Ready for Anything: 52 Productivity Principles for Work and Life

I took a Getting Things Done (GTD) course at work a few months ago and came away enormously impressed with the system and the philosophy behind it. It's all about setting up a system that works for you in getting your work ordered and binned correctly, which in turn frees up your time for what's important in live (self-reflection, your family and friends). David Allen's work is half actionable recommendations for work, and half philosophy for living your life. Always useful, it never comes off as preachy or unreasonably cultish.In this book you're getting a collection of short essays of Allen's main ideas. Unlike Getting Things Done, which reads as more of a planning/action guide to the work system, this is more work-life philosophy. The essays are nice in that you can choose one at random before you go to bed or over your lunch break and come away a little calmer and a little wiser. A must have fresher for David Allen fans, or for those looking for some insights into work-life balance.

Some reviews have been critical, saying that the material is common sense.That is the beauty of most things that work. The book is a lot like Dave Ramsey's financial advice. It's common sense, but organized in such a way to make you most effective.That's what I like about this book. Each portion of his system is extremley intuitive and simple. You put it all together, and it makes you effective if you have the self discipline to do it.One really good part of the book is that it accurately explains our "stress" as the vague feeling that, despite what you are working on, you should be doing something else, or, that you can't get everything done. He shows you how to organize your workflow so that you can make your daily (hourly) decisions on what to handle confidently - because you are aware of everything that you have to do, and where it ranks in your priorities.I also like that his system is realistic and flexible, for those days that 3 fires hit you. I also like that it is not software or hardware (certain special calendars) specific. I have always been skeptical of organziational books that seem like they're just trying to hook you on selling you other merchandise. This guy's system can be done with a looseleaf notebook or a PDA. Whatever floats your boat.

As a huge fan of David Allen's previous book/philosophy, "Getting Things Done," I was already ready for this "black-belt" CD class and now I'm on my third listen-through during daily commutes.If you didn't appreciate the initial GTD, then you shouldn't start here anymore than a karate student should start with black belt classes. You should already be reasonably familiar with the GTD process of: In-basket, Process, Organize, Review, and Do - because this new work is all about the subtleties and implications of these steps. Wait until you are a bit experienced in GTD and either feel like you're missing something or want more depth and nuance before starting this new book/CD, or you will not appreciate nor benefit from these great insites and expositions on living a productive life as an imperfect human.As a real black belt in a traditional Japanese martial art, I appreciate the links Mr. Allen makes between karate forms and organization, and again between real-world fights and dealing with real-life emergencies. You can't be truly creative or take advantage of spontaneous opportunities if you're not practicing staying on top of your commitments and tasks with a good system in place that you trust.So - start with "Getting Things Done" to learn all the forms. Then get "Ready for Anything" to continue improving at the black belt level.My highest recommendation, if you're ready for it.

I never thought I could get too much of David Allen, the productivity guru whose `Getting Things Done' system has transformed my work and life habits. But this book borders on too much of a good thing.At least, that is, if you sit down and read right through it. The trick is to ration.While I don't know whether the number 52 was chosen to give us a two-to-three page sampling of Allen's writing on a weekly basis, the truth is it works well that way. I'm integrating it into Allen's famous `weekly review', the bone marrow of a productive work-life organism.In such small doses, it's good stuff. Allen and his staff have culled these reflections from his writings over the year. The power of `GTD' lies in its simplicity, so you won't find vastly divergent essays on politics, literature, and the price of gasoline in Idaho.What you will find is a simple and tenacious focus on a system that allows you to clear your mind and focus on the one thing you're choosing to do right now.On balance and in moderation, that's a good thing.

David Allen's best known work is "Getting Things Done," a guide to stress free productivity. Allen, in many ways, is a philosopher. not a time-management or productivity guru. His insights into the correlation between "open loops," as he calls them (the things undone that rattle around in our mind)and stress are remarkable. But "Getting Things Done" can be a very rocky read because Allen combines an explanation of his philosophy with a method for clearing the clutter from your mind. "Ready For Anything," on the other hand, eschews the methodology and focuses instead on the philosophy. In 52 short chapters, Allen lays out his thinking about time-management, stress and productivity. In each of these short chapters Allen expounds on his philosophy. It is much easier to digest in this form than it is in "Getting Things Done." Allen's basic thoughts aren't new or novel. If you're confused about what needs to be done, than what needs to be done won't get done. It's that simple. But Allen brings together basic principles in a new, easily understood way. I see both books -- and frequent references to them -- as necessary and helpful. Allen's reputation is well justified and "Ready For Anything" is proof of it.Jerry

Get the benefits of Dave Allen's learning condensed into this easily read, accessible book and you will not look back. Perhaps as a fan of Allen's Good To Do (GTD) principles I came to this book with certain expectations. If so, my expectations were surpassed by the author as he patiently builds upon the essential skills first expounded in GTD. Like many I probably had not got much beyond corralling a host of my open loops. This book has helped me lift my game and helped make me Ready For Anything. Seldom has such good advice been available to so many for such a small price. What's not to like?

...and for some reason I don't feel able to read much further. Which is odd, because both "Getting Things Done" and "Making It All Work" are great books. This feels like the neglected middle book. Maybe it's something to do with its format - it is a collection of short essays and has the tone of 'improving' tomes of yesteryear. It all feels a bit samey, with each little section more or less repeating stuff from other sections with a slightly different spin. It has a few useful insights, but if you want more information on GTD in practice, "Making It All Work" is a much better book in my opinion.

This book is organised in short punchy chapters - if you're on the train or are short of time, this book is good for small bite sizes pieces - which can be read in 10 or 15 minutes.However..There's not the detail of Getting things done.If you've read GTD, then this is good for small updates - as a refresher.If you've not read GTD, then that is your first step.

Impractical, change is not just intellectual, there are two more stages SEEING it and then BECOMING it.The author simply speculates in Mind about probable solutions to all problems and comes up with answers.What about the emotions behind each problem??.So this is a book from Intellectual speculation but nobody has all the problems nor do solutions work like that.So it becomes a useless book.

If you've read Getting Things Done you won't find anything more from this book. Apart from a lot of words!