Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity

Self-help or personal development is a perpetually popular genre of non-fiction. The broad appeal of self-help books lies in their promise of improving the reader’s life by improving their skills, resolving their problems, or enabling them to fulfill their potential.

Dale Carnegie’s How to Win Friends and Influence People (1936) is the book that firmly established the genre’s popularity. An instant bestseller, Carnegie’s book advises on achieving success by improving relationships with others. How to Win Friends and Influence People provided a template for the many self-help books that followed, establishing the genre’s features.

The increasing popularity of self-help books has led to the emergence of sub-categories within the genre. Topics often reflect the societal concerns or preoccupations of the time. For example, books focusing on financial success tend to be popular during periods of economic austerity. The success of Napoleon Hill’s self-help classic Think and Grow Rich (1938) coincided with the Great Depression. Meanwhile, self-help books emphasizing spirituality and personal growth became popular in the 1960s and 1970s.

When Getting Things Done was first published in 2001, its author presented the book as providing solutions to a new societal problem: the increase of workflow caused by the fast pace of the 21st century. Allen suggests to his readers that they are part of a generation that faces new challenges, claiming, “[most] people did not grow up in a world where defining the edges of work and managing huge numbers of open loops were required” (213). Within the self-help market at the time, Allen’s book was relatively unusual in bridging the gap between business success guides and those promoting self-growth. This dual focus is illustrated in the way Allen extends the concept of workflow productivity to the personal and the professional arena, creating a life organizational system. As well as providing practical advice, the book promises improved psychological well-being.

Getting Things Done uses many techniques that have become standard in the self-help genre. Firstly, Allen presents the reader with a relatable problem: too much to do and too little time. He then offers a solution: his method of capturing workflow in a meticulous organizational system. Persuasive rhetoric is used throughout the book to convince the reader of his message. Like most self-help authors, Allen frequently addresses the reader as “you” or uses the pronoun “we.” For example, he states, “If you’re like me and most other people, no matter how good your intentions may be, you’re going to have the world come at you faster than you can keep up!” (194). By identifying a problem he claims we all share, Allen creates an immediate rapport with the reader and a sense of inclusiveness. The author maintains this rapport through his accessible, conversational style and use of relatable, everyday analogies.

Allen reinforces the credibility of his methodology in various ways throughout the book. His confident declarations such as, “It is impossible to feel good about your choices unless you are clear what your work really is” (210), create a self-assured, authoritative tone. Frequent references are made to Allen’s many years of experience as a professional productivity consultant with illustrations and anecdotes from corporate clients. The author also draws on research in the fields of psychology and cognitive theory to ground his claims in science.

Motivational rhetoric, such as calls for the reader to take action, is another self-help trope Allen employs throughout the text. Furthermore, each chapter is illustrated with philosophical aphorisms taken from sources ranging from Buddha to Albert Einstein. The purpose of these aphorisms is to provide inspiration and underline the notion that wise universal truths underpin Allen’s theories. Such motivational devices all work to suggest that implementation of the author’s advice can change the reader’s life.