05.12.06 03.36 pm
Summary
The purpose of this document is to outline all of the methods, practices, software and hardware (both HiFi and LoFi) I use to Get Things Done. This will provide a general outline of my system including keeping track of actions, projects, calendar items, contacts, etc. Most of my system is based on David Allen's Getting Things Done methodology with many modifications and fluctuations to suit my needs. I will basically lay this out in the order of my "flow". From capture to compartment to practice. I will then outline my e-mail processing.
Tools
Capture Device Paper - Moleskine
Physical Inbox- Ikea Dokument
Next Actions/Projects and Lists - Backpack
Calendar/Contacts - Now Up-to-Date and Contact
Small Notes/Bits/Misc. Info - Notational Velocity
Vertical Mapping - OmniOutliner Pro
E-mail - Mail.app
Research/Notes - NoteTaker
Physical Notes - Levenger Notepads/Large Moleskine
Capturing Device - Paper
I use a Moleskine Lined Pocket Notebook as my main capturing device. I have tried other methods of capturing including a Palm Tungsten T5, my trusty Apple Newton MessagePad 2100 and Index Cards (Hipster PDA). No matter where I am I almost always have it with me and use it to capture all manner of action items, phone numbers, notes, calendar items, etc. I simply find the Moleskine the best device for me in terms of versatility, portability and speed. These generally all go in a running stream with a dash/plus system.
The dash/plus system goes like this. All items, no matter what they are, are treated as items to be processed. For instance, calendar items go into my calendar, phone numbers into my contact file, notes go into NoteTaker (see below), etc. Even though it is not a "next action" all items generally need to be processed in some way.The top of each page is marked with the page number and the date. The date is not used for anything other than the date the new page was started (i.e. I do not use it to track when things are added or completed, just a rough estimate thereof)
It looks something like this:
4.26.05
- Get Dog Food and treats for Roy
- Project: Proposal for new Mac purchases
+ Productivity Whitepaper project
- Doctor's appointment 4/14/06 @ 2:00pm to Calendar
+ Call Tom Miller re: Dinner
- Phil's Mobile: 612-555-5555
- Deposit Check
- Someday: Learn to play golf
As you can see, items have a "dash" that proceeds and, thusly, separates each item. When the item is complete, I draw a vertical line through the "dash" thus making it resemble a "plus". This makes the dashed items stand out quite well despite the fact that the same color pen is used. I use a Pilot G2 Pro pen that I have modified with an extra fine .05 refill. I like a thinner line.
There are a couple of other Moleskine Hacks that I employ. I do use a Post-it™ index tab to mark the page I am currently at because while the built in ribbon page marker is quaint I find it not as efficient. I also keep some small Post-it™ notes (the 2 inch square size) on the inside back cover opposite of the pocket so that I may have somewhere to write a note to pass to someone else.
Also, I also have a way to carry items forward that works for me. Every few pages I do carry unprocessed and undone items forward and add them to the current page. When I want to carry an uncompleted item forward I draw a circle around the item's preceding dash (thus marking that it was not completed and has moved to another page). Then on the new page I write the item and provide the page number from which that item came.
Physical Inbox
I have two physical inboxes, one at work and one at home. They used to both be the Dokument Letter Tray from Ikea. It has three tiers and looks very good. Only problem is that I have so much going on in my personal life that the home one was often filled and overflowing before I got a chance to process it. Therefore, I recently replaced it with a large cheap wire one from Office Depot that suits the purpose fine.
Next Actions, Projects and Lists
After capturing items in the Moleskine or the Inbox, all action items, projects and lists get "synced" to Backpack, a web based personal information organizer by 37 Signals. The killer feature for me is that it allows for multiple to-do lists on a page. Backpack did not have this when I first started using it but now that it does it really helped me a great deal. It was the one feature that I wished it had from the start. It has really increased my productivity and allows me to do daily and weekly reviews much more efficiently.
My Page Setup
Inbox (Home Page) - True to the spirit of GTD, the "home page" in Backpack has been re-titled "Inbox" and basically acts as a digital Inbox. There is one list on this page. One big dumping ground for any action item or project that pops into the head. Just what the name implies. Because it is on the home page it is easy to get to quickly also it is easy to get to and dump things from a mobile device and that is what you want for an Inbox. Very GTD. When time allows (daily review), two minute or less items are knocked off right away (per The David) and any projects are migrated to and fleshed out on the @Projects page or it's own separate page (more on that in a bit).
@Projects - This page exists how I use it right now, with a separate list for each project, but with an added but important modification. I have added a topmost list titled Next Actions. N/As are then moved from the projects below to the NA list at the top via Backpack's ajaxy drag and droppiness. This way, I go to that page and see right away the next actions for all of the projects on the page.
Individual Project Pages - Now I should take a moment here to clarify what the projects are on the @Projects page. That page is for smaller one-to-five step projects as to do anything else would make the page too confusing and long. Projects that are larger than that (my wedding for example) I actually break out into their own separate page as they may have multiple lists and sub projects. Another advantage to this approach is that you can use the other features of backpack like notes, attaching documents, etc. for things that are specific to that project. With that being said, I still make a next action list the first list on the top so I can see right away what I need to do. I have an example project page here: Sweetime Project.
@Someday - Like any good GTDer, you need a space to defer and to dream. The someday/maybe list is where you do that. Scan this as part of your weekly review.
OK, so here is the workflow in a nutshell...
1. Log into Backpack.
2. Process Items in the Inbox using the "Three D's" (Do, Defer, Delegate). Move any projects to either @Projects, an existing project or a new project page as appropriate.
3. Switch to the @Projects page and process the Next Actions list at the top accordingly.
4. Switch to any individual project pages. Do the same thing.
5. Feel smug about your Org-fu.
Notes About Contexts
I myself do not use contexts that often. Mainly it is because I find most days too interrupt driven to have a block of time to work on a specific context list and Backpack does not seem well designed for them. I just do what I do, when I do them, where I can do them. That being said, I do foresee a way to make contexts a part of this system. Place them before the action to be done. This can be especially useful on project pages where you can group items on the Next Action list by context. For example:
Next Actions
Call - Bob re: Chocolate levels.
Call - Peter re: Additional flavors of creamy nougat.
Computer - Google map Tobelerone factory.
