Chapter 8 stood out to me in that it explicitly described, in an organized fashion, some of the fundamental concepts behind the various actions and mechanisms I have used intermittently to try to stay on top of my responsibilities. The first of these is Allen's explanation of a weekly review. In his high-level overview of the idea, he states that it consists of whatever is necessary to empty your head of the week's commitments and get them into their respective niches in your organization system. I have long made some effort in this regard, writing a list, usually on Fridays, of the tasks that I must complete before the beginning of the next week. However, without the appropriate structure to effectively sort through this list, many of my obligations go unfulfilled, and I lack the ability to systematically identify what they are and why they were not finished.
The other concept which Allen touches on, the more infrequent "Bigger Picture" Reviews, are also a subject with which I have some limited practical experience. Allen states that, while these high level overviews are not the main focus of his program, they are the implicit motivation for it; becoming organized, efficient, and focused are all actions taken with the ultimate aim of furthering one's career and creating a successful and satisfying life. My current execution of these reviews is essentially in line with what Allen describes; my fault lies in conducting them too frequently, and consequently being often disappointed when I find that I have not made significant progress towards my goals in the short time between reviews.
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