7Breaths
Decide It. Do It.
Killer GTD set up
Friday, June 15, 2007
I've been tagged by Stephen over at HD BizBlog with the latest GTD meme - What's Your Killer GTD set up- which has been started by the Getting Things Done blog.
Man, have I tried to nail down the killer GTD setup. For ages I checked out each and every new GTD app out there. Eventually I came to realise that you will never find the perfect GTD application - what you need is a perfect GTD mindset . Once you are truly "doing GTD" anything you choose will become a killer app. So I have stopped searching, got on with my system and began getting things done. With this in mind here is what I currently do.
Tools:
Microsoft OneNote
SPV m600 Phone running Microsoft Windows Mobile 5
Microsoft Outlook
System:
OneNote setup is the cornerstone of my home GTD system, tracking my projects, next actions and keeping a tab on all my reference material. It also acts as my daily journal. I've blogged in detail about my OneNote System here.
If I'm working at home OneNote is always open so things go in there straight away.
I find these days that I always have my mobile phone with me - this acts as the perfect capture tool when I am out and about. I can either use it to write quick notes, make voice notes or take a photograph of something. All of this information can then be quickly transferred into my OneNote system when I return home. I use Outlook for contacts and calendar information and using the phone allows me to have all this to hand where ever I am negating the need for web based services. I have just got hold of a copy of Outlook 2007 and am exploiting its very tight integration with OneNote to further manage my to do items and reminders.
Any paper based items are scanned in, transferred to OneNote and processed like any other item, with the original document being filed away. I don't use a tickler file as I tend not to have any physical objects to put in it - any reminders I need are place in Outlook.
Application:
Each morning I rise with enough time to review my days commitments, plan what projects I want to move forward and then select my 3 Most Important Tasks.
During the day I collect anything that comes to my attention and then process it at the end of the day. I set aside a little time to review my day and preview the coming days plan of action.
I use the weekly review to maintain the system and also look at higher levels of focus, checking I am still moving towards my goals. It is so true - "if you are not doing the weekly review you are not doing GTD".
Benefits:
It's the focus and clarity GTD brings to planning which makes it so useful. Collecting everything and then moving it through the workflow allows me to know my commitments and make decisions on what I should be concentrating on and just as importantly what I should NOT be doing.
Well that's my set up - I think I'll tag Greywolf
4 comments:
Great post. I, too, have tried to use the digital tools that are available, but for my home practice (what I consider to be my real "work") I just can't get away from the paper-and-pencil approach.
Thanks for joining in, and keep up the good work!
Nice system - it seems alot of GTD sites I've come across have a strong bias towards web 2.0 applications for implementing GTD - but as you state - what about all the times your away from your computer?
One thing though it seems you don't have access to your lists when your not at your
Your system looks good so - Perhaps your already doing this - but if you input your GTD Lists into Outlook and give them different Category names, you can then quickly filter down your list to work out how best to utilise those little pockets of "weird time" that occur throughout a day. This can be done on your phone as well - letting you take all your lists with you whereever you are.
I posted too soon - hadn't seen your 'out and about' section. Thanks for posting.I like the way you've got your system up and i plan to emulate what you've done for using Onenote as my primary tool.
Rob, thanks for joining my GTD meme. Looks like you're basically going all digital. I've been tempted to do this many times, but I've never found the right tools that allow maximum flexibility, creativity and portability that paper provides so elegantly. I'll have to take a closer look at all the screenshots you provided in earlier posts to see how everything ties together in your killer GTD setup. And after trying many tools and setups myself, I couldn't agree more with you about the proper GTD mindset. Very interesting, thanks!