Zen To Done: The Ultimate Simple Productivity System (Paperback)

~ Leo Babauta (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Zen To Done (ZTD) is a system that is at once simple, and powerful, and will help you develop the habits that keep all of your tasks and projects organized, that keep your workday simple and structured, that keep your desk and email inbox clean and clear, and that keep you doing what you need to do, without distractions. This book was written for those who want to get their lives organized and actually execute the things on their to-do list by changing existing habits. And let me say that changing your habits is possible. Using the habit-changing techniques I describe in this book, I have made many habit changes: I quit smoking, started running, started eating healthier, completed a marathon, doubled my income and got my finances in order, have almost eliminated my debt now, completed a triathlon, lost more than 20 pounds, and started a successful blog, and more. Read this book. You'll be amazed at what you can accomplish with this productivity system.

About the Author

My name is Leo Babauta, I’m married with six kids, I live on Guam, I’m a writer and a runner and a vegetarian and I love writing.

Product Details

• Paperback: 114 pages
• Publisher: CreateSpace (July 29, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1438258488
• ISBN-13: 978-1438258485
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #35,931 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Effective, Simple, Easy Read, October 31, 2008

By	J. McDonald "Keep It Simple" (Dayton, OH, USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I like this book and the concepts within. I've read or read about all the hot time management and self improvement books. I've always wanted to read them all and distill their simple basics into one action plan. Now I don't have to make the effort. "Zen to Done" has done it for me. I'm implementing one habit at a time, as recommended. I'm even starting a group with my employees to read the book and each of us will tackle our own habit and report back progress and recommendations each subsequent week. The key to this book is flexibility and simplicity. You don't have to move a mountain all at once. One hand full of dirt and rock at a time will do it too. I recommend this book.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Nicely done adaptation of David Allen's Getting Things Done, March 7, 2009

By	Jerry Saperstein (Evanston, IL USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)

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David Allen has a near cult following for his Getting Things Done approach to, well, getting things done. I am a sometimes member of that cult, but I keep falling off the GTD wagon. Even David Allen admits to falling off the GTD wagon.

Getting Things Done is deceptively simple when it is merely described. You read it and think to yourself "I can do that!" But in reality, GTD demands the dedication of a monk to really make it work. Minutes to learn, a lifetime to master, so to speak.

Along comes Leo Babauta with "Zen To Done" which he freely and accurately describes as an adaptation of GTD - and it is a well-done adaptation.

"Zen To Done" (ZTD) offers a simplification of Allen's Gettiing Things Done. As Babauta describes it: "a set of 10 habits that will help you get organized, simplify your life, get things under control and actually get things done".

Conceptually ZTD appears simpler to implement than GTD with fewer nuances. Babauta distinguishes ZTD from GTD on a number of issues. He actually describes these details in an FAQ chapter at the end of the book which is quite helpful in comprehending ZTD.

With ZTD, you don't have to change a lot of habits at once, which GTD requires. ZTD also is more oriented to simplicity; it is not as all-encompassing as GTD. ZTD day imposes more of a structure on your day than GTD, which is actually helpful for people like me who find choosing between priorities sometimes difficult.

It is fair to see ZTD as GTD Lite, which is not to infer that Babauta has infringed on Allen or Covey or the others whose ideas he incorporates. All of them, matter of fact, have built on the shoulders of others.

Overall, "Zen To Done" is one of the more interesting time management books I've seen lately and I am going to give the ZTD method a rigorous try.

Jerry

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Zen Works and More, March 8, 2009

By	Carter Hargrave (Tulsa, OK USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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Author is a hands on person with real life problems that he solved and lives what he perscribes.
First I have been working diligently on de cluttering my personal and business life. I have read so many simplifying and de-cluttering and efficiency books I almost have a clutter problem with all the books on the subject. (Cured that recently too with the Kindle 2.)
I run three business. One brick and morter and two online. I was getting over four hundred emails a day and was drowning in mail and spam. So I utilized ideas / suggestions from several sources to cure my problems. From the Four Hour Workweek by Timothy Ferriss we started using detailed faq's lists on our websites and an auto-responder that answered many questions so we would no longer have to reply to as many emails. For the ones we do answer the questions are predictable and we saved the answers as email drafts that way we just cut and paste and all done.
For the Spam we ran our eight email accounts into one google mail as they have the best spam filters and you can reply from the email address to which the mail was sent so they dont know that anything is happening. And suggestions from the life hacker Upgrade Your Life: The Lifehacker Guide to Working Smarter, Faster, Better by Gina Tripani has some interesting ideas for sure.
Keeping your inbox empty we use suggestions from Stress Less and Zen to Done by Leo Babauta and you would not believe how much better you feel when things are under control. But it is you who must Work the system or you will be overwhelmed again.
A much more detailed program is used in Getting Things Done David Allen book, but the above is kind of the simplified version that I currently prefer.
And for just getting rid of all the clutter in your life any of the books from Peter Walsh, How to Organize (Just About) Everything, and Enough Already, are great even though they tend to recover some of the material from his other books somewhat but thats not a big deal since the info is worth repeating. Another good author but she covers pretty much the same thing is Julie Morgenstern. The books by Koch on the 80/20 principle are also worth looking into. For the paper clutter in my life I have a digital sender scanner and have scanned over four full file cabinets into Adobe PDF computer files. I have done this with pictures too as you can also save them info Jpeg and Jiff files. While there are tons more books out there and I seem to have most of them, these are the best to get things under control and to get you the time to do the things that matter to you.