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

For those who have read and/or familiar with Allen's Getting Things Done, this is a great follow-up. If you like Allen's strategies for organization and general productivity, but occasionally find yourself "falling off the wagon," this book will help.

The book elucidates the major mindsets crucial to GTD, but sometimes gets too wrapped up in its philosophical approach. The "horizons of focus" will cloud your system if you worry about implementing them as actual co...more For those who have read and/or familiar with Allen's Getting Things Done, this is a great follow-up. If you like Allen's strategies for organization and general productivity, but occasionally find yourself "falling off the wagon," this book will help.

The book elucidates the major mindsets crucial to GTD, but sometimes gets too wrapped up in its philosophical approach. The "horizons of focus" will cloud your system if you worry about implementing them as actual components, rather than a way to encapsulate the entire GTD process. If you are interested in GTD as a system, I recommend that you start with the book of the same title, rather than this one.

The book contains some very helpful appendices, including a "project planning trigger list" to make sure that your mind dumps are complete, leaving no stone unturned.

Allen uses this book to address his critics, and does an admirable job. Much of the criticism of GTD has been aimed at purists or those who take Allen's ideas to an extreme. Allen allows for a certain amount of flexibility and custom-tailoring (indeed, mandates it) and this book will help you do that.

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.

Because I'm one of the ones who didn't manage his old GTD system with enough consistency, I wasn't sure if I'd like this book. In fact, I'm not even sure why I decided to read it.

But I'm glad I did. The contents triggered all kinds of thoughts and helped me see where I was missing the boat before. (Among other things, I used to allow "large quantities of things to accumulate in blended stacks" full of both actionable and non-actionable items. A serious no-no.) Making It All Work also links personal and business productivity together in fresh and potentially useful ways that Getting Things Done didn't.

Why not five stars? For my liking, the book makes a few too many claims about GTD's success and importance ("my model has been catapulted into global awareness and acceptance") and assumes a bit too much about how the world works. At one point we're asked to believe, for example, it's more stressful to grapple with the meaning of an e-mail message than with the "fundamentally self-evident meaning of the sight and sounds of bears, bees, and berries."

I don't know if GOD - oops, GTD - ultimately "should be the way we all approach the game of work and the business of life," as Mr. Allen suggests. Nevertheless, the idea of using it as a roadmap appealed to me a few years ago and does so even more now. For the promise of less stress, greater efficiency, and quicker course-correcting when things go awry, I'm sold on tryin' 'er again.

I've even decided to re-read this book and just added a note to that effect to my list of "multiple-step actions I'm committed to finishing within a year" (a.k.a. "projects").

A small disclaimer: I purchased this book as an audio recording, so my experience with it is a bit different (I used it to turn a good number of boring cross-town bus rides into productive learning time). Taking ideas in more than one form can really enhance learning, so I used an Audible credit on this book.

You'll notice a lot of variation in the reviews of MIAW. Some people hate this book because it's a repetition of the concepts that Allen already wrote about in his landmark book, "Getting Things Done." Others love it for that reason or others. I've listened to David Allen lecturing on Google Video, read blogs about GTD, stared at flow charts, and I already have the original book sitting on my shelf six feet from where I sit now (hence my purchasing this book, not the former, as an audio book; why have two copies of a book?). So why am I not agreeing with the people who hate repetition? Well, for one thing, as a religious man, I'm somewhat accustomed to it, and am aware of the value of repetition; but more importantly, I bought this book with every expectation of repetition. A few things are different--such as certain key words--but what lazy people like me will get out of this book is a long, rational lecture about just why the principles in the first book work well. The minor historical content I don't mind; hearing about the development of an idea helps clarify the idea itself, as is the case here.

What's ironic about this book's reiterative nature is that the author freely admitted, in a podcast interview, that he wrote the book so that people wouldn't have to feel stupid having to reread 'Getting Things Done.' He points out that the original book requires several reads to really digest, but how many people are likely to read the same book again? Still, the advice of others may be well-heeded: if you have Allen's earlier book, and if you've already implemented all of the strategies therein with confidence, this book holds little for you. If you're like me, however, and you needed another nudge to really start GTD, give this one a try.

