Making It All Work: Winning at the Game of Work and the Business of Life

I've never liked the term "life changing." It always seemed cliché and inaccurate. Many people who have read this book (and the others) call it life changing. I prefer to call it life making. The principles outlined in this book (and the others) allow you to make your life. Your own life. The life that you choose because you psyche (as David puts it) is free. Free to think, reason, decide and do what ever you want. You can say no because you don't want to do it not because you would have a nervous breakdown if you did. I recommend this book (and the others) to anyone who wants a better life. If you do what he says, it will help, no matter what, where, or when. It ALL works.

The second half of this book - "Getting Perspective" - is where I found real value. David talks about identifying everything that is important to you at the different "horizons" in your life. These horizons include things like "areas of responsibility", "goals & objectives", "vision" and "principles & purpose". After reading and applying the first GTD book you will already have your day-to-day projects and actions under control. The thing is that you need "perspective" to allow yourself to work on the important stuff, rather than getting carried away just doing "busy work". So, from time to time, you review the things that are important to you on a higher level. This triggers thinking and generates new projects (with associated actions) helping you take steps toward achieving your goals/dreams/etc. Some negative reviews here may be based on the first half of the book - "Getting Control" - which is definitely just a rehash of the first book. I guess they had to do that for people who have picked it up without having read the first GTD book. Stick with it, the second half more than makes up for it. If I can offer a suggestion: Install a mind-mapping tool like xmind or freemind (free) and jot down any ideas that pop into your head as you read. By the time I finished this book I had all of my responsibilities, goals, vision, purpose & principles mapped out - it really is a great feeling!

I started using GTD about two years ago after carrying around a Franklin Covey planner for several years. I struggled to stick with the Franklin Covey system in a fast-paced job where priorities shifted frequently. GTD, in contrast, is a much more practical system that encompasses every aspect of personal work flow. Unlike my experience with Franklin Covey, it has stuck. It works beautifully. Over time, I've come to appreciate that successful implementation of GTD is really more about habits of the mind than clever systems for managing lists and files. The concepts in GTD may seem like common sense, but applying that common sense systematically and comprehensively can be a long journey. "Making it All Work" dives deeper into the subtleties of those mental habits. It has sharpened my GTD implementation, and given me even greater respect for the elegance, simplicity, and power of Allen's system. The book also goes into much greater detail on the horizons of focus, something that most people don't pay a lot of attention to until they have been working with GTD for a while. I suspect that many GTD "veterans" will find this to be the real value of the book. GTD is not "hard," as one reviewer wrote. It is actually very simple. Changing mental habits so that one is always asking "is this actionable," "what is the successful outcome," and "what is the next action" takes time and persistence, but it is not very difficult. If you are new to GTD, put this book on your wish list and order "Getting Things Done" first. Try implementing the system for a few months, paying attention to the elements of the system that seem to come less naturally to you, and THEN order Making it All Work. I don't think that you will regret it.

Making It All Work is a much-needed addition to the GTD series. The original bestseller "Getting Things Done" sparked a cult of mechanical innovation (contexts, to-do lists, weekly review sessions, etc.) but did not explain the 'why' behind each method. Ultimately, and this is something I've realized only after several years of applying these principles, it's is not the mechanics that matters, and it's not about keeping well groomed to do lists and crossing off tasks, but rather, it's about managing your mind. When you're overwhelmed with all the things going on in your life you fall into reactive mode and lose your sense of control. However, GTD is also not about reducing your life down to a checklist. Sometimes, you have to give yourself the permission to be a 'visionary' and run amok with your schedule. At other times, you have to take on the role of the 'implementer' and execute on those lists. The trick is in understanding that at different times you'll have to take on different roles and adjust accordingly. David Allen explores all of these concepts in Making It All Work. I found the book to be a rewarding read as it brought a lot of clarity to own my thinking. Highly recommended.

I differ from most people in that I did not find the original book clearly written or easy to apply. This book supplies a good deal of the rationale and context that was missing from the first book. It does a much better job of describing the distinctions among the categories. Definitely recommended for those who, like me, did not get it the first time because the presentation was not fleshed out. I admit that Allen is not as natural a writer as he is a speaker. Most of his nuggets of wisdom tend to be hidden in the middle of paragraphs. His first chapter, rather than chastising readers for not applying his his principles well, should have been an apology for his not writing well the first time. That said, this book offers a great deal if read carefully.