Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-free Productivity
- Downloads：8168
- Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
- Create Date：2021-05-17 11:56:48
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：David Allen
- ISBN：0349408947
- Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
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Summary
Since it was first published in David Allen's Getting Things Done has become one of the most influential business titles of its era， and the book on personal organisation。 'GTD' has become shorthand for an entire way of approaching the professional and personal tasks everyone faces in life， and has spawned an entire culture of websites， organisational tools， seminars， and offshoots。
For this revised and updated edition， David Allen has rewritten the book from start to finish， tweaking his classic text with new tools and technologies， and adding material that will make the book evergreen for the coming decades。 Also new is a glossary of GTD terms; The GTD Path of Mastership - a description of what Allen has learned and is now teaching regarding the lifelong craft of integrating these practices， to the end-game of the capability of dealing with anything in life， by getting control and focus; and a section on the cognitive science research that validates GTD principles。
The new edition of Getting Things Done will be welcomed not only by the hundreds of thousands of existing fans but will be embraced by an entire new generation eager to adopt its proven principles。
Reviews
Liron
，
I've heard so much about this book and this method and after finishing it I can honestly say it's mind blowing all I need to do right now is to implement and adjust the system to my life and I'm so motivated in doing so！"define what done means and what doing looks like" what a gemhighly recommended I've heard so much about this book and this method and after finishing it I can honestly say it's mind blowing all I need to do right now is to implement and adjust the system to my life and I'm so motivated in doing so！"define what done means and what doing looks like" what a gemhighly recommended 。。。more
Brian
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Helped me figure out a system to stay organized and get things done！
Sanford Ashley
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A Must Have！If you want to strategically complete your to do lists then look no further。 David Allen makes it very simple to graduate from basic lists to complex projects。 It has helped me tremendously。
Vladimir Stankovic
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I feel like this book borders on being too outdated to be helpful in 2021。
Vladislav
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Didn't like this book because it was boring and confusing， the author tells that you should organise at its best before beginning a project， clean you're desk download programs that stack you're files and organize never share a working table with you're spous。 Amateuristic tips to be honest。 Didn't like this book because it was boring and confusing， the author tells that you should organise at its best before beginning a project， clean you're desk download programs that stack you're files and organize never share a working table with you're spous。 Amateuristic tips to be honest。 。。。more
Anthony Cheng
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This review is solely about the updated version。 Some of the magical weirdness of the first edition is gone in this update。 David Allen's rewrite of his seminal productivity classic has burred off the esoteric edges and replaced it with pop psychology you've seen written about a hundred times in Fast Company， Daniel Pink， and the like。 Where are my 43 Folders， Mr。 Allen？ This review is solely about the updated version。 Some of the magical weirdness of the first edition is gone in this update。 David Allen's rewrite of his seminal productivity classic has burred off the esoteric edges and replaced it with pop psychology you've seen written about a hundred times in Fast Company， Daniel Pink， and the like。 Where are my 43 Folders， Mr。 Allen？ 。。。more
Daniel Hasegan
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It's a great method。 I had all the pieces but I needed to put them together coherently into one methodology。 The best idea that I found here is to separate the to-do list （next actions） and the in-tray of just things that are on your mind。 Also make all items and projects actionable with a clear defined goal。 I skipped some chapters here and there and read the essential ones。 This book could have been way shorter。 It's a great method。 I had all the pieces but I needed to put them together coherently into one methodology。 The best idea that I found here is to separate the to-do list （next actions） and the in-tray of just things that are on your mind。 Also make all items and projects actionable with a clear defined goal。 I skipped some chapters here and there and read the essential ones。 This book could have been way shorter。 。。。more
Dan
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The first half of the book is seemingly where to find all the actionable material。 After reading plenty of books following a theme of productivity， GTD has been by far the most useful system for getting things down and seeing a broad overview of where you are and where things need to be。The second half of the book essentially argues the case for using this system， which， if you are already using this system for life manangement， you won't need to read the reasoning。 The system explained in the f The first half of the book is seemingly where to find all the actionable material。 After reading plenty of books following a theme of productivity， GTD has been by far the most useful system for getting things down and seeing a broad overview of where you are and where things need to be。The second half of the book essentially argues the case for using this system， which， if you are already using this system for life manangement， you won't need to read the reasoning。 The system explained in the first half of this book speaks for itself。 。。。more
