Getting Things Done
The second most life changing book (Bible #1) I have ever experienced is "Getting Things Done" by David Allen and his follow-up "Ready for Anything".
This life-changing methodology for managing the flow of work and personal life is simply amazing. There are now dozens of websites, email newsletters, productivity products, etc devoted to Allen's teaching.
GTDers as we are called are considered "cultish" by those who have not yet been able to experience the transformational impact of doing things the way David recommends.
For example, he recommends breaking down the next actions for any tasks or projects by context instead of the ABC, 123 methods recommended by so many other productivity experts. Phone Calls go on a @phone list, things to do at home are on @home list. He recommends reviewing these whenever you have a moment and are in the right context. If you have 10 minutes away from having to go to a meeting, need tires on your car and are a near a phone, make the call, schedule the appointment, now you have used a nearly useless block of time and removed something from your to do list.
One of the most telling examples of the productivity I have gained from these practices is in my email. I now keep a clean inbox, I process everything as quickly as I can. Reference email is filed in folders releveant to the subject. Anything that can be responded to immediately, is. If it requires action that is going to be longer than 2-5 minutes, I will drag the whole email into a task in Outlook, set a reminder and move on, not letting myself got bogged down. Most of my peers and my immediate managers constantly complain about how many emails they recieve, and how clogged their inboxes are, and while they have expressed their envy at how I run mine, they just assume that they cannot do it.
Someday, I hope to achieve super-organized. I still slip from the ideals I am setting for myself. But someday, I will truly have a "Mind Like Water"
Check out David's website at: http://www.davidco.com
More links from some of the better blogs and websites related to GTD to come in the next few days.
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