Can you recommend a condensed version of David Allen's Getting Things Done book?

Oogiem

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Ship69 said:
I find this to be pretty irritating. For reasons of "puritanism" Allen may wish to remove references to specific technology. But he can't just put his head in the sand and pretend that all technology or even all new technology since 2002 doesn't exist. It's not the real world and it's not helpful.

I have experimented with using paper and you soon end up with lots of stuff being crossed out and/or repeatedly copied. And it's pretty clear pretty quickly that technology OUGHT to be able to do a very much better job.

That said, I am deeply unhappy with all of the task organizer software that I've seen so far, and I've tried most. To be honest I find it pretty extraordinary that nobody - and that includes David Allen - has managed to write any simple decent GTD-friendly task management software. It's jaw-dropping.

The problem is that what you want in a task manager is completely different from what I want. I absolutely hate pictures and tend to want few colors. Movement and noise or sounds are a total distraction. For me anything that depends on location for meaning (like nearly all mind mapping type of software) is horrible. I am a high reader, I love text. In fact I often don't remember stuff that is told to me unless I write it down and re-read it. Doing a task won't get it in my mind but reading it will even if I've never done it before.
 

Ship69

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Oogiem said:
The problem is that what you want in a task manager is completely different from what I want. I absolutely hate pictures and tend to want few colors. Movement and noise or sounds are a total distraction. For me anything that depends on location for meaning (like nearly all mind mapping type of software) is horrible. I am a high reader, I love text. In fact I often don't remember stuff that is told to me unless I write it down and re-read it. Doing a task won't get it in my mind but reading it will even if I've never done it before.

Interesting. I do like colours but only muted colours - anything else jars horrifically. I also have a zero tolerance of any kind of movement (e.g. animated adverts). Sounds too are a no-no. What I like is 2D shapes. In general I love diagrams of almost any sort. I am a terrible reader.

Every word I have to actually is like a pin being stuck into my eye. Interestingly I "see" words like name of things as shapes and I too find it easier to remember certain things only after they have been written down. But what I remember is like a photograph of the word. Likewise numbers. e.g. I can remember the page of a book I have been reading but only by flicking up a mental image of that number.
 

jlchan37

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Ship69, I've tried to be polite yet am at the point where I'm going to tell you that I think the attitude and content of/in your comments is very irritating. You're saying that David Allen has disappointed you when you won't even bother to spend a few hours reading or listening to his flagship book?

Life is not like that. ;-)

99% of the frustrations you're having would disappear if you took the time to learn and follow David Allen's system instead of assuming you have absorbed it through osmosis and are now an expert on GTD who is qualified to point out all its flaws.

I won't respond further to your comments as I think that doing so has become a waste of time, yet I do wish you well. Thanks. Janna
 

vutpakdi

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Though it's much more expensive, perhaps it would be helpful to take a class in your area if one is available? Or travel to a class? I had read the book and a few web introductory guides (including one on Lifehacker), but I still found the basic one day seminar to be very helpful.

The audiobook version for the 2002 edition is quite good. I haven't listened to the 2015 version yet, but it is in the queue. Listening to the 2015 version during your commute, exercise routine, or house/chore routine may be a good way for you to absorb enough of the contents to identify which sections of the book to read in better detail.

I think that David Allen wisely avoids advocating for a specific technology so as to make GTD more widely applicable and adaptable to as many different people as possible. I am very happy with using Evernote as the core of my system because it works well for what I need (multi-platform, note oriented) while my wife uses Omnifocus because it works for her.

Ron
 

Ship69

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jlchan37 said:
Ship69, I've tried to be polite yet am at the point where I'm going to tell you that I think the attitude and content of/in your comments is very irritating. You're saying that David Allen has disappointed you when you won't even bother to spend a few hours reading or listening to his flagship book?

Life is not like that. ;-)

99% of the frustrations you're having would disappear if you took the time to learn and follow David Allen's system instead of assuming you have absorbed it through osmosis and are now an expert on GTD who is qualified to point out all its flaws.

I won't respond further to your comments as I think that doing so has become a waste of time, yet I do wish you well. Thanks. Janna

Sorry but you miss the point. I have already read his first book about 18 months ago. I am prepared to read (or listen to) his new book (and yes even tolerate his US accent which to be honest does grate on ears from the Other Side Of The Pond). But firstly it is taking so.... long. Secondly I want a quick reference book to write notes in. Thirdly as I have mentioned I am semi-dyslexic and actually find reading considerably harder than most people do. Fourthly I felt that his first book was too focused in the physical world, whereas as technology improves there is less and less use for physical documents. Fifthly despite applying GDT for 18 months I know I have a lot to learn.

