David Allen - Making It All Work: Winning at the Game of Work and the Business of Life

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Table of Contents

Also by David Allen

Getting Things Done

Ready for Anything

VIKING
Published by the Penguin Group
Penguin Group (USA) Inc., 375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014, U.S.A.
Penguin Group (Canada), 90 Eglinton Avenue East, Suite 700, Toronto, Ontario,
Canada M4P 2Y3 (a division of Pearson Penguin Canada Inc.)
Penguin Books Ltd, 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England
Penguin Ireland, 25 St. Stephens Green, Dublin 2, Ireland (a division of Penguin Books Ltd)
Penguin Books Australia Ltd, 250 Camberwell Road, Camberwell, Victoria 3124, Australia
(a division of Pearson Australia Group Pty Ltd)
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New Delhi - 110 017, India
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(a division of Pearson New Zealand Ltd)
Penguin Books (South Africa) (Pty) Ltd, 24 Sturdee Avenue, Rosebank,
Johannesburg 2196, South Africa
Penguin Books Ltd, Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England
First published in 2008 by Viking Penguin, a member of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

Copyright David Allen, 2008

All rights reserved
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING IN PUBLICATION DATA
Allen, David.
Making it all work : winning at the game of work and the business of life / by David Allen.
p. cm.
Includes index.

eISBN : 978-1-440-65539-5

1. Time management. 2. Planning. 3. Decision making. 4. Self-management
(Psychology) 5. Success. I. Title. II. Title: Winning at the game of work and the
business of life.
HD69.T54A45 2008
650.1dc22 2008033975

Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.

The scanning, uploading, and distribution of this book via the Internet or via any other means without the permission of the publisher is illegal and punishable by law. Please purchase only authorized electronic editions and do not participate in or encourage electronic piracy of copyrightable materials. Your support of the authors rights is appreciated.

http://us.penguingroup.com

Preface

Since the publication of my first two books, Getting Things Done and Ready for Anything, Ive had the opportunity to engage with many thousands of people who have adopted their principles and techniques, and have received countless letters and e-mails from readers who have validated the efficacy of the GTD approach. What has emerged for me since is not so much new information but new and deeper perspectives about why that information works as well as it does and how universally it can be applied. This book is my attempt at sharing that awareness, plus expanded instructions for using this material in the broadest possible way.

It was challenging to frame my writing here for both the large audience of people who are familiar with my work and those who may be reading or hearing of these methods for the first time. I am trusting that the inherent power in the information itself will make it valuable for both groups. The first four chapters examine the GTD phenomenonwhat it is and why it continues to expand around the world. The rest of the book explores the components of the two core aspects of self-management: chapters 5-10 investigate the dynamics of gaining control, and chapters 11-18 deal with achieving perspective. For reference I have included several Appendices that describe the key models of the GTD process.

Though many parts of this material can be used for topical reference, the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. I recommend that you absorb the contents as a whole, at your own pace. Though it doesnt get any simpler than this, the power is in the understanding and application of its subtlety.

... And Many Thanks to

my wife and partner, Kathryn, for her unfailing love, encouragement, and support;

the many clients, staff, associates, and friends who have aligned with and contributed to this work;

the scores of practitioners of GTD around the world who have provided feedback and valuable insights into the implementation of these models;

my personal counselors, especially Michael Hayes, who have helped me stay connected to my intuition and the bigger picture;

my agent, Doe Coover, whose continued diligence has given my book writing a firm business foundation;

my editor at Viking, Rick Kot, whose intellectual rigor, laborious fine-tuning of my prose, and patience helped nurture the project across the finish line; and all the other sources of my inspirationseen and unseen.

Introduction: From Getting Things Done to Making It All Work

The art of progress is to preserve order amid change and to preserve change amid order.

Alfred North Whitehead

Much of what sophisticates loftily refer to as the complexity of the real world is in fact the inconsistency in their own minds.

Thomas Sowell

To lead an effective life, we need to be able to make things happento engage with our world so it will supply us with the experiences and results we seek. Making the right choices and ensuring their efficient execution have always been key elements of success. An endless stream of books, seminars, consulting, and coaching programs has emerged to facilitate those processes, to remind us how to plan, vision, set goals, clarify values, and motivate ourselves and others; any number of techniques and tools are available to help us get organized, manage our time, and be more efficient.

Whats missing is a fundamental understanding of, and effective model for, the dynamics of the process as a wholea way to make it all work. Is there some coherent method that encompasses that totality yet can be applied to any part of it, at any time?

Indeed there is, and it is the subject of this book. Making It All Work is a manual for getting anything and everything on trackfrom a bloated e-mail in-box to a significant professional challenge or your next vacation. The same principles and practices are applicable to them all, and when these techniques are incorporated across the spectrum of life and work, a wonderful integration takes place. Work takes on a lighter quality, and life itself becomes a successful enterprise.

Approaching work is a game, and one thats fun to play, as long as we know the purpose, the boundaries, the contents, and the rules. When any of those parameters are unclear, we develop unnecessary stress and are ineffective. But if, on the other hand, a bullet-proof, trusted process is in place which you know you can apply whenever needed to clarify and align your thinking and resourcesno matter whats going onits much easier to experience a heightened sense of freedom and spontaneity with how you spend your time in your job.

Similarly, we need to be more practical, efficient, and effective in much of the rest of our day-to-day experience, incorporating businesss best practices into many of the activities that we label as personal. The business of our lives will be a good one as long as we know the business were in, the nature of the transactions we must perform, and how to handle those outcomes and actions effectively. The paradox is that when the mechanics of our day-to-day lives are not handled in an effectively engineered fashion, our ability to actually be personal is diminished. To serve our families, our individual health and well-being, and our recreational and creative needs optimally, many businesslike behaviors are required.

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