Getting Things Done

About the AuthorAbout the Author

DavidAllen

David Allen

Getting Things Done: the Art ofStress-Free ProductivityReady for Anyth ing : 52Productivity Principles for Workand Life

is an internationalauthor, lecturer, and founder andPresident of

, a managemen tconsulting, coaching, and trainingcompany.He is the author of two books -theinternational best-selling book,

and

. He has publishednumerous essays and articles inp ro fess iona l jou rna ls andperiodicals on the topic of personaleffectiveness. More than 150 of hisoriginal essays have beenfeatured in his e-newsletter, "

,"with a global readership of morethan 43,000 people. He is apopular keynote speaker on thetopics of t ime and stressmanagement, individual and teamproductivity, and high performancework practices.Visit formore information.

the David AllenCompany

DavidAllen's Productivity Principles

http://www.davidco.com

Wisdom in a NutshellWisdom in a NutshellIn this book, David Allen shares his breakthrough methods for stress-freeproductivity. While in today's fast paced world it is easy to feel overwhelmedwith the sheer volume of things to do, there is a way to actually get thingsdone. The trick is to get it out of our heads and into a trusted system that wecan use whenever we need to. It is only when our minds are clear and ourthoughts organized that we can achieve effective results.

Getting Things DoneGetting Things Done

Author:Publisher:Date of Publication:ISBN :No. of Pages:

David AllenPenguin Books

2003

2590142000280

pages

Published by BestSummaries.com, Building 3005 Unit 258, 4440 NW 73rd Ave, Miami, Florida 33166© 2003 BestSummaries.com. All rights reserved. No part of this summary may be reproduced or transmittedin any form or by any means, electronic, photocopying, or otherwise, without prior notice ofBestSummaries.com.

The Art of Stress-Free ProductivityThe Art of Stress-Free Productivity

BestSummariesBestSummaries 2 of 92 of 9Copyright 2004Copyright 2004

Chapter 1: A New Practice for a NewReality

The Problem: New Demands InsufficientResources

The Solution: The “Ready State” of the MartialArtist

The methods presented in this book are based ontwo basic objectives. The first is to capture ALL thethings that need to get done (regardless of timeframe) - and get them into a logical, trusted systemoutside of your head and off your mind. Second, is todiscipline yourself to make front-end decisions aboutall the “stuff” you let into your life so that you alwayshave a plan for the “next actions” that you canimplement at any moment.

Almost everyone nowadays has a sense of having somuch to do and not enough time or resources to do it.This results in a lot of stress and anxiety. Here aresome of the reasons why:

1. Work no longer has clear boundaries.2. Our jobs keep changing.

3. The old models and habits are insufficient.4. There is confusion between the “big picture”

versus the “nitty-gritty” the company'smission and vision and end goals versuseveryday tasks such as returning calls andemails and filing for instance.

Think for a moment about how it would feel to be onehundred percent in control of all the things you had todo, instead of having the vague suspicion that thethings you have to do are actually controlling you. ItIS possible. There is a way to stay stress-free, andget meaningful things done with minimal effort acrossthe whole spectrum of your life and work.

Chapter 1: A New Practice for a NewReality

The Problem: New Demands InsufficientResources

The Solution: The “Ready State” of the MartialArtist

The “Mind Like Water” Simile

The Basic Requirements for ManagingCommitments

Why ThingsAre on Your Mind

In Karate, they say that one must have a “mind likewater” in order to describe the position of perfectreadiness. When throwing a pebble into the water howdoes the water respond? The answer is that the waterresponds appropriately to the force and mass of theinput then returns to calm. In this same way, we mustrespond in the appropriate manner to “stuff” thatcomes up in our lives and return to calm. Clearing themind and being flexible are essential.

The stress that people experience in their lives comesfrom inappropriately managed commitments theyeither make or accept. These are called “open loops”.These open loops are made up of agreements that wemake with ourselves, whether big or small, that wehaven't done yet. It can be as big as closing the dealwith the client, to something as small as buying newtoothpaste.

Our subconscious mind keeps track of all theseincompletes, or open loops, and drags our attentionfrom the things at hand. Anything that you haveaccepted some sort of internal responsibility for,whether personal or business related, is an open loop.

1. If it's on your mind, then your mind isn't clear.Anything that you consider unfinished in anyway must be captured in a trusted system thatis OUTSIDE your mind.

2. You must clarify what your commitment is anddecide what you have to do to make progresstowards fulfilling it.

3. Once you've decided the action to take, youmust keep reminders of them in an organizedsystem you can review regularly.

