7Breaths

gtdfrk over at Getting Things Done has a post of his weekly review checklist. He wonders about other peoples weekly reviews so I thought I'd post an outline of my current one. I keep this of course in OneNote and have just copied it over, so some formating etc is missing but the basic scheme is still there.

I like to have done all my processing already done before the weekly review. I used to spend so much time emptying my inbox and processing stuff that had accumulated that I found I had less time than I would have liked on the actual planning stage of the weekly review. I therfore try to process my inputs each day during the week and do a final processing several hours before sitting down to do my weekly review which I use for "Planning Not Processing".

Here's whats in my Checklist:

'PLANNING not Processing'

YOU ARE REVIEWING AND PLANNING NOW

PREPARE
Ensure Daily review already done .
Disconnect from the net
Sit & Think
Final Mindsweep and keep open

REVIEW WHERE YOU ARE:

Review previous weeks schedule
Did you keep your commitments
Did you work on all your roles
Did you use your time effectively

Review next weeks schedule
What commitments do you have
Are you prepared for these
Support Material
Agenda

Review Current 90 day goal list
Do all goals have supporting projects
Are you moving towards succcesful completion
Do any more projects need starting this week

Review Project list
Ensure all projects have a next action
Ensure all projects have a role assigned
Schedule time to work on each project
Any stagnating projects
Shedule time
Dump
Someday / May be
Is there a balance of roles during the week


REVIEW WHERE YOU ARE GOING:

4 week Brief Overview
Any commitments upcoming which need work now
Birthdays / Aniversaires
Events
Holidays
.....

Review Someday / Maybe list
Can anything be moved to active
Can anything be dumped

Review Dream list

Read and commit to yearly goals

FINISH

Process the mindsweep
Look at the coming week again
Visualise Successful Action
Reconnect to the net
Relax & Enjoy

Been thinking a lot recently about my personal productivity workflows. I've got all my inputs covered, nothing is missed, all my project lists are up to date, all my next action context lists are full. The problem - there is too much to do. If all my inputs stopped today I would still have weeks of work to do to clear all my projects. I've realised that collecting / processing / organising in itself is not enough. Too many things to do, too many opportunities to seize, (Don't even mention my someday/maybe list - it's just getting bigger and bigger too). Just working with my GTD lists is no longer enough. I need to incorporate the fact that there are only 24 hours in a day along with the admission that I can't do everything I want to in this time, no matter how many productivity hacks I employ. GTD is a great tool, but is not a solution in itself.
I've branched out from pure GTD and looked at other systems and have come up with a workflow that I am finding more manageable for now. I'll be posting some notes on my current thinking over the next few weeks. One thing I have taken to using is leveraging the Outlook 2007 integration with OneNote and I'll be addressing how this has changed my previous OneNote / GTD set up.
For other thoughts on "GTD 2.0" check out these ideas from Eric, Michael, Pascal and Stephen.

I've been using Outlook 2007 and intergrating it into my GTD / OneNote set up over the last few months. I'm still using OneNote to manage my inputs and projects, but am tending to keep my next actions in Outlook. I'm also using Outlook to manage my "Tickler" file - making use of the ability to set start dates for tasks.
The problem I have had with this is keeping Outlook synchronised between all my devices. I've looked at various synching solutions but have not found one that worked for me.
So a couple of days ago I took the plunge and signed up for a hosted microsoft exchange account - inspired by this article, from Kevin C. Tofel at jkOnTheRun. It was all fairly easy to get set up and working. The big benefit for me is I am able to synchronise Outlook using this method and OneNote by using the shared notebooks feature over my home network. When I am now out and about I have all my stuff with me. The Cached Exchange Mode in Outlook is excellent when I have no access to the web. The set up also means I can now sync my windows mobile phone either by GPRS or wi-fi and have all my emails and diary etc up to date whenever I need it.

