Yesterday I finished David Allen’s “Ready for Anything: 52 Productivity Principles for Work and Life“.
I’ve had the book in my possession for years. Picked it up, read a little passage and generally put it back down. During those sessions I was still more or less uncommitted but yearning. For some reason it never pulled me as deeply as it does now.
>You have created, accepted, or promoted whatever you are experiencing. That’s the great news, because you’re in charge and you can change it if you want. You are your own writer, producer, director, and yet merely an extra in everyone else’s play. […]
The book is broken into 52 sections. Each one with an observation or focused view then going into details and minutia for dealing with the perspective. Surrounded by fantastic quotes and a small question section to provoke you into a positive response or reflection.
How hard can that be to digest? Not really. What is hard is if you’re not in the right head space the book offers that classic “Are you doing what you should be doing at this time”, and for a lot of people the answer is no. That incites people into a close the book response. As I’ve mentioned elsewhere fear or the faux sense of over burden really screws with us.
>Completion of open loops, whether they be major projects or boxes of old stuff we’ve yet to purge and organize, prepares the ground for cleaner, clearer, and more complete energy for whatever shows up. […]
The book is a distillation of over a decade of [David](http://www.davidco.com)’s newsletters, talks, and observations. By this time he could probably write another 52 principles since another decade has almost slid by. The lessons are real, the truths are plain to see, and if you are ready to continue down your productivity path and need a bit more wisdom to help yourself along. The book is right up your alley.
If on the other hand you are still a novice to it all (or haven’t begun yet), stay with the [basics](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0142000280?ie=UTF8&tag=myislanandyci-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0142000280 “Getting Things Done”), continue participating and evolving your systems and pick this up as you feel your momentum stabilizing.
>Before everything else, getting ready is the key to success.
–Henry Ford