Any other authors out there like David Allen?

[Anonymous]

Any other authors out there like David Allen?

David Allen's GTD system has made such an impact on my life. I have listened to both of his books in audio format and have listened to "getting things done fast" audio course about 30 times now (literally).

I need fresh material. If Allen had more books or audio material (or even video material) I would buy it. But unless I'm mistaken, this is all he has out now. Because of this, I'm looking for fresh material but is as good and is as life changing as Allen's material.

Would you guys share other books, audio material, etc that you have experienced that is of the same calibur. It doesn't neccessarily have to deal with organization or efficiency, but topics that change your life for the better.

Ones I have came across that influenced me greatly are:
=====================================

---The Seven Habits of Highly Effictive People (or any of Steven Covey's material)

---The 48 Laws of Power (shows you how people can use deception and politics to walk all over you)

---The Richest Man in Babylon

---The Diet Cure (this is where I learned the importance of free form amino acids as a alternative to prescription drugs - the theme of the book is about how to remedy thing that may be out of balance in your body)

--Dianetics (Offers a theory of how your past is effecting your everyday life)

---Rich Dad, Poor Dad (shows the difference between how the rich think and act and how the poor do)

---Self Mastery (An awsome audio course on howh you can apply zen concepts to your life)
http://www.nightingale.com/tProducts_ProductDetail.asp?ProductIDN=22170&WCU=8 ff3ea8cb400c4e652322f88

---The Bible, of course

[MarkTAW]

David just recommended the excellent book Don't Shoot the Dog by Karen Pryor, which I also recommend.

I really liked Sources of Power by Gary Klein, which shows how people really make decisions in stressful situations. My review for it is on Amazon.com.

If you liked Rich Dad/Poor Dad, you really need to read Your Money or Your Life by Dominiguez and Robin. If any book can change your life & attitude towards money, this one will.

Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion by Cialdini is a highly influential book about how the ties that bind society together can be used against us.

I could proably keep going, but based on your list, these are my top 4 recommendations.

[ludlow]

To my surprise, I've found that Allen's books have led me off more in the direction of books on the 'pyschology' shelf than the 'business productivity' one:

*The Now Habit, by Neil Fiore, an anti-procrastination text much cited on these boards I think.

*The works of Albert Ellis, especially 'The Road to Tolerance', which is a good summary of his no-nonsense and often hilarious approach to cognitive psychology. (If you live in NYC by any chance, go see his Friday Night Workshop any Friday evening on the Upper East Side - he gives therapy sessions to volunteers in front of the audience, who pay $10 a ticket.)

*Po Bronson's fantastic work of reportage, What Should I Do With My Life?, which is absolutely brilliant for very-high-altitude planning and thinking.

Also, though - and I, more than anyone, need to try to take this advice myself, but: stop reading books about doing stuff, and do stuff instead...

[MarkTAW]

"How to Work the Competition into the Ground and Have Fun Doing It" is also a good anti-procrasination book, but I'd wait for the prices to come down (sorry, that's my fault).

I summarized some of it's important ideas.

http://www.marktaw.com/blog/GettingBackToWork.html

and

http://www.marktaw.com/blog/GettingThingsDone.html

[miro]

To me, Eliyahu Goldratt was another ground-breaking writer ... His Theory of Constraints is very helpful in deciding about your priorities, what action to tackle first... Check out his books

The Goal
It's not Luck
Critical Chain

Alex

PS: This is my first post after reading this forum for a couple of months, just wanted to point out that it's the most productive, best signal-to-noise forum I've ever been on...

[mcogilvie]

One of the wonderful things about GTD is that I no longer waste my money on self-help books that don't do me any good. :D A few months ago I took a look at Cevey's "8th Habit" in a bookstore and found it pretty uninviting. Try "Mountains Beyond Mountains" by Tracy Kidder if you want to read something beyond the ordinary.

[BrianK]

This is a look at effective organizations from a macro and leadership perspective.

Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things Done
by Larry Bossidy, Ram Charan, Charles Burck


This is just one of many of Peter Drucker's books. Anyone David Allen considers to be a guru is worth my reading time.

The Effective Executive Revised
by Peter F. Drucker


And along the lines of psych books, I've found this to be a valuable reference for understanding how people, including me, think, act, react, and change.

Personality Types : Using the Enneagram for Self-Discovery
by Don Richard Riso, Russ Hudson

[remyc88]

This is a look at effective organizations from a macro and leadership perspective.

Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things Done
by Larry Bossidy, Ram Charan, Charles Burck


This is just one of many of Peter Drucker's books. Anyone David Allen considers to be a guru is worth my reading time.

The Effective Executive Revised
by Peter F. Drucker


And along the lines of psych books, I've found this to be a valuable reference for understanding how people, including me, think, act, react, and change.

Personality Types : Using the Enneagram for Self-Discovery
by Don Richard Riso, Russ Hudson

I second The Effective Executive. That is a really good book.

However, I have to say that I wasn't too impressed w/ Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things Done. I found it a bit boring and dry (perhaps it was the writing style). Still, it had some good concrete info in it.

But definitely, try to read The Effective Executive.

[DeveloperMCT]

Wow Guys, Thanks!! I've added most, if not all of these to my Amazon wish list. I use the wish list as a queue of the books I'm going to buy next. :D

I too have wrote/blooged some articles on helpful material. Check them out if you're interested:

Don't Break My Flow
http://www.angrycoder.com/article.aspx?cid=1&y=2002&m=8&d=26 (actually wrote this before coming across Allen's material)

What Amino Acids Have Done For Me
http://www.darrenneese.com/viewarticle.aspx?artkey=Author-Heal-Supp-Aminos&BackLink=TRUE

Success and Habits
http://www.darrenneese.com/ViewArticle.aspx?ArtKey=Articles-HabitsSuccess

Getting Things Done (my priasing review and summary of Allen's GTD)
http://www.darrenneese.com/ViewArticle.aspx?ArtKey=Articles-GettingThingsDone

What I find interesting about Allen's work is that he is one of the few writers that have such true insight into how human's minds actually work! Similarly, Dianetics has the same aproach of going back and addressing traumatic experiences to get your attention off of them so you are more in the present. (no I am not affiliated with the church of scientology).

I have a friend who is going through a very extensive course in the Albert Ellis Material. He swears up and down on its effectiveness.

WHEN IS DAVID ALLEN GOING TO PUBLISH SOMETHING NEW? :!: Certainly he's got more tricks up his sleeve he could teach us?!

[bassdrone42]

Hands down the most inspirational / influential book I have read in the past year has been Leadership by Rudolph Guilliani.

If you are in a management position of any kind this book will change your life.

It's a must read.

[MarkTAW]

Speaking of flow, the book by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi is the source of all references to flow.

[Busydave]

I don’t think there are any other books out there like Getting Things Done. There are good books that work at different altitudes, (life goals, areas of management, areas of improvement, roles etc), but nothing gets inside the skin of the working life like GTD.

The only other writer I have read that shows similar insights into the inner invisible topography of the life of a knowledge worker is Peter Drucker.

I think Brian Tracy and Tom peters are good at providing objective benchmarks that let us know if we are being productive and eye-catching employees. I find that “Eat that Frog” is a great summary of Tracy’s points in this area. Tom Peters’ “Brand You 50” is a great read also.




Also, though - and I, more than anyone, need to try to take this advice myself, but: stop reading books about doing stuff, and do stuff instead...

Amen to that!

Dave

[uhwenzel2011]

I can recommend a book by Karen Kingsten - space clearing.

Clutter cannot be organized. To throw things away is a good habit. Karen helps to let go things. Alice

[Arduinna]

I need fresh material.

People have responded to this request with authors and book titles, but when I read it, I had one reaction: WHY?

Sometimes, a life-improvement catharsis feels like a religious experience, so much so that people begin to treat it as one. GTD isn't a religion, it's a way of organizing your behavior and thinking to make the most of your time, which is your life, after all. All the tools are there, and one of their chief virtues is their utter simplicity. They're boiled down from much practice and observation, and they eliminate the elaborate, overwrought stuff found in other systems that just burdens the day instead of lightening the load. I've found other systems confusing or completely non-intuitive, like sectoring your needs into quadrants, and the fine points have also stopped me cold. "Sharpen the Saw," for example, always got me thinking of Lizzie Borden, which definitely undermined focus on the family aspect of my life. For these and other reasons, I have great appreciation for the lightness of hand with which DA applies metaphor, the clarity of his principles, and GTD's Spartan framework.

