We are all used to the pressures of having so many things to do that it seems almost impossible to concentrate on a particular task. If there is ONE personal management system that I continue to hear good things about from Christian leaders and scholars, it is Getting Things Done by David Allen.
This from Amazon:
Yes, Getting Things Done offers a complete system for downloading all those free-floating gotta-do’s clogging your brain into a sophisticated framework of files and action lists–all purportedly to free your mind to focus on whatever you’re working on. However, it still operates from the decidedly Western notion that if we could just get really, really organized, we could turn ourselves into 24/7 productivity machines.
And this from Wayne Grudem:
“Those of you who have ever seen my home study will probably remember that I’ve always had piles of paper on my desk – things waiting to be done. Now for the last 10 days I have had a completely clean desk for the first time in over 20 years. No piles of papers! And this is in the midst of a lot of demands on my time regarding some publishing deadlines and other responsibilities. How did this happen? It was the result of a remarkable new book by David Allen called Getting Things Done. I had heard of the book from several different sources and read through it about two weeks ago. I began to implement Allen’s remarkable system and all my papers are now either processed (those that take under two minutes Allen says to process immediately) or else put in a file and alphabetized, as well as being listed on a ‘project list’ that I now carry with me and can look at quickly and see everything at a glance. Allen has a number of other helpful procedures, such as creating a “next actions” list out of the project list, but I won’t try to reveal the whole book to you at once.
“Just let me say that I highly recommend it and it has marvelously increased my peace of mind, clarity of thought, and ability to concentrate on the task at hand as I sit at my desk each day. And I know it’s working because my desk stays clean as new items come in and I process them according to Allen’s system.”
I plan to read this book soon! My wife is a productivity expert, and she has already been helping me in this regard.
(HT: Justin Taylor)