The Getting Things Done Workbook: 10 Moves to Stress-Free Productivity
by: David Allen (0)
The incredible popularity of Getting Things Done revealed people's need to take control of their own productivity with a system that reduces the stress of staying on top of it all. Around the world hundreds of certified trainers and coaches are engaged full time in teaching the process, supported by a grassroots movement of Meetup groups, LinkedIn groups, Facebook groups, podcasts, blogs and dozens of apps based on it. While Getting Things Done remains the definitive way to gain perspective over work and create the mental space for creativity and mindfulness, The Getting Things Done Workbook enhances the original by providing an accessible guide to the GTD methodology in workbook form.
The workbook divides the process into small, manageable segments to allow for easier learning and doing. Each chapter identifies a challenge the reader may be facing--such as being overwhelmed by too many to-do lists, a messy desk, or email overload--and explains the GTD concept to address. The lessons can be learned and implemented in almost any order, and whichever is adopted will provide immediate benefits. This handy instructional manual will give both seasoned GTD users and newcomers alike clear action steps to take to reach a place of sustained efficiency.
The Reviews
The Good-If you have not heard of GTD before, or found its main steps difficult to implement this is likely be a good tool. A tool you could of found on the internet for free, but I assume Mr. Allen gets a higher take off of this.-If you found the book overwhelming, this has the gentlest slope.-Lots of concise content you can get through quickly.The BadIf you have read GTD there is nothing new here. A good percentage of the content is just cut and paste from the original book. This is a 213 page e book that is exceeding light on content and reads like a web seminar that was poorly performing on the web, so it was repackaged it as a "work book."Let just look at some numbers:Do you want to guess how many pages are just links to go buy the original book in the second chapter? 5 of the 18. Just advertisements. Oh they don't stop in the second chapter so don't worry.How many pages are just 1-2 sentences quotes from David Allen? 12 of 213.How many pages are just pictures of an exclamation mark or a light bulb? 7 of 213How many pages are just 1-2 sentences that aren't quotes? 53 of 213.Concise content is great. When it's attenuated like this it feels significantly less valuable.The UglyAs broadly applicable as GTD is, there are edges and awkwardness to some of the processes and I had purchased this in hopes that some of those had been resolved in the last decade. This doesn't seem to be the case.You can likely find better content for free from googling.I'll spend a bit more time with this in hopes theres some more redeemable points, but
Getting Things Done changed my life and helped me handle a management position that I was thrown into years ago far before I was ready. I learned how to no longer keep things in my head, never worry about missing an appointment or action item and how to create an airtight work flow.Iāve been waiting for years to have this type of workbook to be able to simply reference the flowcharts, be reminded of the principles and not have to search for the action steps inside of stories and extra text.As you can see from the picture that is what you get.One negative review said that they felt ripped off since there was some pages with just a big quote on it.I actually really like the spaciousness that this book provides. The whole philosophy of GTD is to create space in your mind and the simple quote or concise content helps achieve that. More info is not why you get a workbook. Itās so that you can focus only on the essence and take action.You should certainly get the GTD full book, but even if you havenāt you could probably do just fine with this workbook if you the āget to the pointā type of person.
If you are new to GTD this can be an excellent companion to the book. If you are A seasoned GTDār then this will be too elementary. A good way to tell if this book will be useful is to take the āAssess your realityā quiz in the beginning of the book. If you score low then buy the book, if high then pass.
This book demonstrates how an overly cutesie graphical design will kill content. While the title states it is a workbook, it is quite a tedious experience and the real work is trying to find relevant points in it. The book could shed half of its size without affecting the intended spacy style. There are BIG letters, BIG icons, two-page quotes (one page for the quote, the other for its origin), recurring advertisement images of the original book, useless QR code icons (it should be a BOOK of its own), vast wasted page spaces... It is as if the designer of the book wanted to combine the "Dummies...", "Idiots..." series styles with the more sophisticated Strategyzer series ("Value Proposition Design," "Business Model Generation", etc.), but ended up with a clumsy, busy, impractical mess. Again, it is not the content that kills this book as David Allen has actionable advice, but the design of the delivery.
The ideas are great, but the steps are in the wrong order, same as in the book. I'd recommend reading it all in order to understand the motivation, but setting up a basic implementation of the Organize step before trying to Clarify.This is because the Clarify steps can't actually be done without any place to receive all the things that are not trashed. Since they can't go back in the inbox, they're stuck with nowhere to go, and the result is still a disorganized mess. In fact, this prerequisite is obvious on page 86, where one of the explanations of how to Clarify refers to a resource given on page 121. A reader who does the book in the order presented can't have known that.This said, each individual step and the approach does lend a much more concise value than the long form book. There is plenty of space to jot down notes and circle and highlight things. The different fonts and sizes help me find where I wrote things.The book is made of cheap novel print paper, which is perfect for writing in and pencil scratches sound nice on the paper. It is slightly see-through (see pic), which kind of sucks since the book was over twenty bucks and I was hoping it would be nice to look at while in use. I would probably value the print quality far lower than the sticker price, but I bought it for ease and to save me time trying to break the long form book down into actions and getting them in the right order. This format helped me realize the misordering and fix it for myself because the original book had me stuck for a few weeks, so it did the job I bought it for.If you already have a good grasp of the GTD process, aren't stuck on a stage, and don't need the steps broken down for you, then this book will not be of any value to you.
