Difficulties In Choosing An Implementation of GTD
Josh Teeters
I'm having some problems in deciding on how to implement the GTD
system. I am currently trying to get into the habit of using a Hipster
PDA to jot down things as they come up throughout the day. However, I'm
stumped on what software or what system to use to integrate all of my
'stuff'. I'm currently using Tasks, by King Designs (alexking.org /
kingdesign.net), through a UseTasks.com account. You can see how I've
tried to implement the GTD system in tasks on my blog post here:
http://www.joshteeters.org/weblog/2005/03/18/usetasks-for-gtd/
However, if I continue using Tasks, I'm going to have to find another
web-based Calendar application (preferably free). The problem with
Tasks is, *everything* you add as a Task / sub-task / sub-sub-task /
etc. gets added to the calendar. There's no way to mark something as an
event OR a task. Everything is a task. So, when I open up the php
iCalendar associated with my Tasks account, I see everything, whether
it has to be done that day or not. In short, the Calendar function in
Tasks is useless to me.
Anyway - I was hoping to hear some of the ways you all have implemented
the system (including any alterations you might have done to the basic
system). I am already experiencing some of the productivity effects of
the system, but I know I'd be feeling it tenfold if I had a SOLID
system running. Right now I feel as if it's rather splotchy in places.
It's not streamlined enough.
Best regards,
Josh
Josh Teeters
available to me. :(
Mike H.
Your post really helped me get over a hump with using Tasks and GTD. I
know Alex personally and believe in his software, so I've tried to
stick with Tasks. I personally use my Palm PDA calendar for my "gtd
calendar". I've found that it's reminders help me significantly
because it buzzes me everything I'm supposed to do something :-).
I am currently in the process of defining my system by the following
process:
- Read GTD
- Try and implment it
- Look and see what works for me
- Use existing flowcharts to create my personal version of collection,
daily review and weekly review
(http://www.bol.ucla.edu/~smerino/gtd/gtd-1.html)
(http://www.bol.ucla.edu/~smerino/gtd/gtd-2.html)
(http://www.bol.ucla.edu/~smerino/gtd/gtd-3.html)
- Find what works for me the easiest, if it doesn't come naturally it
won't work (ie. buzzing Palm PDA)
- Tweak and change my process as I discover things that work well adn
things that don't work.
I've tried SEVERAL systems. Being a web programmer and business person
there are several things I regularly track and it has been a long
process to discover what it takes to process all that information
efficiently.
Just keep at it. At first, I thought (and my wife thought) I was nuts
for creating all of this extra work that GTD seemingly brought. But as
I've followed it and TRIED it, I am starting to become a believer. The
one way I know that GTD really works is that it isn't a cut and dried
system. It's not a 12 step process. It's a journey, a very personal
journey. And by following that journey you will arrive at a place
where you are more efficient.
rickla
Those are great flowcharts. Please let us know if you add to your
collection or make any blog posts about your system,
Rick
Josh Teeters
Thanks.
J.Shell
seems like a complex system. The number of pages in the book and the
size of the chapters is a bit intimidating for me, knowing my
predilection for procrastination and a deficient attention span. Your
flowcharts make a lot of sense and have encouraged me to give it
another shot.
So, not knowing too much about the details of GTD, I want to return to
the software topic of what's working for me: Ta-da Lists and Basecamp.
Both are online applications by the same company. Ta-da lists is just
simple to-do lists and is completely free to use. There have been some
other discussions in this group about Ta-Da Lists. I like it for its
simplicity, and have been using it to collect to-do items and lists for
basic stuff - bills to pay, books to look at, groceries, art supplies I
need to shop for. When the time comes to go to the supply store, book
store, etc, I transcribe the lists down to a notebook. It has some
faults in regards to GTD, but I really really enjoy it.
Basecamp (see http://www.basecamphq.com/ for details) is basically a
project management and communication system. It's a hosted application,
meaning there's no software to install on your computer. The free
version lets you manage one project at a time. But within that one
project you can have unlimited to-do lists, messages, and milestones.
It's actually more of a project-focused blogging application that has
calendaring and to-do management capabilities. I'm now using it to
manage a lot of my personal life projects (under one Basecamp
'Project') - an upcoming move, upcoming art related events (shows,
submissions, etc), and more. The nice thing with Basecamp is that you
can subscribe to its messages just like a Blog, and there are tools to
get that information into a Palm PDA or iPod even. One of my favorite
things, however, is that you can subscribe to the Milestones calendars
into programs like Apple's iCal or the Mozilla calendar application
(and there are others on Windows, I'm sure). On the Mac, I can then
sync these calendars to my iPod, since I always have that with me. The
iPod is nice because it's a read only device - I still use notebooks
for capture and bring it back to Basecamp when I have internet access.