When I'm without any of my devices I can still log into exchange via Outlook Web Access - a web based interface which gives all of the Outlook functionality you need. Means I am no longer forwarding all my mail to Gmail just so I can access it on the web.

All in all it's working for me - keeping my trust in my system, allowing me to concentrate on Getting Things Done.

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".

Just a short post with the links to all my OneNote GTD series .

[Edit 21/6/07 - I have upgraded to Outlook 2007, I'm currently intergrating this into my system so stay tuned for developments]

Set up
Collection
Processing
Organise
Screen shots
Deferred Items
email and Outlook
Out and About

This will be my final post on GTD with OneNote.

For the full series follow the links

1. GTD with OneNote: Set up
2. GTD with OneNote: Collection
3. GTD with OneNote: Processing
4. GTD with OneNote: Organise
5. GTD with OneNote: Screen shots
6. GTD with OneNote: Deferred Items
7. GTD with OneNote: Email and Outlook

So far I have described by GTD with OneNote set up on my main computer. In this post I will explain what I do when away from home to keep on top of GTD.

I have various tools I use when away from base. These are:

1. Ultra Portable laptop
2. Windows Mobile 5 Phone
3. A paper notebook
4. A hipster PDA



What I take with me and what I use all depend on where I am going and what I am planning to do. In this post I'll just describe my electronic set up.

Ultra portable:

For any real work I take the ultra portable laptop - I keep copies of all my OneNote notebooks on this and sync over wireless with my main computer before leaving home. I then have access to the full range of my GTD set up and any other OneNote notes I may need.

Windows Mobile Phone:

I always have my phone with me. If I'm popping out to run errands or just socialise I will quickly create a summary page of my @Out contexts and drag this to sync with my OneNote Mobile on my phone (a more lo-fi way of doing this would be just to print out the summary page and take it with you).
I keep my schedule in outlook and this too is synced with my mobile.
I can take notes into OneNote Mobile - this also allows me to take photographs and make voice recordings so I always have a collection device with me.

[Edit 21/6/07 - I have upgraded to Outlook 2007, I'm currently intergrating this into my system so stay tuned for developments]

In my previous post I touched on how I use Outlook to complement my OneNote GTD setup. In this short post I will explain how I deal with emails that generate a next action.
When I get an email that requires an action I flag it for follow up in Outlook. I use the ability to set up virtual search folders in Outlook 2003 to keep my flagged emails grouped by client or porject. I then use the send to OneNote function to send a copy of the email to OneNote. I have set the default target location for these emails to my Today section rather than my unfiled notes section. This will then open up a copy of the email in OneNote - from where i can tag it to be processed. I can the process this as I would any other item I collected that day - usually tagging it as a project and adding any next actions to the OneNote item.
Once any actions are completed and the project finished I can switch back to Outlook and find the item quickly, flag it as done and file it away.

Sometimes when processing you come across something that needs to be deferred until a later date as it is not currently actionable. When this happens I use the ability of OneNote 2007 to integrate with Outlook. By flagging the item with CTRL+SHIFT+K I can create an Outlook to do item. I then set the date of this to do to the date it becomes actionable, in effect I use the Outlook to do list as a "tickler" file rather than a to do list - as all my next actions are contained in OneNote. When a item becomes active in Outlook I can then click on the link to be taken to the original in OneNote which I can then process and act on as previously described.

I will be writing more about the integration of OneNote and Outlook in the coming days.

Here are some screen shots of the the process so far:

1. An entry in my daily journal - flagged to process later


2. On processing the entry i decide it is a multi-step Project - so i create a linked page for this







3. Clicking the hyperlink takes me to that project - I have flagged the title of the page as a project and i enter a next action and flag this by context



4. I am now able to list my next actions by Context:





Or List by Project, by grouping tagged items by title

This is the 4th part of my GTD with OneNote series - see Parts 1 set up, 2 Collect, 3 Process.


By this stage I have all my actionable items tagged, either by context or as a project. Each project is hyperlinked from the Today page so I then work through this page to review each one in turn.

