Making It All Work: Winning at the Game of Work and Business of Life (Hardcover)

by David Allen (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
A rehashing of old—if successful—ground from his 2001 book Getting Things Done, Allen revisits his simple yet comprehensive system of organizing every aspect of one's life for career, professional and personal development—even addressing how to plan a vacation, choose a babysitter or arrange eldercare for a parent. The author's inarguable premise is that a complete and current inventory of commitments organized and reviewed in a systematic way can sharpen focus and allow for wiser decision making. Allen cautions that the book does not provide answers to tricky life choices; its methods will aid in developing the self-assurance to trust one's own solutions. Readers are guided through the process of obtaining control and perspective, organizing tasks and goals to reach the Getting Things Done (GTD) holy grail of an empty in-basket and e-mail inbox. Although the book purports to expand on the principles of GTD, there's very little new material in this latest offering, which serves more as a sales tool for the first one than for a project all on its own. Those seeking organizational nirvana would do best to invest in the original and give this one a pass. (Dec.)
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Product Description
The long-awaited follow-up to the New York Times bestseller Getting Things Done.

David Allen’s Getting Things Done hit a nerve and ignited a movement with businesses, students, soccer moms, and techies all the way from Silicon Valley to Europe and Asia. Now, David Allen leads the world on a new path to achieve focus, control, and perspective. Throw out everything you know about productivity-- Making It All Work will make life and work a game you can win. For those who have already experienced the clarity of mind from reading Getting Things Done, Making It All Work will take the process to the next level.

David Allen shows us how to excel in dealing with our daily commitments, the unexpected, and the information overload that threatens to drown us. Making It All Work provides an instantly usable, success-building tool kit for staying ahead of the game.

Making It All Work addresses: how to figure out where you are in life and what you need; how to be your own consultant and a CEO of your life; moving from hope to trust in decision-making; when not to set goals; harnessing intuition, spontaneity, and serendipity; and why life is like business and business is like life.

This eagerly awaited follow-up to Getting Things Done is guaranteed to find an audience in today’s competitive business environment and among David Allen’s many fans.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Viking Adult (December 30, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 067001995X
• ISBN-13: 978-0670019953
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (32 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #4,678 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

74 of 80 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A Supplement That Doesn't Work, January 13, 2009

By	Sacramento Book Review "SacramentoBookReview.com" (Sacramento, CA) - See all my reviews

David Allen, the Getting Things Done (GTD) guru of personal time management and productivity, has released a new book on the subject. His original book created a legion of fans, all striving for empty in-boxes, email and paper, and a multitude of websites and programs, all organized around the concepts he developed. /Making It All Work/ adds some to his canon, but no real tools or techniques, but more expounds on the original concepts and promotes the system. This book is actually harder to read, and is less clear than /Getting Things Done/. Promoted as a expansion that will help you focus on the higher level of organizing your life and goals, it really just serves as a rehashing. For those needing encouragement to continue using GTD techniques, maybe it'll work for them. But, for those looking for more, it fails, and those looking at trying the GTD techniques for the first time would be better served using the original book.

36 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Skippable... Just Read GTD Again, February 2, 2009

By	Kimberly Carroll - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Already have Getting Things Done (GTD)? You can comfortably skip this book and wait for one of your less-informed colleagues to buy it and borrow it for a lunch-time browse.

Making It All Work spends a lot of time explaining the how-we-got-here aspect of the GTD system, but it misses in providing tangible how-to, case studies and advice as the title implies. Too much focus on why GTD is good, why GTD works, why GTD is better than the other "priorities" systems and not enough real-world content.

I'm saddened to say I found MIAW a long-winded disappointment.
Spend your $20 on a labeler and re-read GTD.

25 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars His first book was much better, January 18, 2009

By	H. Domke (New Bloomfield, MO USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

If you feel overwhelmed and if you are obsessisive-compulsive then Getting Things Done (GTD) can definitely help you to get control of your life. However I found this new book "Making It All Work" to be rambling and repetitive. His first book has all that you need.

GTD has clearly been helpful for me. However, most of the friends and family that I encouraged to look at at GTD did not end up using it. To fully implement it is simply too much of an effort.

If you are curious, Wikipedia has a good article on it:
[...]
If you are still interested after that I suggest buying the original book "Getting Things Done".