Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity by David Allen is a true classic in productivity circles. For that reason, I'd put off reading it for ages, figuring I would've already heard its best ideas through other authors who've been influenced by it. To my pleasant surprise, I still found it useful to read about Allen's original system and picked up a few "good tricks" along the way! As usual, the key takeaways are below, and you can find the full summary by clicking the link above. KEY TAKEAWAYS The aim of Getting Things Done (GTD) is not simply to get more done.
GTD involves 5 steps (the flowchart below summarises steps 2 and 3):
GTD is a lifelong practice and you’ll get better at it over time.
As usual, you can find the full detailed summary on the website. If you found this summary useful, consider forwarding to a friend you think might enjoy it. Thanks for subscribing! Until next time, |
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My latest summary is for A Hacker’s Mind: How the Powerful Bend Society’s Rules, and How to Bend them Back by security expert Bruce Schneier. It's an interesting look at the systems around us through the lens of hacking. As usual, the key takeaways are below, and you can find the full summary by clicking the link above. KEY TAKEAWAYS A hack is an activity allowed by the system that subverts the goal or intent of the system. Hacks exploit a vulnerability in the system to advance the hacker’s...
If, like me, you’ve been watching US politics recently and wondering how it got to be the way it is, you might find my latest summary for Why We’re Polarized by Ezra Klein to be an enlightening read. As usual, the key takeaways are below, and you can find the full summary by clicking the link above. KEY TAKEAWAYS America has polarized significantly over the past few decades: Political polarization has increased. Swing voters who are genuinely persuadable are going extinct. Polarization by...
Hope you're doing well. This month I posted 2 summaries and 2 blog posts. Book summaries The Art of Learning by Joshua Waitzkin (24 mins) — Waitzkin won 8 National Championships in Chess and later became a world champion in Tai Chi Push Hands. This is partly a memoir and partly a self-improvement book, explaining the principles that helped him succeed. The Book of Why by Judea Pearl and Dana McKenzie (20 mins) — explains how statisticians misunderstood causality for a long time and how causal...