A lot of different techniques are introduced (such as a filing system and planner) which can be overwhelming. The author breaks everything down into smaller steps that can be completed immediately.
A fair bit of time gets spent either switching between tasks, or figuring out what to work on. Getting Things Done teaches you the importance of narrowing your focus and having a plan of where to spend your time.
Getting Things Done, including the most recent update (2015), includes very little about incorporating technology into the process (such as tracking apps) that could speed up the process.
Where many productivity books encourage you to start everything at once, Zen To Done takes a different approach.
Realizing that making a large number of changes at once can be discouraging, it suggests that you take your time implementing the changes (recommending a year to do so).
The author of Zen To Done realizes the potential in the book "Getting Things Done", but acknowledges the ways in which it can be discouraging for some people, and a hard lifestyle change to maintain.
Zen To Done applies those same concepts presented in "Getting Things Done", but with a much slower approach.
Though the occasional typo tends to make it through to publication, this book has more than it's fair share. The number of typos and other errors (such as incorrectly numbered lists) can get distracting and cause some confusion.
The author takes his initial suggestions and repeats them frequently throughout the book, which feels like an attempt to fill pages. It makes for a somewhat dull read.
This book was written to be a quick and easy read, at only 128 pages. However, that doesn't result in a lack of helpful information. The author has a very clear and concise writing style.
This book teaches various ways for organizing tasks and encouraging you to tackle them, however it relies on you having the self-discipline to get started. Of course, it's not something that can simply be learned. However, discussion on the psychology behind motivation and self-discipline would have been beneficial for the target audience.
The author emphasizes the importance of creating habits that can be applied in all aspects of life, rather than specific to productivity in specific situations.
The author has taken fairly simple concepts, and explained them in ways that are complex and unnecessarily intellectualized.
Explanations are stretched out by using a verbose and repetitive writing style.
Having a long to-do list can be overwhelming for some, and can cause people to jump back in forth between tasks hoping to get through the list faster.
The ONE Thing teaches the flaws with multitasking and emphasizes the importance of focus for increasing productivity.
The authors challenge the idea that all tasks are of equal importance. They encourage you to question the tasks you feel need to be accomplished, allowing you to focus on the tasks that are more important.
The author dismisses the idea of a work-life balance, calling it a lie. This book is mostly beneficial for those who don't mind sacrificing their life outside of work for more productivity in the office.
The author has marked different points throughout the book for emphasis by underlining some key points in what looks like pencil.
This can be distracting as your eyes immediately jump to the emphasized lines.