This book is so good that after reading it the first time I ordered it in hardback and got out my highlighter to read it again. Allen's GTD is the center of the universe to GTD nuts like me. Everything I felt for Day Timers and Palm Pilots is transferred to this little book, which has changed my life - twice. On this second reading I realized how much I had forgotten - principally the need to establish "next action" items for all my projects. The second reading also reminded me to work harder at processing my in box (amazingly, since rereading it I always leave my office inbox and e-mail inbox "processed" and empty.
Where the book lost me (again) is in the latter part where he talks about integrating your next actions and plans into an overall set of goals. I had a lot of trouble how to fit that into the Palm PDA programs that I use, and haven't been terribly successful at it. But even so, it has changed my life. When I skimmed the list of big issue things that he suggested you think about, I realized that I had been putting spirituality off - and so I drafted a few "next action" items. First was to actually get up and go to church on Sunday, and take Grayson. So I did. Next, it occurred to me that I ought to actually read the pope's new encyclical. So I did. This is a dangerous book - it can nudge you into actually doing something about all the things you've been meaning to do something about.
Where I still fall short is on the weekly reviews where I go down the list of outstanding projects, and make sure I know what I have pending and set "next action" items as needed. But one reason is that when I start working down the list I start realizing all the things I need to do to move these things forward - and start doing them, and never hit the bottom of the list.
The book has really been an inspiration to me to process things as they come in, and work things to get my list down. Everything now goes into the task list on my Palm, and the paperwork associatedgoes into folders in my office desk drawer. My desk stays clean, and I feel comfortable that what I'm doing is really what I need to be doing. I've gotten on a few GTD list servs now, and am working to be more efficient so that I can get things done (big surprise) and relax when I'm not getting things done. I still suspect that there's a top-level book out there for the big picture stuff, but I think that I now have a pretty good handle on the day to day things.