Category: GTD

Last night, I started trying to use Backpack for organizing some lists related to implementing GTD for personal stuff. Backpack seems like a good choice, since it’s web-based, and hence available on my PC or Mac, and also at work if need be.

The first thing I figured out is that the to-do list functionality in Backpack is interesting, but mostly useless. It looks nice, but it’s really missing a log of functionality. You can reorder lists, for instance, but you can’t easily move an item from one list to another. (I could get Backpack to let me do this occasionally, but I couldn’t figure out how to do it consistently.) Also, you can’t move a list from one page to another. It’s a lot easier to manage lists simply as part of the body text on a page, in either a plain old bulleted list or numbered list. You can move stuff around easily, just using good old cut & paste. You don’t get the fancy checkboxes this way, but I can deal with that.

I’ve also considered something like GTDTiddlyWiki, or one of its variants. The idea there would be to stick the HTML file into my FolderShare directory. Then it would, in theory, get replicated between my desktop PC, iBook, and work PC, so I could access it from any machine. I’ve heard that all of the GTD wiki variants tend to bog down if you stick too much stuff in them, though.

I cleaned out the top drawer in my main file cabinet at home today. I labeled all my folders, nice and neat. I threw out a bunch of stuff I didn’t need. I shredded a bunch of old credit card bills and other stuff like that. It took me about three hours to do all this; from around 8 to 11pm.

I don’t think I’m going to go much beyond this in terms of organizing my “stuff” at home. I just don’t think I really need to go nuts on the personal stuff. It’s mostly the work stuff that’s out of control.

I really need to get back to reading the GTD book. I just haven’t had time to pick it up in the last few days. Well, I’m tired and I’m heading off to bed now. Remember, there’s a three-day weekend to look forward to at the end of this week…

I picked up a Brother PT-1950 labeler from Staples yesterday, then went into work and labeled and alphabetized all my files. I’ve got two file drawers in work with old reference material, so it’s a bunch of stuff but not a ton. It took about two hours to work through. I also managed to throw away a couple of boxes full of stuff, and got some stuff off my desk and into folders. Sunday night might have been a weird time to do all this, but spare time during normal work hours is hard to come by. I haven’t really gotten started yet with the whole inbox processing thing. Oh, and I’m about halfway through the book.

Well, I went out and bought the GTD book today. Let’s see if I can finish reading it in a reasonable amount of time.

So far, it seems like a worthwhile read, not just some mushy new-age stuff, or patently obvious stuff, or completely impractical advice that would never work in the real world. It does seem to contain practical advice that might actually be useful in my day-to-day work.

I’m kind of curious about how I might get some of this to work with my existing software tools. I’m currently managing my priority list via my Lotus Notes inbox, using follow-up flags. That’s not the best system possible, but it has the advantage of residing directly in the system where most of my to-do list items originate (i.e. e-mails from other people).

I’m usually not much for productivity systems of any kind. It all seems to me like it should just be common sense. Keep track of your to-do list, prioritize, and so on and so forth. I’m falling so far behind at work now, though, that I’m actually starting to look around to see if there’s anything out there that could help. I know there’s no magic wand I can wave that’ll get four months worth of work done in a week, but maybe there’s something out there that could help me whittle down the list a bit, and take some of the stress off me.

I’ve seen the “Getting Things Done” system mentioned a lot over the last couple of years, and I’ve been somewhat curious about it. I think I’m finally desperate enough to start looking into it. An excerpt from David Allen’s book is available from Business Week. I read that, and it makes some sense to me. There’s a page of links and stuff about GTD up at 43 Folders. There’s a link there to a podcast series, interviewing David Allen, that might be interesting. I think I’ll give that a listen, after I catch up on DNR.

I’m not sure if I’m ready to buy the book yet. Maybe.

A couple of years ago, I went to a Dell conference, and got a free notebook. It was a nice notebook, but I didn’t really need a notebook right then, so I just tossed it in the big pile of odd stuff under my desk at work and forgot about it. For some reason, I pulled it out recently and looked at it. I was nearly at the end of the legal pad I’d been using for note-taking, and was going to go get another one, but thought maybe I’d try out the freebie Dell notebook instead. There was a note in the back that refill sheets for it could be got from Levenger. Well, I got curious and checked their web site. To my surprise, I found that the freebie notebook would have cost me $94 if I’d bought it myself from Levenger. Well, now I had to start using it, because you can’t just let a $94 notebook sit around gathering dust. It’s just not right.

I got curious about this whole “Circa” thing. It turns out that there’s another company, Rolabind, that also sells these things. Apparently, their angle is in using the little rings and hole punchers to make scrapbooks. They appear to sell their stuff largely through arts & crafts stores. They seem to be a little bit less high-end than Levenger. Some of their stuff is also available through Staples. Levenger’s stuff seems to be available only through them, and they seem to be going after the more (ahem) affluent customer.

I’ve ordered some refill paper, for when I run out of the pages that came with the thing. I suppose I’ll archive old pages to a 3-ring binder, or just stick them in a file folder or something. (Looking at some of my old legal pads, it appears that I go through about 100 pages a year.)

If you’re wondering if there’s a point to this story, there really isn’t. I just figured I’d blog this, so the next guy who Googles “Levenger Circa” might find this post, thus discovering the Circa / Rollabind connection, much like I did, in someone else’s pointless blog post.

Oh, and I could go off on a tangent about Moleskine, which, now that I think about it, is one of the reasons I started thinking about paper, and pulled out that Dell notebook. There was an article about Moleskine in the NY Times or Wall Street Journal or something. I’ve actually seen a few references recently to the concept of ditching the PDA in favor of good old-fashioned paper. (Google for “Moleskine” and you’ll find all sorts of weird fetishistic articles and blog entries.)

I’ve struggled a bit myself over the last year or two as to whether or not I should ditch paper entirely and switch to a Tablet PC with OneNote. I decided that Tablet PC prices just haven’t come down to a reasonable level yet. Maybe next year.