This book is a great follow up to Allen's Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity. It probes a little deeper into the areas that he explains in GTD. I gave it 4-stars because I feel it's a companion book and that the original is the 5-star read.

This book helped me think and examine the way I work again. I can relate to those examples mentioned in the book. The book is like an advisor that gives you advice leading you into a more effective way of living. I think this book is OK.

Read it and it will transform your thinking and ultimately your life.
There's great wisdom and practicality in every line.

I read David Allen's first book, Getting Things Done, and thought that his productivity system was great, so I quickly bought Ready for Anything (his second book) to find out what other advice he has to share.

There are many useful insights in this book that elaborate on his GTD system and tackle different aspects of productivity. However, the points he makes could easily have been said in a far simpler - and a more structured - way. For most chapters, I can make out the main point from the title and a few sentences towards the end. Everything in between is usually very confusing, and I struggle to link it to the main idea or any experience in my life.

The lack of structure and the unnecessary confusion shaved off two stars from my rating. Besides that, I believe David Allen's approach is a great way to approach productivity, and this book can help you understand some of the essentials of his system, and the reasoning behind them.

David Allen through this series of 'essays' broadens the GTD concept. One major advantage of this book over his previous one is that the GTD framework is extended past the 'operational' aspects of getting things done. For followers of GTD or those wanting a fresh look at managing today's ever conflicting demands, it's well worth a read.

As a huge fan of David Allen's previous book/philosophy, "Getting Things Done," I was already ready for this "black-belt" CD class and now I'm on my third listen-through during daily commutes.

If you didn't appreciate the initial GTD, then you shouldn't start here anymore than a karate student should start with black belt classes. You should already be reasonably familiar with the GTD process of: In-basket, Process, Organize, Review, and Do - because this new work is all about the subtleties and implications of these steps. Wait until you are a bit experienced in GTD and either feel like you're missing something or want more depth and nuance before starting this new book/CD, or you will not appreciate nor benefit from these great insites and expositions on living a productive life as an imperfect human.

As a real black belt in a traditional Japanese martial art, I appreciate the links Mr. Allen makes between karate forms and organization, and again between real-world fights and dealing with real-life emergencies. You can't be truly creative or take advantage of spontaneous opportunities if you're not practicing staying on top of your commitments and tasks with a good system in place that you trust.

So - start with "Getting Things Done" to learn all the forms. Then get "Ready for Anything" to continue improving at the black belt level.

My highest recommendation, if you're ready for it.

Some reviews have been critical, saying that the material is common sense.

That is the beauty of most things that work. The book is a lot like Dave Ramsey's financial advice. It's common sense, but organized in such a way to make you most effective.

That's what I like about this book. Each portion of his system is extremley intuitive and simple. You put it all together, and it makes you effective if you have the self discipline to do it.

One really good part of the book is that it accurately explains our "stress" as the vague feeling that, despite what you are working on, you should be doing something else, or, that you can't get everything done. He shows you how to organize your workflow so that you can make your daily (hourly) decisions on what to handle confidently - because you are aware of everything that you have to do, and where it ranks in your priorities.

I also like that his system is realistic and flexible, for those days that 3 fires hit you. I also like that it is not software or hardware (certain special calendars) specific. I have always been skeptical of organziational books that seem like they're just trying to hook you on selling you other merchandise. This guy's system can be done with a looseleaf notebook or a PDA. Whatever floats your boat.

I have the book on cassette tapes and I listen to the tapes A LOT! I would recommend reading or listening to this book several times. It has the potential to be life-changing...really!

This book seems like a repetition of the firs one (Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity) which was very interesting and it helped me a lot. If you want to learn his theory about edit and organize todo list, you better buy that one.

This book was not bad. I almost gave it 4 stars, but there are some other great books out there. I have already read Allen's 'Getting Things Done', so some of the material was rehash for me. Overall, I think the book does what it sets out to do, and it does contain some useful tips.

I have not read Mr. Allen's "Getting Things Done," but I'd like to read everything he's written now. I've read many time management books...and I've read many philosophy books. This is excellent in both spheres. The approach to time management is so much deeper than "List To-Do's and prioritize A-B-C"; it led me to think very deeply about time and perception, and what we do with our minds moment by moment. I love his concept of "psychic RAM" - and the idea that the more clogged it is, the less effective we are. This actually echoes Julia Cameron's practice of the "Morning Pages" in "The Artist's Way," and Brenda Euland's idea that writing everything down, EVERYTHING, produces a clear, flowing stream of thought. When Mr. Allen talks about writing everything down, he is talking about much more than a to-do list. This is not the same old time management guru stuff.

