Recall the last time you went on a significant vacation from work: before you left you cleared all your to-dos, emptied your inbox, tied all the loose ends, and organized the things you'd tackle when you came back. Felt pretty good to leave that last day, right?

David Allen teaches you how to live your life this way: take all your to-dos, projects, etc. then organize them out into Projects, Next Actions, Someday/Maybe projects, Read and Review, and more if you want. Take the Next Actions and either do them, defer them, delegate them, and/or delete them. It's really that logical and that simple. Now, make a weekly habit of reviewing all those categories. Now you're "GTD".

Just like it ought to, the book starts out broad, then each chapter goes into more detail of the system. Unless you're some crazy detail-loving mogul, you only need to read about to the half-way mark. I went a bit further just because I loved it so much. For about three weeks now, it's worked for me both at work and more loosely at home.

The chapter on organizing your email and keeping your inbox empty is BRILLIANT! If you want to see this book in action, I'll show you my email and desk. I recommend this book to just about everyone.

Read the first chapter. I probably only buy 3-4 books a year -- usually because the library doesn't own it, but I bought this one after reading the first chapter in the library's copy. I knew I'd want my own.

A productivity classic. Recommended for those who are daily on the "struggle bus" of life, finding themselves unable to be productive, track deadlines, and effectively manage their time. I've come a long way since the time I read this book many years ago, but I am still a work in progress.

This book and implementing the GTD framework has really changed my life. It has enabled me to get control of my obligations and projects and has started me on a course of starting to be able to plan and organize on a much longer horizon, planning over a span of years instead of being the fairly reactive person I was prior to embarking on this adventure. I would recommend this book to everyone! It's one of my favorites.

2011: It was fascinating to read this again. Whereas part 2, which mostly focuses on the actual practices was my runaway favorite last time, this time part 1, which has a lot of general philosophy and ways to think about things. Having thoroughly integrated the mechanical processes of GTD into my life for years, I was amazed at how much it still had to offer.

2020: This may be the first time that I read the second edition. Not because of differences, but because I have fallen off the wagon, this is the second-most influential reading of my life. The motivational factor in remembering what it was like to be truly on top of things, feeling "mind like water" has sent me into a frenzy of improvement. So happy.

nicely done & read - wish he'd bring out an updated edition ...

I'm listening to this because I need to get a grip on my life.

I can't even focus enough to listen about how to get my life together, much less do it.

Excellent information, especially Allen's discoveries about why organization works and how the brain works better with less information. Fascinating.

Since it might take less than two minutes to write this review, I'll just do it now... The two-minute rule is one of the only things I remember from this book (which I read more than five years ago). I generally like the rule, but have found it problematic when something else also comes to mind, and I forget what that was within two minutes =)

By the time I came to read this, I had already learned many productivity strategies from other books and programs. Perhaps I might have walked away with much more if this were one of the first/only books I've read.

This is more about being organized than it is about productivity but I do think it's helpful nonetheless. It is outdated but it was also published many years ago so I'll let that slide. I reccomend this as the first step to productivity since it can help you get there and motivate you, but I also suggest reading other books as a way to understand how to stay productive and keep it that way.

Τέλος. Το διάβασα και πλέον είμαι έτοιμος να γίνω Master των meetings, των projects και των brainstorming.
Παιδιά μην παίρνετε πολύ σοβαρά τέτοια πονήματα.
Κρατήστε τη γενικότερη αντίληψη που προσπαθούν να περάσουν κάποια τέτοια βιβλία και ορισμένες καλές ιδέες που μπορεί να υπάρχουν - όπως ισχύει εδώ, και κατά τα άλλα νομίζω ότι ο καθένας μπορεί να βρει το δικό του προσωπικό τρόπο για να οργανώσει τη ζωή του.
Άλλωστε, η τεχνολογία προσφέρει πλέον τόσες δυνατότητες που ήδη θεωρώ το βιβλιο αυτό ξεπερασμένο.
Το Internet να είναι καλά.

O David Allen conseguiu incrivelmente criar um método completo e que faz todo o sentido em tudo que prega. É impressionante como nada neste livro realmente ficou a desejar, a leitura é simples, rápida, não é preenchido com "firulas" para ganhar tempo, tudo literalmente tem um motivo e um significado, todo conteúdo apresentado já foi testado muitas e muitas vezes, tudo se encaixa incrivelmente bem.

O único problema é que sinto que quem não possui tanto domínio sobre o GTD, a primeira vez que ler o primeiro capítulo poderá sentir-se um pouco perdido, mas claro que depois tudo é aprofundado e explicado com mais clareza. Por conta disso, recomendo que façam uma segunda leitura, ou até mais. Sempre que possível releiam este livro, pois podemos deixar passar algo útil, parece que sempre que relemos encontramos coisas novas, e aprendemos mais.

Getting Things Done is basically the bible of productivity (and pretty much the only reason anything gets done at Book Riot). In the book, Allen outlines fives stages of workflow and shares a system that helps maximize productivity at each of those stages. And even if you read the book and don’t feel like implementing the system, his basic principles – write things down, put them in the place that makes sense, review your lists, find ways to give yourself reminders in context and keep strong walls around your systems – make total sense in other contexts, too. Don’t let the self-helpy cover turn you off; if you want to be more organized and productive, this one is a must read.


(From Books to Make You Happy, Productive, Focused, and Smart by Kim Ukura: http://bookriot.com/2014/12/08/books-...)

I really liked main ideas: keeping mind free of thoughts, actions based planning etc.
What I didn't like was the format. Firstly - David Allen is not the greatest narrator, to say the least. He's voice is monotonous, not-involving. It's easy to float away from the book and start paying attention at a road while you're driving (which might not be a bad thing after all :) ). Secondly and worst of all - common David, it's 2012 ! I know that the book was written in 2002 (at least the latest revision of it), but why not to update the contents for an audio-version (released in 2008) ?
In a world ruled by iPhones and desktop computers David still suggests to organize flow using paper clips and paper folders. What's worse - he spends a great deal of the book talking about it.
I'd much rather him to talk more about the ideas and leave the rest for readers imagination, than spend 30 minutes talking about in what folder put thoughts and what to do if a thing doesn't fit the folder.

Still - ideas are great. I'll be looking for another book, something like 'GTD in modern world'