a million monkeys typing

Review: Getting Things Done by Ed Bliss (!)

Posted April 11th, 2005 at 09:03am

I was doing some work in the local library (a fairly small one), when I decided to take a little break and peruse the shelves. The productivity section was small indeed, but it yielded a little unexpected treasure: Getting Things Done by Edwin C. Bliss, subtitled “The ABCs of Time Management”. Now, I’ve heard this book mentioned a couple of times, mainly in the context of David Allen’s more famous book of the same name, but I had little idea as to its content. A glance at the sign-out stamps indicated that has been borrowed roughly once every three years. Obviously not a very in-demand book in this neck of the woods. Without further ado, I slapped down my library card and took it home.

First, let me say that I’ve heard a little bit of condescention and smugness used when mentioning Bliss’ book, mainly from hard-core GTD fans who have never read it and somehow seem to resent the back that an earlier productivity book could somehow use the sacred nomenclature. Folks, the term “getting things done” is a pretty run-of-the-mill –even bland– title that… uhm… seems to offter advice on getting things done. While I hesitate to congratulate either Bliss or Allen (or their publishers) on their creativity when naming books, I certainly don’t hold a lack of originality against them either. “It is what it is.”

On to the book. I was very pleasantly surprised. In a way, this is more in line with what Allen hopes to achieve in Ready for Anything, a collection of productivity ideas and wisdom. Bliss, also a consultant of many years’ experience with megacorporations and a lecturer on organisational and time management issues, has put together a book that is deceiving in its randomness. Rather than start at a particular point and build up to a complete, self-contained system (as Allen, Covey and others do), he instead organises the sections alphabetically. He moves from “After-Action Reports” to “Alcohol”, and finishes with “Xenelasia” and “Yesterday Trap”. (There is no “Z”, but I’m not going to hold this against Bliss; I would have liked his take on Zen, though.) In other words, you can open the book, start anywhere, and absorb of few pieces of advice before you rush off to actually get things done.

While Allen and Covey back up their ideas mainly with anecdotes, Bliss is more logical about presenting evidence to back up his thoughts. While he does share the occasional personal story, his approach is far more scientific. He quotes surveys, statistics and studies, and gives well-researched examples for certain topics. These little “mini-essays” –each averaging a page or so– are filled with practical advice, insights into the leaders of large companies, figures from little-known but meaningful reports, and plenty of great little (dare I say it) “life hacks” that cause your neurotransmitters to suddenly figure in the right sequence.

For example, he mentions the “Stand-up Desk”. Now, I’ve never really considered this idea. Apparently, not only great writers like Hemingway, Woolf, Carroll, Nabokov and Winston Churchill used standing desks, but many leaders of large organisations do. This caused me to reflect on something that I’ve noticed about my own thinking habits: all my heavy duty thinking, I tend to do while pacing or standing at whiteboards. Bliss quotes a USC study that indicates an acceleration of 5-20% in the brain’s information-processing speed while standing instead of sitting, as well as a marked improvement in reaction time for anyone working on difficult tasks. He also mentions the fact that a desk should be about elbow height, and that there should be a bar to raise one foot occasionally to prevent back problems. This entry alone has kick-started the creaking gears in my mind: the next time I change around my office, I will certainly try a standing desk for a while. I might have to play around with the ergonomics, especially with regard to using a laptop, but it sounds like a worthwhile experiment.

Bliss covers many other topics in the same way, including the need for sleep, how to overcome mental blocks, the use of exercise in increasing productivity, procrastination, a step-by-step guide to handling correspondence quickly, and so on. There’s plenty of solid, practical advice that one can put into play almost immediately, and enough scientific research to feel informed about your choices.

I am not sure if this book is still in print or not (my edition was updated in 1991), but Amazon.com carries some copies that are quite inexpensive. Highly recommended, especially considering the price.