Time is the “gold” of the twenty-first century. No matter how much money we make, we can’t buy any more time. It can’t be stored, traded or even managed. All we can do is manage events.
The feeling of “not enough time” and trying to manage all those events seems to cause stress for most people.
A few years back, I found myself not feeling as motivated as I usually do. I first chalked it up to being fatigued by some big projects, but I wasn’t quite convinced that this was the cause.
But then I was invited to attend a seminar by David Allen, the author of Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity. David has been called the “personal productivity guru” by Fast Company—“One of the most influential thinkers on productivity”.
What I realized was that even as goal-driven and value-directed as I am, I wasn’t feeling on top of the hundreds of projects and thousands of details, tasks, responsibilities and commitments.
Like my editor used to say, I was “being nibbled to death by ducks.” The result was a scattering of my energies and a dissipation of my focus.
David’s book was just what I needed. Even though I haven’t completed my reorganization, I already feel a new freedom–a new energy and vitality.
His recommendations make sense. They’re practical, they’re easy to implement and they work. David even offers a flow chart to decide upon and handle all the things that come our way. It was a real eye-opener.
I consider myself a pretty organized guy. I have some great systems that have supported me through the years. But I learned a LOT and found this book to be the best I’ve seen on productivity. I found nothing I could argue with.
David believes that unless we have systems for recording and corralling all the “stuff” in our lives, we prevent our mind from real thinking–from being truly creative. If our mind is cluttered with remembering things, we cannot do our best.
Our ability to be productive is directly proportional to our ability to relax. David’s “do it, defer it or drop it” rule is just one of the many simple habits he recommends to transform the way you work.
My recommendation: get the book. Read it and put its wisdom to work for you. It could very well be one of the best investments you make—not only in your productivity but in your serenity as well. How can you put a price on having less stress and more productivity?
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