For all of those reasons I seek a shorter version of his new book. And moreover given that David Allen is a human and not actually god, his methods are not perfect and I would be extremely interested if someone had written a well-recieved condensed version of his work. I'm sorry if that is a heretical crime around here.

I wish you well too, Janna.
 

Ship69

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Ron - interesting that you find Evernote works for you. I tried quite hard with it about a year ago. I even watched some special website videos dedicated to GTD on Evernote... but found it couldn't be made to work very well.
Did you ever get it to automatically display Next Actions per project? From memory that was a problem. Also I quite like multiple-levels of project and found it couldn't do that very well either.

J
 

TesTeq

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Ship69 said:
Sorry but you miss the point. I have already read his first book about 18 months ago. I am prepared to read (or listen to) his new book (and yes even tolerate his US accent which to be honest does grate on ears from the Other Side Of The Pond). But firstly it is taking so.... long. Secondly I want a quick reference book to write notes in. Thirdly as I have mentioned I am semi-dyslexic and actually find reading considerably harder than most people do.

So I think that I'm missing the point too. Thank you for tolerating my comments that obviously had some grammar mistakes and wrong accent because I'm from Poland. I wish you success despite your semi-dyslexia and high standards that you try to enforce around you.
 

Gardener

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Ship69, you do know that Allen doesn't own OmniFocus, right? The fact that it doesn't run on Windows isn't his decision.

Also, you can use iPhones and iPads with Windows. The fact that they're made by Apple doesn't mean that they only work with MacOS.

I'm not saying that you're wrong to be frustrated, but your frustration seems to manifest itself in hostility and rejection of all compromise. And that's going to make it hard to find a solution.
 

Ship69

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Gardener said:
Ship69, you do know that Allen doesn't own OmniFocus, right? The fact that it doesn't run on Windows isn't his decision.

Also, you can use iPhones and iPads with Windows. The fact that they're made by Apple doesn't mean that they only work with MacOS.

I'm not saying that you're wrong to be frustrated, but your frustration seems to manifest itself in hostility and rejection of all compromise. And that's going to make it hard to find a solution.

Frustated? Too right darned right! But please do not confuse that with hostility.

No I'm not making any kind of attack on David Allen's personal motives. I am just disappointed that one way or another that after all these years there still is not a single really good GTD task management tool that runs on the dominant operating system - Windows.

Compromise? In truth GTD is only semi-working for me. I'm sure part of the problem is that I am not executing the method very well - which is precisely why I am here TRYING to re-read/re-listen to Allens's literatutre. But his book is VERY long for the likes of me to read and my time for all this is short.

Moreover after countless hours of struggle and experimenting with different ways of doing things on various different tools, a significant part of the problem is that all the tools I have come across seem to be deeply flawed. As a result I have been compromising for way too long on MLO - which is deceptively powerful in many and various ways. But from asking around
(see http://forum.gettingthingsdone.com/...th-mlo-and-gtdnext-that-meets-my-requirements ) it seems that nothing has yet been implemented that really nails GTD task management.
And yes, I do find it suprising that after, what 14 years, nobody not even David Allen himself has successfully stepped into the vaccuum.

Anyhow back to the point. Are there no condensed versions of the GTD book - particularly a modern up-to-date take on it that anyone here would recognise.
 

Gardener

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Ship69 said:
Moreover after countless hours of struggle and experimenting with different ways of doing things on various different tools, a significant part of the problem is that all the tools I have come across seem to be deeply flawed.

I wouldn't try argue with you about the fact that the tools that you have tried are flawed. You used them, they didn't work for you, therefore they're flawed for you.

I do feel argumentative about the list of features that you want, though. The longer I use GTD, the more features I STOP using in my chosen tool, OmniFocus. (I realize that you can't use OmniFocus unless you buy a Mac just to use it.) There are tons of things that I thought of course I'd want, of course I'd use, and then...no, they didn't work. I put less and less into my GTD system, and I use fewer and fewer features.
 

Ship69

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Gardener said:
I wouldn't try argue with you about the fact that the tools that you have tried are flawed. You used them, they didn't work for you, therefore they're flawed for you.