Computer - Look up Wikipedia entry for William Wonka.
Errand - Buy a box of Kit Kat bars for evaluation.
Another way to handle contexts would be to have multiple context lists on individual project pages. I suspect that will get messy quite fast but your milage may vary.
Other Pages to Consider
The idea and motivation of all of this is to not only show you what I am doing but also to help spur ideas for you, the reader. Ultimately, the only system that works is one that works for you. That being said, here are some other pages you may find a useful part of your Backpack GTD setup:
@Waiting For - These are items that you delegated or deferred pending others but still need to track. It would be useful here to add who you delegated the item to and the date (i.e. "Call - Board Members re: Drop in stock price > Bill 06.27.06"). Include in your weekly review.
@Stalled - This is an area for projects and/or actions that are currently inactive or stalled for an indefinite period of time. Ditto for the review.
Using Tags for Review Time
Backpack has a feature that allows you to tag pages. I have started using this feature to easily do my daily, weekly and monthly reviews. Basically, every page has one or more of these tags with the exception of the front page which has all of them. Why does the front page have them all? Because that way I can click on "daily" and it drops down a list of all of the pages I should review daily. Same with weekly and monthly. Thus allowing me to easily cycle through the pages during those review times right from the front page.
Wrapping Up
I have not been with this new setup long but it seems to be working well thus far. The "rethinking" of the front page has really been a huge time saver and helped me focus on getting things out of my effed up mess of a head fast. Simple and seemless capture and collection is the first step of what GTD is all about. I then can spend time on processing them later.
Note that I use the @ sign simply to sort these pages above the others on in the list of pages on the sidebar. I have other pages for other non-Org-fu items. I have a page for gift ideas, a personal wish list and our wedding registry that I make publicly available. Backpack is very useful like that.
One of the great parts of Backpack is that I can log in from anything that has a web browser. Secondly, I can add content to the lists via e-mail (A nifty feature of Backpack is that you can e-mail items to any page) so I can fire off an e-mail to add items from a mobile device if that is more convenient.
Calendar and Contacts
Calendar items and contacts that I capture go into Now Up-to-Date and Contact. I used to work for Now Software and am still very close to everyone there so I will stray from raving (or ranting) as it will obviously be biased. Let me suffice to say that in the 10 years or so since I have been using it, no better contact or calendar has come along for the Macintosh in my opinion.
I do not have a huge need for a robust contact manager but having a usable calendar for me is huge. I mainly use a two window setup with the Daily View and Week View open simultaneously and sitting side by side. That way I can focus on my events and meeting for the day while keeping an eye on the rest of week. Now Contact is a very decent contact manager as well and all of my contacts go into it fist and get synced to my Palm and the Mac OS X Address Book regularly.
Even though I put calendar items in Now Up-to-Date, I actually put the reminder for that item in Backpack if it is something that requires it. Why? The reminders feature in Backpack is killer. It is so simple yet so powerful. It is really simple to set a reminder and I can have it both send me an e-mail (which I then have forwarded to all of my accounts) and an SMS message to my mobile phone. This ensures that I do not miss the reminder and get it anywhere. It just plain works.
Small Notes/Bits/Misc. Info
All of the other little bits of info I capture throughout the day, quotes, passwords, little notes, etc. go into Notational Velocity. It is hard to describe Notational Velocity without describing what it doesn't do... It does not do styles. It does not store pictures or movies. It does not do fancy outlines, link to documents or address book contacts. It does not have a fancy interface or cool features. As a matter of fact, it does not do much at all... That is what makes it so great!
All Notational Velocity does is allow you to record and search text notes. That's it. But it does this is such a simple way and has an interface so devoid of complexity that it is almost a little bit erie when you see how powerful it is in concept. Basically, It does this by using a single text field for both searching and creating your notes. I know this sounds strange but keep trying to follow. When you start to type, it starts live searching all of your notes and their contents. If you want to create a new note just hit "return" and it will start a new note with whatever you just typed as it's title. I know, I know, I did not grok it at first but once you get used to it you will be blown away.
It is a cocoa application so it does support all of the stuff that other cocoa applications do such as spell checking, services, etc. It also saves on the fly (i.e. it saves as you enter) and stores everything with 128 bit encryption. Oh yeah, and it is freeware so it is worth the price to download it and give it a try. It might take a little getting used to at first but once you "drink the kool-aid" it will be hard to give up.
Vertical Mapping
One of the not so often talked about principles of GTD is the idea of vertical mapping. I use the unbelievably excellent OmniOutliner Pro for this task and so much more. A vertical map is basically how your actions and projects all are part of and work towards your entire life's roles, goals, objectives, principals and values.
This Vertical Map is broken into six "horizons of focus" that are broken out from the bottom up as follows:
Runway – Actions: The next physical and/or visible actions to take on any project or outcome. these should include calendar items, next actions on your context lists, e-mails to take action on, items to review, etc. these are the things you should be engaging daily.
10,000 ft. – Projects: These are the projects and multi-step outcomes that can be finished in a year or less. These should be part of your weekly review and should be generating the things on the runway.
20,000 ft. – Areas of Focus: These should be the areas of focus in your life and areas of responsibility in your work. This can include a high level job description, personal lifestyle checklist, etc. This should be reviewed monthly to ensure that your projects are properly aligned with these roles.
30,000 ft. – Goals and Objectives: This can include any job or personal goals you have. Twelve to Eighteen month out items to be reviewed yearly.
40,000 ft. – Vision: These are long term three to five year goals. What would success look, sound or feel like that far down the road? How will you know it when you get there? Write it down and review this once a year to make sure you are on the right path.
50,000 ft. – Purpose and Principles: This should be the beginning of everything. What is the purpose of the life you wish to live? What are the driving principles and beliefs? This can take the form of your faith, personal mission statements, personal manifestos, etc.
In other words, your actions at a daily "runway" level should be directly and vertically tied to your principals and values at the "50,000 ft" level. To get a real sense of this, look at it from the bottom up. Once you can see and understand how a project like "Fixing up the house for move In" fits into the overall goals of life (In my case "Relationships: Bethany: Life Partner"). It will give you a new drive and focus on the importance of follow through on the various associated action items in the project. How are the projects you perform at work fitting into your job description? If the project is not fitting into that description or role then is your role changing or is that project better delegated to someone else more appropriate?