Another nice thing about these applications is that since they're
internet based, you can access them from everywhere - local library, an
email garden at a trade show, etc.
For longer term goals, I've just started using 43things (not to be
confused with 43folders). 43things.com is basically a goal management
site, with community support. Again, it's like a blog, but instead of
centered around projects, it's centered around goals. There's no to-do
list management. But instead, it's basically a place to journal how
you're progressing towards a certain goal. So for everything from
losing weight to learning a new language to managing finances, it's a
nice place to note "I did this today towards this goal and it really
helped" or "it really sucked."
A nice thing is that it's a community site. You can find other people
with the same or similar goals and find out how they're doing, or put
out a call for help.
For example, here's a query for GTD on 43Things:
http://www.43things.com/search/query?q=GTD
Again, I don't speak as someone who's implemented or even really
started studying GTD. But these are some tools that I've been
leveraging lately to manage my life.
TomK
> Basecamp (see http://www.basecamphq.com/ for details) is basically a
> project management and communication system. It's a hosted
application,
> meaning there's no software to install on your computer.
one
> project you can have unlimited to-do lists, messages, and
milestones.
> It's actually more of a project-focused blogging application that has
> calendaring and to-do management capabilities.
Interesting synchronicity. Last night, I followed the mention in
another thread of Ta-da, the online todo list program, and spent a bit
of time also looking at its big brother, Basecamp. It looks
surprisingly full-featured and, if you set it up to allow "employees"
of external "companies" to have access (they are very much wedded to
the project paradigm), you can open up your project to other external
participants. It is sort of complex to wrap my head around so, other
than setting up the base (ouch) account, I haven't gone far with it.
I'm just starting in on learning the GTD system (reading chapter 2). At
this point, I have actually read more of the online blogs and articles
referred to from 43F and members of this group than the book itself. I
have 43 manilla folders sitting on a shelf by my desk at work in
near-readiness (still need to clear out space in my file cabinet) but,
before I get too far with that aspect, I think I need to finish the
book and start strategizing how it will work for me.
Manilla folders, ..., I don't know. If I understand David Allen's
message from the little I've internalized so far, the whole point is
NOT to segregate the "work" life from everything else. I certainly
can't see carting around a milk crate of folders around with me. That's
the fuzzy part for me. If I have work to do in multiple locations, but
the tickler is at work, what do I do?
I think it all boils down to what Merlin and others have been saying
that readers of 43F have a much different style of working than the
more traditional business audience that Allen was writing for. We work
wherever there's a fast internet connection and that often means
external to the traditional office space, be it at home or in
Starbucks.
I'm casting about for something that will follow me around where ever I
am. My inclination is to do as much as possible on my Palm T3, since
that is almost never farther away from me than the next room. I've
looked at a couple of articles, including the one on Allen's website,
about using the standard Palm programs. But the tickler file part is
still murky.
Talk on another thread got me interested in trying out Dokuwiki (that's
the one that saves all your work as plain text files rather than as
mysql, or whatever-sql, database rows) as a GTD environment. The
original thread posed the question about using a wiki as an outliner.
But, I don't think any wiki has that particular strength and I
certainly haven't seen one that touts OPML in its feature set.
Never-the-less, Docuwiki is a really nice, light-weight wiki
environment and it has a lot appeal for me. It is SO easy, using
Transit (ftp program), to sync the wiki data files on my laptop with
the equivalent data files on my website. Verra cool!
The missing bit, of course, is having the wiki files available on my
Palm as well. I currently do all of my synching of my Palm at work on
my XP box. I've been happy with that arrangement since, hey, that's
where I do most of my work. I haven't bothered to install a Mac version
of Palm desktop on my laptop and, on the rare occasions at home when I
need to type a file rather than using the stylus, I do it in BBedit and
sent it over to Memo using Bluetooth.
MacNoteTaker[1] seems like a nice way to get my dokuwiki files over to
my Palm without too much dicking around. Consequently, I am now
thinking of installing Palm desktop on my Mac just to get syncing
capability for MacNoteTaker. Does anybody know of a way around that or
is Palm Desktop and HotSync the best option? If so, I plan to turn off
the other conduits since I will continue to use the XP box at work for
my desktop.