I do feel argumentative about the list of features that you want, though. The longer I use GTD, the more features I STOP using in my chosen tool, OmniFocus. (I realize that you can't use OmniFocus unless you buy a Mac just to use it.) There are tons of things that I thought of course I'd want, of course I'd use, and then...no, they didn't work. I put less and less into my GTD system, and I use fewer and fewer features.

Interesting take. I have definitely gone the opposite direction. I want time-saving hotkeys and as few clicks, scrolling and keystrokes as possible. Where appropriate I want helpful defaults. And I want exceptional situations and and urgent/important things to be able to be highlighted visually. And also want views views that make sense to me - e.g. filtered and sorted in particular ways...

But that's me. What about you. Out of interest what features are you left with that you do still require from a GTD task management tool?
 

DTLow

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Ship69 said:
Ron - interesting that you find Evernote works for you. I tried quite hard with it about a year ago. I even watched some special website videos dedicated to GTD on Evernote... but found it couldn't be made to work very well.
Did you ever get it to automatically display Next Actions per project? From memory that was a problem. Also I quite like multiple-levels of project and found it couldn't do that very well either.

J

I didn't see an answer to this (automatic next action notfication in Evernote) so I'll respond with my process.

By using the reminder feature, I get an email in the morning of any new tasks.

I sort my notes by title, so by prefixing my Next Action titles with a *, they are at the top of the list.

I also have a shortcut called Current Task List
By linking this to a search using Reminder Date, tasks automatically appear in the list, and drop off when completed.
 

dbvirago

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Ship69, I didn't read this entire thread, but have you tried IQTell? It incorporates your email and Evernote (Which to me is the ideal repository for GTD and most everything else.) It is highly configurable, has a lot of macros built in. A bit of a learning curve, but I briefly tested all of the competition and bang for the buck, it is hard to beat.
 

mcogilvie

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The simple truth is that there is no perfect GTD program, not just perfect for everybody, but even specifically for me or for you, I've wished for all kinds of features, gotten them, and then promptly unwished for them, monkey's paw-like. I've thrown money, time and energy at this, and have little to show for it but a few decent GTD list-making programs, and a lot of respect for David Allen. I am here to testify, brothers and sisters, that the kingdom of GTD is not to be found in the world, but within you.
 

Ship69

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dbvirago said:
Ship69, I didn't read this entire thread, but have you tried IQTell? It incorporates your email and Evernote (Which to me is the ideal repository for GTD and most everything else.) It is highly configurable, has a lot of macros built in. A bit of a learning curve, but I briefly tested all of the competition and bang for the buck, it is hard to beat.

Yes I did have a brief play with IQTell. The first problem is that it is physically impossible for me to log in using email & PW when using either Chrome or Firefox as no such fields are presented to the user (on https://my.iqtell.com/iqtell/user/login)
To be fair, yes I can log in using MSIE or Opera but this is not a good start!

It's a remarkably ambitious project trying to manage data from so many sources. However I found it clunky to fluidly change tasks into sub-tasks into project and sub-projects. I mean most of the time, it's just not how my brain works! I start with I need to do XXX. So I write down XXX and only later do I know if it's a task or sub-task of another task. And likewise quite often small stuff can turn into "a project" or back again.
 

Ship69

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mcogilvie said:
I am here to testify, brothers and sisters, that the kingdom of GTD is not to be found in the world, but within you.

I am here to testify that the kingdom of GTD it to be found MOSTLY within you, rather than in the tools you use.

My problem is that I can feel all the tools I have tried significantly holding me back. It's like the way to heaven is not via the motorcar. Obviously you could just walk and forget anything mechanical. But most of us still think we do still need a decent motorcar to get around if only to do God's holy work.

> Preach it, brother!
Dangerous. Are we saying GTD is a more like a religion concerned with revelation, faith and sacredness or is it susceptible to reason, empiricism, and objective evidence?

Personally I don't want to end up like this fellow:
http://www.odditycentral.com/pics/indian-sadhu-has-kept-his-right-hand-up-for-the-last-38-years.html
 

mcogilvie

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Ship69 said:
I am here to testify that the kingdom of GTD it to be found MOSTLY within you, rather than in the tools you use.

My problem is that I can feel all the tools I have tried significantly holding me back. It's like the way to heaven is not via the motorcar. Obviously you could just walk and forget anything mechanical. But most of us still think we do still need a decent motorcar to get around if only to do God's holy work.