There is real power in this. It really helps you focus and align your life along a path that gives each action meaning and context. Using a powerful outliner is key for me to be able to vision these items.
Email
For e-mail, I use Mail.app which is the Apple's mail program built into Mac OS X. I find it more than enough to meet my needs without any further plugins or tweaks. I process all incoming e-mail and keep my inbox at or very near zero messages daily. While I could never match the genius of Merlin (most of the tips and tricks I will state here are taken from his various posts on the subject) I felt I would break my e-mail fu down for inspiration to those who doubt it is possible.
Now, let me go on to say that there are many out there (Princess Bethany for instance) that function perfectly well with a few hundred e-mails in their inbox. That may work for you and you are not overwhelmed by that kind of e-mail pile. It is OK. I'm keepin' it real. There is no right or wrong. No shame or blame.
I was not one of those people. I used to average 300 plus e-mails in my inbox. Some of them languishing for weeks before I got to them and responded in some way, if I got to them at all. Most often I would forget I even got that simple client question or e-mail from a friend I have not corresponded with in a while. Basically, a lot of balls were often dropped because I was never really certain what really needed my attention and what was just noise.
Here is what I did to get back in control:
First step... Get to know your "Delete" key. It is in a three way tie with for the best productivity tool ever with the Trash Can and the word "No". You will use this key for a vast majority of the e-mail that you receive. The junk, the special offers from the companies you have purchased products from, the joke e-mails that your "friends" blast you with - all of these should be blasted into the ether almost as soon as you receive them (of course, you could always unsubscribe and tell your friends to take you off those ridiculous mailings to begin with).
Next, the setup. I basically use a version that was originally outlined in and article in Macworld magazine by Merlin Mann titled "The inbox makeover". My setup is an almost exact duplicate of that one so go check it out for the fine details. I have the following folders on my IMAP account so it is the same no matter what computer I am using:
Inbox - Where it all comes in. I respond to the ones that take a minute or less when processing
@Action - For anything requiring a quick response that I don't do as soon as it comes in
@Hold - Receipts, shipping confirmations, or anything I want to hold for a short period before archiving.
@Respond - For anything that requires a longer than 2 minute response or further research before responding.
@Waiting - For items that require something from someone else before I can respond.
Archive - Everything ends up here.
See, I told you it was a copy of Merlin's system. It does have one slight modification. I have swapped the uses of Action and Respond as those terms make more sense to me this way. Also, the "@" signs are simply there to make things sort above the Archive folder, otherwise Apple's Mail insists on sorting alphabetically.
Here is how this works in practice:
1. E-mail arrives in the Inbox.
2. I evauate the e-mail and decide if I should delete it, archive it, sort it into one of the other folders or reply to it.
3. If it requires a quick reply, and I have the time, I reply to it and then Archive it.
4. If this is not the case then it is sorted into one of the other folders as appropriate. For instance, if it requires a short response I stick it in the Action folder, longer responses in the Respond folder, etc. I cull these folders regularly as time allows. If I get a 15 minute chunk of time then I go through my Action folder and fire away at those for instance.
5. Once an e-mail is responded to it is moved into Archive.
I also use some other strategies to keep things under control. For instance, not checking my e-mail regularly. I have my mail program check for new mail once an hour. That way, I can process in chunks rather than nibbling away at each mail as it arrives like some sort of Pavlovian experiment. I check my e-mail at the office even less frequently. The urgent stuff there people call me for anyway. I also use my Gmail account for most online signups in order to reduce the semi-junk (special offers and announcements) I receive and I only check that every few days. I use filters to sort the couple of mailing lists I am on and run through those as time allows.
The bottom line is that every email that comes in has some sort of decision made about what to do with it and dealt with accordingly. This starts with the simplest of questions - "Does this require action?" If the answer is no then I delete or archive it immediately. That reduces a good 60% of the e-mail that comes into my Inbox. If the answer is "yes" then I make strategic choices based on time and resources on how to respond to the e-mail.
It really is that simple my friends.
Research and Notes
My day job, as well as several personal projects, often requires research of a topic or subject. This research may be items from the web, documents, PDFs, etc. Not to mention notes I may take or recordings of conversations or interviews. There are also times when I need to find a home for a favorite quote or recipe. For these, I use the very cool Notetaker from Aquaminds.
On its face, Notetaker is a basic notebook, like a paper multi-subject notebook. It even has spiral rings and tabs on the side to indicate the various sections. You can create and have as many separate notebooks as you wish. I have three - one for personal items, one for my consulting business and one for my day job.
NoteTaker has a parent child multiple entry style that makes it a powerful outlining tool as well but I generally use it as a way of organizing and defining otherwise free form information. Because it can store images, sound files, movie files, take recordings and link to key documents, it is ideally suited for research.
Furthermore, it leverages the built in Services feature of Mac OS X to clip information from other sources (for instance, documents, e-mails and web pages) into new entries in your notebook. It will also include header information about the source application where the information came from. It will even automatically timestamp the entry for you.
But the real surprise is when you enter a URL (web site address) into a notebook, it places a little "@" sign next to the entry. Double clicking on the text of the link will launch your web browser and bring you to that page. Double clicking on the "@" sign will load the page in a little mini browser, in line, right there in your notebook's page. How cool is that?!
While I still use Notational Velocity for the little snippets and OmniOutliner Pro for serious outlining, Notetaker still gets regular use and it is my go-to tool when I need a tool that will tie several pieces together. As a matter of fact, my notebooks basically act as a digital commonplace in this way. If it is something of importance that I want to remember in the future it will probably end up here.
Physical Notes
For someone who spent many of his earlier digital years heralding the downfall of paper, I sure have become one of it's more vocal proponents. For years I pretty much eliminated paper for most areas of my life. I used a Newton MessagePad to keep everything I possibly could as digital and far removed from paper as possible. As a matter of fact, I owned every single model of Newton released. The irony is that what made the Newton so useful to me was it's adherence to the paper metaphor. I basically used it most of the time the same way that I would ink and paper and, by the end of the product line, the handwriting recognition was so good that I was able to do so with very little need for correction. The fact is, I never really left the idea of paper at all.
