The David Allen Company http://www.davidco.com/forum Public Forums: Getting Things Done en Thu, 28 Aug 2008 16:05:40 GMT vBulletin 60 http://www.davidco.com/forum/images/misc/rss.jpg The David Allen Company http://www.davidco.com/forum <![CDATA[Members Only: "Running your own race" - interesting blog]]> http://www.davidco.com/connect/forum_view.php?t=8692 Thu, 28 Aug 2008 14:39:14 GMT This seems to relate to being confident about doing something different, a sign... This seems to relate to being confident about doing something different, a sign... ]]> Favorite Quotes John_Lewis http://www.davidco.com/forum/showthread.php?t=8692 GTD Softwear http://www.davidco.com/forum/showthread.php?t=8690&goto=newpost Wed, 27 Aug 2008 18:35:10 GMT I have the GTD Softwear for Outlook. I remember a few months back there was a how-to-use demo on the GTD site and I can not find it. Can anyone help? On a second note, I have a new I-phone any suggestions as to the best way to the use for GTD. Task/projects:p Thank you :confused: I have the GTD Softwear for Outlook. I remember a few months back there was a how-to-use demo on the GTD site and I can not find it. Can anyone help? On a second note, I have a new I-phone any suggestions as to the best way to the use for GTD. Task/projects:p

Thank you

:confused: ]]> Gear, Gadgets, Software, and Toys maganbarry http://www.davidco.com/forum/showthread.php?t=8690 Organising a meeting of GTD practionners in Manchester, England? http://www.davidco.com/forum/showthread.php?t=8689&goto=newpost Wed, 27 Aug 2008 09:16:27 GMT I would very much like to hear from anyone who would be interested in meeting up for a gathering of GTD practionners/aficionados in Manchester, England?

Pascal Venier - pascal.venier[at]gmail.com
Effectiveness Workflows Blog [http://pascalvenier.com/blog/] ]]> Getting Things Done pascalvenier http://www.davidco.com/forum/showthread.php?t=8689 Members Only: GTD in September issue of Fortune http://www.davidco.com/connect/forum_view.php?t=8688 Tue, 26 Aug 2008 23:36:31 GMT Look in the September 1st issue of [URL="http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune...
Attached Images
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]]> Social Networking Lounge John Forrister http://www.davidco.com/forum/showthread.php?t=8688 Native Non Web Based iPhone 3G GTD apps http://www.davidco.com/forum/showthread.php?t=8687&goto=newpost Tue, 26 Aug 2008 22:36:59 GMT First post, searched for threads but didn't find one focused on non web-based stuff. Basically, I'm just getting started with GTD and want a digital system for managing my lists. I'm a college student that doesn't like to work at a desk at home and am always on the go. I'd like everything to be in the iPhone and only the iPhone, but my current solution (vitalist) is slowing me down because even under the best circumstances there's a 1-2 second load time for each page and many times I just don't have good web connectivity.

I've seen the proposal to do everything with standard iPhone apps and e-mailing, but it doesn't seem simple enough for my liking. Basically, I want the vitalist experience natively without needing an internet connection. Free apps are always nice, but I'd be willing to pay up to $10 for a good native solution. ]]> Gear, Gadgets, Software, and Toys nfg05 http://www.davidco.com/forum/showthread.php?t=8687 Members Only: GTD and CRM: software recommendations? http://www.davidco.com/connect/forum_view.php?t=8686 Tue, 26 Aug 2008 22:26:54 GMT Hi Everyone, One of my clients asked me about CRM software today. Specifically, she wanted to know more about ACT. This is not a ... Hi Everyone,

One of my clients asked me about CRM software today. Specifically, she wanted to know more about ACT. This is not a ... ]]> Tara http://www.davidco.com/forum/showthread.php?t=8686 GTD/At-A-Glance http://www.davidco.com/forum/showthread.php?t=8685&goto=newpost Tue, 26 Aug 2008 22:14:12 GMT Does anyone know the status of the GTD/At-A-Glance product line? Does anyone know the status of the GTD/At-A-Glance product line? ]]> Getting Things Done Donihan http://www.davidco.com/forum/showthread.php?t=8685 Writing, Fieldstones, and GTD (long) http://www.davidco.com/forum/showthread.php?t=8684&goto=newpost Tue, 26 Aug 2008 21:46:13 GMT I've mentioned in the past that I'm fine tuning my system, and a couple of people have asked for details on the latest incarnation. For your reading pleasure...