His style, too, is appealing. None of that bright, chirpy tone of many self-help books, and none of the "weightiness" of Steven Covey. You hear a real person talking.

Finally, there are the sidebar quotes, which are extremely wide-ranging and well-chosen.

Key points:

1. One should read Allen's "Getting Things Done" (GTD) before reading "Ready for Anything" (RFA).

2. If you've read GTD, you can probably skip RFA. It reinforces some core GTD principles, often in a mind-numbingly repetitive fashion (which can be a good teaching style), but also tries to fill in some of "The Vision Thing" content absent in GTD. Unfortunately, Covey is better than Allen in addressing "The Vision Thing." Together, GTD plus Covey's "7 Habits" and "First Things First" (FTF) make an interesting collection.

3. RFA suffers from the same design and layout issues I found with GTD: the "inspirational quotations" in the margins destroy the reading flow as they push into the space occupied by the main text. The quotes distract the reader from the main text due to their intrusion into such and a lack of white space. IMO, there are too many inspirational quotes. Allen should have simply started each chapter with one relevant quote, ala Covey's "7 Habits..." I've noticed that some of the inspirational quotes are recycled from GTD and are sometimes better than the associated essay in RFA. To see how to place quotes or references in the margins of a book's pages, Allen should review any of Edward Tufte's books, such as "Beautiful Evidence."

4. There are obvious parallels throughout RFA to ideas in Covey's "7 Habits" and "First Things First." However, there's no mention of Covey in the book (and he's only cited once in GTD via an inspirational quote). Both Covey and Allen have interesting things to teach, but it seems Allen eschews any reference to Covey despite the obvious parallels to anyone who has read both authors. In some cases, it seems Allen is taking pot-shots at Covey ideas, such as his reference to the "quadrant matrix" on page 22 of the paperback edition of RFA, an obvious reference to Covey's Urgent/Important matrix in FTF.

5. RFA makes no attempt to indicate when the included essays were originally published in Allen's newsletter. It would be interesting to know when the original essay was published. I'm sure they've been edited and updated for the book, but some connection to their stated original publication dates might be helpful in understanding where Allen was in his personal journey at the time he wrote the essay.

6. The "By the way..." items at the end of each RFA chapter may be valuable for readers who've not yet asked themselves some of the deeper questions or who are struggling with their GTD implementation.

7. IMO, the GTD Workflow chart, in a revised form in RFA, still needs work. Perhaps they should not try to fit it on one page: use a two-page spread or, even better, a fold-out that one can also tear out. The chart would benefit from the help of someone who knows how to draw flowcharts.

8. The paper in the paperback edition of RFA is of a cheap, inferior quality compared to that used in the paperback edition of GTD. To me, it feels like cheap newsprint.

9. RFA lacks an index. A book like this, without an index, is most unfortunate, indicating perhaps a rush job to capitalize on GTD interest by recycling old essays. Recycling content for additional profit is a good idea, but any book like this should include an index.

I listened to only half of this, on CD that claimed it was unabridged.
This note is only about the recording, not the book, and not the ideas and recommendations
expressed in the book. The author deserves credit for stating his method takes work
over an extended period to make the method work.

The narrator was a disappointment. He was very slow. There were many long pauses, and not only
where a long pause was appropriate. Several times I thought the player had stopped. This guy was
so low key he made Mr Rogers (TV kids show) seem hyper. Each chapter ends with a question
intended to be thought provoking, something such as "By the way, when did you last ....?"
The tone of these otherwise good questions made me think of someone addressing a preschool child.

What bothered me might not bother you, or might even be characteristics you prefer.
Hence the average rating.

"Ready for Anything" is a pointless book full of information and ideas that anyone who went through school should already know. I learned a long time ago to write things down instead of keeping them in my head and I also know that being organized gives me more flexibility and less stress so why would I want to read a book in which Allen writes about basic concepts in a philosophical way. Yeah this book might be good for someone who didn't pick up on these basic skills in Middle school but for me it was a waste of my time which I'm sure Allen would agree is not a good use of my skills. Do yourself a favor and don't waste your time on this book because maybe then you will open yourself up to more time for "creativity" which is the point of the book in the first place.

This is great reading material......After "Getting Things Done" this book is a marvellous follow up and being in 52 short chapters it supports what has already been learnt by interesting reminders and new ways of looking at Dave's organizing with everyday examples of things that make me laugh.....He seems to be looking over my shoulder at home and in the office....

I am a loyal follower of Getting Things Done (GTD) and have been using the system for almost 3 years. That being said, I was dissapointed in this book in that it is too "spiritual" and "mindful" at least for me. Most people that I know that use GTD are more process driven type people and do not really want to read about the "fluffy" stuff because most of it is common sense. The hard part is coming up with a system like GTD to actually have a framework with which to process information. Therefore, I highly recommend Mr. Allen's first book "Getting Things Done" if you are having trouble keeping up with the inflow of information we receive in this modern age.

