Summaries and Customer Reviews are supplied by Amazon.com

Not quite. Yes, Getting Things Done offers a complete system for downloading all those free-floating gotta-do's clogging your brain into a sophisticated framework of files and action lists--all purportedly to free your mind to focus on whatever you're working on. However, it still operates from the decidedly Western notion that if we could just get really, really organized, we could turn ourselves into 24/7 productivity machines. (To wit, Allen, whom the New Economy bible Fast Company has dubbed "the personal productivity guru," suggests that instead of meditating on crouching tigers and hidden dragons while you wait for a plane, you should unsheathe that high-tech saber known as the cell phone and attack that list of calls you need to return.)

As whole-life-organizing systems go, Allen's is pretty good, even fun and therapeutic. It starts with the exhortation to take every unaccounted-for scrap of paper in your workstation that you can't junk, The next step is to write down every unaccounted-for gotta-do cramming your head onto its own scrap of paper. Finally, throw the whole stew into a giant "in-basket"

That's where the processing and prioritizing begin; in Allen's system, it get a little convoluted at times, rife as it is with fancy terms, subterms, and sub-subterms for even the simplest concepts. Thank goodness the spine of his system is captured on a straightforward, one-page flowchart that you can pin over your desk and repeatedly consult without having to refer back to the book. That alone is worth the purchase price. Also of value is Allen's ingenious Two-Minute Rule: if there's anything you absolutely must do that you can do right now in two minutes or less, then do it now, thus freeing up your time and mind tenfold over the long term. It's commonsense advice so obvious that most of us completely overlook it, much to our detriment; Allen excels at dispensing such wisdom in this useful, if somewhat belabored, self-improver aimed at everyone from CEOs to soccer moms (who we all know are more organized than most CEOs to start with). --Timothy Murphy

Average Customer Rating:

Life changing..

Customer Rating:

First, I want to say that I'd listened to the audio book of this years ago. And at the time it didn't resonate with me AT ALL. Frankly I'm not sure I finished the audio--but either way I couldn't remember any of it other than it was in my library. Fast forward a couple years.. I adopted Tim Ferris' 4HWW method of listing tasks on an 8 1/2 x 11" sheet of plain paper. That worked great for me for a while. While I'm a tech guy, I like things that are effective, work anywhere, don't require batteries, etc. I then wanted to--as David says: "Get off the runway" with my tasks and start managing with a more project/goal/initiative-centric approach. To me that was a big problem with the "tasks" approach--you get buried in "to do" stuff and never get above the trees. Additionally, in my situation I had huge leakage in delegating or following up with other people with my requests, questions, etc. So the process for handling emails that required responses alone has radically altered how I work and manage my own time. I recently finished GTD and it was like an epiphany. During the first 1/3 of the book though I felt like "okay, I got the preaching--how do I *implement* this", and actually purchased/read other systems in the middle. Ultimately coming back to and finishing this book. I'm very happy that I did. In my opinion, you should take what works for you from the book and integrate it with your life/style. For me the 43 folders didn't make sense as I am so nomadic with my work. But it is a good concept. For me, everything has to be electronic and ideally live out on the internet cloud somewhere. So naturally some of my tools will be different than his. But the *system* is what's key. The gold is simply getting you to see "stuff" coming into your life as things that need to be processed from your Inbox (the goal being Inbox Zero), and an effective system of processing, then handling things once they're organized. Also, I like how there aren't any "special" requirements, like you have to buy a special organizer, get certain software, buy their printed pages, etc. I am currently using a $7 calendar/organizer (with cool doodling) and $15/year for the "pro" version of Toodledo (the base version is free). It also has "slim" web access via iPhone.. so I can access my lists from practically anywhere. Well worth it to organize my life. Again, for me this has been life-altering. It's taken a lot of the stress of worrying about stuff falling through the cracks, not being busy all the time, etc. And ultimately that's what I wanted to achieve.

Great book	Customer Rating:
I was very satisfied with this purchase, this book takes all the things you already know how to do (e.g., create lists, prioritize, organize), and compiles it into a system which is practical and very effective. I now realize that this is the key step I've been missing in my personal effectiveness and cannot recommend it highly enough.

A Frustrating Read!

Customer Rating:

Having heard so much about this management system, I read the book--what a frustrating experience! I was hooked from the beginning and implemented a couple of suggestions with a large party I was then planning and Mr. Allen's suggestions certainly helped me define the ultimate purpose for my party and next actions, and I became much more effective in my preparations. But then I got on to Chapter 3 and following and totally bombed: had I not read this already? And what about these meaningless quotes in the margins that are so distracting? It only got worse and worse as I read on and I became so stressed about all my unfinished business that I lost sleep! I knew from my first experience that there were pearls of wisdom in this book, so I started from the beginning again and discovered that all your really need to read and implement is Chapter 2. So I set up my office as described (without the label maker, I don't need another tool to clutter my desk, and computer-generated labels work very well). Then I started collecting my STUFF and put it in my inbox, mind you, not all of it at once as he recommends, that's what was stressing me out so much. Then I started processing what was in my inbox, and adding to it anything I come across (thoughts or physical stuff). Also, I'm still making daily lists but they're mostly derived from my "next actions" list. The ideas are excellent, but the presentation is not good, this book demoralized me at first instead of energizing me, hence only three stars.

Defniitely worth the buy

Customer Rating:

As with most books like this, a great deal of the content is common sense. But as is always the case with me, formalizing it and explaining it is always what I need. He explains the natural thought process of a project in order to help you get a grasp of what things need to be done in order to achieve your outstanding goals. He explains why you can't ever relax because you have so much to do, and how to get over that stress so that you can relax during those times you want to relax! He gives you a system, which you can use as-is or tailor to your personal taste, that essentially guarantees that nothing gets lost, everything gets done and puts you in control. I know it sounds like an ad, but as I started with, the content is true and makes sense. Admittedly, I'm still pretty new at this system, and have to improve how I work with it, but so far I am loving it. Also, if you have a BlackBerry, look for the "NextAction!" software. It's not great software, but it's good enough to follow the system. The main thing that I don't like about the NextAction! is that I find it difficult to manage the tasks in Microsoft Outlook, so I have to stick with Outlook to manage my mail-based tasks and my BB for my non-mail based tasks, but that's not too bad for me.

De-clutter your office and your mind!	Customer Rating:
David Allen gives you specific tasks to organize and streamline your life and business. Do it or drop it - words to live by if you want to eliminate clutter in your office and in your mind.