There are many books on personal productivity, and mostly I don’t touch them – they tend to flog some sort of software or life philosophy which is hokey at best and dysfunctional at worst. David Allen‘s Getting thing done (despite its rather tired subtitle The Art of Stress-free Productivity) is an exception. The reason I think that is partly that I found myself recognizing his central premise (that getting organized is essentially about not having to think about things, and having to think about many things makes us frustrated and interrupt-driven), partly that many people in my line of work praise this approach and swear by it. I also liked his practical approach to software versus paper – use whatever you are comfortable with, as well as his observation that many ideas come about playing with new technology or, for that matter, office equipment. And his system is actually rather wiki-like, with its emphasis on frequent reviews and restructuring.

Now, I intend to put his system to the test. As soon as I am back in my office in Norway. In the meantime, there are quite a few web sites with tools and techniques that want to improve on an already good little book. Plus, I can check out OPML as a productivity tool and think about getting my very own Brother labeler….