Book Getting Things Done is the must to start practicing GTD.
Ready for Anything is like fresh air and energy for revival of all the enthusiasm you have got when started with GTD. It will help you running for whole life victory (at least in area of managing activities, but what more you want to "do").

I have found the book helpful to re-prioritize to WHAT I should be giving most attention to better achieve my goals.

I guess this is is more for people who have already implemented the Getting Things Done in their lives. A decent read.

This book is very helpfull and adress a sense of time management and action that we need to accomplish in order to do successfull things in business and in life

A sophisticated and brief set of fifty-two disciplinary observations and requirements for better control and less confusion. A good book - but not as thorough and enlightening as I had hoped for -but then, I hoped for a lot.

I was disappointed with this book because it isn't significantly different from the author's book, Getting Things Done.

I never thought I could get too much of David Allen, the productivity guru whose `Getting Things Done' system has transformed my work and life habits. But this book borders on too much of a good thing.

At least, that is, if you sit down and read right through it. The trick is to ration.

While I don't know whether the number 52 was chosen to give us a two-to-three page sampling of Allen's writing on a weekly basis, the truth is it works well that way. I'm integrating it into Allen's famous `weekly review', the bone marrow of a productive work-life organism.

In such small doses, it's good stuff. Allen and his staff have culled these reflections from his writings over the year. The power of `GTD' lies in its simplicity, so you won't find vastly divergent essays on politics, literature, and the price of gasoline in Idaho.

What you will find is a simple and tenacious focus on a system that allows you to clear your mind and focus on the one thing you're choosing to do right now.

On balance and in moderation, that's a good thing.

I rated the same author's "Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity" a five stars on Amazon with the review title "Excellent! Helpful for all walks of life". I am so sorry to comment that this "Ready for Anything" is an inferior and cliche version of his previous book. Sorry to comment that the author's attempt to write a much more strategic book on productivity had failed miserably. Read "Getting Things Done" instead, which is tactical but highly helpful. Dont waste your valuable time and money on this.

p.s. I hold no bias on whether a book should be strategic or tactical, or both, as long as it's interesting and helpful.

This book repeats much of the content from GTD, from different angles, and so works well as a refresher, if that's what you're looking for.

It is structured as 52 2-3 page snippets. Plus a small chapter containing a nice summary/review of the GTD basics. And (brace yourself) there's even a new version of The Flowchart.

Definitely a follow-up to GTD, so read that first.

David Allen's best known work is "Getting Things Done," a guide to stress free productivity. Allen, in many ways, is a philosopher. not a time-management or productivity guru. His insights into the correlation between "open loops," as he calls them (the things undone that rattle around in our mind)and stress are remarkable.

But "Getting Things Done" can be a very rocky read because Allen combines an explanation of his philosophy with a method for clearing the clutter from your mind.

"Ready For Anything," on the other hand, eschews the methodology and focuses instead on the philosophy. In 52 short chapters, Allen lays out his thinking about time-management, stress and productivity. In each of these short chapters Allen expounds on his philosophy. It is much easier to digest in this form than it is in "Getting Things Done."

Allen's basic thoughts aren't new or novel. If you're confused about what needs to be done, than what needs to be done won't get done. It's that simple. But Allen brings together basic principles in a new, easily understood way.

I see both books -- and frequent references to them -- as necessary and helpful. Allen's reputation is well justified and "Ready For Anything" is proof of it.

Jerry

The book is divided into 52 chapters that repeat basically the same points over and over again. So you have to read through the chapters and try to spot the occasional new idea. It seems strange that a book on productivity makes you waste time gleaning a few good ideas. (Come on, man, if you have 10 pages of good ideas, give them to me in 10.) But then again I guess most books in this genre make you do that. Sheesh.

I can not recommend David Allen's earlier book, Getting Things Done, highly enough. I read it six months ago and continue to follow his system, using the Outlook plug-in sold on his web site. I had made a reminder when I finished that book to re-read it in six months. When the time came, I decided to pick up this book instead. It was a mistake.

Ready For Anything is a series of short inspirational essays on productivity. It has a strong self-help feel to it. If you've read GTD and aren't convinced that the system is worth implementing, maybe this book will sell it to you. For those who are already practicing the system, it doesn't offer a whole lot. Many essays are about the importance of having a system, or the importance of the weekly review, a key element of the system. Others are simply meanderings with no concrete purpose. There are quotes peppered in the margins throughout. While some are thought-provoking, they distracted me from the main text. I'd prefer to see them at the beginning or end of the essay.

