Books - Getting Things Done by David Allen / Key Takeaways & Analysis

Key Takeaways & Analysis

of

David Allens

Getting Things Done

The Art of Stress-Free Productivity

By Eureka Books

Table of Contents

OVERVIEW

IMPORTANT PEOPLE

KEY TAKEAWAYS

ANALYSIS

Key Takeaway 1

Key Takeaway 2

Key Takeaway 3

Key Takeaway 4

Key Takeaway 5

Key Takeaway 6

Key Takeaway 7

Key Takeaway 8

Key Takeaway 9

Author's Style

Perspective

Getting Things Done by David Allen is the revised second edition of a book on organization and productivity originally published in 2001. Allen takes readers through the implementation of his method for personal and professional productivity, beginning with the various messy piles of incomplete tasks many people have lying around and creating structured, trustworthy systems for capturing new tasks and deciding on the next action to take. The method begins with an overview of the five steps for structuring workflow: capture, clarify, organize, reflect, and engage. Then new principles and processes are introduced, including the four criteria for choosing which action to take on next, the threefold model for evaluating what work must be done, and the six levels, or horizons, for reviewing a task. The methods make considerable use of lists, physical inboxes, and folders. By the end of the book, the reader will have all the tools to create systems, files, and lists necessary to carry out their day-to-day projects with fewer things falling through the cracks and less anxiety over what has fallen behind or gone undone.

The updated edition includes more guidance for readers on the use of digital tools and organizing email inboxes than the previous edition. It also provides flexibility for individuals whose to-do lists contain more personal or family tasks than professional ones. The method offered in the book can be applied completely or readers can choose specific tools to incorporate within their personal or professional days while leaving behind what they do not want. The 2015 edition also includes updated information on the scientific support for the methods described in the book, featuring cognitive science research particularly.

David Allen: David Allen is a productivity coach and owner of the David Allen Company, a company that specializes in teaching the time management techniques described in Getting Things Done.

James Fallows: James Fallows is a journalist, author, and national correspondent for the Atlantic. He wrote the foreword for the 2015 edition of Getting Things Done.

Dean Acheson: Dean Acheson is a management consultant and friend of David Allen's who pioneered the next-action technique of project management, adapted in Getting Things Done, while helping an executive organize a messy desk.

1. The modern work environment is characterized by increased input from within and outside of organizations, vaguely defined job requirements, and more career changes. Advancements in electronic communication and economic changes have considerably altered the way workers decide what to do in a given day, week, or year, particularly when someone is engaged in the expanding category of knowledge work.
2. Outside tools, also known as the external brain, can reduce anxiety by preventing someone's mind from incessantly reminding him or her of something that must be done, but cannot be done at that time. Digital tools have advanced the use of external brains.
3. Faulty capture tools are a key reason for the number of tasks and responsibilities that slip through the cracks of a disorganized person's attention. A complete capture system ensures that nothing escapes notice and that it all ends up in the proper place.
4. Professional project planning and delegation do not necessarily conform to natural decision-making and planning processes. The best way to avoid an unnecessary crunch is to structure the planning process in a way that feels familiar.
5. Digital tools and products can benefit every stage of the workflow process, as long as they are used with the same level of attention to organization and ease of retrieval as physical folders and inboxes. A computer's search function can be less convenient than a well-organized paper file.
6. The review stage of the workflow is a significant step to ensure that no loose ends remain when a task is complete. It is a de-cluttering process that can take place from one of several horizons, from the impact on the project at hand to the effect on someone's career or life.
7. Choosing what to do next can be made easier by setting contexts for every item on a next-actions list and being prepared to capture, organize, and possibly complete anything that will pop up in the meantime.
8. The keys to a clean inbox, whether it is a physical one or an email inbox, are to allow no loose ends, to be prepared to address everything without skipping over any item, and to strictly define what can and cannot go into the inbox without being organized elsewhere.
9. Executing a project management system, such as the method presented in Getting Things Done, can result in an unexpected range of emotions, from dread to relief, because of complicated relationships with goals and the tendency to view an unaccomplished task as a broken promise. On the other hand, human psychology is compatible with the books principles, as demonstrated in recent scientific research.
   

The modern work environment is characterized by increased input from within and outside of organizations, vaguely defined job requirements, and more career changes. Advancements in electronic communication and economic changes have considerably altered the way workers decide what to do in a given day, week, or year, particularly when someone is engaged in the expanding category of knowledge work.

Analysis

Readers will probably not be surprised to hear that in most countries the work environment is more hectic and less structured today than it ever has been in the past. There are numerous causes for this new chaos, including the shift in modern economies from production to service, the economic aftermath of the 2008 recession, the advancement of instant digital communication, and the increasing enthusiasm for data-powered optimization of company processes. More people find themselves in jobs with descriptions that encompass more and define less. In an Internet-connected workplace, one person may be expected to take on the responsibilities of several while being given more possible ways to do those tasks or more room for creative problem-solving.

Allen defines these positions with job descriptions comprised of goals or aspirations as knowledge work, and in concrete terms this can range from chief executive officers to engineers. These individuals are expected to come up with ideas, not just assemble something or answer a phone. In knowledge work, there is no right way to solve most problems. Coordinating the resources and people who come up with the best possible, available, thought-of solution requires different task management skills than more structured jobs. A simple to-do list needs more guidance for what items must happen before others can be finished, what tools need to be available to finish a list item, and whether an item cannot be completed until someone else finishes something. Allen's method addresses some of these contingencies through systems such as the next-actions list, the context criteria for items on those list, and the waiting-on list.