Personally, whenever I pick non-fiction, I expect it to teach me something I didn't know or provide some kind of new structure that I can practically implement. This book was nothing like that and to be frank, I kind of felt it a bit dragging. For me, the only best thing about this book was the reflecting questions it has at the end of every chapter. There are around 125 such questions that can help readers to understand the structure of their life and give insights about areas that can be improved.
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I will surely not recommend this book to someone who wants a push towards productivity and want to set plans in motion, instead, I will recommend Brian Tracy's 'Eat That Frog' or Rob Moore's 'Start Now..Get Perfect Later'. These two books are more practical and provide different methods to implement, where 'Ready For Anything' covers nothing but those productivity principles. Still one can choose to pick it for those 125 reflecting questions. I personally noted them down and answered; which helped me to give more insights about my own answers.

If read through and set aside this book really has little value, but if you read through it once and then used as a reference for that you go to daily for the next few months until the GTD system becomes habit then this book is worth every penny.

A good summary of the concepts behind the Getting Things Done philosophy. Definitely a lighter read than Getting Things Done. Good for anyone who has read Getting Things Done and wants a refresher.

I agree with other reviewers: If you want to get stuff done, read the original GTD book. In "ready for anything", each section is a tiny part of the GTD principle, more explained as a philosophy. David Allen explains more why we should use GTD but skips how (see other book). If you know that this book was published after GTD instead of before, this is confusing.

Instead of reading this, I can heartily recommend "Getting Things Done". Ready for Anything is a nice reminder on why you should keep on using the system, but you should instead simply re-read GTD.

Loved this book. Super practical and short sections that can be easily applied to life. Helped inspire me to be more organized and productive.

An extension of the philosophies behind Getting Things Done, didn't really add anything insightful to the original book. More reinforcing the importance of the program than anything else. If you like David Allen you will probably enjoy this short read.

Ready for Anything is a companion book to David Allen’s [Getting Things Done]. The book is comprised of 52 reflections/essays on various aspects of the GTD methodology. The content was okay, but I found the book rather distracting because the author found a need to seed the book with quotes with little thought to placement. Here is a great idea of how to implement — insert 1/2 page quote here — and back to my great thought. If you are into the GTD thing it may be worth the read. If not, skip it.

This book was a reminder to maintain a ruthlessly disciplined system for mind-mapping my ideas and to-do items in writing, to prioritize what’s next in that entire list for action, and then to take that action to the utter exclusion of everything else on the list.

The key is the list—not so I can do everything on it, or at least not all at once, but to have peace of mind that the ideas and to-do items aren’t forgotten, they’re within reach, and can indeed wait for when the things that are truly a priority are done first.

In this way, I maintain awareness of my responsibilities and opportunities, yet control of when and how I give time and energy to them.

OK, I'm through with the supplemental David Allen Material. Just like Making It All Work: Winning at the Game of Work and Business of Life, this book doesn't add a whole lot of new material to the GTD library. If you're already practicing GTD at a really high level, this book might add some refinements and encouragement that you could find useful. For me, though, the most useful pages of this book were the last five: the Appendix that summarizes Allen's GTD approach.

I see what many of the other reviewers are saying when they say this is really nothing new -- this is just philosophical discussions of how to plan and therefore live better. I find that these kinds of books can provide topics for further reflection and can, if you happen to read it while thinking of a related topic, have a big impact on your thoughts and actions, and I found it valuable for that. It also serves as a reminder on the GTD system, which I personally needed six months after first reading it. As I listened to this audiobook, I was reminded of the beginning of the Kung Fu TV series, where David Allen could play the role of Master Kan -- the book has an oriental training feel, and I almost expected a "snatch the pebble from my hand" moment to validate I had captured the philosophy behind the system. It didn't quite get to that, but I felt this book is an OK, new-agey companion to GTD, providing reminders as to why it can work.

David Allen is my voice of reason...I need him by my side in the middle of my crazy. This book is the next best thing - short chapters, perfect for the stop and start reading windows I have, but each FULL of quiet calm, guiding me though the chaos of 'too much life'. Packs a punch with efficient writing and targeted self-guided questions that could be part of a weekly GTD tune-up session.

Эта книга, в отличие от другой известной книги Аллена «Getting Things Done», является не «инструментальной», а «стратегической»: объясняется не КАК, а ЗАЧЕМ это всё, и ПОЧЕМУ это работает. Состоит из 52 небольших «статей».

Рекомендую книгу читать неспеша, маленькими порциями.