> Preach it, brother!
Dangerous. Are we saying GTD is a more like a religion concerned with revelation, faith and sacredness or is it susceptible to reason, empiricism, and objective evidence?

Personally I don't want to end up like this fellow:
http://www.odditycentral.com/pics/indian-sadhu-has-kept-his-right-hand-up-for-the-last-38-years.html

You, sir, are being obtuse. My remarks were aimed at you. You have launched multiple threads complaining about the inadequate tools available and then rejected the good advice and useful suggestions others have offered. Many people have been able to do a great deal with no more than pen and paper using GTD. It's not about the tools.

There is a difference between mildly humorous allusion and cult-like fervor. People embrace GTD because they find it is useful and practical, grounded in experience and reason. I hope that you will reconsider your understanding of GTD and your futile quest for some sort of GTD nirvana. In the words of Cromwell: "Think it possible that you may be mistaken."
 

jenkins

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Ship69 - Jumping in here to see if I can't help a bit (forgive me if I'm repeating any of what's already been said).

I've read the original GTD book three times, listened to the audio book twice, and recently read the new 2015 edition. Did the 2 hour 49 minute audiobook work for you? If so, I would listen to that, even though it's from 2002. In my personal experience, there's not much new in the 2015 edition -- it's more of a marketing strategy to get new people interested in the book than it is an addendum to the original (not that there's anything wrong with that - the more people that learn about GTD the better, in my view!). In other words, you're not missing much; so if you want a refresher, the 2002 audiobook would more than suffice.

The world is obviously a different place than it was in 2002. But the principles of the methodology haven't changed. There's nothing in the new edition that says "Remember when I said it's important to Capture, Clarify, Organize, Reflect, and Engage? Yeah, well, that doesn't apply anymore because of the iPhone."

The only real meat I remember reading was the additional chapter with some scientific studies that validate the effectiveness of the GTD method, which are interesting to know about.

Having said that, I know that you still want some advice about how to apply GTD in the new world, particularly with regards to GTD apps. I hear your frustration about David Allen remaining technology-agnostic. I do think there's good reason for that. I think it's easy to think that GTD is about lists and folders and calendars and all the other physical stuff. But GTD is really a set of habits, and that's what the book is about (this becomes more clear after multiple readings and after reading Making It All Work -- by the way, that reminds me, you might also want to check out Ready For Anything, which is only about 150 pages long: http://www.amazon.com/Ready-Anything...=sr_1_1&sr=8-1)

So my advice to you would be to make sure you understand the fundamental habits before searching for the perfect app. If you feel you already do understand the fundamental habits, and if you've integrated them into your life, then there's still the matter of what app to use, etc. I'm sorry I do not have a specific recommendation. But I will tell you that in my life I have found that people tend to grossly overestimate the number of features they think they need to implement the GTD workflow.

I think people want to put everything on a sort of auto-pilot, "set-it-and-forget-it" type thing where some computer algorithm just tells you what to do and then you do it. I think the people that feel this way are still operating in a suboptimal paradigm. I think it's easy to focus too much on the Next Actions lists and think "THAT'S what GTD is!" That's not what GTD is -- it's just one piece of the puzzle that got promoted way beyond what David Allen intended. I don't spend more than a few minutes each day looking at my NA lists. OmniFocus is rarely open. I spend a little more time in my calendar, but not much. I spend most of my time working on things I decided for myself during the previous week's review, and I try to process my inboxes in interstitial time ("When in doubt, clean a drawer.") The power of GTD is the peace of mind that allows me to feel comfortable with whatever I find myself working on, which a lot of times includes interruptions that were never on any list. It's the feeling that nothing is lurking under the floor boards, of not always being in "emergency-scan mode," because everything is captured and organized into a trusted system you review regularly.

I'll caveat this all with the obligatory "everyone's different." I know that members of this forum have unique lives that demand more focus on one element of GTD over another. But just to be clear, my main point is that you may be overemphasizing certain parts of the workflow. Your wish list might be reasonable for how you think you want to work. I'm trying to argue that you may need less than you think.
 

TesTeq

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Ship69 said:
Dangerous. Are we saying GTD is a more like a religion concerned with revelation, faith and sacredness or is it susceptible to reason, empiricism, and objective evidence?

It's dangerous for sinners only. For those who are looking for excuses instead of capturing, clarifying, organizing, reflecting and engaging. ;-)
 
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