I love paper. I adore it. I love the idea of it. I love the simplicity and ease of being able to capture a thought in a manner that is only bested and made more personal by speaking it. I love to go back and read over what I have written. I love ink too. I love the way it flows and the minor adjustments and imperfections of the written words. I even love my handwriting (and believe me it is such that only I could love it). I am a complete paper snob. It is for this reason that I have no problem laying down good money for good paper. And if you want to lay down some good money for paper, I can think of no finer places to do so than Levenger and Moleskine.
I mainly use Levenger Notepads for my day job in IT for a four year liberal arts college. They are ideal for meeting notes and lists - which is principally what I use them for. The paper is bright, thick and takes ink from a fountain or gel pen easily (I use Pilot G2 pens). They have a loose Cornell Style arrangement that has spaces at the top for Topic, Date, File Under and Page Number and a wide left hand margin for marking up metadata on notes and other items. For personal use, I use a Large Moleskine Ruled Notebook which basically acts as a analog commonplace very similar to the way I use NoteTaker as described above.
I have recently come up with a metadata markup system that evolved out of the "dash/plus" system that I use for action items in my Pocket Moleskine. I will try to describe it as best I can with text but it is better viewed so I have included a link to a picture:
- (Dash): Undone Action Item.
+ (Plus): Done Action Item.
<- (Right Arrow): Delegated (with a note to whom and the date).
-> (Left Arrow): Waiting - (i.e. for another action).
^ (Triangle): Data Point.
O (Circle): A circle around any of the above means that it has been carried forward, moved to another list or otherwise changed status - i.e. a "Waiting" item has now become an Action Item elsewhere (with a note about where that item has gone).
Not sure is this is making sense so here is a picture to help:
The beauty of this system is that it is all built upon, and extensions of, the original dash. Therefore, it is easy to change items from one state to another (an undone action item to a done one, an undone action item to waiting or delegated) and in the case of an non dashed item changing completely I circle that item to denote that.
I am considering replacing the Levenger notepads with a Levenger Circa Notebook in order to keep things a bit more organized and complete but am not quite ready to cross that expensive bridge yet.
是的是的，我知道国内一般人没有这样吃巧克力的习惯，不过，啧啧，想到巧克力那个香浓甜蜜～瓦，我就再也坐不住了～不过我主要是看上了它的附件。
September 8th, 2004 at 17:04
I'm very keen to follow along with this series of posts. However, I'm awfully busy (probably because I'm so disorganised!) How necessary is having a copy of the book or even reading the whole thing going to be?
September 8th, 2004 at 17:14
I think you'll find plenty of good tips without reading the whole book. I would grab M Vance's Outline to give you a high-level understanding.
Once they get into it, a lot of people find they want to immerse themselves in GTD completely for 2 or 3 days to get everything in order—a lot of folks say it pays back the time investment by a factor of many, FWIW.
September 8th, 2004 at 19:49
Have you checked out Daylite, from MarketCircle? It's primarily for sales management, but folks often discuss DTD on it's email list.
September 8th, 2004 at 22:05
I really look forward to the OS X-specific info. I'm a Mac guy who picked up GTD after seeing all the nerd cred it had online. But despite reading the book, I haven't implemented it yet. I'd love to see what files you use, what lists you keep — even the lists themselves (or some bowdlerized version, since you'd understandably like to keep some things private). I'm just curious what level of detail you get down to in your lists.
Anyway, Merlin, I've been a fan of all your online work for a while now, and I really look forward to reading more in the coming weeks.
September 9th, 2004 at 5:56
Cheers for this, don't forget to polish M Vance's outline as you go through. It's a wiki. Yes, helping others is an actionable item. I'm hitting the stationary cupboard … er .. tomorrow.
September 9th, 2004 at 6:35
Check out Life Balance (http://www.llamagraphics.com) for excellent GTD helper software for Mac OS X (and Window and Palm I think).
September 9th, 2004 at 7:44
Getting Things Done?
Usually, what I hate about "getting things done systems" is that learning them is such a time consuming process.
September 9th, 2004 at 7:45
I'll do it later
I really need this book- Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-free Productivity.
There's an introduction/ review here.
September 9th, 2004 at 8:39
Getting Things Done
43 Folders: Getting started with "Getting Things Done�? I haven't looked at this yet, but it seems like it would be useful for many 'people…
September 9th, 2004 at 8:41
I've had the book for a few months now and I'm finally getting ready to implement. I'm thinking of using a wiki as my organizational tool. I work in a cross-platform environment so I frequently switch between Mac, Windows and even Linux. I think something web-based yet simple, like wiki, might be my best bet. But I'm interested in knowing if anyone else has ever implemented GTD with a wiki (I couldn't find anything on the davidco forums.)
September 9th, 2004 at 8:54
Lon:
I think a wiki is a terrific idea. I run both Instiki and VoodooPad on my local Mac as well as PHPWiki for "PantyWad." Instiki would really be my hands down choice for a simple wiki except that many ISPs haven't caught up to the version of Ruby needed to run it.
For you, depending on your needs and skills, I'd look at either Usemod or PHPWiki. I think the latter may be better for GTD because of the cool category stuff. But Instiki is so damned pretty and fun to use (plus it supports Markdown!). Usemod is pretty basic, but it just couldn't be easier to set up.
September 9th, 2004 at 10:13
Merlin,
Love your site, found you through Bradlands. I'm new to GTD and this is a great resource.
I hate your fixed center column width though. On my cinema display the side borders look positively silly. (Want a screenshot?
) Any way to talk you into making the center column a non-absolute width? I feel like I'm reading a very very long sidebar. 
September 9th, 2004 at 10:34
I would love to see the Advanced Workflow (PDF) but am unable to open it. Can you try to make it available? I need to get my team on the GTD plan.
September 9th, 2004 at 10:36
I read GTD, then started to consider how to implement it.
My solution? Use email.
Mail.app with my imap server is proving to be a good fit for me. I can use mail.app offline to edit/queue messages, which syncs with the imap when I go online. I am not tied to a duct taped solution, infact, email is a rather elegant solution.
Next steps, getting a rim pager, to capture those fleeting thoughts and get them into the system.
Also setup a mailbot to reply with summary of what is in some mailboxes.
Why re-invent the wheel?