A clear and useful update to GTD. Gets to the core of implementation and useful tips and videos. Well worth the upgrade.
Same as described on website.
If you could only afford one book for GTD, get this one. It breaks down how to get started into manageable, ordered steps. It alone might be enough, as it gives a brief overview of the philosophy behind the method, and then tips with each step and extra videos via a QR code. However, I found that it paired really well with the main GTD book, and I like knowing the why behind everything and how it all works together. I found that motivating, so really I'd recommend both books.
The ideas are great, but the steps are in the wrong order, same as in the book. I'd recommend reading it all in order to understand the motivation, but setting up a basic implementation of the Organize step before trying to Clarify.This is because the Clarify steps can't actually be done without any place to receive all the things that are not trashed. Since they can't go back in the inbox, they're stuck with nowhere to go, and the result is still a disorganized mess. In fact, this prerequisite is obvious on page 86, where one of the explanations of how to Clarify refers to a resource given on page 121. A reader who does the book in the order presented can't have known that.This said, each individual step and the approach does lend a much more concise value than the long form book. There is plenty of space to jot down notes and circle and highlight things. The different fonts and sizes help me find where I wrote things.The book is made of cheap novel print paper, which is perfect for writing in and pencil scratches sound nice on the paper. It is slightly see-through (see pic), which kind of sucks since the book was over twenty bucks and I was hoping it would be nice to look at while in use. I would probably value the print quality far lower than the sticker price, but I bought it for ease and to save me time trying to break the long form book down into actions and getting them in the right order. This format helped me realize the misordering and fix it for myself because the original book had me stuck for a few weeks, so it did the job I bought it for.If you already have a good grasp of the GTD process, aren't stuck on a stage, and don't need the steps broken down for you, then this book will not be of any value to you.
Being a big fan (not an adherent - that would be a different topic altogether) of GTD method, I obviously have a tremendous respect for Mr. Allen. He is definitely a genius of productivity and systematic approach, but I cannot say I enjoy his writing style very much - GTD book is a treasure of good advise but it is longish and diluted with lot of quasi-philosophizing. Overall, it is no surprise that people are looking for other sources that could describe the GTD method precisely and to the point.This workbook is trying to fulfill this role in part, also aiming to build the "GTD muscle" for a new practitioner. This is a commendable goal and largely, the book nails it. You get the detailed method overview, description (and rationalization) of each step and a number of examples (reasonably realistic). At the end of the day, you'll be better at GTD after reading this book than before.My primary problem is with the execution. Huge foldouts with philosophical quotes from Mr. Allen's other book look like a waste of space. So is the obsession with large fonts and huge (two-thirds of a page in size!) exclamation point signs and other graphics. I'm sure Mr. Allen is beyond padding the page count with such cheesy tricks, but not only it doesn't add to the book value - it also makes the presentation quite unprofessional.Overall verdict: the book is helpful (you'll be better at GTD after reading it) but it hardly has any lasting value - even if you decide to read it again (you won't) it will make it more useful. Bottom line: very slightly recommended, 3/5 for value, 1/5 for execution.
I needed this for a grad school class and wow has it changed my life! My constant struggle is with organization and I'm consistently trying out different ways to, usually, no avail. Most require way too much effort and even just reading the book is a bore (and I'm an avid reader!). However, David Allen breaks down what to do and how to do it and, honestly, it makes complete sense to me. I'm constantly thinking about "what I need to do" but this way of just getting it out and putting what's in your head IN THE SAME PLACE eliminates all of those little scraps of paper or stickies that have the million little things I need or want to do. Highly recommend. Easy read too. I think I went through it in about 3 days.
Getting Things Done changed my life and helped me handle a management position that I was thrown into years ago far before I was ready. I learned how to no longer keep things in my head, never worry about missing an appointment or action item and how to create an airtight work flow.Iāve been waiting for years to have this type of workbook to be able to simply reference the flowcharts, be reminded of the principles and not have to search for the action steps inside of stories and extra text.As you can see from the picture that is what you get.One negative review said that they felt ripped off since there was some pages with just a big quote on it.I actually really like the spaciousness that this book provides. The whole philosophy of GTD is to create space in your mind and the simple quote or concise content helps achieve that. More info is not why you get a workbook. Itās so that you can focus only on the essence and take action.You should certainly get the GTD full book, but even if you havenāt you could probably do just fine with this workbook if you the āget to the pointā type of person.
