I’m generally not a big fan of self-help books. Even when I agree with the concepts and principles they are based on, the books themselves are often smarmy, self-indulgent, and an open invitation to avoid the task of actually doing things in favor of reading about doing things. I am particularly prone to this problem because it effectively combines two of my great passions: reading and procrastinating (if you can find a way to eat and listen to music at the same time, you have basically achieved the Quadruple Crown in the sport of being Chris).

So you can imagine how I might be driven to distraction by books about time management, organization, and productivity. Reading about how to get organized and whistling softly under my breath at the intricate charts, quadrants, schemas, mantras, and filing systems is way more fun than actually getting organized.

And then I found, through sheer happenstance (it was the only plausible-looking title in the stunted, crooked stacks to be found in the pathetic excuses Fairbanks boasts for bookstores), the book Getting Things Done by David Allen. One quick reading and I realized that this was it. This was the practical advice I’ve been looking for.

Getting Things Done eschews complicated systems and mercilessly sub-divided Daytimers. I don’t have to apply vaseline to my teeth and practice self-actualization in front of a mirror. There are no “strongly suggested” $1800 seminars. Except for a few earnest aphorisms from old martial arts movies (”mind like water” says David Allen — master approves says grasshopper) there’s no elaborate Zen tie-in. I have yet to learn of any secret handshakes, signet rings or encrypted symbols. It’s really just about a simple method for getting stuff done by capturing thoughts, organizing them simply with projects, and avoiding the tyranny of never ending to-do lists.

Unfortunately, I’m now discovering that this is old news. Not because the book is old (I knew it was a few years old) but because it’s already become a meme in the real world and, just a month or so ago, in cyberspace. I’m like the poor kid who shows up to the 1988 prom in his Miami Vice white suit and pastel t-shirt, just a short few months late, when dressing like Crockett is so over.

The system’s not only been featured in The Atlantic Monthly, but it’s been noted by Anil Dash who notices a lot of other people noticing, including 43 Folders which I’d never heard of, but which apparently has become so popular that it apparently “belies the assumption that the weblog medium is too established or too crowded to launch a popular new blog.”

There are activce forums, hacks, multiple independent discussion boards, a portal site aggregating blogs about the book (nicknamed GTD, natch), support in the Emacs planner.el mode, even an Outlook plugin if you are one of those users.

It’s amazing– and humiliating– to discover that even within a group I’m relatively connected to there can be so much activity that I’m completely clueless about. I recently heard a guy in the coffee shop talking in amazement about instant messaging and how it was possible to talk in real time with anyone anywhere, right over the internet. A few weeks of being too busy to surf and now I’m that guy!

That being said, I am feeling pretty good about this way of doing things, even if the cult-like following in whose midst I have been walking totally unawares scares me just a bit. I’m sure I’ll post more here about how I’m implementing the system (hint: it’s almost completely paper based except for necessary email techniques).