David Allen - Getting Things Done | Page 3

want, the way you want to get it.
But if there's no single means of perfecting personal organi-
zation and productivity, there are things we can do to facilitate
them. As I have personally matured, from year to ye ar, I've found
deeper and more meaningful, more significant things to focus on
and be aware of and do. And I've uncovered simple processes that
we can all learn to use that will vastly improve our ability to deal
proactively and constructively with the mundane rea lities of the
world.
What follows is a compilation of more than two deca des'
worth of discoveries about personal productivity—a guide to
maximizing output and minimizing input, and to doing so in a
world in which work is increasingly voluminous and ambiguous. I
have spent many thousands of hours coaching people "in the
trenches" at their desks, helping them process and organize all of
their work at hand. The methods I have uncovered ha ve proved to
be highly effective in all types of organizations, at every job level,
across cultures, and even at home and school. After twenty years
of coaching and training some of the world's most s ophisticated
and productive professionals, I know the world is hungry for these
methods.
Executives at the top are looking to instill "ruthless execu-

WELCOME TO GETTING THINGS DONE
tion" in themselves and their people as a basic sta ndard. They
know, and I know, that behind closed doors, after h ours, there
remain unanswered calls, tasks to be delegated, unprocessed issues
from meetings and conversations, personal responsib ilities
unmanaged, and dozens of e-mails still not dealt with. Many of
these businesspeople are successful because the crises they solve
and the opportunities they take advantage of are bi gger than the
problems they allow and create in their own offices and briefcases.
But given the pace of business and life today, the equation is in
question.
On the one hand, we need proven tools that can help people
focus their energies strategically and tactically without letting
anything fall through the cracks. On the other, we need to create
work environments and skills that will keep the mos t invested
people from burning out due to stress. We need positive work-
style standards that will attract and retain the best and brightest.
We know this information is sorely needed in organi zations.
It's also needed in schools, where our kids are sti ll not being
taught how to process information, how to focus on outcomes, or
what actions to take to make them happen. And for a ll of us indi-
vidually, it's needed so we can take advantage of all the opportuni-
ties we're given to add value to our world in a sus tainable,
self-nurturing way.
The power, simplicity, and effectiveness of what I'm talking about
in Getting Things Done are best experienced as experiences, in real
time, with real situations in your real world. Nece ssarily, the book
must put the essence of this dynamic art of workflo w manage-
ment and personal productivity into a linear format . I've tried
to organize it in such a way as to give you both the inspiring big-
picture view and a taste of immediate results as you go along.
The book is divided into three parts. Part 1 descri bes the
whole game, providing a brief overview of the syste m and an
explanation of why it's unique and timely, and then presenting the
basic methodologies themselves in their most conden sed and
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basic form. Part 2 shows you how to implement the s ystem.
It's your personal coaching, step by step, on the nitty-gritty appli-
cation of the models. Part 3 goes even deeper, desc ribing the
subtler and more profound results you can expect