Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity Paperback – March 17, 2015

I read the first edition a few years ago and gave copies to everyone on my team. It was very actionable. This 2015 edition is not that.

This new edition goes into more theory, but that makes it much harder to use as a concise guide of how to get things done.

I loved the first edition, but the 2015 edition was tedious to read and I didn't have the patience to get through it. Too bad he ruined a good thing. It would have been better if he'd added a companion book with all the non-actionable theory, or separate chapters.

Summary: For anyone new to GTD, go ahead and buy this 2015 version, or save some money and buy the paperback original for $1.50. For anyone who already has a GTD book, just reread it and take a pass on this one, there's really nothing new.

I purchased the original in March 2001 for use with my Palm Pilot. I subsequently purchased the Outlook add-in around 2007; and my company had a GTD consultant onsite and provided us access to GTD Connect in 2008. I've found the workflow and methodology useful. The underlying original strength of GTD is that the book not only states "what" has to happen, but through a specific methodology also "how" to make it happen.

I was so excited about this 2015 update, with my expectations of entry to the digital age that I pre-purchased in Nov 2014. Just received the book today and I'm sorry to say that David is essentially punting on digital-age specifics in favor of generalities. Further, David admits that this is not a rewrite (though he did "retype the original manuscript").

I'm actually fine with the retype vs rewrite though - as he states, the core ideas and methodology of GTD remain the same. But the reason I went to GTD in the first place was that it provided specific workflows incorporating paper and pencil and Outlook and PDAs - he had done the work to figure out what works and I was happy to adopt his recommendations.

Since the original release there has been a profound shift in the use of technology - hardware, software, mobile and cloud. 2015 finds us in much more diversified and integrated data input/output environment than what the Palm and MSOffice suite offered in 2000, and so there is a very good reason to update the "how" part of the equation to manage this new information capture and task-list ecosystem.

In the new edition, the author provides some digital guideline feature specifics (software outline program should allow for sub-headings, expand/collapse ability), even more generalities, but mostly just derails the digital conversation of any 'how' by sweeping particulars under the carpet with a few ambiguities of "what" needs to be done, not "how" to do it, "Make sure you create comfort with the [computer] applications ["used for developing and capturing project plans and collateral"]. It will behoove you to do regular reviews and updating of this content and keep it current with consistent purging and reorganizing."

Punting on digital specifics of today's workflow world because, in his words, “the rate of innovation in this area means that any specific software program can easily be outdated, upgraded, or undermined by the next new thing", and that he has admittedly "hopped out of the fray, opting instead to provide a general model for how to evaluate the usefulness of any tool" is, for me, not useful. I *know* there is a plethora of digital tool options, and I wanted him to do the work and figure out what works. Fine, publish a revision when the tools change, I'll buy it. That's why he and his team get paid the big bucks. But if I wanted to spend my time figuring the complexity of tools out myself I'd have done that from day one. To me, this would be like Lonely Planets back-peddling on restaurant and hotel reviews. "Oh, there are just sooo many these days, let us tell you what to look for instead,,,, try to find a restaurant with lots of people in it, and look for a hotel with clean sheets." Uh, yea.

The original methodology and task-driven workflow remains true in the 2015 book as in the original. The "psycap" and other psychological drivers and underpinnings are interesting in the new book. But whereas I was confident that I had a pretty holistic system set-up as a result of the original book (and actually, as much a result of a smaller digital footprint, and I know I'm not the exception), I now feel, with this "completely updated" edition, that I have half a system with a digital divide, a "black hole" as the author even alludes.

I understand all the high reviews, the methodology is still very good as described, and yes, freshened. My rating of this book is as a version updated for what we would all agree is an increasingly digital world and unfortunately, whereas the "what" might be explained, I find the book lacking on the "how". I agree that it has helped me refine my thinking about how to use GTD in the digital age,,, i.e., I now think that I cannot rely just on this one book as a holistic model of how to get it all done ;)

For anyone new to GTD, go ahead and buy this 2015 version, or save some money and buy the paperback original for a $1.50 and you'll learn the essentials that have not changed. For anyone versed in GTD, I offer David's statement from this new book: "...whenever anyone loops back through the material, they invariably have a response like, "Oh my God, this is totally different information and perspective" than what they had remembered from earlier, "it was a totally different book each time!" So if you have an earlier GTD book? Just reread it and you'll likely get the same "new" experience and fresh perspective as from this 2015 book, particularly given that there really are no digital age specifics that many of us were hoping for.

Since first reading GTD my business has grown over 10X in volume. When I read GTD I was terribly stressed and thought I was at capacity. I learned that my capacity was defined by inefficiencies, exposed and corrected by GTD. I re-read it every couple of years and I reach new level every time I do. I am a huge fan.

I purchased the audio book and the kindle edition so I could listen in the car and read at home. I plan on reading/listening/referring back to this book often, and even purchased a hard copy to keep at my desk. I feel more productive during meetings, and help people focus on "next actions". This book has helped me tremendously with my production at work, by instilling even small pieces of its concepts. I can't wait to go back in and retain even more, and instill habits.

Speaking of habits, his recommendation of Charles Duhigg's book The Power of Habit, led me to go out and read/listen to that book, and I truly believe it has changed my life. You can read my review of it as soon as I write it.

It's a quick read. Speed read it, and you will find it repeats enough to let it mostly sink in. It's a few simple yet powerful ideas that seem like they can change your whole life. I'm anxious to see how this works. It reminds me of what a psychologist once spoke of: cognitive distortion. Be honest with yourself. Avoid saying things like "that's the best in the world", "I've never seen anything like that", "you have the worst send of humor". All of those have a distortion. Avoid distortions, and you will feel better because there is uneasiness with lies. There is this feeling, "what does he really mean?" So, by using GTD, you avoid a different kind of uneasiness. This is caused by thoughts that keep coming around because you don't act in them. This system sets that process in motion. You will see you feel better just getting those thoughts on paper. I need to see how the rest goes, but I'm pretty sure I'll be able to hone this skill to a fine art. If I were to read this book for the first time, I would find that flowchart somewhere in the book and really focus on that. Then it will sink in better as you see it discussed in print. It's not complicated. You just have to do it.

I hate books in this category that have one or two ideas and spend rest of the time trying to convince you they are right. This book was highly recommended by another business-skills author, but when I flipped through it, it looked like a lot of text and not much substance. I WAS WRONG. I skipped all of the intros and Chapter 1 and dove right in to Chapter 2. If after reading Chapter 2 and the first half of Chapter 3, you are not convinced this book will be full of great ideas, don't bother reading the rest and just return it. I, on the other hand, became convinced that reading the rest of the book, going back and reading the intros, and implementing the author's system in all aspects of life, would effect positive change. I was raving about it to a friend, but I refused to let them borrow it because I know I will be using this book as a reference for the rest of my life.

One part of the intro that is very important (but now you can skip it by reading this) is the idea that implementing the full system sounds like a daunting task. That's OK! In Chapter 2, add it to your projects list. In Chapter 3, the author describes how to break down a project of any size and scope. In Chapter 10, he goes through all the fine details of how to execute a project using all of the tools you learned in Chapters 4-10.