One of the most common misconceptions about GTD is the idea that you should *only* have one Next Action per project. While DA imposes no such limit, it's true that the focus on finding The Very Next Action does suggest that one is enough. More than one is okay, but once you've found one you can safely move on to planning other projects.

For large projects, though, there might be dozens of possible actions that could move a project forward. If I'm writing a book, there might be dozens of people I could interview, hundreds of things I could read, thousands of facts I could check or paragraphs I could fine tune. In order to keep the list tractable, it's natural to break it down to subprojects, but should I really turn down a good interview opportunity because I won't need the material for three more chapters? Should I force myself to power through material that I find boring, or take a break and tackle a different subject "out of sequence?"

Not to mention the somewhat amorphous handling of Someday/Maybe projects. Part of the early development of a project involves non-directed information gathering, seeing if there's enough stuff to make something interesting. It requires a kind of watchful awareness more suited to active projects, not the "out of sight, out of mind" holding area of the Someday/Maybe list or the Tickler file. Still, such research is very low priority, far below that of true active projects. The need for it informs decisions -- "Gee, there's a documentary on Venice on" -- but doesn't drive them.

GTD handles these kinds of fuzzy decisions better than most other systems, but still not particularly well. Several months ago I found myself struggling to keep a large project and several smaller ones on track simultaneously, and as a result found myself rethinking many aspects of my system.

I tried index cards, one task or project per card. Intended as a temporary solution, it worked well for that purpose, but fumbling with the cards turned out to be too clumsy for long term use.

I tried OmniFocus. I was very impressed -- it's a well-designed piece of software--but was soon reminded of all the reasons why I prefer a paper system. (Detailed at length elsewhere.) (All software mentioned in this post runs on the Mac, and much of it is Mac-only.)

So back to paper. Before all this started, I centered my system around a pair of Circa notebooks, with letter size pages for projects and junior size pages for context lists. I found it was too big and bulky, took too much space on my desk, was too difficult to carry around.

After much prowling through stationary stores, I settled on a grid-ruled Moleskine. Good quality paper, low-profile binding, aesthetically inoffensive. Inspired by http://www.jerrybrito.com/2004/11/22...gtd-tabs-hack/ I set it up with four sections: Next Actions, Projects, Someday/Maybe, Writing ideas, and Client information. It also serves as my Ubiquitous Capture Tool, with the "inbox" starting on the last page and working forward.

Context lists are a big weakness for a bound notebook, since you don't know how many pages each context will need. I've merged all office-based contexts (@phone, @email, @computer) into a single list, which I keep on the right-hand pages. Other contexts (@home, @errands, mostly) go on the left-hand pages, which works fine because these contexts are smaller.

All of this was an improvement, but still didn't address the fuzzy planning challenges I mentioned at the start of this post. For those, the insight came when I read Gerald Weinberg's book, Weinberg on Writing: The Fieldstone Method.

His central idea is that writing is like building a fieldstone wall. You collect lots of stones -- which can be anything from small pebbles of individual facts to giant slabs of chapter excerpts. You might have a general idea what sort of stones you need -- pointy granite chunks vs. rounded river sandstone, say. Until you start building, though, you won't know which stones will actually fit or how they'll line up. Since there's a lot of serendipity involved in finding the "right" stones, it's good to keep several stone piles going at once. And since figuring out how to fit them together can require patience, thought, and experimentation, it's good to have a way to keep moving even when a particular angle of attack is blocked. (Have you ever heard anyone complain about mason's block?)

