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Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity

by David Allen · 2001

In a nutshell

David Allen's revolutionary productivity system for achieving stress-free effectiveness through capturing, clarifying, organizing, and reviewing all commitments.

Overview

Getting Things Done (GTD) is a personal productivity system that enables stress-free productivity by capturing all commitments in a trusted external system.

The Five Steps of GTD

  1. Capture: Collect what has your attention
  2. Clarify: Process what it means
  3. Organize: Put it where it belongs
  4. Reflect: Review frequently
  5. Engage: Simply do

Core Principles

  • Your mind is for having ideas, not holding them
  • Keep everything in a trusted system
  • Weekly reviews maintain perspective
  • Next actions make projects actionable

Impact

GTD has become a standard productivity system used by millions worldwide.

Available for approximately $15-27.

Reference

Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity — publisher / official page. Summary adapted from the Awesome Startup Books collection.

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