If you haven't read Getting Things Done, absolutely read that first. If you need a little motivation to keep you on track, maybe Ready For Anything will help.

After reading David Allen's first book "Getting Things Done", I was excited to read "Ready For Anything". I was hoping for a book that would go into more practical applications of the topics discussed in "Getting Things Done". However, I found quite the opposite.

"Ready for Anything" has 52 short chapters that discuss a range of topics. While the topics are good and the quotes spread throughout are excellent, I found each chapter to be far too conceptual and not practical enough. I wanted more specific advice.... not that the advice given was bad.

While reading this, I found that the material was just a rehash of "Getting Things Done". I would highly recommend you pick up that book and pass this one over. 2 out of 5 stars.

I am a great fan of David Allen's books because they are practical and to the point. I have implemented many of the tips in this book, and am undoubtedly, more productive. So, I recommend this book, and the author's other book, Getting Things Done.

The second book by the man behind 'Getting Things Done'. I was always against books like this in the past, simply because it seemed too New Age and touchy-feely. However, I think I can get at least a little something out of whatever I read, so I gave it a go. Man, am I glad I did. This book, along with 'Getting Things Done', might do for my organizing what 'Controlled Cheating' by Larry Goldberg did for my weight loss. I definitely recommend this one. It's filled with advice on how to become more productive by explicitly stating your goals, taking small actions to complete projects, and having the right kind of view about your tasks and schedule.

Fifty-two power-packed principles that stir, awaken and inspire. What a great way to spur me forward in all my endeavors. I highly recommend this book for all -- in business or not. Spiritual and practical gift. Thank you David Allen.

Author David Allen lists 52 basic principles for productivity, including: write everything down, do the jobs that nag you, focus on the matter at hand and so on. As he notes, the principles are both simple to understand and difficult to implement. The book is essentially a collection of gleanings from the author's previous writings, so it does not present a systematic or unified approach to time and productivity management. However, Allen's straightforward tips are handy, if sometimes duplicative. The number 52 suggests that you might find one helpful tip to use each week in a one-year program of self-improvement and productivity management. In that case, repetition is probably a good thing, since bad habits tend to spring up again like weeds and require the same remedies often. The author is relentlessly upbeat, optimistic and witty, like a motivational speaker. That might be hard to read in a big chunk, but it is easy to digest if you spend a little time every week reading a recommendation and implementing it. We recommend this book to anyone who urgently needs help with time management and productivity.

While this is an outstanding book, I highly recommend his first work, Getting Things Done. Since this doesn't have a consistent narrative but is instead broken up into numerous tiny essays, it will be harder to get the maximum benefit from his approach to personal productivity from this alone.

Readers who "got" Getting Things Done don't need my advice on this one...they've already bought it I'm sure.

David Allen is probably the smartest personal productivity coach in print. I would buy Getting Things Done for every employee in my organization, and I would have copies of this one lying around to remind people and elaborate on some of the finer points.

Oh and I would like to add one point. I believe there is one thing missing from Mr. Allen's algorithm. That is finishing. I think his plan is outstanding for getting unstuck: figure out the next action, and do it without hesitation. But I don't find any attention paid to how to decide how many actions are "enough" for a desired outcome of a project.

You can always find some next action, and founder in what software engineers like myself call "permanent beta" or "feature creep." Yet external constraints are best not relied on exclusively for these decisions. It's best to volunteer a ruthless focus on the essence of your project's deliverable, isn't it?

So I would like Mr. Allen to write his next book about finishing projects, if he is able to develop insights into that stage as strong as his insights into the process of the middle stages.

Mr. Allen's system is surprisingly simple - the realisation that we are monkeys; that keeping to do lists in our heads causes stress; get the list on paper and the stress goes away; we can do simple physical actions with ease. Use a paper filing system; the instruction to ask of each item in our In-tray `what is the next physical action;' the instruction to deal with each item right now if it will take less than two minutes.

If Mr. Allen had merely described his system 1) you wouldn't believe it and 2) worse, you wouldn't `just do it.' And JUST DOING IT does work, amazingly enough.

`Buy a label maker' - a surprisingly important part of Allen's system. That sounds nuts! Does he have shares in a label making company? Unlikely. Then Why? Remember the monkey approach. Simple physical tasks. Create files. Label them. Don't think. Do it. And then you look at the result. You have created it. You have invested in the system. You are that monkey.

And it works! A simple system that works!

As the Scots say, Mr. Allen is a very canny fellow.

I believe that Mr. Allen wrote his book so deliberately. He makes you invest in reading the book as he makes you invest in his system when you sit there printing labels for manila files.

It may be nuts but it is a very clever kind of nuts ;-).