jamiephelps.com

<p>Over at <a href="http://www.everyfing.com">Everyfing.com</a> there is <a href="http://www.everyfing.com/productivity/getting-things-done-book-review">a review</a> of Getting Things Done by David Allen. The tenor of the review is that the book is too long and doesn&#8217;t contain anything other than common sense.</p>

<p>That&#8217;s fair enough. <a href="http://www.davidco.com">The David</a> says the same thing in fact. But, as the old saying goes, &#8220;Common sense ain&#8217;t always that common.&#8221;</p>

<p>I liken the reviewer&#8217;s reaction to GTD to the reaction a lot of people have to Dave Ramsey&#8217;s Total Money Makeover plan. Particularly about Baby Step 2: Payoff debt using the debt snowball. Ramsey says to pay off by smallest balance first. Mathematically, paying down the highest interest rate debt is the best choice, but as Ramsey says, &#8220;If you could do math, you wouldn&#8217;t be in credit card debt in the first place.&#8221;</p>

<p>The key to this whole thing comes down to the fact &#8211; and it is a fact &#8211; that most of our pathologies come down to behavior. My favorite Dave Ramsey quote is, &#8220;My problem isn&#8217;t math; it&#8217;s this idiot I shave with. If I can get the guy in the mirror to behave, he can be skinny and rich!&#8221; I imagine The David would say something similar.</p>

<p>[The review <a href="http://twitter.com/michaelramm/statuses/22801181">came to my attention</a> through <a href="http://www.blackbeltproductivity.net/blog/about/">Michael&#8217;s</a> <a href="http://www.twitter.com/michaelramm">Twitter stream.</a> ]</p>

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