What it is: Getting Things Done, or “GTD” to the converted, is a breakdown of how to clear out space for doing the things you really want to do. The nutshell is that we all carry around lots of “todo”s and “todosomeday”s in our heads, and Allen drops a whole slew of common-sense techniques to get it out of your head so that you can enjoy life without worrying what you’re forgetting. His premise is that only when our minds are clear (are they ever?) and our thoughts organized (easy for you non-ADD folks) can we produce effective results and unleash our creativity.

Growth Potential: Personally, I don’t follow his bible to the letter, but I use some of techniques and feel much less worried all the time: worried that I’m forgetting something, or which movie was that I wanted to see, or “did I forget my bills this month?” Allen’s mantra is a good one, “Do it, delegate it, defer it, or drop it.” One example: put your morning todos in a place that you will go look at in the morning. If you put something on the bag you take to work, you’ll see it. If you put it on your desk, you might not. So now I always store information in places that I will literally trip over, and it works!

Pop Potential: This book or audio is really for everyone. That said, this is a national bestseller with testimonials from Ken Blanchard (The One Minute Manager), The Wall Street Journal, Fortune and Entrepreneur magazines, he’s got the credentials. With great quotes from famous artists, writers, scientists and political leaders. Even so, you don’t have to be a self-help or transformation junkie, this is for anyone who does anything at anytime ever. Do you ever go shopping? Buy groceries? Do anything? Get this book.

“Get Real” Potential: I listened to the audio version, and the narrator is a little slow. The book repeats itself a lot, which is pretty good for remembering stuff if you missed it, but Mr Not-So-Exciting leaves me a little dry (his guilty pleasure is trimming his hedges). He also calls his email inbox an “inbasket” … I don’t feel like I need to explain my feelings on that.

What I Got out of it: I got a few techniques for organizing my head that I wouldn’t do without. I’m not a convert, I won’t be putting on his brand of black sneakers or buying the kool aid, but I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to enjoy their life with a little less worry. I’d then go pick up the Four Hour Workweek and move to Europe. I’d say more, but I have an “inbasket” to take care of.

Purchase Getting Things Done, by David Allen