Daniel Sherman
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got very boring partway through。 some good tips about productivity though
Duy Thanh Nguyen
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A good idea to approach productivity （though lots of materials mentioned in the book are a bit outdated for 2021）。 Yet it can be condensed into a two-page brief rather than a 300-page book。 The core concept is dragged pages to pages in an overabundant manner。 Every task that can be done under 2 minutes must be done immediately。 Put every thought in your mind into an organised system that should be reviewed on a regular basis。 Free your mind by trusting your own system。 It would guide you to the A good idea to approach productivity （though lots of materials mentioned in the book are a bit outdated for 2021）。 Yet it can be condensed into a two-page brief rather than a 300-page book。 The core concept is dragged pages to pages in an overabundant manner。 Every task that can be done under 2 minutes must be done immediately。 Put every thought in your mind into an organised system that should be reviewed on a regular basis。 Free your mind by trusting your own system。 It would guide you to the flow state。 That's pretty much the gist。Only a few pages are worth reading every single word。 I am not a skimmer but I skimmed two-third of the book and if I did it again， I would skim almost all of it。 。。。more
Karl Nagy
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Productivity=freedomAwesome results so far！ My life has never felt more manageable and in control。 The practical techniques within are more than just another self-help book idea to be read， interested in， and then forgotten in 3 months。
Rayne ♥
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This is more about being organized than it is about productivity but I do think it's helpful nonetheless。 It is outdated but it was also published many years ago so I'll let that slide。 I reccomend this as the first step to productivity since it can help you get there and motivate you， but I also suggest reading other books as a way to understand how to stay productive and keep it that way。 This is more about being organized than it is about productivity but I do think it's helpful nonetheless。 It is outdated but it was also published many years ago so I'll let that slide。 I reccomend this as the first step to productivity since it can help you get there and motivate you， but I also suggest reading other books as a way to understand how to stay productive and keep it that way。 。。。more
Ryan vandenack
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Fantastic！I recently took on a new role at my company and the nature of my work changed as a result from customer facing projects to internal projects。 However， this change wasn’t like flipping a switch， I had to do both for a while （and still do in some capacity）。 This book provided me with a framework for managing all my responsibilities in an efficient manner。 This resulted in pace of mind and more headspace to think creatively and strategically。 Would highly recommend this book to any profes Fantastic！I recently took on a new role at my company and the nature of my work changed as a result from customer facing projects to internal projects。 However， this change wasn’t like flipping a switch， I had to do both for a while （and still do in some capacity）。 This book provided me with a framework for managing all my responsibilities in an efficient manner。 This resulted in pace of mind and more headspace to think creatively and strategically。 Would highly recommend this book to any professional that feels overwhelmed or wants a system to help them manage inputs better。 。。。more
Jenna
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I got some good practices from this book （such as the Weekly Review）， but the rest didn't really fit well for me personally。 I got some good practices from this book （such as the Weekly Review）， but the rest didn't really fit well for me personally。 。。。more
Khaled
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I can't seem to understand some of the negative reviews claiming this can be summarized into a pocket book。 As with any book you can choose to speed read and grab the main headlines， or you can read it word for word。 I found the concept of organizing your whole life excellent and I've started to apply some of the learnings。 I can't seem to understand some of the negative reviews claiming this can be summarized into a pocket book。 As with any book you can choose to speed read and grab the main headlines， or you can read it word for word。 I found the concept of organizing your whole life excellent and I've started to apply some of the learnings。 。。。more
Daniel Noventa
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Good insights and tips I can start implementing immediately。 Easy to read and follow with clear goals。
Ivan Ramos
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This book is a life changer！
Dee