September 9th, 2004 at 10:50
Instiki is, in fact, the wiki system I've settled on. I've used phpWiki and MoinMoin on other projects but after using instiki I'm hooked on its elegant simplicity. I haven't used Markdown–Textile seems more my style–but perhaps I should try it to see what all the fuss is about.
September 9th, 2004 at 11:11
the rise of "getting things done"
http://merlin.blogs.com/43folders/2004/09/getting_started.html…
September 9th, 2004 at 12:00
Todd, you need a smaller display, that's your problem.
Good call. I like it better. Thanks.
(Now send me some schwag. I've been buying your goddamn computers for almost 20 years!)
September 9th, 2004 at 12:16
Getting Things Done
It'll change your life!
September 9th, 2004 at 12:25
So, you're going to go into why using a wiki for personal use is a good idea? Because I've heard it from several sources, but I cannot seem to imagine it. Perhaps some sort of demo would be helpful
September 9th, 2004 at 13:50
43 Folders: Getting started with "Getting Things Done�?
Just discovered a brief description & collection of links about Getting Things Done over at 43 Folders.
September 9th, 2004 at 19:14
Instiki is the way to go, at least as far as managing the many lists is concerned. What stumps me, though, is the management of the myriad project support files I sometimes need to link to list items (or calender items…grr, iCal).
Voodoopad gets the file-management aspect right, because you can drag actual files into each wiki page, but I just don't like the feel of Voodoopad.
I'd be interested to hear how others keep their files associated with list- and calendar items in OSX.
September 9th, 2004 at 19:44
JP,
I'm just getting organized myself, but I'm leaning towards Circus Ponies NoteBook for electronic project files.
http://circusponies.com/
Download the eval and see what you think. I like the tabbed notebook view, and it seems very skinnable if you don't like the default views. I don't see any real to-do list management, so it's probably only approvriate for support files, but it may work out.
September 9th, 2004 at 19:48
I don't have
time to Get Things Done (via Boing Boing); perhaps I should start just reading the first lines of novels (via…
September 9th, 2004 at 19:56
Procrastination
I am a procrastinator: I will go do, but tomorrow. My problem is not be lazy, is do things more interesting before and the others still on in line to do. I have more problem with procrastinatination than those, much more. I really want to change, but …
September 9th, 2004 at 20:15
GTD
aka "Getting Things Done". Quite serendipitous, since just this morning I was contemplating the fact that I have 3 ToDo lists in different places (Outlook, notebook paper, and my head), and none of them match or are integrated. Then, I…
September 9th, 2004 at 20:19
I am very interested in all of this as I begin another semester of school.
Would anyone care to elaborate Gordo's query into using email to facillitate the organization principles of this system? I am jusy a little reluctant to stray too far from beloved email cockpit, especially after I have crashed and burned with the Franklin and Daytimer systems already. Thanks to all for the informative posts.
September 9th, 2004 at 20:26
Merlin: can TypePad do Comment thread RSS feeds (like WordPress)? This would be a great one to track that way. I've never thought of them as that useful, but I think I'm starting to see the light.
September 9th, 2004 at 22:05
This is perfect. I just stumbled onto this site (via del.icio.us) and wouldn't you know it…I've been thinking about picking up a copy of "Getting Things Done" for the past few days.
I saw GTD while looking for an audio book (on iTunes) of "The Now Habit", which I just read and loved. While I highly recommend "The Now Habit" to any procrastinators out there, I could still use some more tangible strategies for becoming more productive. Hopefully "Getting Things Done" will do the trick for me.
September 9th, 2004 at 22:09
VoodooPad.
I've found it to be perfect not for large scale Life Balance-style organization, but for little stuff like remembering passwords, lists of jokes, copied text for web sites, simple to do lists, and so forth. I used to just have a big old directory of text files. Voodoopad is a good replacement for big old directories of text files. Don't get too fancy with it and you'll find it's ideal for its scope.
(I also use it for writing. Compare it to dedicated creative writing applications like Ulysses. I've found that wikis, once you have a good workflow, are way more useful- you make an index page, a note page, etc.)
September 9th, 2004 at 22:37
43 Folders
This year I have started becoming much more organized that I've been in the past, with all my business and everything else, however I could always use more help. Merlin Mann gives us 43 Folders a blog about Getting Things…
September 10th, 2004 at 1:30
For implementing GTD, I've tried them all: DayLite, VoodooPad, OmniOutliner, LifeBalance.
And I've now settled on Entourage 2004 as my main GTD tool. It syncs to the Palm nicely, I have all my Projects, tasks and hard landscape in one spot AND it rocks being able to have project-based email.
At the core of Entourage's usefulness as far as GTD is concerned is of course the Project Center. I suspect that a more perfect solution could be developed in FileMaker Pro, but for something straight out of the box it works really well.
I never thought I'd be extolling the virtues of a Microsoft app but it is a pretty polished bit of software, especially when it comes to GTD.
Bongoman
September 10th, 2004 at 2:51
Your to-do list, soon in a feed near you?
There is some kind of conspiracy going on in my usual web sources that focuses on life hacks, more life…
September 10th, 2004 at 5:09
I'm not convinced that software "process talk" is applicable to software development.. let alone real life. But, if you feel that you can refactor yourself, why not outsource yourself as well?
September 10th, 2004 at 6:00
I've been using GTD for a couple of months — not a huge amount of time — and I've tried a ton of software solutions. For me, the best solution is turning out to be simplicity: text files and MacNoteTaker. I'm hoping that this site will help me simplify further and even get rid of my Palm as an organizational tool; I'd like to rely ultimately on printed lists and note cards.
I'm just not convinced that GTD is a method that a) requires a lot of tech and b) benefits from complicated tools. The goal of GTD is get things as much off your mind as possible, and software — even simple stuff like Instiki, which has quite a few clicks before any project to-dos are recorded — makes you think about the software. Before you know it, you're spending time improving or rethinking your wiki, notebook, or outline. This is exactly not the point of GTD. I think this site has the right idea emphasizing tools like QuickSilver and its 'append' function: make things easy, transparent, and immediate if you can.