However, the final barrier is that I would also like to find a wiki
program for the Palm capable of using the Dokuwiki text files. I could
use MacNoteTaker on the Palm to read the files, but having a real or
simulated wiki on the Palm would be GREAT.
The closest thing I've found is PalmWiki[2], and that has several
problems.
MacNoteTaker designates a folder on your Mac as the "source" data and
uploads/synchs it with your Palm, keeping all the sub-folders intact.
So far, so good, since Dokuwiki allows nested folders in its data
folder (where the text version of the pages reside) and that will
preserve the nested folder structure of the Dokuwiki data files.
But, without having actually tried MacNoteTaker yet, I have concluded
that MacNoteTaker files do not live where Memo (on the Palm) can access
them, since the hierarchical folder structure of the files is not
something that Memo can handle. PalmWiki, of course, appears to use the
Memo files to store its data. Am I correct in my assumption that they
are incompatible?
The second problem is that I don't think that PalmWiki will even run on
my T3. It seems to be based on a Hack (which is essentially OS 4
technology). It MAY run under OS 5 (although seems to be eratic and
buggy from what I've read) and doesn't seem to run at all on Palm T3's
and the like. Does anyone know differently?
So, in case I haven't laid it out clearly enough already, has anyone
found a wiki (Dokuwiki or other) that can be somehow synced (sunk?)
with a Palm such that the wiki data can be read on the Palm using a
wiki program? Is there actually a wiki for the Palm? And if so, can it
share data with another wiki running under LAMP or MacAMP?
In the meantime, I think I'll explore the path of using MacNoteTaker
with my Dokuwiki files and see if that works to expectation. My T3
isn't networked in any real sense, other than through Bluetooth and a
trial version of Salling Clicker to run iTunes from across the room.
The factory installed WebPro browser has gone unused for want of a WiFi
SD card for the T3 for over a year -- what the hell is Palm doing? --
and I don't have a Bluetooth celphone.
So, using MacNoteTaker on the Palm rather than a wiki is probably not
the end of the world to what I ultimately want to do.
[1] http://mac-huwis.lut.ac.uk/~wis/programs/NoteTaker/NoteTaker.html
[2] http://pitecan.com/PalmWiki/index_e.html
Tom Hoover
>
> However, the final barrier is that I would also like to find a wiki
> program for the Palm capable of using the Dokuwiki text files. I could
> use MacNoteTaker on the Palm to read the files, but having a real or
> simulated wiki on the Palm would be GREAT.
routinely copy text files to my Sony Clie by first converting them to
doc format using txt2pdbdoc (I run it under Linux, but you should be
able to easily compile it for OSX). You then configure MegaWiki to
recognize any text bracketed by [] as the name of a doc file, and to
launch the file in your favorite doc file reader (there are dozens
available for the Palm). A quick test showed this to work with a
couple of limitations:
1. You can't use directories (i.e. MegaWiki would have no idea what to
do with the link [[subdirectory:file_name]].
2. And, this dokuwiki link won't work:
[[file name]]
but this one will:
[[file_name]]
So, if you're careful in your link naming, and don't use namespaces
(subdirectories) for those files that you wish to copy to the Palm,
you should be alright.
I don't know if MegaWiki runs under OS5. If you discover that it
does, I'd be happy to throw together a quick set of instructions for
you about how to setup MegaWiki, and how to create doc files using
txt2pdbdoc.
Marc Lehman
is AcroWiki.
Imap McGrant
> If I have work to do in multiple locations, but
> the tickler is at work, what do I do?
in the morning before leaving for work (or just grab the whole folder
for the day); bring home new files from work to be placed in the
tickler in the evening.
Michael
--
<http://globalocal.blogspot.com/>
"Helpsavering apparata in emergings behold many whistles!
Associate the stringing apparata about the bosoms and meet
behind. Flee then to the indifferent lifesavering shippen
obediencing the instructs of the vessel chef."
Jean Diaz
>
> On Mar 24, 2005, at 9:20 PM, TomK wrote:
>
> > If I have work to do in multiple locations, but
> > the tickler is at work, what do I do?
>
> Keep the tickler at home. Pull out files for work from today's folder
> in the morning before leaving for work (or just grab the whole folder
> for the day); bring home new files from work to be placed in the
> tickler in the evening.
guarantee to be anywhere in particular every 24 hours, and it's easier
to bring the tickler with me than try to nail my schedule down. I
also bring the inbox with me, and voila! I can process anywhere.
