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Getting Things Done

200602021937 I'm an unabashed fan of Merlin Mann's 43 Folders productivity weblog. It's where I learned about David Allen's now-famous book about productivity, Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity . I bought the book and read it last year, and incorporated a lot of what I learned into my daily routine. But I re-read the book recently and came back with a deeper understanding of what the book is really about. The best summary is on page 19: "The real issue is how to make appropriate choices about what to do at any point in time. The real issue is how we manage actions."

That's the GTD process in a nutshell. It's about setting up a system that allows you to quickly review every single thing you want to do -- large (writing a book) and small (changing the wiper blades on your car) -- so you can decide on the best next physical action you can take to elicit the changes in your life that you desire.

I want to read this book once a year. I have a feeling there is still much to learn. $10.20 on Amazon

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» Mind Like Water from Node Glue
GTD helps me to systematically collect all the random bits of stuff bumping around in my mind, and all the hallway commitments made, and then getting them out of my mind until the right time to do something about them. The net effect is that my mind ... [Read More]

Comments

Well put, Mark. When it's all said and done, the mark we leave on the world is via our actions, not our thoughts, wishes, or dreams.

i disagree. things are better when left to chance

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Books by Mark Frauenfelder



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