I am a big fan of David Allen's Getting Things Done so when I saw Ready for Anything, (52 Productivity Principles for Getting Things Done) I decided to see if I could pick up a few more ideas on productivity that would help me, both in my business and personal life. Because really, who can't benefit from being just a bit more productive??
If you haven't read Getting Things Done, then I recommend that before this book. Ready for anything has a few valuable nuggets and some great reminders, but the material is better represented in Allen's GTD. Here's what I took from Ready for Anything:
- Manage your workflow (collect, process, organize, review and do) I've found that my life runs better when I actively follow this.
- Capturing. Ever had a great idea or realized you had something very important to do and then forgot it? Allen suggest always keeping a notebook handy to capture those thoughts, to-do's and ideas.
- Mind mapping. I actually discovered this a few years ago when my daughter was taking college english her senior year of high school. It was tough and we worked on this project together which also taught me the concept. It works! Google mind mapping for more ideas on how to do this.
- I have always encouraged my coaching clients to ask themselves "What is the best use of my time right now." Allen suggests this as well, but then goes on to say "After you ask the question, listen to the answer and then DO." Being successful is all about the actions you take each day.
Id like to know more about the first point, Managing your workflow.
Love the last point. This is a great reminder. As a salesperson I have a tendency to get sidetracked by the "shiny new object". :)
Posted by: Brent | November 12, 2009 at 10:33 AM