"Making It All Work: Winning At The Game Of Work And The Business Of Life" by David Allen is a follow up and companion book to his widely popular "Getting Things Done." If you have read the first book, and want a little extra on the same principles, with some further guidance in them, you may enjoy this book. If you are looking for something completely different, or expanded on, you may be disappointed.

The book does repeat the same concepts, so if you have not read the first book, you won't be lost. There is a bit of a different framework with the principles he teaches, with different horizons of focus, which essentially is a way to look at the various areas of your life in the immediate to the larger long range picture. It's a good model, and if you do look at your life through these horizons, you will undoubtedly begin to define those activities that are important and what needs to be done to achieve your goals.

The book starts out with chapters on the GTD system, and the chapters on the main concepts of capturing, clarifying, organizing, reflecting, and engaging. Then there's a chapter on applying the concepts to life and work, followed by chapters on getting perspective on various levels of your life. It ends with a summary and description of making it all work in the real world.

Sometimes, people get caught up looking for the "new" or "better" system. If you purchase this book looking for that, after already having read "Getting Things Done," again you will be disappointed. However, if you are looking for a complementary text on the principles found in the first book, along with some repetition, but also with some additional direction, this book may fit the bill for you nicely. Especially if it has been a while since you read the earlier work and have drifted away from the application of some of the strategies and principles. The review and the motivating words in this book will help you get back on track.

I find reading these kinds of books help keep me on track. Even if I know the principles, sometimes I don't act on them. Reading books on productivity help me stay on track, and I also pick up little nuggets and gems that I incorporate into my planning, scheduling, and organizing to help me be more efficient. So I liked the book, and enjoyed the quick read and review.

Reviewed by Alain Burrese, J.D., author of the "Tough Guy Wisdom" series and others.

The entire front half of this book talks about how awesome his first book is and how it solves all the problems it encounters. The second half is mostly rehashing the main principle of the system. I paid a dollar for this book and I got ripped off. Don't waste your time or money on this guy. Let me spoil the entire philosophy for you: WRITE DOWN LISTS OF THINGS TO DO. I did in 7 words what it took David Allen thousands of words to do.

If you have read the earlier book on Getting Things Done and have not put a GTD system in place to increase your productivity then this book is not going to help you. I have given this book three stars because this book does not compare to the "Get things Done" book which has outlined all the steps needed to get things done. The only plus point for those who have been following David Allen's GTD system is that this book is a quick read. After reading this book you will get a few tips here and there and basically feel good that you have not missed much of the GTD phenomenon if you are a late entrant to the system like I am. I was worried that I was probably missing something and so had this book on my list. No worries if you are in the same situation as you can skip this book.

I have been practicing GTD for a while. I have fallen off the wagon and got back on it several times. The problem was always that I had more things to do than it is possible to do. I applied main principles of David's first book on GTD but prioritization was always a stumbling point.

Making It All Work allowed me to look at my work load from a different perspective. After reading the book in one weekend, I realized, how to prioritize in my weekly review, how to be ready to drop tasks when something unexpected comes up that needs urgent attention.

This book is about practical application of GTD principles and teaches you how not to be overwhelmed with your tasks.

I bought this as an audiobook even after I read the negative reviews. I listened to "Getting things done," and did receive a lot of good information. But I have to say, he was very difficult to listen to. I listened to the book several times and started implementing the practices. But, I felt I needed more help so, I bought "Making it All Work."

When I first started listening to this book, I thought great, he has slowed down a bit so I can understand him a little better than his first book. But, going through the first few chapters he really wasn't saying much. I didn't want to skip ahead just in case I would miss something. But I couldn't listen to him go on and on and on. He has a way of making a simple idea sound very complicated. He usually has a mouth full of words that the reader has to sift through to get the basic information he's trying to convey. This gets really tedious.

I've listened to some of his followers, and they have a way of explaining it way better than when he explains it. I wish that some of the people he works with had written the book with him or maybe for him.

Maybe one day I'll try to listen again. Or maybe I can listen to five minutes a day. But for now, I'm going to set the book aside, and plan a way to "make it all work" myself.

I am a fan of David Allen and the GTD methodology, perhaps I have adult ADD, I could not pin this book down to make it worthwhile. It was so frustrating. He could have accomplished what he wanted to say in 1/3 of the size of the book. I wish he used real life examples, or situations where I could apply to my everyday use or read about others' examples.