Getting Things Done By David Allen

Main takeaways: - Book focuses on practical advice to manage your attention & energy, methodology for more peace of mind in day to day life & specific practices for relaxation & flow states

- Perfect readiness & calmness allows us to get into the flow state

- “In karate there is an image that’s used to define the position of perfect readiness: “mind like water.” Imagine throwing a pebble into a still pond. How does the water respond? The answer is, totally and appropriately to the force and mass of the input, then it returns to calm. It doesn’t overreact or underreact."

- “…a tense muscle is a slow one. So the high levels of training in the martial arts teach and demand balance and relaxation as much as anything else. Clearing the mind and being flexible are key.”

- A calm mind & minimal distraction = flow state easily & repeatedly

- Do not stick too much rigidity on the system (additionally be flexible with your own systems; do not limit how you must feel / do to be happy)

- Getting things done system: capture outstanding tasks / thoughts & be specific with follow-up actions

- Note all of these thoughts down & check them at set times + Be specific with follow-up actions that need to be done (This staves off procrastination by making 'large' tasks seem smaller, giving us momentum)

- 2 min drill: “If an action takes less than two minutes, it should be done at the moment it is defined.” These are '2 minute actions' do not deserve to be on your mind

Ethan Schwandt - The Mind Map Guy's video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t1hRyirNdOg