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3.86 AVERAGE
3.86 AVERAGE
Great book. It came at the perfect time in my life and am looking forward to a transformation and lots of continued improvement.
challenging
informative
medium-paced
I'm really surprised by all the hype behind this book. If you're even a half organized person, most of the advice presented in this book probably comes second nature. The methodology presented is simply too rigorous to follow. It's sort of like going on a strict diet- you'll lose weight at first, but you really can't live by it.
All of the advice could be summed up as follows:
1) Make a list of what needs to be done
2) If you can do it in two minutes, do it now
3) If you'll never get around to it, just forget about it
4) Work on the remainder of the list as you have time
See, pretty simple.
All of the advice could be summed up as follows:
1) Make a list of what needs to be done
2) If you can do it in two minutes, do it now
3) If you'll never get around to it, just forget about it
4) Work on the remainder of the list as you have time
See, pretty simple.
slow-paced
Could have been 1/2 the length but did have some useful frameworks and tips.
I am abandoning this book because I feel like I apply many of the book's principles, which are summarized in chapter 2 and especially this chart: 
Dates: 26-27 Dec 2015
Dates: 26-27 Dec 2015
slow-paced
Ripetitivo, lento, ripetitivo, pesante, ripetitivo, prolisso. Ho detto che è ripetitivo? Non ce l'ho fatta a finirlo. Sono arrivato, spesso in "lettura veloce" a circa 2/3. La prima parte è un'introduzione in cui spiega perché bisogna organizzarsi le cose da fare. Quello che si poteva scrivere in 7-8 pagine è espanso in oltre 80 pagine. La seconda parte va più sul pratico, spiegando come usare cartellette, raccoglitori, faldoni, graffettatrice, etichettatrice, fogli bianchi, calendari, ecc. per mettere in ordine i propri documenti. Alla terza parte non sono arrivato. Quello che ne viene fuori è un sistema all'apparenza buono, ma che, oltre a essere ottimamente riassunto in uno schema di una facciata, peraltro ripetuto tale e quale almeno 5 volte nel libro, diventa troppo burocratico e pesante, sia da seguire che da ricordare, perdendosi in centinaia di dettagli su come gestire casi fin troppo generici.
A few years back, I read Mari Kondo's The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up on the KonMari method. I confess that I didn't manage to implement her category-by-category system of decluttering and tidying up; it was a little too overwhelming for me and practically speaking, I couldn't see how I could implement it in an apartment with two young kids running around the place. But the book did help me be more mindful of the things I was accumulating at home. I did end up decluttering a fair bit, shelf by shelf, cupboard by cupboard and while my apartment is far from Kondo standards, there are some cupboards I can open without a sense of dread or stress.
I felt similarly inspired after reading Getting Things Done. This isn't a traditional productivity book in that it isn't teaching you hacks and processes to manage your focus and to accomplish more tasks in a given amount of time. Nor is it a book about clarifying your larger vision and priorities (unlike, say 4000 Weeks: Time Management for Mortals).
Allen's promise is a seductive one - that it's "possible for a person to have an overwhelming number of things to do and still function productively with a clear head and a positive sense of relaxed control." How it this possible when most people generally feel that they have way too much on their plate and not enough time to get it done?
For Allen, it is all about closing all the "incompletes" or "open loops", whether these are tiny things like "get lightbulbs" or large issues like "overhaul the company". Allen's GTD approach can be summarised in three points:
#1: CAPTURE: Anything you consider unfinished in any way must be captured in a trusted system outside your mind, i.e. a "collection tool" that you know you'll come back to regularly and sort through. If it's not captured in an external, trusted system but is lurking somewhere in your subconscious, that's what creates that constant low level of stress and anxiety.
Have as few capturing buckets as you can get by with (e.g. a physical in tray, a notebook, digital note taking, your email in box). Don't have written reminders scattered everywhere. These capturing buckets must be emptied and processed regularly - this doesn't mean finishing everything that is there; it just means you have to decide more specifically what it is and what should be done with it.
#2: CLARIFY: You empty your collection container by clarifying exactly what your commitment is for each item and decide what you have to do, if anything, to make progress towards fulfilling that commitment. So for each email, text, page of meeting notes, or self-generated idea, you must clarify what "done" looks like (i.e. the outcome) and what the next action to take is in specific terms (not something vague like "explore options" or "bank" or "check in with Mom").