1. You haven't clarified exactly what theintended outcome is.

2. You haven't decided what the very nextphysical step is and/or

3. You haven't put reminders of the outcome andthe action required in a system you trust.

The Principle: Dealing Effectively with ExternalCommitmentsThe Principle: Dealing Effectively with ExternalCommitments

Work no longerhas clear boundaries.

Work no longerhas clear boundaries.

GETTING THINGS ONED David AllenByGETTING THINGS ONED By David Allen

ManagingAction is the Prime Challenge

The Value of a Bottom-UpApproach

The Major Change: Getting It All Out of YourHead

Collect

Chapter 2: Getting Control of Your Life:The Five Stages of Mastering Workflow

What you DO with your time, body, and attention arethe real options to which you must allocate yourresources. The real issue is the appropriate thing toDO in response to given choices. The real issue ismanaging actions.

Intellectually, the most appropriate way to handlethings is from the top down. Usually this starts withthe corporate mission and vision, then definingobjectives, and then focusing on the details.

However, it seems that the bottom up approach maybe more productive. This is starting with the mostmundane tasks and going up. Getting current onand in control of what's in your in-basket and on yourmind right now will provide the best means ofbroadening your horizons.

The first thing to do is to capture and organize 100%of your “stuff” in and with objective tools on hand toget them out of your mind. This means having to sitdown to MAKE A LIST. You can't skip this step,because your mind WILL keep working on anythingthat is still in an undecided state.

No matter what the task, there are five stages thatyou go through as you deal with our work. Theseare: the things that command yourattention, what they mean and what todo about them, the results, theresults as options for what you choose to do, andlastly

It's important to know what needs to be collectedand how to collect it most effectively.

collectingprocessing

organizing reviewing

DOING.

ManagingAction is the Prime Challenge

The Value of a Bottom-UpApproach

The Major Change: Getting It All Out of YourHead

Collect

Chapter 2: Getting Control of Your Life:The Five Stages of Mastering Workflow

Gathering 100 percent of the “Incompletes”

The Collection Tools

The Collection Success Factors

This means everything. Anything that starts with an “Ihave to“, “I should” or “I'm going to” needs to be putout of your head and into a system.

1. Physical in-basket2. Paper-based not-taking devices3. Electronic note-taking devices4. Voice-recording devices5. E-mail

1. Every open loop must be in a system and outof your head.

2. You must have as few collection buckets asyou can get by with.

3. You must empty them regularly.

After collecting our “stuff” and placing them in an in-box, we must then answer the question: What is it?After defining our “stuff” clearly we then have to askthe question: Is it actionable? In other words, cansomething be done to get rid of our stuff? There aretwo possible answers, yes or no.

If the answer is NO then there are three possibilities:1. It's trash and no longer needed.2. No action is needed now but something may

need to be done later (incubate).3. The item is potentially useful information that

may be needed for something later on(reference).

If the answer is YES then the stuff is actionable. Twothings need to be determined about actionable items:

1. What “project” or outcome have youcommitted to?

2. What's the next action required?

Process


It’s important to know what needsto be collected and how to collect

it most effectively.

It’s important to know what needsto be collected and how to collect

it most effectively.


If it's about a project, you need to capture thatoutcome on a “projects” list that you can reviewweekly.

1. Do It. If an action will take less than twominutes, it should be done the moment it isdefined.

2. Delegate It. If the action will take longer thantwo minutes ask yourself, “Am I the rightperson to do this task?” If not then delegateit to someone more qualified.

3. Defer It. If the action will take longer thantwo minutes, and you are the right person todo it, you will have to defer acting on it untillater.

For non-actionable items, the possible categoriesare trash, incubation tools, and reference storage.To manage actionable things, you will need a list ofprojects, storage or files for project plans andmaterials, a calendar, a list of reminders of nextactions, and a list of reminders of things you're

waiting for. All these organizational categories needto be physically contained in some form. They canbe written in a notebook, put in a box, entered into aPDAor laptop.

A project is any desired result that requires morethan one action step. You don't actually do projects;you just do actions that resolve them.

The next-action decision is central. That actionneeds to be the next physical, visible behavior,without any exception, for every open loop.Calendars are essential for time-specific and day-specific actions and day-specific information.

Do it, Delegate it, or Defer It

Projects

The Next-Action Categories

Organize

No More Daily To Do Lists!

