Getting Things Done by David Allen | Key Takeaways & Analysis

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.

This companion to Getting Things Done includes: