. In other words, if you have time to waste, you will waste it. You have a day to study for an exam. It takes a day. You have two weeks to study. It takes two weeks. Give yourself enough time to complete a task but not a moment more. Set these limits up in advance.

6. Don’t Check Email First Thing in the Morning. If you haven’t heard this before, you have not been listening. This is huge. No matter what you’re doing, email will immediately throw you off and suck the time and energy out of your life. Get your most important things done in the first 2-3 hours of the day. Then check some email and a little Facebook. I know I do not need to convince you on merit of this. I just need to break you from your addiction.

7. Do Your Most Import Things First. This goes with the above. First thing in the morning (after a good workout and breakfast), since I already have a plan for the week, I know what’s most important for the day. So I dive into those 2-3 tasks first. Often before even opening my computer or connecting to the internet, and definitely before checking email. You will feel mountains better about the rest of the day with your major items behind you. Then there’s plenty of time to waste away on email.

8. Get a Good System to Keep Track of Your Life. Everyone does things differently and no system will be perfect for all of us. But there are some amazing tools out there for free or almost free to get you started. Whatever the cost, if it gets you organized and motivates you to get things done, it’s worth the investment. I use a combination of the Tony Robbins Time of Your Life Planning System, 7 Habits and 4-Hour Work Week in conjunction with my iCal, Google Calendar, Things and Evernote, all synced to my iPhone for what I feel has become my own little work of art. Can’t forget a good clean work space of your own and maybe some physical file cabinets either. It took a while for me to get the right system in place and its always changing, but it’s empowering once you get it. Find some sexy productivity toys and have some fun.

These steps are easy and any one of them alone will dramatically transform the way you go about your moments, days, weeks and life. Take advantage of them and let me know what you do with all your free time!

If you liked this article, please Tweet about it or tell your friends about it on Facebook.

What have you found most useful to manage your life and create time for the things you really care about. Share them with us in the comments.

~Reading for Your Success


Other books and resources you might enjoy:

Parkinson’s Law- an article
Things- Task management app for iPhone and Mac. I just started using it and love it. Designed perfectly for Getting Things Done
4-Hour Work Week
7 Habits of Highly Effective People
How to Get Control of Your Time and Your Life
The Art of Time

THE BEST. This is just - my entire jam. All about organisation and to do lists, in what is basically a precursor to bullet journalling.

Tried the print and the audio and just couldn't grasp the system which would enable me to get lots and lots of stuff done in an easy manner without struggle. I guess once you get through the book, nothing else seems like as much of a struggle.

I should have known it wasn’t for me, when the author said “stop making to-do lists.” I mean, really, what would I do with all the cute sticky note pads I have?

Eigentlich kein schlechtes Buch, das System ist gut. Leider viel zu lang, deshalb Punktabzug. Die Hälfte der Seiten hätte ganz sicher auch gereicht.

Wow. Am I really becoming this person?

قرأت الكثير من الكتب عن إدارة الوقت
وكانت تركز في الطرح على أهمية الوقت وكيف تحفز نفسك لإنشاء المهام المطلوبة وكيف تتوقف عن التسويف مع ذكر بعض طرق تنظيم الوقت

أما هذا الكتاب، فهو يتحدث فقط عن طريقة تنظيم الوقت بطريقة مفصلة وكافية بحيث يعيد ترتيب مهامك في الحياة، ثم يعطيك الطريقة التي ترتب فيها أعمالك ومهامك ونظام التذكير

ويعتمد نظامه على اعداد عدد من القوائم الخاصة بكل جانب من جوانب حياتك بشكل جميل جدا

أنص بقرائته لمن يعرف أهمية الوقت ومهتم بتظيم مهامه، لكنه لا يعرف كيف

The GTD system is fantastic, but the book was one of the most painful ones to finish in my life. I almost gave up many times, and ended up skimming through a lot of it. It’s so repetitive and there was so much irrelevant information for me. I wish I had read a condensed version of it with just the basics, which are not a lot. If you have a friend or colleague that uses the system, I would suggest to start by talking to that person and learning the basics from there, maybe you don’t even need to read the book, really...it’s not that I’m not grateful for all the work that has been done to come up with the system and write the book, I really am. I just don’t think this is the most engaging intro to it...

Seems fitting that it took me years to get around to actually reading this, but now that I finally have I can say I wish I'd read it sooner. Great advice for people who want to be more effective and organized and clear-headed. I will report back after a few months of trying to actually implement the system.

If posting your colonoscopy video on social media was a thing, I could really prove to you how much I got done by reading this book. what the heck, maybe I'll make it a thing, don't worry, it's SFW http://vid42.photobucket.com/albums/e... Instead, I will just say that I have made some progress in processing through some really stale piles of guilt and I am embracing the "next action".

This is a good system for dealing with all the minutiae that make up all that we need to do just to manage our careers and lives. As for the book, it was a bit dated. His systems were very paper centric, he talked about getting help from secretaries, and he even mentioned palm pilots! I have a few of these in my personal electronics graveyard Well no wonder, I started out listening to the audiobook, which was an abridged version published in 2002. Not satisfied, I checked out the dead-tree copy of the newly revised 2015 version of the book. I only managed to skim and review a few sections, and it seems a bit more relevant, but this guy still loves his paper folders and label makers. The library book has to go back, but I might revisit this again.

2016 reading challenge checks the box for 13. A non-fiction book you learn something new from