Ambar
Edward Vielmetti at Socialtext
> That works. I opted to build a portable tickler file, because I can't
> guarantee to be anywhere in particular every 24 hours, and it's easier
> to bring the tickler with me than try to nail my schedule down. I
> also bring the inbox with me, and voila! I can process anywhere.
which means carrying it around in the tickler would be madness.
though, you know if I actually did move the inbox to the tickler, it
would probably get smaller just out of necessity. will try that soon.
--
Edward Vielmetti at Socialtext in Ann Arbor, MI 48104
+1 734 276 5910
skype, AIM: edwardvielmetti
edward.v...@socialtext.com
http://vielmetti.typepad.com
http://www.socialtext.com
AOD
> > in the morning before leaving for work (or just grab the whole folder
> > for the day); bring home new files from work to be placed in the
> > tickler in the evening.
>
in the future I just put each item in the relevant month folder and
then when the month comes around I take it all out and put it in the
relevant day file?
A
Michael Gmail
> I have a question about tickler files(43 folders); I take it for stuff
> in the future I just put each item in the relevant month folder and
> then when the month comes around I take it all out and put it in the
> relevant day file?
Some of us even have folders for future years.
Michael
--
<http://globalocal.blogspot.com/>
My logic is this: we have one environment. It's not like eyeballs where
if you accidentally poke one out, playing with sticks like your mother
told you not to, there's a second one available and you can go on
seeing and call it a lesson learned.
- Alan Blevins
AOD
> Some of us even have folders for future years.
>
> Michael
The only problem I'm having with GTD is that it's so simple I keep
thinking I must be missing something.
A
dae...@gmail.com
> The only problem I'm having with GTD is that it's so simple I keep
> thinking I must be missing something.
Sounds like a perfect blurb that needs to go on the site or wiki
someplace prominent. :) Do we have a testimonials section?
RD
--
Robert Daeley
rob...@celsius1414.com
http://www.celsius1414.com/
The Melting Point of Silicon
Jean Diaz
<edward.v...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> On Sat, 26 Mar 2005 17:48:11 -0800, Jean Diaz <starlin...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > I opted to build a portable tickler file, because I can't
> > guarantee to be anywhere in particular every 24 hours, and it's easier
> > to bring the tickler with me than try to nail my schedule down. I
> > also bring the inbox with me, and voila! I can process anywhere.
>
> ha - my paper inbox is perpetually three or four inches thick,
> which means carrying it around in the tickler would be madness.
>
> though, you know if I actually did move the inbox to the tickler, it
> would probably get smaller just out of necessity. will try that soon.
occupy two separate traveling in-box bags. (Y'know where David talks
about having a red plastic folder as his travelling IN? My equivalent
of that folder lives in a traveling in-box. And it can handle 4" of
paper, no problem.)
Fundamentally, I can't count on being at any given desk in a 24-hour
period, so I'm biased towards systems that port well in my car. :-)
I had a useful telecoaching session with Meg Edwards (Gott) this
month. One of the handier observations she passed on was that most
people need to spend 1-2 hours a day processing incoming work. If you
get to Weekly Review time with a big pile that needs to be processed,
that's feedback that you didn't do enough processing during the week.
Ambar
tttopaz
personal weak point in GTD. I can process my e-mail inbox to zero with
very little effort, but my paper inputs often pile up faster than I can
process them. One day it dawned on me that it was simply a matter of
investing the time (duh!). The reason that my e-mail inbox was always
processed down to zero was because I allocated time to that task. To
cover the paper inputs, I have to make it a point to set aside time to
process. My biggest weakness is paper accumulating at home. By the
time I get to the weekend, I have a fairly sizable pile of newspaper
circulars, bills and other "stuff." If only I could get myself to
process it for 5-10 minutes per night before I go to bed, then I
wouldn't have a little stack to deal with every weekend!
Jean Diaz wrote:
>I had a useful telecoaching session with Meg Edwards (Gott) this
>month. One of the handier observations she passed on was that most
>people need to spend 1-2 hours a day processing incoming work. If you
>get to Weekly Review time with a big pile that needs to be processed,
>that's feedback that you didn't do enough processing during the week.
>
>Ambar
>
>
>
>
>
No virus found in this outgoing message.
Checked by AVG Anti-Virus.