Each Project has its own page in OneNote and it's here I can brainstorm and plan how I will achieve the successful completion of the project. Once the steps I need to take have been clarified I can tag the next action needed with the appropriate context. This helps keep all next actions linked to a project and also allows me to be sure that all projects have a next action. I can then repeat this for each new project I have a hyperlink for on the Today page.

At the end of the day once organising is finished I move the Today page to the Current Month Section in OneNote.

I can now use the power of OneNote's tags to check on all my next actions and projects.
By grouping by tag name I can see a list of next actions by context and a list of current projects.
By grouping by Title I have a list of all my Projects with their next actions listed within each project, again a nice way of linking NAs to Projects.

This is the 3rd part of my GTD with OneNote series - see Parts One and Two

I try and process my stuff on a regular basis - at a minimum once a day.

I use the ability to show tagged notes to find everything I have tagged to be processed.
I click on each item to be taken to it. I make a decision about what this item is and what needs to be done with it.
First -is it an action item or reference? If its reference I file it away in the appropriate Notebook in OneNote.
Next if its an action item I decide if is it a Project or a single next action. If it’s a next action I tag it with the context it needs to be done in and move on. If it’s a project I will select it and create a linked page to the item. I will then use the hyperlink I have just made to jump to the page and tag it as a project, before navigating back to the processing page.
By repeating the process I will have processed the days inputs and be ready for the next stage which is Organising.

This is the second post on my GTD with OneNote system. Part One on initial set up is here.

One of the main principles of GTD is to get things out of your head. By putting everything into a trusted system you free up "psychic RAM" and achieve a "mind like water" state. The places where you put these thoughts / ideas / to do items are referred to a collection buckets. In my system OneNote is my digital collection bucket. I collect all my thoughts in my TODAY section.

First thing in the morning I open the TODAY section and create a page with the days date as the title. I then quickly brainstorm any thoughts I have at the beginning of the day. I flag them with CTRL+1 to mark them for processing later.

As things come up during the day I just reopen my TODAY section by hitting CTRL+SHIFT+0 and enter these ideas too onto the days page and flag these too for processing later.

Using this method I can also keep a record of my day by using the time stamp Alt+SHIFT+t to record what I was doing and thinking at a particular time.

Anything I clip from the web or print to OneNote also gets sent to the today section and I can quickly flag this for processing too.

As the day goes by I will have collected thoughts and ideas, things to do, reference information etc. All these items will be tagged to Process. I will also have a record of my day ready to review and journal later.

When time permits I then move onto the next stage of the GTD process which is Processing all my stuff.

To implement GTD with OneNote I first set up a new notebook as below:



Create a new OneNote notebook.


Set up a section in this notebook called TODAY and make a desktop shortcut to this section - see David Rasmussen's Blog on how to do this.
Now use Tools->Options->send to Onenote to set the default section for sending webnotes and printouts to to the TODAY section you have just set up.
Now use Tools->Options->save to set the default section for unfiled notes to the TODAY section.
Set up a Section in OneNote for the current month.
Set up a Section in OneNote as a monthly archive.
Set up a Section in OneNote for Active Projects..
Set up a Section in OneNote for Archived Projects.
Set up a Section in OneNote for support files.
Set up Tags with Status and Contexts - here are the ones I use..


Finally use View-> Tags Toolbar to make these contexts visible in a toolbar




So the notebook is set up - next post will be on stage 1 of the GTD process - collect

There are so many tools out there to implement GTD and often the temptation is to keep on switching from one to another looking for that perfect GTD setup. In the end it can become just another form of procrastination. Much better to pick one tool, stick with it and start to get things done in earnest.
I have decided to use OneNote 2007 as my computerised GTD tool. In the coming series of posts I will explain my set up and implementation of the GTD methodology using OneNote. I am not claiming that OneNote is the best GTD tool, just that it works for me and I would rather spend time productively working rather than experimenting with new software every week or so.