Getting Things Done
For those of you who aren't already converted, let me tell you about my love affair with David Allen.
A friend told me about Allen's book Getting Things Done & how great it is, so I went out, bought the thing, and read it. It was well worth every penny, & every minute put into it.
Basically, it's a productivity book, but much like Richard Covey's Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, it focuses more on being a productive human being, and getting what you want out of your life, than it does on being an efficiency-driven automaton.
More so now than ever, I think our inborn instinctual behavior, and the behavior a person should adopt to be their best in today's society, are two very different things.
What can I do to make myself more comfortable? What can I do to reduce the amount of work I have to do? When I finish this, will I be able to relax & switch off? As the second law of thermodynamics tells us to, we're always trying to find a way to reach a lower state of energy.
However, a person in today's world can't do nothing. We have to work, we have to do things we don't want to do. Once we finish one task another always crops up (until you die, at which time you would most likely give anything to be able to do the most mundane of tasks)
So if our goal is always to be in a lower state of energy, and a higher state of comfort, but those conditions can't be realistically achieved for any significant portion of our lives, then we're doomed to disappointment. What we need is to figure out how a person can incorporate work and discomfort into a lifestyle that makes them happy.
This is why I think personal productivity books have been so fashionable the last few years. People can take a lot away from a book that teaches them how to combine work and play. How to create a system that will take all the anxiety & tedium out of out a busy life & allow us to enjoy the process. That's what they do for me anyhow.
Organizing my tasks list? Hell yeah! Unexpected demands thrown on my plate? No problem! I've got a system that lets me get work done well & have fun doing it.
For a little taste, check out David Allen's weblog in my blogroll. It's a little different from his books but you'll get an idea of the kind of thinking that leads to being able to better get things done, & when you're not working, losing the anxiety over what you're not doing.
A friend told me about Allen's book Getting Things Done & how great it is, so I went out, bought the thing, and read it. It was well worth every penny, & every minute put into it.
Basically, it's a productivity book, but much like Richard Covey's Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, it focuses more on being a productive human being, and getting what you want out of your life, than it does on being an efficiency-driven automaton.
More so now than ever, I think our inborn instinctual behavior, and the behavior a person should adopt to be their best in today's society, are two very different things.
What can I do to make myself more comfortable? What can I do to reduce the amount of work I have to do? When I finish this, will I be able to relax & switch off? As the second law of thermodynamics tells us to, we're always trying to find a way to reach a lower state of energy.
However, a person in today's world can't do nothing. We have to work, we have to do things we don't want to do. Once we finish one task another always crops up (until you die, at which time you would most likely give anything to be able to do the most mundane of tasks)
So if our goal is always to be in a lower state of energy, and a higher state of comfort, but those conditions can't be realistically achieved for any significant portion of our lives, then we're doomed to disappointment. What we need is to figure out how a person can incorporate work and discomfort into a lifestyle that makes them happy.
This is why I think personal productivity books have been so fashionable the last few years. People can take a lot away from a book that teaches them how to combine work and play. How to create a system that will take all the anxiety & tedium out of out a busy life & allow us to enjoy the process. That's what they do for me anyhow.
Organizing my tasks list? Hell yeah! Unexpected demands thrown on my plate? No problem! I've got a system that lets me get work done well & have fun doing it.
For a little taste, check out David Allen's weblog in my blogroll. It's a little different from his books but you'll get an idea of the kind of thinking that leads to being able to better get things done, & when you're not working, losing the anxiety over what you're not doing.
