This is a great book on organization - short essays explore different aspects of Allen's system and his reflections on what organization means in a life lived to the fullest. What's great is this book includes an easy-reference to his system at the back, something that is lacking in his earlier book.

I am stuck between a 3 and 4 star rating. The content is good, but you have to go through a lot to mine those good nuggets. Since I enjoyed Getting Things Done so much, I was expecting something more.

Short chapters: each one exploring one aspect of the GTD (Getting Things Done) methodology. It's a collection of David Allen's newsletters throughout the years. It contains various of his famous quotes and some of his A-HA moments working with the methodology.
The last chapter brings a GTD summary with the 5 steps, the weekly review, the natural planning model and the higher horizons. It still uses the old nomenclature before David Allen published the revised edition in 2015.

If you are a fan of Getting Things Done and the David Allen Company, you'll want to read this book. It's such an encouragement to keep up the practices that help you life your life balancing the hundred different things you have going on at one time with a clear, relaxed mind.

I'd highly suggest reading Getting Things Done the 2015 edition first, though. This book is meant to provide short tips that really hone in on the main principles of the book. It's like a master's guide for those already working within the system.

Really this is just a rehashing of GTD, hammering the points home with more inspirational quotes and ideas. It is still a worthwhile read, however, if you have taken GTD to heart and have implemented the system without problems, this is just extra.

I'm a fan of David's work on GTD, but this book was a bit of a disappointment. Poorly written as it was just a compilation of newsletters pieced together as principles, with the principle's title sometimes not even relevant with its text. Good advices and practices, nice quotes supporting them, but if you have to choose one productivity book just stick to Getting Things Done.

It's a collection of random ideas about productivity – some are valuable, some are not so interesting. The problem is that there is no structure – everything is mixed together, which makes it very easy to forget as soon as you turn the page.

If you want to refresh the principles of GTD, better reread the original "Getting Things Done" book.

Good explanation as to why you should use GTD. If you read David Allen's GTD book, this book is a good addition. If not you might want to read on GTD first. This book does not explain how to implement GTD. Good addition, though not a mandatory read on GTD

I’m reminded why I’ve been fascinated by GTD and the ideas of David Allan for so many years.
In this books he gets pragmatic and direct - it’s not about systems, lists or reviews - it’s about mind like water. To reduce stress and be in control.

I made a really big push with the GTD system this year. I listened to the GTD Live audio sessions and then I read Ready for Anything. More than ever I'm relying on GTD to manage my life.

What I learned this time around is how connected organization and creativity are. We're either being creative and making new stuff, or else trying to organize all the stuff that we have created so that we have more space (psychological or physical or otherwise) which will then allow us to be creative again.

The format of this book is nice because each principle is just a page or two long. It's easy to pick it up at any time. Some of the principles really hit home, a few didn't help me much. I really like all the quotes; each principle includes several quotes from a wide variety of people. I marked up many of them for future reference.

I have this book to thank for finally answering the question: How many pages can you fill up using only business cliches and barely-relevant quotes from famous people?

I guess the only reason I give it 2 stars instead of 1 because this book is basically a weak and sloppy repackaging of his first book - and his first book was honestly a life-changing book in terms of organizing yourself and being productive. So if you need a book to do that, read Getting Things Done and just use this one as a coaster or something.

Sometimes the biggest gain in productive energy will come from cleaning the cobwebs, dealing with old business, and clearing the desks—cutting loose debris that's impeding forward motion. ~ David Allen, Ready for Anything: 52 Productivity Principles for Getting Things Done

I found this book had a lot of theory, but very little practical applications suggested. I believe there is a thought process for productivity; however, thoughts without action leads to no productivity.