excavator7

I found out about this book from the short video on YouTube of David Allen training some Google executives. I find his approach to work flow realistic and practical: get the "today" stuff under control as a means to allow for higher levels of thinking and strategy. As he says in the beginning of the book, even if you don't take his approach whole cloth you will likely find plenty of "tricks" in this book that you can use in your existing approach to your work. Beyond that, there is also a benefit to looking over someone else's shoulder at their approach to work. Just hearing how someone else approaches to-do lists and in-baskets can help you think through your own. I've found Allen's book very helpful to my work, and my only criticism is his use of his own terminology and "business speak." I don't know if words like tickler file, capture, stake in the ground, collection buckets, open loops, etc. are common to most workplaces, but they were not common to mine. Having any one of Allen's terms used in a sentence was not tough, but when he strings them together it can make it hard to follow on the first read-through. Once you get used to his terminology you're fine. It's a MINOR criticism and should not be prohibitive to your getting this great resource. Finally, I always appreciate it when an author will read the unabridged audio of his/her own work. Enjoy.