Getting Things Done

The Art of Stress-Free Productivity

By: David Allen

Narrated by: David Allen

Length: 2 hrs and 47 mins

Publisher's summary

In today's world of exponentially increased communication and responsibility, yesterday's methods for staying on top just don't work. Veteran management consultant and trainer David Allen recognizes that "time management" is useless the minute your schedule is interrupted; "setting priorities" isn't relevant when your e-mail is down; "procrastination solutions" won't help if your goals aren't clear.

Allen's premise is simple: our ability to be productive is directly proportional to our ability to relax. Only when our minds are clear and our thoughts are organized can we achieve stress-free productivity and unleash our creative potential. He teaches us how to:

Apply the "do it, delegate it, defer it, drop it" rule to get your in-box empty.

Reassess goals and stay focused in changing situations.

Overcome feelings of confusion, anxiety, and being overwhelmed.

Feel fine about what you're not doing.

From core principles to proven tricks, Getting Things Done has the potential to transform the way you work - and the way you experience work. At any level of implementation, David Allen's entertaining and thought-provoking advice shows you how to pick up the pace without wearing yourself down.

©2002 David Allen, All Rights Reserved (P)2002 Simon & Schuster Inc., SOUND IDEAS Is an Imprint of Simon & Schuster Audio Division, Simon & Schuster Inc.

Critic reviews

"[Allen is] the personal productivity guru." (Fast Company)

Getting Things Done

This is a fantastic book and the ideas are helpful, but the abridged version leaves out too many details. I also have the book, and have found that I must refer to it in order to get essential information that will allow me to implement the author's suggestions.

This is real information.

I am putting this book into practise and it is making a tremendous differece.

Don't like it? You aren't busy enough!

I have suffered from "fad" organizational systems to tackle my incredible workload, none of which really catch everything that I have to do or address. His system is simple, straightforward, and very powerful. It is also easy to implement without much income; he is very outcomes oriented and not trying to sell you "his" binder system/organizer/computer program, etc. If you find you are drowning in necessary work, seriously consider this download!

This REALLY works

I can't even begin to tell you how much this methodology has helped me keep up with work, life and happiness. I was a list-maker to start with, so it came somewhat easily to me, but I've also introduced it to others who were not and who managed to make it work for them also.

The audiobook walks you through the system, explaining both method and theory. Take your time going through it; there is a lot to take in and rushing through the audiobook will make it harder to absorb.

Good but is it realistic?

I think this is a fantastic talk, and I've learned a lot from it which has given me great benefit. However, I also think the talk is a little unrealistic because it doesn't deal with the sitation that I find myself and my colleagues (in high tech) face every day. We are bombarded with more work than we can possibly process. There's not even enough time in the day to read it, much less sort it and process it. This is the reality of our current work environment and I find the talk fails to address it. Rather, it assumes a much slower pace in which one has the luxury of processing every input in the prescribed manner.

Help yourself

Thank you David Allen for an excellent book. I am improving my life steadily with your help. I recommend this book particularly to the thinker that feels capable but overwhelmed. You can fix it.

Great, but you need the Book too

Well, this is a great way to organize yourself, you'll be up and going in minutes. David Allen demonstrates how simple it is to get and stay organized and the big news is: It works if you really hang on his principles. One big disadvantage, though (because this is audio): Once you stick to your tasks, you'll need written reference! Without this, the audio book sounds like a nice Foreword or maybe a detailed advice, but not exactly the real thing. I listened to it, then bought the book and read it. Now I can say that this is absolutely the best combination for getting organized, but a little bit expensive as well :-)

How to finally declutter and organise "Stuff"

I found this a practical "how to" guide which cut through a lot of my own "stuff" and has actually enabled me to be more productive, and more discriminating in what needs to be done.

Great book

The titel covers The new method of thinking: 'what's The next action?!'
By listening you want to change your habits. You will experience more Energy by implementing The simple question on your daily tasks.
Just read it, you'll find out!

A great book

This book was a great book to listen to - it gave loads of great ways to get yourself organized and info on filing systems and such. This isn't the kind of audio book that you should listen to while on a long drive, etc. as this takes a lot of thought and some writing exercises. I've gained lots of great info to get myself organized - the biggest hurdle is still myself. :)