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Marie Kondo says to put all of your possessions in a pile， take out each one at a time， and ask "does this spark joy？" David Allen says to put all of your emails in a pile， take out each one at a time， and ask "how do I move this forward？"The difference is that you don't buy a bunch of new stuff every day to clutter your house。 But you do get a ton of emails everyday。 Which is why David Allen's whole method takes 2 years to implement fully and Marie Kondo's takes a few weeks / months。 Anyway the Marie Kondo says to put all of your possessions in a pile， take out each one at a time， and ask "does this spark joy？" David Allen says to put all of your emails in a pile， take out each one at a time， and ask "how do I move this forward？"The difference is that you don't buy a bunch of new stuff every day to clutter your house。 But you do get a ton of emails everyday。 Which is why David Allen's whole method takes 2 years to implement fully and Marie Kondo's takes a few weeks / months。 Anyway the book is fine。 The teachings are fine， they make sense， and you don't have to implement the whole system to start reaping benefits。 But be warned the whole system takes 2 years of **commitment** so a lot of the book is dedicated to promises of how much better your life will be if you fully implement the whole thing。 Some good takeaways for me:- if you have difficulty doing a thing， it's probably because you haven't spent enough time defining the task--the eventual outcome you want and the next tangible step to move the task along to that outcome。 The task is too vague， so spend some time just thinking about it specifically to figure out those two things。- if you *don't* do this， you'll probably have zombie tasks that never get done and keep bothering you。 To the point where even thinking about them causes negative emotions。 This is because every time you think of the task but don't deal with it， you are breaking a promise you made to yourself and that little betrayal of trust weighs on you， makes you feel guilty and bad about yourself。 To heal， renegotiate the promise into an smaller， more achievable promise--the next action。 Don't promise to "write my English paper。" That leads to procrastination。 Promise to "organize my notes from reading the book。"- if you implement GTD but the people around you （coworkers， spouse， etc。） don't， it seems like you'd get annoyed with them pretty quickly。 。。。more
Melissa
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"This consistent， unproductive preoccupation with all the things we have to do is the single largest consumer of time and energy。" —Kerry GleesonThis book was overall a good one for me， though I can agree with other reviews that mention that a 21st century update would be helpful （I haven't seen a physical in/out tray。。。ever）。 I like the idea of getting all the tasks （big and small） out of one's mind and organized， with the next action easily denoted。 I also like the 2-minute rule he espouses （w "This consistent， unproductive preoccupation with all the things we have to do is the single largest consumer of time and energy。" —Kerry GleesonThis book was overall a good one for me， though I can agree with other reviews that mention that a 21st century update would be helpful （I haven't seen a physical in/out tray。。。ever）。 I like the idea of getting all the tasks （big and small） out of one's mind and organized， with the next action easily denoted。 I also like the 2-minute rule he espouses （where when you encounter a task， if if can be done in 2 minutes， just do it then - or sort it into one of your categories）。 There were parts where the book felt like it was dragging on a bit （did we really need half page sections each on notebooks and pens？）， but I think I overall recommend the book to others who want some inspiration on how to sort through and keep track of all the random things one has to do。Some more quotes:"Projects do not initially need to be listed in any particular order， by size， or by priority。 They just need to be on a master list so you can review them regularly enough to ensure that appropriate next actions have been defined for each of them。 If you don’t have a placeholder to remind you about it， it will slip back into your head。" "Any longer-than-two-minute， non-delegatable action you have identified needs to be tracked somewhere。""。。。go through five steps to accomplish virtually any task: 1-Defining purpose and principles， 2-Outcome visioning， 3-Brainstorming， 4-Organizing， 5-Identifying next actions""Before any evaluation of what’s a good idea can be trusted， the purpose must be clear， the vision must be well defined， and all the relevant data must have been collected （brainstormed） and analyzed （organized）。 “What’s a good idea？” is a good question， but only when you’re about 80 percent of the way through your thinking！ Starting there would probably blow anyone’s creative mental fuses。""Even if the item is not a high-priority one， do it now if you’re ever going to do it at all。 The rationale for the two-minute rule is that it’s more or less the point where it starts taking longer to store and track an item than to deal with it the first time it’s in your hands—in other words， it’s the efficiency cutoff。 If the thing’s not important enough to be done， throw it away。 If it is， and if you’re going to do it sometime， the efficiency factor should come into play。 You’ll be surprised how many two-minute actions you can perform even on your most critical projects。" 。。。more
Irfan