Here, Allen offers a helpful decision tree to clarify what is to be done. If there is no action required, do we trash the item, leave it to incubate for later or file it as a reference? If it is actionable, do we do it now (yes if it takes less than 2 minutes), delegate it or defer it (because it will take longer than 2 minutes).
#3: ORGANISE: Once you've decided on all the actions you need to take, you must keep reminders of them organised in a system you review regularly. This way, the reminders are not lurking somewhere in your subconscious but are available in the appropriate context, in a trusted format, when you could use it.
Allen suggests that possible categories for non-actionable items are Trash, Incubation (a someday/maybe list) and Reference. Meanwhile, for actionable things he suggests having a List of projects, Files for project plans and materials, a Calendar, a List of reminders of next actions and a List of reminders of things you're waiting for. And if our list of next actions is fairly long (Allen notes than 50-150 items on the list is normal), we can subdivide that list into categories like Calls to Make, Computer Action items, At Home items, Errands, at Office items, Agendas (for people and meetings), Read/Review.
#4: REFLECT: Having decided on all the actions you need to take and organised them appropriately, you need to reflect on the contents consistently enough to keep them functional. This includes looking ahead at your calendar consistently enough to stay current about upcoming events and deadlines, for instance. Allen suggests looking at all of one's outstanding projects and open loops on a weekly basis. Meanwhile, Projects, Waiting for and Someday/Maybe lists need to be reviewed only as often as you think they need to be in order to stop you from wondering about them.
It is during the Weekly Review that you gather and process all your stuff; review your system; update your lists; and get clean, clear, current and complete. Allen argues that "you have to use your mind to get things off your mind". Unless your overview is total, you'll always have a vague sense that something is missing. So the review is key in ensuring that you trust your system.
#5: ENGAGE: Doing #1 to #4 consistently facilitates good choices about what we're doing at any point in time, based on our context (e.g. where we are, how much time we have available, how much energy we have, urgency, etc).
By doing so, Allen argues that we shift from thinking OF a problem or project to thinking ABOUT it. And this sense that we are slowly but surely making some progress brings psychological relief and stops these open loops from distracting us from other things we need to think about. This process gets us in the habit of "keeping nothing in our mind….not by managing time, managing information, or managing priorities…[but] managing your actions".
For Allen, it is not about doing more and more. And he acknowledges that new, unexpected demands often arise which can throw us off. But it is precisely when we maintain the discipline of regular review, to review and renegotiate the other actions on our lists with ourselves or between us and others that allows us to maintain peace of mind. Because we've actively chosen what we will do and what we will not be doing consequently.
GTD reminded me of Mari Kondo's books in several ways. First was how comprehensive its scope is. Just as Kondo advocates going through every single room and every single cranny to gather all the objects belonging to a particular category, Allen suggests doing a comprehensive sweep of all the areas that create unprocessed stuff - the physical environment (at home and in the office including drawers, shelves, surfaces, etc), physical mail and email, receipts, meeting notes, post-its, reading material, and also doing a mind sweep of all the things "residing in your mental RAM space".
For both Kondo and Allen, it's about creating a sense of well-being; while Kondo focusses on cleaning up the physical space such that every thing in that space has utility and sparks joy, Allen's focus is on reducing mental clutter and the "debilitating psychological noise" that results from unprocessed and unorganised thoughts.
I'm not sure I'll be able to go the full GTD hog, in the same way I wasn't able to do the full KonMari hog. But I think just being able to incorporate a few of Allen's principles would make an immense difference to my quality of life.
Five stars.
I felt similarly inspired after reading Getting Things Done. This isn't a traditional productivity book in that it isn't teaching you hacks and processes to manage your focus and to accomplish more tasks in a given amount of time. Nor is it a book about clarifying your larger vision and priorities (unlike, say 4000 Weeks: Time Management for Mortals).
Allen's promise is a seductive one - that it's "possible for a person to have an overwhelming number of things to do and still function productively with a clear head and a positive sense of relaxed control." How it this possible when most people generally feel that they have way too much on their plate and not enough time to get it done?
For Allen, it is all about closing all the "incompletes" or "open loops", whether these are tiny things like "get lightbulbs" or large issues like "overhaul the company". Allen's GTD approach can be summarised in three points:
#1: CAPTURE: Anything you consider unfinished in any way must be captured in a trusted system outside your mind, i.e. a "collection tool" that you know you'll come back to regularly and sort through. If it's not captured in an external, trusted system but is lurking somewhere in your subconscious, that's what creates that constant low level of stress and anxiety.