I have a theory. The state DA refers to as mind-like-water should leave you feeling flowing and alive. If you can achieve that state on a regular basis, you won't need additional fixes of inspir-organizational literature. It's a theory because I am not yet there, but if I were and found myself hungry for more, I'd figure I needed to attend to my higher elevations (purpose), or seek another form of nurture. But I also think that the more you DO STUFF, as someone put it on this thread, and the more you GET THINGS DONE in this way, the more you learn about what you really want to do. It's pure process and you can't buy it, you just have to hurl yourself into the abyss of DOING, over and over again, and see what happens.

[MarkTAW]

Arduinna, it's not about supplanting or improving GTD, but about books with good, practical knowledge.

What's wrong with reading and as long as you're going to be reading, asking for recommendations?

[Arduinna]

MarkTAW, I guess we're reading the posts very differently. I don't question the value of reading--or of art or film, or music. I wouldn't be here if I did. I, too, like new material from brilliant minds, but only when it's justified by content. Publishing new material for the sake of publishing new material yields things like the "8th Habit." I think I'm seeing, in the original question and in others on the forum, a desire to transform GTD from the "good, practical knowledge" that it is into a catechism of sorts, and to have mystical expectations of its practice. My comments spoke to that observation. Seeing GTD on a list of 8 influential books that includes the Bible and the manual of the Church of Scientology crystallized some uneasy feelings I've been having. I'm responding to a lot more than the original query, as I suggested in my post. I know I'm not off base in what I'm seeing, but I may not be in sync with the majority in finding it disturbing. That's okay; I'm not looking for consensus. I made the points as food for thought, because this issue has been bothering me.

[CKH]

Being a prof. organizer, I am biased towards brass-tacks, useful information on organizing, whether it be of possessions, work, or time. To that end, I highly recommend

Kathy Waddill's "The Organizing Sourcebook: Nine Strategies for Simplifying Your Life."

Now, Waddill's use of "simplifying" is NOT the usual "Simpify your life and live a life free from care," but rather "Simplify your systems so they SUPPORT your life." To me, this is similar to GTD, which is why I love both authors' advice.

Several of her principles, on their face, correlate directly to what David Allen says, either in his books or his tapes:

Weed Constantly
Decide to Decide
Label Everything
Make Your Systems Fit Your Life
Evaluate Honestly and Often

And others support lesser aspects of the GTD system OR are particularly useful to people who can't figure out exactly WHY their office/home doesn't seem to "flow."

Worth a shot!

Cynthia

[outlawyr]

Well, I didn't see it mentioned above, so I'll toss in
How To Win Friends And Influence People by Dale Carnegie. It's old, it's corny, it's repetitive, but it's a classic.

[kkirksey]

I'll add a couple that I haven't seen mentioned yet:

The Time Trap by Alec Mackenzie
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/081447926X/

Using DA's "altitude" metaphor, this book deals exclusively with working on the ground level. Many great ideas for maximizing the use of your time and minimizing time wasters. I recommend that people read GTD first, and I recommend that they read this one right after.

Making Work Work by Julie Morgenstern
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0743250877/

I bought this one on the strength of her Organizing From the Inside Out, which I loved. She deals with some higher altitude issues, e.g. the work/life balance, but for the most part this is another great guide to getting things done at the ground level. Her chapter on choosing the most important task has helped me tackle my next actions lists in the most productive order.

[ceehjay]

I certainly don't equate GTD with spirituality, the Bible, etc., , but it is good for the soul to feel that one has more control over the day to day stuff of life.

In a different mode entirely, I enjoy listening to the audio of Eckhart Tolle's The Power of Now. I bought the book after hearing the audio, but the book doesn't have the same impact. Listening to the audio requires some attention, and it isn't a good idea to listen to it while driving.

Tolle has a couple of strange ideas, but I just pass them by.

Carolyn

[pdxbob]

Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0060920432/qid=1110308186/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/102-1497008-0712937

Complementary to DA's approach. Concentrates on that state of optimal experience, where awareness of time disappears and you are completely focused on your 'work'.

[MarkTAW]

Peopleware is (I hear) a good book. It's based loosely on flow and talks about how task switching is bad because of the ramp up time involved, and how a good, quiet work environment is necessary for certain kinds of book.

Flow itself was a good book, but I couldn't read past the first half or so. Ironically, the book didn't seem to be written by someone in a flow-state, or cause a flow-state in me.