Here's a good example: for a while the best solution I'd settled on was to use OmniOutliner on the desktop and a Palm with Shadowplan, a great PalmOS outliner. The advantage of SP was being able to see all of my projects at a glance, any time. But to record a new to-do, I inevitably ended up having to open SP, navigate to my project, zoom to the appropriate area of the outline, add the to-do, and shuffle around the items to achieve what seemed a sensible order. This not only took time — it made me think in a way I'd prefer not to.
Lately, I've switched to flat text files and index cards. I carry my Palm for contacts and a calendar sometimes, but when I think of an idea I write it on an index card and leave it at that. I save all the thinking / processing for the "Processing" stage of GTD, and I separate "Collecting" from "Processing" as much as possible. You would be amazed how much this helps with keeping stress-free. In my experience, the single greatest insight in GTD is that collecting, processing, and doing all need to be separate parts of your day or week. A lot of software tools get you into collecting and processing, and sometimes even doing, at the same time — e.g. Entourage, where you're writing emails while you're looking at your Project lists while you're recording new tasks.
Obviously, whatever works for you works for you: but I would encourage you, if you haven't tried it, to try out radically separating collection, processing, and doing. This requires unplugging a bit from cool software (I love VP and OO, for example, and miss playing with them), but it means that you need less of a complicated, one-stop-shop application to get things done and can focus more on clearing your head.
September 10th, 2004 at 8:12
I agree with Josh, that simplicity is best. The process should be transparent, low barrier to capturing ideas, otherwise you don't do it.
I had a pager for work and before reading GTD, I was sending myself reminders by email. Then when I read GTD alot of things started to fall into place.
I setup snipsnap a wiki/weblog to capture some links and more rich info. Of course about the same time I changed positions and no longer had access to the RIM pager. I treid using my sell fone to send sms for reminders, but it was not as easy (for me) to enter in the text. So a used RIM is on the way from ebay.
As for my email layout, just followed the suggestions in GTD. Also added a small filing box (not a whole cabinet) for 'real world' paper.
The thing that occurred to me that would be a 'neat toy', would be a knoppix cd image that could scan an image into a pdf, bonus if it did OCR. That would bridge the gap from dead tree to digital world.
September 10th, 2004 at 10:04
But, if you feel that you can refactor yourself, why not outsource yourself as well?
Good one. I would totally do that…if they dramatically improved their support quality.
Actually, it's the system that gets refactored, not the person. I want to update the program, not the wetware that's running it.
September 10th, 2004 at 10:04
Like Todd, I've been using Circus Pony's NoteBook. Each project gets (at least) a page. Actions and support info gets listed on the page. I can tag actions with a context keyword and a next action sticker (both could be keywords or both could be stickers). I can then use the super-find feature to get a context list.
This works because I mostly work at home. It would be harder if I needed to use my Palm for anything other than reference. Features that would make NoteBook better for GTD would be sortable super-find results, "smart pages" (which, like Tiger's smart folders, would display a dynamically-updated super-find result), and Applescriptability, which would let me automate interactions between NoteBook and iCal, for example.
September 10th, 2004 at 21:43
Getting organized
Recently, I have begun to feel a little disorganized and mostly unproductive. I submit as evidence the lack of posts this week. True, I was in the Madison, WI home of Althouse, with a lot of customer related activity occuring outside the normal busines…
September 11th, 2004 at 20:20
sdfghxcv
perfect timing. getting things done. start….
September 12th, 2004 at 5:21
More books and stuff
This article made me order Getting things done, and I'll be interested to see if it can help with the mass of work I always have queued up at the office..
I spent my winnings from the ot…
I've been playing a bit more poker, and am still doing well
September 12th, 2004 at 8:46
Lets Get Orgamanized
I am a disorganized mess at times. Papers everywhere, things stacked up on top of each other with "plans" of organizing them. So when I saw this book Getting Things Done making the rounds online and getting some rave reviews….
September 13th, 2004 at 5:52
Not a user of GTD myself (though maybe I should be) but I thought I'd chime in with a software solution or two I've seen floating around.
Eastgate's Tinderbox seems to have a pretty big base of GTD users and seems like a neat solution. There's some stuff in the support wiki including document templates.
HandyShopper for palm also has some GTD templates, but I haven't checked them out. And I think I've lost the url for the software. The user group is here.
September 13th, 2004 at 7:01
43 Folders
It seems that everyone and their cousin is linking to 43 Folders, so I might
September 13th, 2004 at 13:19
Getting Things Done - A Summary
Here's a nice summary of a book that I should add to my reading list - Getting Things Done
September 14th, 2004 at 20:46
I wanted to chime into this conversation as one of the co-creators of Circus Ponies NoteBook.
I was introduced to GTD back in 2001, not long before Jayson and I founded Circus Ponies, and it greatly influenced my input into our design of the product. I'm not a 100% GTD follower (I already had a pretty solid system of my own in place), but some of DA's methods struck me as so brilliant I've long since replaced pieces of my own system with pieces from his.
Many of the feature suggestions that are mentioned in this discussion have also been mentioned on our User Forums and we are working to incorporate them into the next major release of the product. While our intention is to make the product useful for anyone, we are particularly interested in hearing from GTD users. We find they are highly self-aware and make excellent constructive suggestions.
We also invite Mac users who would like to get organized to try NoteBook free for 30 days and to take advantage of our Discussion Forums which we read and respond to religiously.
Many thanks to DA for refining such a great system.
September 15th, 2004 at 2:01
The in-tray of life is never empty.
You can spend forever trying to empty the tray or you can learn to transcend the tray.
Letting go of the tray is the true path.
September 15th, 2004 at 2:04
There is no tray, Bob.
September 15th, 2004 at 10:06
Getting Things Done
43 Folders is an ever expanding collection of tips and tricks to help you be more productive. And it isn't just for geeks, the common thread binding the ideas is a system for organizing your life, called GTD. GTD stands…
September 15th, 2004 at 15:55
http://www.lunchwithgeorge.com/lwgblog/2004/09/pauls-getting-organized.php
September 17th, 2004 at 9:26
Getting started with "Getting Things Done"
43 Folders: Getting started with "Getting Things Done"…
September 21st, 2004 at 2:17
links for 2004-09-21
43 Folders: Getting started with "Getting Things Done" I wanted to provide a gentle, nerd-centric introduction to Getting Things Done, so that you can think about whether it might be right for you. (categories: article blog gtd post) GettingThingsDone…
September 22nd, 2004 at 18:16
Has anyone tried to integrate Pocket Informant (Pocket PC) with GTD? Any tips?