Have as few capturing buckets as you can get by with (e.g. a physical in tray, a notebook, digital note taking, your email in box). Don't have written reminders scattered everywhere. These capturing buckets must be emptied and processed regularly - this doesn't mean finishing everything that is there; it just means you have to decide more specifically what it is and what should be done with it.
#2: CLARIFY: You empty your collection container by clarifying exactly what your commitment is for each item and decide what you have to do, if anything, to make progress towards fulfilling that commitment. So for each email, text, page of meeting notes, or self-generated idea, you must clarify what "done" looks like (i.e. the outcome) and what the next action to take is in specific terms (not something vague like "explore options" or "bank" or "check in with Mom").
Here, Allen offers a helpful decision tree to clarify what is to be done. If there is no action required, do we trash the item, leave it to incubate for later or file it as a reference? If it is actionable, do we do it now (yes if it takes less than 2 minutes), delegate it or defer it (because it will take longer than 2 minutes).
#3: ORGANISE: Once you've decided on all the actions you need to take, you must keep reminders of them organised in a system you review regularly. This way, the reminders are not lurking somewhere in your subconscious but are available in the appropriate context, in a trusted format, when you could use it.
Allen suggests that possible categories for non-actionable items are Trash, Incubation (a someday/maybe list) and Reference. Meanwhile, for actionable things he suggests having a List of projects, Files for project plans and materials, a Calendar, a List of reminders of next actions and a List of reminders of things you're waiting for. And if our list of next actions is fairly long (Allen notes than 50-150 items on the list is normal), we can subdivide that list into categories like Calls to Make, Computer Action items, At Home items, Errands, at Office items, Agendas (for people and meetings), Read/Review.
#4: REFLECT: Having decided on all the actions you need to take and organised them appropriately, you need to reflect on the contents consistently enough to keep them functional. This includes looking ahead at your calendar consistently enough to stay current about upcoming events and deadlines, for instance. Allen suggests looking at all of one's outstanding projects and open loops on a weekly basis. Meanwhile, Projects, Waiting for and Someday/Maybe lists need to be reviewed only as often as you think they need to be in order to stop you from wondering about them.
It is during the Weekly Review that you gather and process all your stuff; review your system; update your lists; and get clean, clear, current and complete. Allen argues that "you have to use your mind to get things off your mind". Unless your overview is total, you'll always have a vague sense that something is missing. So the review is key in ensuring that you trust your system.
#5: ENGAGE: Doing #1 to #4 consistently facilitates good choices about what we're doing at any point in time, based on our context (e.g. where we are, how much time we have available, how much energy we have, urgency, etc).
By doing so, Allen argues that we shift from thinking OF a problem or project to thinking ABOUT it. And this sense that we are slowly but surely making some progress brings psychological relief and stops these open loops from distracting us from other things we need to think about. This process gets us in the habit of "keeping nothing in our mind….not by managing time, managing information, or managing priorities…[but] managing your actions".
For Allen, it is not about doing more and more. And he acknowledges that new, unexpected demands often arise which can throw us off. But it is precisely when we maintain the discipline of regular review, to review and renegotiate the other actions on our lists with ourselves or between us and others that allows us to maintain peace of mind. Because we've actively chosen what we will do and what we will not be doing consequently.
GTD reminded me of Mari Kondo's books in several ways. First was how comprehensive its scope is. Just as Kondo advocates going through every single room and every single cranny to gather all the objects belonging to a particular category, Allen suggests doing a comprehensive sweep of all the areas that create unprocessed stuff - the physical environment (at home and in the office including drawers, shelves, surfaces, etc), physical mail and email, receipts, meeting notes, post-its, reading material, and also doing a mind sweep of all the things "residing in your mental RAM space".
For both Kondo and Allen, it's about creating a sense of well-being; while Kondo focusses on cleaning up the physical space such that every thing in that space has utility and sparks joy, Allen's focus is on reducing mental clutter and the "debilitating psychological noise" that results from unprocessed and unorganised thoughts.
I'm not sure I'll be able to go the full GTD hog, in the same way I wasn't able to do the full KonMari hog. But I think just being able to incorporate a few of Allen's principles would make an immense difference to my quality of life.
Five stars.