First, a confession: I tried the Franklin-Covey/7 Habits routine numerous times in my corporate days, and failed miserably. So, I wanted to bring Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity to Freelance-Zoners’ collective attention. To me, it is a far better solution for the creative freelancer and the sometimes-squirrelly creative brain that we need to harness on a daily basis—and it is rock-solid when it comes to preventing things from falling through the cracks.

I saw it recommended in the Wall Street Journal a few months back, and it truly changed my way of thinking about organization (no small feat at the age of 42). With the caveat that the best organizational system is the system that you actually use, I think it represents a much better approach than the aforementioned Franklin-Covey route. Here are a few of the reasons author David Allen’s philosophy works for me:

• He dispenses with the guilt-and-humiliation slant that plagues Franklin-Covey (i.e., forcing you transcribe into the next day what you didn’t do today).
• You don’t waste any time giving things a priority number or letter.
• He provides easy-to-employ steps that you can start using right away, and you don’t have to do everything at once. The startup procedure requires a good chunk of dedicated time, but it’s worth it.
• For list-based folks like me and Mike O’Mary (who wrote “Feeling Listless” earlier this week), he offers an improved method for organizing your to-dos. And you can customize it to your needs, rather than being boxed into a single way of getting things done.
• He makes no distinction between business stuff and personal stuff, which always seemed silly to me.

Your mileage may vary, but it’s the best $16 I’ve spent all year. Have you read/implemented Getting Things Done, or are you using an organizational system already that you love? Please share your thoughts with Freelance-Zone readers in the comments below!

When he’s not working on paying gigs for his editorial services company, Boomvang Creative, contributing blogger Jake Poinier can also be found dispensing freelance advice at DoctorFreelance.com.