I drive a lot. Consequently, I try to improve my mind by listing to audio books… My car is my university. It’s also my daughter’s canteen and dog’s bed but that’s a bit off topic.
There are some books which have really resonated over the years, and some which have been so appalling, I’ve nearly driven into a lamp post.
Firstly, does anyone have a personal favourite, which they keep coming back to?
And secondly, have you tied it into your implementation of Omnifocus.
Obviously I am not including anything by David Allen
Currently I am listening to Covey (the other one’s) 4 Disciplines of Execution. I’m broadly sympathetic to it’s message but not entirely sure yet.
Rather unconventionally, I have just finished The Nerdist Way by Chris Hardwick, which was hysterical- by far the funniest book on productivity I’ve found, and properly rude- bonus points. And swearing (more bonus points, I’m a soldier).
I’ve also quite enjoyed Zen to Done, but realised that it doesn’t account for the maelstrom of stuff that flies towards me each week. “Sorry, Colonel, but I am only committing myself to three tasks this morning” is a phrase which will never pass my lips.
The 7 Habits book is like David Allen’s GTD books. I’ve found that I had to put it away for a year before re-reading it. I would often pick up different things that i didn’t discover on the previous reading. I’d put it away for another year and re-read it again.
Zen-To-Done was my pathway to GTD. I tried David Allen’s way first and just fell off the bandwagon. Then I tried ZTD and was able to successfully adopt many of the GTD practices over time. I think that ZTD is more of a beginner’s introduction to GTD. But many experienced GTD practitioners can definitely pick up a lot of tips from the ZTD and incorporate it into their existing system.
Although it’s not an audiobook, I did find a couple of books that were helpful.
Michael Linenberger’s “Master Your Workday Now” is a nice workflow that tries to fill in areas where GTD doesn’t really explain that well.
For OmniFocus, Asian Efficiency’s OmniFocus 2 Premium Posts is definitely worth its price in gold. It has helped me advance quickly in OF2 rather than trying to experiment and spend hours searching for OF2 blog posts.
I also love listening to audio books, Since I prefer fiction, I usually listen to the classics. There are some great non-fiction books available in audio version too, you just have to search more.
Snicker all ya want. I picked up a copy of “Getting Things done for Teens” for my daughter. It’s actually pretty good! Written by a teacher who practices GTD and breaks it down and makes it easier to digest.
The Bullet Journal by Ryder Caroll has sharpened up my personal workflow when I wanted to use OmniFocus as my digital storage and a BuJo as my daily driver.
Master Your Workday Now by Michael Linenberger - A GTD alternative that fills in holes that I can’t fill up with David Allen’s GTD.
The Checklist Manifesto by Atul Gawande
Other books on my “To Read” List are:
Essentialism by Greg McKeown
Work Simply by Carson Tate