September 24th, 2004 at 13:27
One tool that helps me quite a bit on OS X is flyingmeat.com's VoodooPad, a desktop wiki. It functions as sort of a hyperlinked equivalent of endless manila folders.
September 26th, 2004 at 2:01
I don't know about you guys, but I am able to get pretty far with Yahoo mail and their calendar. I am able to access all my context lists as my web homepage on my sanyo 8200 phone, and the beauty is that it won't show me any folder in which I have no unread (uncompleted tasks) messages in a mail folder. I really think this is important in the same way I like to just carry around a piece of paper and a pen to capture thoughts and stuff during the day… it is just the most convenient and direct. this info has got to be web accessible for me because i want to be as nomadic as possible. i want to live the dream. I send an email to myself, plop it in the list and there it is as an unread message waiting for completion. when i am done, pop it into the completed task folder and then the endorphin droplet soothes my cortex. admittedly, i am not managing 200 projects and jumbling a buttload of tasks, but i don't see how that would make much of a difference. i can't stand the idea of my lists only being accessible on one computer or pda while i am out bopping around. good luck to all and i would like to start a thread of sorts that is for people who are attempting to do the GTD thang with just paper in hand, folders at home, and web mail where ver they are. with yahoo upgrading their email system to oddpost features, it can only get better, right? who's game?
October 1st, 2004 at 14:54
Getting Things Done
A couple weeks ago I came across 43 Folders and I was intrigued by this post about "Getting Things Done" which is, evidently, the biggest thing since sliced bread. Essentially it is a list-based process for tracking and completing tasks
October 7th, 2004 at 14:06
Travel
Spent three days in Austin and Houston this weekend; had a great time. In transit at Newark, I loosed a large mental poop when I realized, on line at airport security, that I'd left a knife in my bag. Thankfully…
October 11th, 2004 at 14:33
Do; go
Share was cool last night. I left Beth to her C homework in Astoria (pang) and showed up there around 7 pm. It was very quiet at first, then things picked up like mad (~9 pm) when the featured set…
October 17th, 2004 at 17:20
I've Been Assimilated
A few weeks ago Anil mentioned the semi-cult that is the book and methodology 'Getting Things Done' (GTD). I don't know how I'd never heard of this 3-year old book, but I guess it's better late than never. After researching…
October 25th, 2004 at 12:07
Merlin, it'd be great if you posted a rundown/comparison of Instiki, VoodooPad, phpWiki and other engines. I'm new to wikis — and to serving websites from my home machine — and some perspective on their relative merits would be really helpful.
October 25th, 2004 at 12:20
Dan:
VodooPad is just a local OS X app. While it has excellent wiki-like functionality, it doesn't, to my knowledge, actually serve pages to a browser.
Instiki runs on Ruby, which can be hard to find on an ISP, plus it serves over port 2500, which is verboten on most ISPs I've talked to. It is, however, a breeze to setup and use on your own mac. And if you have a way of doing dynamic DNS or otherwise have a domain hardwired to your Mac or Home network, you can serve wiki pages to the world over port 2500, no problem. Just poke a hole in your firewall and forward the port on your router's setup. That's what I'm doing now (as an experiment).
PHPWiki is very powerful and has lots of bells and whistles. I'll probably use it again, but have been choosing to do stuff in Instiki wherever I can, because it's so much easier to use IMO.
Again, I should mention–I don't personally use wikis for GTD stuff (and am not entirely sure how I would). I find wikis most useful for individual projects that are changing quickly or need lots of brainstorming. In the GTD system, I suppose I'd place wikis more in the class of "project support."
Hope that helps.
November 22nd, 2004 at 10:08
gtd
as i near the end of 2004, i can't help but to look back and reflect on how i progressed through the year. if i had to give one word…
December 27th, 2004 at 3:07
Have you tried searching for books at Pricenoia.com? It's an International Amazon comparison engine I was introduced a couple of days ago.. It compares prices and adds shipping costs. It also has a nice price evolution graph..
Getting things done compared at Pricenoia.
Diferent from isbn.nu but useful anyway!
December 29th, 2004 at 4:12
43 Folders: Getting started with "Getting Things Done"
The good folks over at 43 Folder s have got a piece up on Getting started with "Getting Things Done" .
December 29th, 2004 at 15:48
Getting things done
I was introduced a couple months ago to the work of productivity guru David Allen, finding a glowing review and an overview of his organization system on the 43 Folders weblog. But buying the book has had unintended consequences.
December 31st, 2004 at 3:40
Hi
I have spent quite some time pouring my life into Day Lite using the GTD philosophy over the past days. The advantage of daylite to me is that i gives me *next task' for each project - the down side is that there is a lot of admin in order to get it organised. But i have decided to give it a serious bash for a week now.
Info :
www.marketcircle.com
Marketcircle Inc.
431 Alden Road, Units 19 & 20
Markham, Ontario
L3R 3L4 Canada
January 1st, 2005 at 4:28
Forget my previous post - i have now deleted DayLite of my system. It 'accidentally' deleted 2 projects of the file. And as DA first rule states move the stuff out of your brain to a system you TRUST - well i don't anymore.
Next step is i am testing Two Due a shareware todolist that may do the job : http://www.powersurgepub.com any one tried this?
January 9th, 2005 at 16:30
ONLamp.com: Keeping Your Life in Subversion
Revision control is great for collaborative projects and distributed projects. How well does it work for individuals? According to Joey Hess, fantastically. He's kept his home dir
January 14th, 2005 at 22:50
A while back I started working with re-organizing my life.
PDF LinkA while back I started working with re-organizing my life. After looking around at the situation I came across…
February 14th, 2005 at 21:18
Getting Things Done
While reading a number of blogs on my daily blog-tour, I kept coming across this thing people would refer to as GTD of "Getting Things Done". Well, my curiosity was aroused last week, so
February 14th, 2005 at 21:44
Getting Things Done by David Allen
While reading a number of blogs on my daily blog-tour, I kept coming across this thing people would refer to as GTD of "Getting Things Done". Well, my curiosity was aroused last week, so
February 17th, 2005 at 12:29
These are all things i've read/learnt years ago. i start, then forget. Ah, well. Glad something works for all of you.