[Gameboy70]

Peopleware is an excellent book -- a very streetsmart look at project management from a software development perspective. For some reason, even though I'm not a professional programmer, I've always been attracted to books on software project methodology and software project management research. Programmers, analytical by nature, are very good at empirically determining what works and what doesn't, and how this doesn't necessarily comport with our assumptions. For instance, Peopleware was the first book to argue and back up with metrics that giving programmers individual offices instead of mere cubicles dramatically increased productivity, despite the ostensible increase in overhead. I believe Microsoft continues to adopt the office-per-programmer approach as a best practice. I'm looking forward to reading DeMarco and Lister's newest book, Slack: Getting Past Burnout, Busywork, and the Myth of Total Efficiency.

I wish I could be as excited about Flow as so many people on this board are. I don't really disagree with anything Csikszentmihalyi says; I just think he's milked a rather simple concept into numerous book-length publications, where a single essay would've been sufficient. Abe Maslow seemed to place the theme (he called flow "peak states") in a more appropriate perspective. The one exception in Csikszentmihalyi's work is his exposition on the research he did on flow vis-a-vis the Experience Sampling Method: Optimal Experience: Psychological Studies of Flow in Consciousness.

[MarkTAW]

I just think he's milked a rather simple concept into numerous book-length publications, where a single essay would've been sufficient. That's how I feel about the book as well. I reference it a lot because it's the fountainhead of a lot of other stuff, but I almost always disclaim it by saying the book itself is dry.

Thanks for the pointers on the other books.

[bassdrone42]

I certainly don't equate GTD with spirituality, the Bible, etc., , but it is good for the soul to feel that one has more control over the day to day stuff of life.




Amen to that!

[Unregistered]

Go to the website for Axialent ... there are an number of pdf articles that can be downloaded and they complement the GTD information in a variety of ways. Some that I have found interesting and very closely related are about making and keeping commitments. Fred Kofman one of Axialents principles and his CD series on Conscious Business are good also. Here is the website for the resource center. http://www.axialent.com/eng/resource_center.asp

[Jason Womack]

In no particular order, and not at all a thorough inventory...

PsychoCybernetics (Maltz)
What to Say When You Talk to Yourself (Helmstetter)
Atlas Shrugged (Rand)
Effective Executive (Drucker)
Release Your Brakes (Newman)
Tiger's Fang (Twitchell)
Anything by John-Roger
Candide (Voltaire)

and, most recently, The Shadow of the Wind...

[Unregistered]

Can anyone give me some advice about particularly helpful speed reading classes. I am a General Manager with loads trade articles and internal reports to read and feel like I am also falling behind on my "personal development" type reading. I currently read about 700 wpm but would like a course that would increase that substantially as well as my comprehension?

[moises]

I have some books to recommend. I learned of each of these books (except for the Ellis book) on this site.

By far the most important book I can recommend is The Feeling Good Handbook by David D. Burns. It is a true tour de force despite its sappy title. It should more properly be titled Workbook rather than Handbook. The book works only if you complete the exercises within 30 days after starting the book. It will teach you to face your demons and overcome them. Just like GTD. This has had more impact on my life in this last year than anything else.

Jinny S. Ditzler's Your Best Year Yet provides a nice organizational structure for creating year-long goals. I have done goal-setting before. But I found her structure to be just what I needed. I used this book to set goals for the June '04 through May '05 year. It was a useful exercise.

Smart Choices by Hammond, Keeney, and Raiffa is a layperson's guide to doing cost-benefit analysis. Cost-benefit analyses conflict with my deep-rooted humanistic tendencies but they do have their place. This is an important book for helping me structure important decisions. I just read it in the last week, so it has not had any signficant impact yet on my life. But it is clearly an important tool for my toolbox. I do intend to start using it.

Self-Help Without the Hype by Robert Epstein is out of print. I just finished it this week as well. It takes about an hour to read. I learned nothing new from it. It presents psychological behaviorism in a novelistic form, where the main character has weekly meetings with a fictionalized version of BF Skinner. Despite learning nothing new from it, this book gave me a well-needed kick in the butt to use behavioristic techniques to eliminate a bad habit. The actual technique I decided to use was placing side bets, an idea I got from Albert Elllis's Overcoming Procrastination.

Epstein reiterates the point that we each must find our own path. I do feel that GTD has a place in the pantheon of innovations right next to the invenstion of Arabic numerals. It is that important. But we all know that some people are just naturally organized and productive and don't like GTD. Others are disorganized and unproductive and don't like GTD. So we must each find what works for us. Epstein is a hard advocate for behavioristic techniques. But he stresses in his book that he will not tell us which particular behavioristic technique we must use. We will each learn this for ourselves by failing with some techniques and succeeding with others.

