Ready for Anything: 52 Productivity Principles for Getting Things Done [Paperback]

David Allen (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 28, 2004

In his bestselling first book, Getting Things Done, veteran coach and management consultant David Allen presented his breakthrough methods to increase efficiency. Now “the personal productivity guru” (Fast Company) shows readers how to increase their ability to work better, not harder—every day. Based on Allen’s highly popular e-newsletter, Ready for Anything offers readers 52 ways to immediately clear your head for creativity, focus your attention, create structures that work, and take action to get things moving.

With wit, inspiration, and know-how, Allen shows readers how to make things happen—with less effort and stress, and lots more energy, creativity, and effectiveness. Ready for Anything is the perfect book for anyone wanting to work and live at his or her very best.

Editorial Reviews

Review

No one makes the challenges of productivity more understandable and manageable. (Rob Johnston, President of Leader to Leader Institute) This fundamentally different look at productivity makes David’s book not just a good read, but something [to] truly live by. (Keith Yamashita, author of Unstuck: A Tool For Yourself, Your Team, and Your World) These powerful and practical pointers for living a more productive life are as subtle and rich as they are simple. (Arianna Huffington)

About the Author

David Allen is president of The David Allen Company and has more than twenty years experience as a consultant and executive coach for such organizations as Microsoft, the Ford Foundation, L.L.Bean, and the World Bank. His work has been featured in Fast Company, Fortune, Atlantic Monthly, The Oprah Magazine, and many other publications.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics) (December 28, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0143034545
• ISBN-13: 978-0143034544
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.7 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (54 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #21,386 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #48 in Books > Business & Investing > Skills > Time Management

More About the Author

David Allen is widely recognized as the world's leading expert on personal and organizational productivity. His thirty-year pioneering research and coaching to corporate managers and CEOs of some of America's most prestigious corporations and institutions has earned him Forbes' recognition as one of the top five executive coaches in the U.S. and Business 2.0 magazine's inclusion in their 2006 list of the "50 Who Matter Now." Time Magazine called his flagship book, "Getting Things Done", "the definitive business self-help book of the decade." Fast Company Magazine called David "one of the world's most influential thinkers" in the arena of personal productivity, for his outstanding programs and writing on time and stress management, the power of aligned focus and vision, and his groundbreaking methodologies in management and executive peak performance.

David is the international best-selling author of "Getting Things Done: the Art of Stress-Free Productivity"; "Ready for Anything: 52 Productivity Principles for Work and Life"; and "Making It All Work: Winning at the Game of Work and the Business of Life".

He is the engineer of GTD®, the popular Getting Things Done® methodology that has shown millions how to transform a fast-paced, overwhelming, overcommitted life into one that is balanced, integrated, relaxed, and has more successful outcomes. GTD's broad appeal is based on the fact that it is applicable from the boardroom to the living room to the class room. It is hailed as "life changing" by students, busy parents, entrepreneurs and corporate executives. David is the Founder and Chairman of the David Allen Company, whose inspirational seminars, coaching, educational materials and practical products present individuals and organizations with a new model for "Winning at the Game of Work and Business of Life." He continues to write articles and essays that address today's ever-changing issues about living and working in a fast-paced world while sustaining balance, control, and meaningful focus.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

418 of 431 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars David Allen's new book hits the mark., September 15, 2003

By 

Bruce C. Houghton (Jefferson, NH United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Ready for Anything: 52 Productivity Principles for Work and Life (Hardcover)

Let me start by admitting that while I'm a huge fan of David Allen and his wonderful productivity theories and practices, I found his first book "Getting Things Done" a rather tough read. A lot of great info was certainly there, but somehow the way it was written left my head spinning. Eventually I began to understand the systems and implement them, but I couldn't get over the nagging feeling that these theories and practices that were so basic and logical did not have to be so hard to grasp.

All of these shortcomings have been fixed in this great new book. Allen's theories, practices and strategies are delivered in 2-5 page bite sized pieces which much better suit his writing style. Each of the 52 short chapters can be devoured in a few minutes and can be understood and internalized individually or in well organized clusters as fits you best.

In a perfect world I'd suggest skimming Allen's first book so that you get an over view of his "systems"; then read this book for a bunch of "I get it!" moments; and then back to "Getting Things Done" for a more careful read. In fact, that's what I'm going to do.

But even if you never read Allen's first book; this new one is well worth the time because it will force you to look at work, time, and all of the stuff that clutters your mind and life in entirely new ways.

198 of 203 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Unnecessary, January 30, 2006

By 

Winter Aura (Orange County, CA USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Ready for Anything: 52 Productivity Principles for Work and Life (Hardcover)

I can not recommend David Allen's earlier book, Getting Things Done, highly enough. I read it six months ago and continue to follow his system, using the Outlook plug-in sold on his web site. I had made a reminder when I finished that book to re-read it in six months. When the time came, I decided to pick up this book instead. It was a mistake.

Ready For Anything is a series of short inspirational essays on productivity. It has a strong self-help feel to it. If you've read GTD and aren't convinced that the system is worth implementing, maybe this book will sell it to you. For those who are already practicing the system, it doesn't offer a whole lot. Many essays are about the importance of having a system, or the importance of the weekly review, a key element of the system. Others are simply meanderings with no concrete purpose. There are quotes peppered in the margins throughout. While some are thought-provoking, they distracted me from the main text. I'd prefer to see them at the beginning or end of the essay.

If you haven't read Getting Things Done, absolutely read that first. If you need a little motivation to keep you on track, maybe Ready For Anything will help.

216 of 225 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Tune-up after Getting Things Done, January 4, 2004

By 

peederj (San Francisco, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Ready for Anything: 52 Productivity Principles for Work and Life (Hardcover)

While this is an outstanding book, I highly recommend his first work, Getting Things Done. Since this doesn't have a consistent narrative but is instead broken up into numerous tiny essays, it will be harder to get the maximum benefit from his approach to personal productivity from this alone.

Readers who "got" Getting Things Done don't need my advice on this one...they've already bought it I'm sure.

David Allen is probably the smartest personal productivity coach in print. I would buy Getting Things Done for every employee in my organization, and I would have copies of this one lying around to remind people and elaborate on some of the finer points.

Oh and I would like to add one point. I believe there is one thing missing from Mr. Allen's algorithm. That is finishing. I think his plan is outstanding for getting unstuck: figure out the next action, and do it without hesitation. But I don't find any attention paid to how to decide how many actions are "enough" for a desired outcome of a project.

You can always find some next action, and founder in what software engineers like myself call "permanent beta" or "feature creep." Yet external constraints are best not relied on exclusively for these decisions. It's best to volunteer a ruthless focus on the essence of your project's deliverable, isn't it?

So I would like Mr. Allen to write his next book about finishing projects, if he is able to develop insights into that stage as strong as his insights into the process of the middle stages.