I’ve been reading “Getting Things Done” by David Allen.
If you don’t plan reading the book, Getting Things Done by David Allen, you may want to have a look at this handout for an pictorial overview. It is very interesting and helpful.
I am enjoying reading this book because David Allen offers a functional and complete system for absolutely everything in your life. When he talks about work, he means everything from reading a book, keeping a home to paid employment – so it is relevant to everyone. I found his psychological insight interesting, as he explains why things will or won’t work and helps you get started to get things done.
I have always been a list maker and David Allen is a great fan of lists too! I’ve started to implement parts of the book to try to keep myself productive. The book is useful if have lots of ideas in your head and projects and interests on the go. The book provides great tips for multi-tasking. I always like to be organised, keeping things systemised and cataloging things.
“Getting Things Done” is about scooping up all your stuff and having a good sort! David Allen encourages you to sort into to-do, to fix, to buy, to talk about, to plan, to develop, to design etc and to to put them all into lists and systems that you check and update weekly. You could use this blog to report back on progress each week and add a comment to share your thoughts. The key is to be clear on what you have and what you want and know what you should do next.
The book asks you to look long term at your life so that you focus on what is important in the now. He also has the nifty idea of calling your regular to-do list, the ‘Next Action list’. It is something different from your long term 5 year achievement list or projects on the go etc. The ‘Next Action list’ is to define and understand your ‘next action’ and is a very important lesson of the book. David Allen explains that you need to understand the difference between your Next Action and the things you want to achieve in your life, for example, rather than saying ‘I’d like to live in a clean home’, write ‘put away the clothes’. David Allen says that when goals are too big, they will never be done, so write in steps! How cool!