The “Next-Actions” List (s)

Next action lists, calendars and other tools will makedaily to-do lists not needed. It is virtually impossible tonail down all the things you have to do all the time andyou are constantly writing and re-writing them andgetting frustrated at the end of the day when manyitems aren't finished.

Your action reminders go on “Next Actions” list. Thisand your calendar are at the heart of daily action-management organization. If you have only twenty orthirty of these, you can put them under one general“next actions” list. If you have more than that, it wouldbe a better idea to subdivide them, for instance,“calls”, or “work”.

The Weekly Review is the time to:1. Gather and process all your “stuff”2. Review your system3. Update your lists4. Get clean, clear, current and complete

A review is a way to keep yourself updated, and at thesame time give you a feeling of being in control of allyour “stuff”.

After all is done, there is nothing left but to DO!

Your mind goes through five steps to accomplishvirtually any task:

1. Defining purposes and principles2. Outcome visioning3. Brainstorming4. Organizing5. Identifying next actions

Each step has its own purpose and is done one afterthe other instinctively-usually. Unfortunately, in thecorporate world things and steps get a little confused.

Critical Success Factor: The Weekly Review

The Natural Planning Model

Chapter 3: Getting Projects CreativelyUnder Way: The Five Phases of ProjectPlanning

Critical Success Factor: The Weekly Review

The Natural Planning Model

Chapter 3: Getting Projects CreativelyUnder Way: The Five Phases of ProjectPlanning


After all is done,there is nothing left but to DO!

After all is done,there is nothing left but to DO!


6. Get high quality mechanics/ file cabinets7. Get rid of hanging files of you can

There are three very practical reasons to gathereverything before you start processing it. First, it'shelpful to have a sense of the volume of stuff youneed to deal with. Second, it let's you know where the“end of the tunnel” is. Lastly, while you're processingand organizing you don't want to be distractedpsychologically by an amorphous mass of stuff thatmight still be “somewhere”.

The first thing to do is search your environment forthings that don't belong where it is and put it in your in-basket. They all go into “in” so that you can processthem later on. The only possible exceptions to the listare supplies, reference material, decoration, andequipment.

Start with your desktop then head to your deskdrawers, countertops, inside cabinets, floors, walls,and shelves, equipment, furniture, and fixtures, andother locations where you may have gathered “stuff”.

Once you've finished cleaning up your physicalenvironment, you'll want to collect anything else thatmay be residing in your psyche. Write out eachthought or idea that has your attention (no matter howsmall or insignificant it may seem) on a separate

Physical Gathering

Mental Gathering: The Mind-Sweep

Chapter 5: Collection: Corralling Your“Stuff”

Ready, Set…

…Go!

Chapter 5: Collection: Corralling Your“Stuff”

Ready, Set…

…Go!

These steps are essential to getting things done.

It is recommended that you set aside a block of timeto properly initialize this process and prepare yourworkstation- whether at home or in an office. Anideal time frame for most people is two whole days,back to back.

You'll need a designated “workspace” to serve as acentral cockpit of control. A functional work space iscritical. Don't skimp on work space at. Don't sharespace. It is imperative that you have your ownspace.

Here are some basic tools you'll need:1. At least 3 paper-holding trays2. Astack of plain letter sized papers3. Apen/pencil4. Post-Its (3x3)5. Paper Clips6. Binder Clips7. Astapler and staples8. Scotch tape9. Rubber bands10. An automatic labeler11. File folders12. Acalendar13. Wastebasket/ recycling bins

A simple and highly functional personal referencesystem is critical to this process. Here are somesuccess factors for filing:

1. Keep your general-reference files at hand'sreach

2. One alpha or simpleA-Z filing system3. Have a lot of fresh folders4. Keep the drawers less than three-quarters

full5. Label your file-folders with an auto labeler

Getting the Tools You Need

Chapter 4: Getting Started, Setting Upthe Time, Space, and Tools

SettingAside the Time

Setting Up the Space

The Critical Factor of a Filing System

Chapter 4: Getting Started, Setting Upthe Time, Space, and Tools

SettingAside the Time

Setting Up the Space

The Critical Factor of a Filing System

A functional

work space is critical.

A functional

work space is critical.



1. Trash - stuff that absolutely no purpose inyour life.

2. Items to incubate - things that may be usefulin the near future but require no action now.

3. Reference material - things you don't need atthe moment but may be useful in the future.

The last step to getting to the bottom of your in pile isto shift your perspective from the single action detailsto the larger (multi-step) picture - your projects. Itdoesn't matter if you do this first or last. The importantthing is that a project list (from planning a conferenceto planning a child's birthday party) gets written downand is maintained.