Which in GTD terms translates to having more than one Next Action for a project. I started by challenging myself to come up with at least ten, but the ideal number would probably depend on the size of the project. These go in the Project section of my notebook, on left-hand pages. (The project list is on right-hand pages) That seemed like a good compromise between overwhelming the main Next Action list and hiding these tasks away in the project support materials.

The other challenge is organizing all the "stones." Index cards are cheap and easy to shuffle around, but not searchable and not big enough to hold more than a few sentences. My approach is still a work in progress, but involves a parallel set of paper and electronic tools. On paper, I start with a system loosely based on the PileOfIndexCards described at http://pileofindexcards.org/wiki/ind...itle=Main_Page Larger ideas get larger pieces of paper, but with a similar strictly chronological organizing system. Electronic ideas go into the DevonThink Pro database for a particular project or interest, or into DevonNote for topics that don't yet have their own database. (DTP is a freeform database with tools for organizing and searching large amounts of information. DN is sort of DTP-lite, with a smaller array of tools but also a smaller system footprint. DN also serves as an inbox when DTP isn't open.) Ideas that have evolved into truly active projects get Scrivener projects as well.

For both paper and electronic tools, the most important characteristic is simplicity. I've tried most of the notebook/information capture tools for the Mac, and learned that it's almost impossible to structure information as I gather it. Tools that force me to do so -- wikis, PersonalBrain, mindmapping software, most notebook software -- are annoying enough that I tend to just abandon them. On the other hand, I will need to create structure at some point, so purely flat tools (text files, but also things like Evernote) don't work either. And because "stones" come in many different sizes, I need a solution that's as comfortable with ten pages as with a paragraph.

This approach is only a few weeks old at this point, so very much a work in progress. Comments and other experiences welcome!

Katherine ]]> Getting Things Done kewms http://www.davidco.com/forum/showthread.php?t=8684 Did David ditch his Treo? http://www.davidco.com/forum/showthread.php?t=8682&goto=newpost Tue, 26 Aug 2008 02:58:30 GMT Hi everyone--

I have been a longtime practitioner of doing GTD on the Palm. Since it is time to get a new phone, I decided that I would get a Palm OS smartphone with e-mail capability enbled. The problem is that Palm only appears to offer three Palm OS smartphones, and my carrier of choice (AT&T) only carries one-- the Centro (which I hate because of the small size). If I want to stay with AT&T and go Palm (non-Centro!) my only option is to buy an "unlocked" Palm Treo 680. I'm mulling that option at the moment, but considering other solutions.

Today, while I was talking to DAC ustomer service, I mentioned that the last time I heard, David was using a Treo 700p. I was astounded to hear this person tell me that they believe David has switched over to the Blackberry. Wow! that's a paradigm shift...I'd love to hear David discuss how he is implementing GTD in Blackberry if this is true.

I'm currently considering Blackberry, the iPhone (with OmniFocus), and the Palm.

Just to make things more complicated, I am also mulling a potential move from a Windows environment on my laptop to the Mac OS.

Although I realize that I must make the final decision, I'd love to hear input from the forum on the relative pluses and minuses of the various tools.

Thanks!

Kent :) ]]> Gear, Gadgets, Software, and Toys Kent Valentine http://www.davidco.com/forum/showthread.php?t=8682 GTD, DIT, and contexts http://www.davidco.com/forum/showthread.php?t=8681&goto=newpost Mon, 25 Aug 2008 18:05:32 GMT Hi Folks,

Well, I think I have been able to integrate GTD with DIT (Mark Forster's Do it Tomorrow) reasonably well. I follow GTD in the collecting and processing phases, but shift more to DIT in the actual doing. One thing I have rediscovered is that contexts just really do not work for me. I can see how road warriors would thrive with contexts, but I have all of the standard tools available all of the time -- computer, laptop, phone, etc. I like one, clean list of next actions without having them broken down into several lists, which for me is hard to deal with. Are there others that do not work with multiple contexts, or am I a rarity?

