Making It All Work by David Allen, author of the influential productivity book Getting Things Done, is a study of the underlying philosophy of the ‘GTD’ productivity system that is his brain child.

Making It All Work does cover a full review of the GTD system, so you can read this title without having read Getting Things Done to learn about the mechanics of the system. However, what distinguishes this follow-up to Allen’s original book is that Making It All Work is primarily a study of why the GTD system meshes so well with human nature.

The fundamental essence of the GTD system can be distilled into one single question that Allen asks the reader of Making It All Work: “What have you not yet fully accepted and acknowledged that is pulling on your psyche, or on your company, or on your family, right at this moment?” This is the fundamental question that the GTD system eternally poses to those who integrate the system into their lives: “What actions are not taking place, because they haven’t been defined, because you haven’t reminded yourself about them, or because you’re simply avoiding them because you’re not trusting enough that they are the right ones?” The GTD system provides a practical application to help answer this question, but as Allen explores in Making It All Work, the question does have philosophical, even spiritual implications.

Allen’s prescription for avoidance, procrastination, apathy and psychological inertia is summarized in a single aphorism: “Pay attention to what has your attention”, and he reinforces this phrase and concept throughout the book. The down-to-earth practicality of the GTD system is quite deceptive: at its core, GTD is actually about raising your level of consciousness and self-awareness, as well as fostering a healthy sense of inner-congruence. “Pay attention to what has your attention” could just as well be an aphorism overheard during spiritual instruction of monks in a secluded monastery.

Another interesting perspective on the philosophy of GTD that Allen explores is his assertion that the neat categories that we love to pigeonhole life into are harmful illusions. “The whole concept of work versus life and personal versus professional is nonsense,” Allen writes. “Life is work and work is part of life, and the profession is the personal.” Even on the cover of the book Allen reinforces this concept: “Winning At The Game of Work and the Business of Life”, it reads. The mechanics of the GTD system itself of course reflects this view; Allen describes GTD as being a “total-life action list…the foundation of hour-by-hour decision-making.”

According to Allen, there is only one definition of ‘work’: “anything you want to get done that’s not done yet.” So if you are avoiding a certain chore or project at home, this will inevitably drain psychic energy while you’re at work; or if you are avoiding a vital task at work, you will find yourself in a state of anxiety while you’re trying to relax at home: the psyche doesn’t distinguish between ‘work’ and ‘home’, so failure to appropriately acknowledge responsibilities in any one area will inevitably cause psychic drain in every context of your life.

This is why Allen stresses implementing GTD as a “total-life” system. According to Allen, when we adopt this total-life perspective, “there is no sense of overwhelm, no distinction between personal and professional, no dilemma of a life/work balance. You are doing in a state of being, and can simply be in an active and dynamic way.”

In Making It All Work, Allen also investigates another interesting phenomenon: the human perception of time, which he hints is an illusion. “The truth is,” Allen writes, “when you are ‘in your zone’ – when time has disappeared and you’re simply ‘on’ with whatever you’re doing – there is no distinction in your psyche at that moment between ‘work’ and ‘personal’.” This state of ‘timeless nirvana’ appears to be the ultimate goal of the GTD system (in fact, the GTD app that I use is aptly named ‘Nirvana’).

The goal of using a system like GTD, according to Allen, seems to be to reach this state of total inner-congruence, in which the constraints of time itself are revealed as illusion; it isn’t that time becomes ‘unlimited’ when you implement the GTD system – quite the opposite – it’s that you never feel like you are doing the "wrong thing" with your time, and therefore don't feel constrained or hindered by it. “You will experience, at least in the existential moment, no sense of time, of overwhelm, no gnawing sense of amorphous pressure on your psyche,” Allen explains. “You’re just doing what you’re doing, appropriately and without internal distraction.”

It is easy to dismiss Getting Things Done as just another ‘Self-Help’ book, complete with the obligatory picture of a smiling, successful looking author on the book cover, the sort of book that provides a little dopamine hit for the reader but nothing more. In Making It All Work however, Allen demonstrates that his GTD system is more akin to a manual for practical enlightenment than it is a nifty system to remember to pickup milk from the store.

I do not merely recommend this book; I would actually suggest that the implementation of Allen’s GTD system, or some variant of it customized to your liking, is a per-requisite to unlocking your latent, untapped potential as a productive, focused, self-actualized man. It does make sense to read Getting Things Done first, but Making It All Work distinguishes itself as essential reading as well, owing to its philosophical, sometimes even quasi-mystical, yet ever grounded in reality exploration of the GTD system. ( )

I am back to re-reading Getting It All done and I really feel like I have a much better sense of how to make it work. I tried before, but I'm going to try again. Wish me luck! ( )

Imagine David Allen got to write his doctoral thesis on the topic of... David Allen. And suppose no one told him he needed an editor... or concrete examples. What would you have?

You'd have Making it All Work, of course: a very insightful, very in-depth exposition of Getting Things Done stuff in which Allen never says "use" when he could say "utilize" (or at least it feels that way). It's for serious scholars of his philosophy. If you pretend you're walking into Allen's graduate seminar and don't mind strapping on your abstract hat, you might be inspired. ( )

At the turn of the millennium, David Allen released his landmark work Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity and changed how many of us managed our time and work environment. Striving for the "mind like water", Allen, urges readers to use straightforward filing systems and trusted systems, like calendars and useful lists, freeing the mind to focus on the needs of the moment. The "mind dump," unloading all the things that are on our mind, organizing them into meaningful lists of what we can do now, what are projects that need multiple actions, and what can, or should be, delayed until some future date we can develop focus to decide what is the next action to perform and stay "in the moment" with that task knowing that the other work is not forgotten and has its place. Part of my approach to Focus and Flow...

I would recommend Making It All Work instead of the classic volume that introduced us to Allen, Getting Things Done. Making It All Work provides a mature analysis of the philosophy of his organizational approach and better focus on the horizon view of planning. Much of the criticism of his work arises from a misconception that Allen is not solving the task overload problem, only organizing it. Making It All Work is clearer, though GTD explained it as well, the framework includes determining what needs to be done, what can wait, and what should be ignored. ( )

Now I've read Getting Things Done and implemented the GTD process. I though this book would help explain some things I may have not focused entirely on and help me reach the mind like water stage. Not only did it explain those areas, it helped me focus on every area I was weak in but didn't realize it. This book re-energized the entire process and I thought I was already excited for the process before that. thank you, thank you, thank you! ( )