1. A“Projects” list2. Projected Support Material3. Calendared actions and information4. “NextActions” lists5. A“Waiting For” list6. Reference Material7. A“Someday/Maybe” list

It is critical that these categories be kept very distinctfrom each other. Once you have these categories inmind all you really need to get started are lists andfolders. Keep in mind that lists can take on the low-tech form of papers in a folder or a notebook, to a hightech software program.

These are actions that must be done on a certain dayand/or at a certain time. Do NOT put actions youwould hopefully like to see finished on a certain day.

There are some things that have to be done ASAP. Ithelps to organize these things by concept. Forinstance, emails that must be sent or answered canfall under the “At Computer” category, and the listshould be placed near the computer. Here are someof the common context categories: “Calls”, “AtComputer”, “Errands”, “At Office”, “At Home”,“Agendas”, “Read/ Review”. This makes it easy foryou to figure out which list to pick up at exactly the

Identifying the Projects You Have

The Basic Categories

TheActions That Go on Your Calendar

Organizing-As-Soon-As-Possible Actions byContent

Chapter 7: Organizing: Setting Up theRight BucketsChapter 7: Organizing: Setting Up theRight Buckets

sheet of paper, then process them individually likewe did earlier. Later on, you will be able to sortthrough the papers and decide which to trash,incubate, file for reference, or put on a next actionspile.

If your head is empty of everything, personally andprofessionally, then your in-basket is probably quitefull but your mind should be blissfully empty. Nowthat your in-box is full, the next step is getting the in-box from full to empty.

When you've finished processing “in”, you will havetrashed what you don't need, completed all less-than-two-minute actions, handed off to othersanything that needs to be delegated, sorted off intoyour own organizing system actions that requiremore than two minutes, and identified any largercommitments or projects you now have based onthe input.

1. Process the top item first.2. Process one item at a time.3. Never put anything back into “in”.

You're dealing with one item at a time, and you'regoing to make a firm next-action decision abouteach one. Just remember, if it is non-actionable itgoes into one of three categories:

The “In” Inventory

Chapter 6: Processing: Getting “In” toEmpty

Processing Guidelines

The Key Processing Question: “What's theNextAction?”

Chapter 6: Processing: Getting “In” toEmpty

Processing Guidelines

The Key Processing Question: “What's theNextAction?”

Do NOT put actions

you would hopefully like

to see finished on a certain day.

Do NOT put actions

you would hopefully like

to see finished on a certain day.



not.

First thing to look at is your calendar since it is themost time sensitive. This will probably be your mostfrequent review. Next, is your action lists. This is tocheck the list of all the actions you could be doing inyour present context. If your calendar is trustworthyand your action lists are current, these may be theonly things you'll need to refer to more than everycouple of days.

It is difficult to be productive and get things done whenyour lists are out-of-date. It is imperative to updateyour system.

The weekly review is doing whatever it is you need todo to get your head empty again. It's going throughthe five phases of workflow management- collecting,processing, organizing, and reviewing all youroutstanding involvements. You know you're donewhen you can honestly say,”I absolutely know rightnow everything I'm not doing but could be doing if Idecided to”

This can be done at any time you can block off at leasttwo hours to review and update your system. Thiscould be on a Friday afternoon at the end of theworkweek or on long commutes home.

When it comes to getting things done, you have tofollow your instincts, and do what your heart tells you.There are also three basic frameworks that can beenormously helpful in the context of deciding youractions.

What to LookAt and When

Updating Your System

The Power of the Weekly Review

Chapter 9: Doing: Making the BestAction ChoicesChapter 9: Doing: Making the BestAction Choices

time you need it.

These are the things you're waiting to get back fromor get done by others. It is a list of everything youcare about that other people are supposed to bedoing. For example, you're by the phone and seethat you're supposed to make a call to a client to askfor a proposal. You make the call. The document inquestion is now filed under your “waiting for” listwhile you wait for his/her reply. When the proposalcomes in you put it into your “read/review” pile. Onceyou've read it, you can give it to your boss forapproval and once again it is on your “waiting forlist”.

We discussed project lists earlier. Remember thatproject lists are comprehensive indexes of youropen loops.

Project support materials are not project actions orreminders, they are resources to support your actionand thinking about your projects.

These are things where no action is required, butyou want to keep because it contains usefulinformation you may need in the future.

