Hi. New to GTD but hooked on it already as a means to getting control over the amount of stuff hitting my desk at work. I've taken the principles of the system and adapted them to work for me, but I am fully aware some of the design is definitely not by the book. Just wondering if anyone can see any risks to this approach or has any constructive feedback to offer.
First off, getting everything off of my mind is absolutely essential, if I'm to keep track of things without overloading. So I've created an Excel spreadsheet where I dump everything into it - projects and actions from emails, voicemail, meeting notes, random thoughts etc etc. I can access the spreadsheet using my phone at any time of the day and simply add items as and when, rather than carrying a notebook.
The spreadsheet has a number of columns - date; in-tray item description; project yes/no; item source eg. a particular meeting, person etc; next action; waiting for; finished yes/no; future yes/no. So I suppose this is creating all my lists on one spreadsheet, which can be filtered as required. I really like having an item source column: very handy for meetings, as I can pull out all my action points relevant to the specific meeting forum and print off to take with me.
I also have a second "sheet" to the Excel Workbook for project planning - ie milestones, dates, current situation etc. This should tie in with sheet 1's in-tray descriptor, related next action, and the project column tag. I review to ensure the two sheets tie up, as part of my weekly review.
I suppose the first deviation from GTD is that I filter out the 2 minute jobs at source, rather than from the next action list eg. I clear these directly from my email inbox, voicemail, discussion points etc. So these never land on my spreadsheet - they're just done at the time. I don't see the point in wasting time by adding them to my overarching GTD inbox if I can get them done and dusted quickly. My emails are then either archived when I record them on my GTD list or else they are deleted if junk. Alternatively, I will file them in a reference folder if not related to an project or action of mine, but contain info which I need to be aware of or might want to find in a hurry.
The second deviation is that I count future actions as actionable (just not actionable at the moment), so all of them appear on my spreadsheet - and I tick a column called "future", unless they are date specific in which case they go on my calendar. Very similar to sometime maybe lists.
One of the biggest deviations is I don't use context lists. At work, I always have a phone and pc at my disposal (including when I work in different locations - I have a laptop linked to both our intranet and the internet, so I don't really see the point of creating lists). Having a smart phone means I carry the intranet and phone with me all the time when I'm on the move, so while context lists would be critical to productivity a few years back, I feel they are less so now.
I have a separate GTD list for home stuff on a separate sheet of the Excel workbook, as I don't want home stuff distracting me frequently, whilst at work - I check this sheet once a day to see if there's anything I need to remember to do either while I'm at work eg. book dentist apt, pick up stuff on way home etc. This is a much shorter list than my work list.
So that's how I work it. So far so good. Interested to hear some feedback though as I can imagine some folks having a sharp intake of breath - particularly at the lack of context lists which seem to be a staple of the GTD system for most. Many thanks for your comments, in advance. Be gentle, lol.
First off, getting everything off of my mind is absolutely essential, if I'm to keep track of things without overloading. So I've created an Excel spreadsheet where I dump everything into it - projects and actions from emails, voicemail, meeting notes, random thoughts etc etc. I can access the spreadsheet using my phone at any time of the day and simply add items as and when, rather than carrying a notebook.
The spreadsheet has a number of columns - date; in-tray item description; project yes/no; item source eg. a particular meeting, person etc; next action; waiting for; finished yes/no; future yes/no. So I suppose this is creating all my lists on one spreadsheet, which can be filtered as required. I really like having an item source column: very handy for meetings, as I can pull out all my action points relevant to the specific meeting forum and print off to take with me.
I also have a second "sheet" to the Excel Workbook for project planning - ie milestones, dates, current situation etc. This should tie in with sheet 1's in-tray descriptor, related next action, and the project column tag. I review to ensure the two sheets tie up, as part of my weekly review.
I suppose the first deviation from GTD is that I filter out the 2 minute jobs at source, rather than from the next action list eg. I clear these directly from my email inbox, voicemail, discussion points etc. So these never land on my spreadsheet - they're just done at the time. I don't see the point in wasting time by adding them to my overarching GTD inbox if I can get them done and dusted quickly. My emails are then either archived when I record them on my GTD list or else they are deleted if junk. Alternatively, I will file them in a reference folder if not related to an project or action of mine, but contain info which I need to be aware of or might want to find in a hurry.
The second deviation is that I count future actions as actionable (just not actionable at the moment), so all of them appear on my spreadsheet - and I tick a column called "future", unless they are date specific in which case they go on my calendar. Very similar to sometime maybe lists.
One of the biggest deviations is I don't use context lists. At work, I always have a phone and pc at my disposal (including when I work in different locations - I have a laptop linked to both our intranet and the internet, so I don't really see the point of creating lists). Having a smart phone means I carry the intranet and phone with me all the time when I'm on the move, so while context lists would be critical to productivity a few years back, I feel they are less so now.
I have a separate GTD list for home stuff on a separate sheet of the Excel workbook, as I don't want home stuff distracting me frequently, whilst at work - I check this sheet once a day to see if there's anything I need to remember to do either while I'm at work eg. book dentist apt, pick up stuff on way home etc. This is a much shorter list than my work list.
So that's how I work it. So far so good. Interested to hear some feedback though as I can imagine some folks having a sharp intake of breath - particularly at the lack of context lists which seem to be a staple of the GTD system for most. Many thanks for your comments, in advance. Be gentle, lol.