Version: 7.0.308 / Virus Database: 266.8.4 - Release Date: 3/27/05
Jean Diaz
>
> My biggest weakness is paper accumulating at home. By the
> time I get to the weekend, I have a fairly sizable pile of newspaper
> circulars, bills and other "stuff." If only I could get myself to
> process it for 5-10 minutes per night before I go to bed, then I
> wouldn't have a little stack to deal with every weekend!
I don't go home every day, and I have a 2 hour drive to get there, my
ritual used to be to get through the door, drop everything on the
nearest flat surface (that big old bar in the kitchen) and head for
the bathroom. I modified this to drop everything _but_ the paper
mail, and I then do a preliminary sort into the trash can in the
bathroom. I can drop a 1" stack of mail down to 3-4 sheets that then
go in the inbox for real processing.
My home nemesis is the stacks of outdated crud that need to be
processed (straight into the trash can for 99% of it, but oh, that
1%). And my email inbox -- my "sticky" difficult stuff arrives in
email, not on paper.
Ambar
tttopaz
15 minutes at a time. At this rate, I will be done in 2075. I will try
your "preliminary sort" strategy, which is significantly better than the
my current "deposit on nearest flat surface" strategy. Half the stuff
is credit card offers anyway.
ProfDD
it for HOT paper(mostly) items. My inbox sits on top. Current reading
sits below as does an outbox for reference filing. In the filebox are
three accordion files: 31 days, 12 months, 26 letters (-5 hot-bunking
with their neighbors=21). I rely on Outlook on my Wintel PC, a Palm,
and a cell-phone with my entire Outlook contact list.
The paper set-up enables me to keep a rather clean desk for any current
project. I can also wheel the box to my la-z-boy and to my filing
cabinet. The letter-organized file is great for items that someone
will call me about because it's important to them, but not important
enough to me to warrant a tickler.
One accordion file can easily fit in a computer case, with a laptop.
Two is harder. Thus, I could easily take the entire accordion file
with me on a trip. On a longer trip, I could even take the alpha file.
When an item is no longer HOT, it goes into the file basket or
directly into my file cabinet. The 2-drawer file cabinet empties into
archive boxes, which go into my attic.
I feel that the biggest weakness in the current state of development of
the system is the management of projects. I haven't yet tracked down
a Palm-based (I would consider Pocket PC.) project or outline system
that has as many sub-project levels as I may need, a field for
indicating context, and selective (NAs only) integration with Tasks or
complete replacement of Tasks and selective integration with Outlook.
rebecca blood
> My biggest weakness is paper accumulating at home. By the
> time I get to the weekend, I have a fairly sizable pile of newspaper
> circulars, bills and other "stuff."
I had a friend who placed his recycle bin between his mailbox and his
front door. on the way in, he took a moment to drop all the junk mail
directly into recycling before he even entered his house.
I've adopted a similar strategy. when I bring in the mail, I sort junk
straight into the recycle bin. then I open the credit card bills and
pull out the pages I need to shred, recycle the rest on the way to the
shredder, and I'm left with the stuff that is really for me.
no matter how much mail I get, it just takes a few minutes to do this
sort.
I have to say, I haven't been very successful at implementing a lot of
GTD, but the 2-minute rule all by itself has improved my life.
rcb
simon...@gmail.com
rebecca blood wrote:
> tttopaz wrote:
> > My biggest weakness is paper accumulating at home. By the
> > time I get to the weekend, I have a fairly sizable pile of
newspaper
> > circulars, bills and other "stuff."
>
> I had a friend who placed his recycle bin between his mailbox and his
> front door. on the way in, he took a moment to drop all the junk
> directly into recycling before he even entered his house.
I smell a market for outdoor weatherproof shredders/recycle bins, maybe
solar powered? :)
How long could shredded mail compost before you felt comfortable enough
using it? Would you eat food from that kind of soil? (idle questions
said outloud)
> I've adopted a similar strategy. when I bring in the mail, I sort
junk
> straight into the recycle bin. then I open the credit card bills and
> pull out the pages I need to shred, recycle the rest on the way to
the
> shredder, and I'm left with the stuff that is really for me.
I'm sure my postal worker hates me, I let my mail pile up for
two-or-three days and when I open that mailbox it's packed. Today I
grabbed the firelog of communications and processed it like my inbox
and had those nice endorphin-feelings afterwards.
> no matter how much mail I get, it just takes a few minutes to do this
> sort.
Now with this system, I can do it and have somewhere to put things
other than in a pile "to think about later."