Best regards,
Longstreet ]]> Getting Things Done Longstreet http://www.davidco.com/forum/showthread.php?t=8681 Notetaker wallet for Europe http://www.davidco.com/forum/showthread.php?t=8679&goto=newpost Sun, 24 Aug 2008 17:12:20 GMT I am looking for both a new notepad and a new wallet, and am considering David's notetaker wallet (2 in 1!). Before ordering one, I would like to know whether it is a good fit, as I am afraid the wallet has been designed for the USA and not for Europe (I live in Spain). I basically have two questions:

1. Does it have a place to store coins? (If not, what should I do with coins?)
2. Does the European drivers license fit in the wallet? (I don't have the credit card size license yet) ]]> Gear, Gadgets, Software, and Toys Beltza http://www.davidco.com/forum/showthread.php?t=8679 <![CDATA[Members Only: Guilt when personal meets professional during processing & reviewing]]> http://www.davidco.com/connect/forum_view.php?t=8678 Sun, 24 Aug 2008 17:08:00 GMT Wondering if anyone has any techniques or advice for dealing with the guilt that surfaces at work every time I process my inbox or do a weekly review. For about 9 months, I have been practicing GTD to get both my personal and professional life under con... Wondering if anyone has any techniques or advice for dealing with the guilt that surfaces at work every time I process my inbox or do a weekly review.

For about 9 months, I have been practicing GTD to get both my personal and professional life under con... ]]> snakeears http://www.davidco.com/forum/showthread.php?t=8678 What style of Karate does David Allen practice? http://www.davidco.com/forum/showthread.php?t=8677&goto=newpost Sun, 24 Aug 2008 13:27:57 GMT Hi,

I was recently wondering what style of Karate David Allen practices and which "dan" he's got in it, since he refers to his training very often.

I am myself a novice practitioner of Kyokushin Karate, which is on the very "hard" end of the soft/hard Karate style scale and so I find it somewhat challenging to relate what David Allen talks about his Karate training to my own training.

That makes me even more interested about his karate background. Are there any videos of him sparring on the Web?

Regards,

tmch ]]> Getting Things Done tmch http://www.davidco.com/forum/showthread.php?t=8677 <![CDATA[Members Only: When working from your lists doesn't always work...]]> http://www.davidco.com/connect/forum_view.php?t=8676 Sun, 24 Aug 2008 11:02:05 GMT Had a slight hiccup on Friday. A request for a quote had come in by email (on Wednesday) when I was neck deep in a number of other tasks, and I saw the email and filed it without making a note in my lists (Achieve Planner). Of course, I was working closely to my lists, an... Had a slight hiccup on Friday.

A request for a quote had come in by email (on Wednesday) when I was neck deep in a number of other tasks, and I saw the email and filed it without making a note in my lists (Achieve Planner).

Of course, I was working closely to my lists, an... ]]> Member Success Stories nick_ross http://www.davidco.com/forum/showthread.php?t=8676 Members Only: Project Planning http://www.davidco.com/connect/forum_view.php?t=8675 Sun, 24 Aug 2008 09:47:52 GMT Hi,

I seem to keep getting back to project planning at work lately. I'm working on a large project with my boss, one peer and a trainee, and keep running into schedule-keeping, overload, and "fire-fighting" issues.

One issue is that there are so many parts to the project that it's hard to really identify them all - a lot of it is research so we're finding out what's involved as we go along; but still having the overall schedule saying "this thing you're researching today must be finished within 3 days, whatever the research uncovers".

The overload is simply because of the sca... ]]> sarahg http://www.davidco.com/forum/showthread.php?t=8675