Do you ever feel like there are too many things to think about? Or that there are not enough hours in the day to do the things you'd like to? Do you find yourself forgetting what you wanted to get from the store; or who's birthday it is next week; or that you meant to do such-and-such yesterday afternoon?
In the world of David Allen, it's all about the system. If you build up a system of organisation that is quick, simple, and in which you trust, then you can let that manage your tasks and 'projects' (personal or professional), so that you can get them out of your head and concentrate on the task at hand, and only the task at hand. Once you're done with that, your system will tell you what the next task is.
If you need to do something next Monday, say pay a bill, you can put it in your 'tickler file' and then put it out of your head. Sure enough, next Monday the bill will pop up to your attention, provided you play by the rules.
Getting Things Done is about emptying your head into an external framework that operates with a fixed set of rules. You just follow the rules and the framework helps you work out what to do at a particular time, and in a particular 'context' (e.g. "at the store", "at home", "at work", "at a phone", "at a computer")
I found this book an awesome read, and I highly recommend it for anyone who is interested in boosting their personal productivity. I also recommend
Vitalist Remember The Milk to assist your GTD implementation.