These are things that you may want to reassess inthe future. These could be a trip you want to takesomeday, a sport you want to learn, or books youwant to read. These are things you put on the backburner, but make sure you put it in a place where youcan easily refer to it when you want.

One thing that shouldn't be overlooked in personalsystem organization is checklists. Checklists arerecipes of potential ingredients for projects, events,and areas of value, interest, and responsibility.

You need to review your system often enough to feelassured that you are doing what you need to bedoing, and that it's okay to not be doing what you're

Organizing “Waiting For”

Project Lists

Projected Support Materials

Reference Materials

Somedays/Maybes

Checklists: Creative Reminders

Chapter 8: Reviewing: Keeping YourSystem FunctionalChapter 8: Reviewing: Keeping YourSystem Functional

“I absolutely know right now

everything I’m not doing but

could be doing if I decided to.”

“I absolutely know right now

everything I’m not doing but

could be doing if I decided to.”



Which Projects Should You Be Planning?

Tools and Structures That Support ProjectThinking

How Do IApplyAll This In My World?

1. Projects that still have your attention afteryou've determined their next actions

2. Projects about which potentially useful ideasand supportive detail just show up.

It's a good idea to have good tools close at hand forcapturing great project ideas when they show up.Thinking tools, writing instruments, and even acomputer can be invaluable. In addition to thesetools, it is also a good idea to have support structuressuch as file-folders, loose-leaf pages, and softwaretools.

You need to keep your “Projects” list as up to date asyour “Next Actions” list. The key is to get comfortablewith having and using your ideas. It is acquiring thehabit of focusing your energy constructively onintended outcomes and open loops before you haveto.

This system offers a method to keep your minddistraction-free, ensuring a high level of efficiencyand effectiveness in your work and in your life. Thatalone should be a good enough reason to adapt thesepractices into your own life. But, aside from thepractical reasons, there are also the psychologicalones. Many times, people are stressed out anddistracted in life. In some cases, they may even bedisgusted or disappointed in themselves for not doingthe things they said they were going to do. Thissystem offers a way for you to stop breaking thosesubconscious agreements with yourself, and startfeeling good and in control again.

The power of the question, “So what is the nextaction?” is extraordinary. Just deciding what the nextstep in achieving a goal is can be extremely

Chapter 11: The Power of the CollectionHabit

Chapter 12: The Power of the Next-Action Decision

Chapter 11: The Power of the CollectionHabit

Chapter 12: The Power of the Next-Action Decision

The Four Criteria Model for Choosing Actions inthe Moment

The Threefold Model for Evaluating Daily Work

The Six-Level Model for Reviewing Your OwnWork

1. Context - what could you possibly do whereyou are with the tools you have at themoment?

2. Time available - How much time do youhave before you have to do somethingelse?

3. Energy available - How much energy doyou have at the moment, how much energydoes the task require?

4. Priority - What is the most important thingfor me to do?

1. Doing Predefined work2. Doing work as it shows up3. Defining your work

50,000 + feet: Life

40,000 + feet: Three to Five Year Visions

30,000+ feet: One-to-two year goals

20,000+ feet:Areas of Responsibility

10,000+ feet: Current Projects

Runway: Current actions

This model may be thought of in terms of altitude.Your priorities should sit from the top down. But, foractions taken it may be better to go from the bottomup. Just make sure all your levels align. Forinstance, a current activity may be to make a phonecall. But, if that phone call clashes with somethinghigher up, a long term goal of higher priority, youmay want to rethink making that call.

Chapter 10: Getting Projects UnderControlChapter 10: Getting Projects UnderControl

Many times, people

are stressed out and

distracted in life.

Many times, people

are stressed out and

distracted in life.



empowering and stress-reducing.

1. Clarity - Knowing exactly what it is you'resuppose to do next.

2. Accountability - Knowing exactly whoseresponsibility the action is.

3. Productivity - Companies naturally becomemore productive under this model.

4. Empowerment - It dramatically increasesyour ability to make things happen with aconcomitant rise in your self-esteem andconstructive outlook.

Empowerment naturally results for individuals asthey move from complaining/victim modalities intooutcomes and actions defined for direction. There isa sense of control, and power. It is a source ofpositive energy and focus. Over the years, it isbecoming clear that positive projection of resultscan greatly influence actions and thereforeoutcomes.

The Value of a Next-Action Decision-MakingStandard

Chapter 13: The Power of OutcomeFocusingChapter 13: The Power of OutcomeFocusing

There is a sense

of control, and power

There is a sense

of control, and power

9 of 99 of 9Copyright 2004Copyright 2004

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