I have read a good number of the books mentioned by others already in this thread. To be perfectly honest, many of those books just were not useful for me. But I would never attempt to minimize the impact these books have had on others.

Lastly, I suggest that those who are interested explore www.emofree.com . It is free and it may be of some use. I have found it to be inconsistent and yet, nonetheless, to be breathtakingly powerful at times.

[ProfDD]

"The Executive Brain: frontal lobes and the civilized mind", by Elkhonon Goldberg, is an excellent book on how the brain works, focusing on higher-level integrative activities and decision-making.

"Quality is Personal", by Roberts and Sergesketter, is a quirky book about the benefits of measurement (actually statistical quality control) in daily life. It has helped me in developing better habits and skills. It was intended to help people really FEEL how quality control techniques improve things, but, judiciously applied, it can be useful.

[Chariot]

- "When I Say No, I Feel Guilty" by Manuel J. Smith (assertiveness training)

[Jez Jacko]

1. The path of least resistance - Robert Fritz (amazing)
2. Your Life as Art - Robert Fritz (as above)
3. Zen and the Art of Motorcycle maintenance - Robert Persig (makes you think)
4. Pychocybenetics - Maxwell Maltz (great tips and tricks)
5. Wishcraft: How to Get What You Really Want - Barbara Sher (practical good advice)

[Diane]

I have to put in another plug for Flylady, who has a lot of the same approach as GTD, just expressed differently.

[mcogilvie]

Jinny S. Ditzler's Your Best Year Yet provides a nice organizational structure for creating year-long goals. I have done goal-setting before. But I found her structure to be just what I needed. I used this book to set goals for the June '04 through May '05 year. It was a useful exercise.


Lastly, I suggest that those who are interested explore www.emofree.com . It is free and it may be of some use. I have found it to be inconsistent and yet, nonetheless, to be breathtakingly powerful at times.

I like Ditzler's book too, and agree that it gives a useful structure for goal-setting. However, the emofree website set off alarms and bells for me. I strongly recommend that anyone with emotional/psychological issues consult local professionals of impeccable reputation. You can ask your physician or clergyperson in confidence for recommendations (you trust them, I hope). A good therapist will be happy to discuss his/her credentials and expertise. Contrary to the claims on this website, there are no 2 minute cures for years of depression.

[moises]

I like Ditzler's book too, and agree that it gives a useful structure for goal-setting. However, the emofree website set off alarms and bells for me. I strongly recommend that anyone with emotional/psychological issues consult local professionals of impeccable reputation. You can ask your physician or clergyperson in confidence for recommendations (you trust them, I hope). A good therapist will be happy to discuss his/her credentials and expertise. Contrary to the claims on this website, there are no 2 minute cures for years of depression.

I agree that anyone with serious issues seek professional help.

That said, I believe that for people without major psychological illness, self-help is worth exploring. Procrastination is a problem many have. And others on this forum have recommended books, like The Now Habit, to deal with procrastination. Albert Ellis has a good book called Overcoming Procrastination. Of course you could also visit a mental health professional to help you with your procrastination problem.

I would recommend that people read and practice what is in The Feeling Good Handbook by David D. Burns. That has been of great benefit to me and to many, many people. Likewise, I strongly recommend that people give EFT a try. Just as with cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), with EFT you rank your emotional distress on a numerical scale. If the distress does not diminish after practicing EFT, then EFT did not work for you. If the negative emotions did not diminish after practicing CBT, then CBT did not work for you.

It's not unlike GTD. For me it was a godsend. I've recommended to numerous people. So far none of them have implemented it. I've given The Feeling Good Handbook to some people. They did not implement. I have seen EFT help other people. The very people who admitted being helped by EFT had no interest in pursuing it.

I suggest that people with serious illness seek professional help. I also recommend that rational stable people take a rational approach to methods and practices that are unusual. First, do no harm. If you think that tapping a few acupuncture points will do you harm, don't do it. If you have a scientist's perspective, test it. Report your experimental results here.

My results have been uneven. EFT is not a panacea for anything. I have found it more useful than doing nothing for emotional distress. I have found it useful for overcoming blocks to implementing GTD more fully. And I have used it to bring someone in minutes from the midst of a full-blown raging panic attack to light-hearted giggling-filled banter in front of the very object that had instigated the attack.

I have no training in mental health. Thanks for reminding us that there are serious problems for which a visit to mental health professional is the best option.