Book · 2001
Getting Things Done
by David Allen
A management consultant argues your brain is for having ideas, not storing them, and hands you a five-step system to empty it.
What does Reddit think of Getting Things Done?
r/productivity treats Getting Things Done as infrastructure, not inspiration. The most upvoted excerpt (↑835) boils it down to one line: your head is for having ideas, not holding them, so capture everything and process it systematically. Another (↑288) frames the next-action list as a way to bypass emotional avoidance rather than argue with it. It rarely stands alone in these threads. One comment (↑712) stacks it after Atomic Habits and before Building a Second Brain as concrete steps once the discipline groundwork is already laid; another (↑187) lines it up against Zen to Done and Deep Work as one option among several task frameworks, with an explicit warning that none of them work without something else in place. r/selfimprovement's contribution is shorter and blunter: "saved my life," no elaboration (↑192). One comment (↑251) pegs it specifically for people buried in meetings and management overhead, not a general audience.
Community feedback & reader fit
Themes
- · Capture everything so your head can stop holding it
- · Next-action lists as a way around emotional avoidance
- · One system among several in a stacked productivity-book pipeline
- · Built for management-heavy, meeting-heavy jobs specifically
Common praise
- + The "head as an office" line gets cited as the whole point of the system in one comment (↑835): capture first, process after.
- + r/selfimprovement's single blunt endorsement, "saved my life," gets 192 upvotes with zero hedging.
- + One commenter (↑288) credits the next-action framing specifically with breaking procrastination that comes from vague, undifferentiated to-do items.
Common criticism
- − Gets treated as one component in a stack, not a standalone fix, with one comment (↑712) putting Atomic Habits first as the actual discipline-builder.
- − A top comment (↑187) warns outright that GTD and its peers won't work without something else already in place, without specifying what.
- − Another commenter (↑169) admits sticking with the GTD-plus-Atomic-Habits mix still takes real willpower, undercutting the idea that the system runs itself.
Who it's for
Drowning in meetings with no system for tracking what came out of them? One r/productivity comment (↑251) points to this book by name for exactly that job description. If you've already got the discipline piece handled from something like Atomic Habits, this is the next layer people in these threads reach for, not a replacement for it. Prefer a program over a mood: the next-action framing here is built to route around procrastination rather than argue you out of it. Looking for a dramatic before-and-after story instead of a task-management manual? That's not really what's on display here, beyond one two-word verdict from r/selfimprovement.
Mentions over time
Top subreddits
Which Reddit comments matter for Getting Things Done?
The most relevant excerpts across the subreddits where this book is mentioned — opinionated, argued takes first, then top-upvoted mentions. Click through to read the full thread.
“Atomic Habits started my journey of building discipline, then Getting Things Done by David Allen and Second Brain by Tiago Forte helped me with concrete steps to organise my tasks and systems. Deep Work was mind opening too but i was not as ready then, might re-read it some time. Funny enough, Mura…
“You might want to check out *Getting Things Done* by David Allen. It's aimed at people in high-powered corporate jobs (particularly management roles with lots of meetings). The book is very practical and lays out a 5-step system to stay on top of all your tasks and track projects. Some of it is a …
“Getting Things Done by David Allen. No joke, saved my life.
“Mix of GTD and Atomic Habits. Not bad. Sticking with these takes some amount of willpower, of course.
“The most beneficial for me was "getting things done" - David Allen. So many similar books are hundreds of pages of self help mantras and affirmations. Having a book that had actionable steps and a followable methodology to improve productivity was as rare as it was valuable.
“Getting Things Done by David Allen. The whole mantra of “Your brain is for having ideas not for holding ideas” definitely has helped reduce my stress and get my actions on paper so I’m not worrying about what I’m forgetting to do.
“Why are you trying to keep everything in your head? Absolute worst thing you can do. Brains are not meant for storage, they're meant for processing. As the GTD methodology promotes, "Dump your head". Literally everything, unstructured, unfiltered, unsorted, no tags, no colors, no sorting, no order…
“From Dave Allen's GTD - Most things don't get because we lack time. Most things don't get done because we haven't decided WHAT time we are doing them in. I paraphrased that a bit but ever since I learnt that 7 years ago I've been a different man.
“I like it! I got really into David Allen's "Getting Things Done" and his theory around writing everything down is if we don't write things down we have a general unease that we're always forgetting something and thus less productive/focused on the tasks we have, even if what we're forgetting is unim…
“Agreed. I find it too complicated as well. I think GTD system works just fine. Areas (health, finance, relationships) > Goals with deadlines > Projects > Tasks or Information files > Subtasks
“Ah yes, the dreaded "Wall of Awful" or "Stress napping." For me, the best thing was implementing GTD, which is a very popular productivity system. For me the answer was basically; you're over working your brain. It's trying to remember too much stuff, and freaking out about things you are barely a…
“The answer isnt a tool, its a chain: mindset -> goals (across horizons) -> habits -> process (supported by a tool if you prefer one) If you havent, I recommend reading Covey's 7 Habits, David Allen's Getting Things Done, and maybe Atomic Habits. In the meantime, maybe use the most low tech and f…
“In GTD, David Allen says that if you need control, go down in altitude, meaning: get to next actions as finely defined as possible. That’s the cure to overwhelm. If I were you, and I will be sort of soon, coming off a sabbatical; I would do the guided mind sweep today and then the guided weekly revi…
“- GTD method: too complicated and time consuming to maintain - Pomodoro: only useful for certain types of work - Time-boxing: time estimates for tasks vary a lot and it's too time consuming to move or adjust boxes along in calendars - Eisenhower Matrix: not so useful if you don't have anyone to dela…
“FWIW I have said this before and people always tell me that the two minute rule interpreted this way is removed from its original context in (iirc) the GTD method where there are caveats that make it less obviously stupid than it is in isolation.
Convinced? Pick up Getting Things Done
Readers also mention
Books that share discussion threads with Getting Things Done — counted from the comments, not curated.
Guides featuring Getting Things Done
Ranked best-of lists and editorial guides where this book's tracked mentions place it.
Getting Things Done — frequently asked
Does Getting Things Done actually work on its own, or does it need other books to go with it?+
Reddit mostly treats it as part of a stack. One comment (↑712) sequences it after Atomic Habits for discipline and before Building a Second Brain for systems, and another (↑187) lists it next to Zen to Done and Deep Work while warning none of these frameworks work without something else already in place.
What's the core idea people cite from Getting Things Done on Reddit?+
The most upvoted r/productivity excerpt (↑835) reduces it to one principle: don't use your head as storage, use it for having ideas, and capture everything else into a system you process regularly. That single line gets cited more than any specific chapter or step.
Who is Getting Things Done actually written for, according to Reddit?+
One r/productivity answer (↑251) is specific: people in high-powered corporate jobs, especially management roles buried in meetings. It's described there as a practical five-step system for staying on top of tasks and tracked projects, not a general life-advice book.
Is Getting Things Done as effective as the r/selfimprovement testimonial suggests?+
That comment (↑192) says only "saved my life," with no detail behind it, so it's a strong signal but a thin one. The more substantive endorsements sit in r/productivity, where the emphasis is on the capture-and-process mechanics rather than any single dramatic outcome.