Zen To Done: Ebook Review
In a recent post I said that I needed to buy the new productivity book Zen to Done by Leo Babauta of Zen Habits. It costs $9.50 which in UK money is not even a fiver so I went ahead and bought it.
I’m an affiliate so if any of you choose to buy it through a link on this post, I get a chunk of change, just so you know :)
Is ‘Productivity’ a Cliche Now?
I think ‘productivity’ is a bit of a buzz word these days - there’s the almost cult-like following of David Allen’s Getting Things Done and a ton of blogs such as Lifehacker and of course Leo’s Zen Habits. But how many of us actually follow through with any of it?
I read the GTD book, and I even use a GTD tool called Vitalist but am I productive? No where near. In fact, since I quit my job a few weeks ago I have been spending my time on all the wrong things, producing very little and neglecting great big chunks of my personal life that are extremely important to me.This is not a good place to be in.
What’s ironic is that I used to be an avid reader of Zen Habits up until a few months ago. Guess why I unsubscribed… because the sheer number of posts were sucking up too much of my time!!
The ebook appeals to me because I know that unlike many blog posts that can waste my time, the book will be pure information that I can digest without distraction.
Digging Into the Book
Zen to Done is 83 pages long which includes a few pages of resources at the end. It’s beautifully laid out and it is formatted for screen reading and not for printing. Check this out:
The blog is about habits and the book is about habits. Most of what we do in life is a habit and that is the foundation of what Zen To Done is trying to teach us.
By changing our habits around we can change our lives without constant effort because once a habit has been formed it becomes second nature. These are the 10 habits that Leo discusses:
- Collect
- Process
- Plan
- Do
- Simple, trusted system
- Organize
- Review
- Simplify
- Routine
- Find Your Passion
Leo suggests that we pick and choose the habits that suit us but only focus on one at a time, or 2-3 at the most and allow each of them to work for 30 days before moving to the next.
Similarity to GTD
When I first looked at the table of contents it immediately reminded me of GTD and Leo addresses this very point in one of his early chapters:
If you’ve been having trouble with GTD, as great as it is, ZTD might be just for you. It focuses on the habit changes necessary for GTD, in a more practical way, and it focuses on doing, on simplifying, and on adding a simple structure.
Leo goes on to suggest five areas of GTD that some people struggle with and shows how Zen To Done addresses those issues. Zen to Done encourages a gradual adoption of the habits - not all at once, and it focuses on the actual doing part, rather than just collecting of all the stuff to do.
I can really identify with this because my actions list is huge - I have a bunch of projects and they all have a ton of actions in them but I rarely cross anything off. Too busy reading blogs probably as Sean hinted at earlier :)
A Single Goal for the Year
Leo suggests that when we get motivated, we want to do everything at once so we set a whole bunch of goals and try to do them all at once! Yep I have been there! It soon gets overwhelming however and we end up not getting any of them done.
So instead, Zen to Done advocates having One Big Goal and giving yourself anywhere from a week to a year to achieve it. Now this is difficult for me because having just started in business I feel like I need to achieve so much!
But perhaps that is the root of my problem - that I’m trying to work on too many projects at the same time. So I still need to give this some thought…
Can This Book Raise $185,000 For Dr Mani?
I’ve given you my thoughts on the book but I haven’t put any of it into practice yet. However, Dr Mani, who is a blogger and surgeon that I highly respect has also read the book and has very kindly allowed me to borrow his review for my blog.
Dr Mani thinks Zen to Done will allow him to raise $185,000 next year! Phew! He explains below…
Big, bold promise?
Sure.
But in just a day of using the lessons I learned from ZEN TO DONE, Leo Babauta’s $9.50 ebook on how to organize your life and get stuff done, I’ve put my finger on the very things that have been holding me back.
In 2 hours of introspection and thinking today, I came up with these things:
* My ONE BIG GOAL for the next year
* My THREE big contributors to this goal
* A set of 53 ‘SUB-goals’, to work on a week by week timeline
* Some easy to define MIT’s - Most Important Tasks - that will keep me focused and directed
I also went out and bought myself a Moleskin note book, a plastic tray and a few pens - which is ALL the tools you’ll need to put ZEN TO DONE lessons to work in your life!
The goals I’ve set have a target figure of $185k
The passionate purpose is to fund FIFTY heart surgeries for children in 2008.
The reason I’m sharing this bold ‘Positive Promise’ with you is because that is one more component of the ZEN TO DONE process… making a public commitment.
For some readers, this ebook will be a waste of the $9.50 price tag.
For others, like me, it will be worth a THOUSAND times as much… which is why I’ve written to Leo asking if I can buy 150 copies of it to give my closest friends, clients and family members.
That’s how powerful I think the message is - and I think you’ll agree too.
I’d like to thank Dr. Mani for allowing me to share that with you. Click here to read more about Zen to Done at Zen Habits.
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Josh Dockery
November 15, 2007
To me, a Get it done type of book is common sense.
-have goals
-finish projects
-don’t try to do to much
-time management
Maybe I am being a little to harsh, sorry. Maybe some people have a harder time at completing tasks and not getting stressed out.