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An excellent book on self-development and self-organisation A really great book on improving one’s ability to get more things done in little time。 The principles promoted in this book will help you get more organised by having something called in-basket which essentially is a list of actionable items with concrete and well-defined next-action attached to each item。 The write also suggests just having an in-basket isn’t enough。 We also need to habitually came back to it and review the items in th An excellent book on self-development and self-organisation A really great book on improving one’s ability to get more things done in little time。 The principles promoted in this book will help you get more organised by having something called in-basket which essentially is a list of actionable items with concrete and well-defined next-action attached to each item。 The write also suggests just having an in-basket isn’t enough。 We also need to habitually came back to it and review the items in the basket。 All in all it is a very good read and I highly recommend it specially to those who feel they always have too much on their plate but can’t get anything done。 。。。more
Kristin
，
。Good tips for getting an inbox， calendar and project system into place for personal and business efficiency。 Works well with my bullet journal system。 I like the prospective of starting with the list of everything and group that into goals， context setting and projects。 It's much more practical than starting with visions and lofty goals or a five year plan。。。 This is good too， but his methods are easily applicable and practical。 **Note read via Blinkest App 。Good tips for getting an inbox， calendar and project system into place for personal and business efficiency。 Works well with my bullet journal system。 I like the prospective of starting with the list of everything and group that into goals， context setting and projects。 It's much more practical than starting with visions and lofty goals or a five year plan。。。 This is good too， but his methods are easily applicable and practical。 **Note read via Blinkest App 。。。more
Tom
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Life changing。 Game changing。
Alise
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In today’s world， yesterday’s methods just don’t work。 < Seems ironic to see this on the cover， if you’re reading the book on 2021。 The number of times this guy mentions VCR in his book is disturbing。 😅The method of GTD isn’t bad， but this book is outdated and full of examples that only high profile executives can relate to。 Also， it’s very repetitive。Overall， I learned more from a book summary on YouTube than the actual book。
Bill Rand
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Seems like it could use some updating for the modern era and tools， but it's a fantastic book other than that。 Seems like it could use some updating for the modern era and tools， but it's a fantastic book other than that。 。。。more
Kevin Smallacombe
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Helpful concept and the chart is great。 Could be one chapter， maybe two。 Very skimmable and out-of-date technology makes the application seem antiquated。
Haniffa Mohamed Riaz
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The best book on productivity will have read so far。 Anyone can read and practice the techniques suggested by the author David Allen。 The 4 step process is a huge takeaway for me and I’m practically seeing the difference in my productivity。
Danigel
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The book has three chapters:1。 Explaining the principles of this book in details。 What it wants to show you in details2。 The implementation phase。 I really believe it is outdated as it consists mostly of hardcopy。 Now everyone has a computer and work on a computer and less paper。 This chapter can be skimmed 3。 The conclusion chapter。 More frameworks The books has amassed a lot of quotes from great people and many people i dont know。 The first chapter is the aha moment of this book。
Ana Paula
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É como se todos os nossos pensamentos sobre organização de projetos estivessem estruturados e bem escritos。 Gostei bastante do livro， é um conceito simples， porém complexo de se implementar。O próximo passo é colocar em prática （fazer acontecer）！
Hsandlin
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If you are considering reading this， buy a used copy and just ready chapters 4-8。 If you’re curious or feel lost， go back and read 1-4 and if you’re really invested in David Alan and the GTD methodology then finish the rest of the book。 Chapters 4-8 （and even 4 is questionable） have some amazing and thoughtful insight into an interesting and useful methodology。 Getting the methodology out of this book isn’t ideal but it is worth the effort。 The book just isn’t captivating to say the least and a If you are considering reading this， buy a used copy and just ready chapters 4-8。 If you’re curious or feel lost， go back and read 1-4 and if you’re really invested in David Alan and the GTD methodology then finish the rest of the book。 Chapters 4-8 （and even 4 is questionable） have some amazing and thoughtful insight into an interesting and useful methodology。 Getting the methodology out of this book isn’t ideal but it is worth the effort。 The book just isn’t captivating to say the least and a lot of it is unnecessary for understanding the system。 If you’re interested in getting more organized and implementing a system to manage the things you need to do， GTD is the nuclear option。 You will spend a week or more getting it set up but it definitely will be worth it。 I’m giving the book 3 stars because it’s clear Alan has a great system but his writing skills are less clear。 You can get a lot out of just watching an interview with him （Simplify is a podcast by Blinkist， I’d recommend either of their two interviews with him）。 But I definitely recommend the book still， just be aware of what you’re getting yourself into。 。。。more
Logesh Mathivathanan
，