February 21st, 2005 at 23:09
flickr
found out about flickr after reading up about gtd at 43folders which led me to lifehacks….
March 10th, 2005 at 9:21
links for 2005-03-10
Getting started with "Getting Things Done" The art of productivity, by David Allen. Apparently it's a good program for geeks? [via sleepingwolf] (categories: books)…
March 10th, 2005 at 10:23
Quicklinks for 2005-03-10
Getting started with "Getting Things Done" The art of productivity, by David Allen. Apparently it's a good program for geeks? [via sleepingwolf] (categories: books)…
March 12th, 2005 at 21:43
Analog is the new Digital ?
So the Hipster PDA and the whole Getting Things Done system seems to be popping up absolutely everywhere these days.
I have say I'm kind of enthused about it, maybe because it kind of fits how I organise my email life, and perhaps everything else cou…
March 18th, 2005 at 9:22
iPod photo
As a reward for finishing my latest project, I'm buying myself an mp3 player. Specifically…
March 18th, 2005 at 9:23
iPod photo
As a reward for finishing my latest project, I'm buying myself an mp3 player. Specifically…
March 18th, 2005 at 11:12
iPod photo
As a reward for finishing my latest project, I'm buying myself an mp3 player. Specifically…
March 18th, 2005 at 14:39
I'm gonna get things done!
inspired primarily by this 43 Folders post, I picked up a copy of Getting Things Done at B&N today on my lunch break, and am getting geared up to dive in…
March 22nd, 2005 at 11:06
43 Folders: Getting started with Getting Things Done
I read Getting Things Done back in November, based on a recommendation from a friend. I was dong a search for some time tracking software and noticed this
March 22nd, 2005 at 16:17
Getting Stuff Done
I am chronically disorganised and always have been. But, through my interest in notebooks I found Merlin Mann's site dealing with personal productivity through a combination of geek methods, and David Allan's "Getting Things Done" book - and in…
March 24th, 2005 at 17:36
On Blogs, Multi-Tasking and Continuous Partial Attention
In spite of my best efforts, my blogroll continues to expand like our runaway national deficit. I prune it actively, I unsubscribe to things I like but don't have time to read (I miss you BoingBoing), but seemingly every day…
March 25th, 2005 at 4:23
Definitie van een nerd…
Tijdens mijn zoektocht naar leuke dingen voor mijn pocketpc vind ik echt hele leuke, nerdie, websites.
Op een daarvan, 43folders.com kwam ik de perfecte definitie van een nerd tegen. Alsof iemand mij beschrijft. Okee, nerdette dan.
Het is in het e…
March 27th, 2005 at 15:20
Getting Stuff Done
I am chronically disorganised and always have been. But, through my interest in notebooks I found Merlin Mann's site dealing with personal productivity through a combination of geek methods, and David Allan's "Getting Things Done" book - and in…
April 9th, 2005 at 20:59
Perhaps I missed it in all the comments, but: one of the 43 folders denizens has been in the process of writing a Ruby on Rails app (like Instiki, mentioned in a previous post) designed to implement the GTD methodology.
I messed with it, a little. Seemed quite neat. If you have the means to throw up a rails app somewhere (and are therefore, virtually by definition, a Big Geek), check it out. It's called Tracks.
April 11th, 2005 at 13:13
Backpack Preview #2: Reminders
This preview doesn't come with a screenshot, but it covers a concept central to Backpack: Usefulness (with a capital U). Backpack is basically a two pillar product — it does two things really well. One of the things it does…
April 20th, 2005 at 19:21
Getting things done
I recently started reading a new book entitled Getting Things Done by David Allen. I'm sure many have heard of this title, as did I, but I finally picked it up to see if I could add some more efficiency to the "to-do" overload I have. Being better …
April 22nd, 2005 at 6:17
links for 2005-04-22
Fort Ebey State Park (page 1 of 2) (tags: stateparks washington travel mountainbiking camping) Google Groups : 43 Folders…
April 22nd, 2005 at 12:53
Links for 2005-04-22
Fort Ebey State Park (page 1 of 2) (tags: stateparks washington travel mountainbiking camping) Google Groups : 43 Folders…
April 22nd, 2005 at 12:56
Links for 2005-04-22
Fort Ebey State Park (page 1 of 2) (tags: stateparks washington travel mountainbiking camping) Google Groups : 43 Folders…
April 28th, 2005 at 14:27
My basic puzzle: I needed multi-platform access to my lists, Windows and Mac, often from different places. Can't assume any particular set of software on any machine.
My Solution: For a document format, use text files, rather than anything fancy or proprietary such as Omni Outliner files, wiki pages, etc. For a storage location, get some free WebDAV-able space. I use the free 100MB from spymac.net. On both Win and Mac, I can treat that web storage as a folder, like any other folder on my computer (but slower).
BUT: there are hangups with this method. Would the OS and the apps let me actually edit a file that is sitting on a WebDAV folder in this way?
On a PC, the answer is, only through MS Word. You must name the remote file .rtf or .doc, and if you double-click on it, Word will open it automatically. (There is no "Open With…" choice for remote WebDAV files — there's just Word. Even if you remap so that .doc files open with something like Abiword, clicking a .doc file in the WebDAV folder boots into Word.)
Sadly, if you suffix a file with .txt, you can't edit it at all thru WebDAV (unless I'm missing something). You'd have to make a local copy, and edit that. Now you have synchronization problem and overhead — a bad scene.
On a Mac, the answer is simply yes, you can edit over WebDAV, but saving and opening are both slow.
My wish list:
I'd like to leave these files in .rtf, rather than .doc. But because of Tofu, I've realized how great columns are. I'd like to edit an .rtf file in columns. But Tofu doesn't let you edit — it just lets you look. So for now, I'm using .doc files, with three columns. This means having Word open all the time, which I'm less than thrilled to do.
.rtf doesn't actually include column formatting information, and I don't want it to. I just like to edit this way, because it lets me put everything onscreen in one view. Currently, my lists are 20 or 24 column inches long. Without columns, I have to scroll up and down all the time. I know that on the PC I'm stuck with MS Word for the time being, but on the Mac, a Tofu-style editor would be a great tool — much more useful than Tofu-the-viewer.