Getting Things Done

Getting Things Done is not simply about getting things done. It’s about being appropriately engaged with your work and life.

Anxiety is caused by a lack of control, organization, preparation, and action.

Think like a man of action, act like a man of thought.

We can never really be prepared for that which is wholly new. We have to adjust ourselves, and every radical adjustment is a crisis in self-esteem; we undergo a test, we have to prove ourselves. It needs subordinate self-confidence to face drastic change without inner trembling. —Eric Hoffer

Everything in life worth achieving requires practice.

Managing Action Is the Prime Challenge

A task left undone remains undone in two places—at the actual location of the task, and inside your head. Incomplete tasks in your head consume the energy of your attention as they gnaw at your conscience. —Brahma Kumaris

Getting things done requires two basic components: defining (1) what “done” means (outcome) and (2) what “doing” looks like (action).

In truth, this book is not so much concerned with getting things done as it is championing appropriate engagement with your world—guiding you to make the best choice of what to do in each moment, and to eliminate distraction and stress about what you’re not doing.