no longer knowledge worker

erikP

Registered
Since im not a knowledgeworker anymore, i'm a carpenter, I realy am struggeling with GTD. I hope on some advice from you all.

let me explain the differences: i used to be a general contractor with about 20 employees. I had an office as a base to work from. so i could organise files and folders on a regular basis. (mixed paper and outlook)
Nowadays i'm "just" a carpenter. still doing larger projects like renovating a church. But i am doing carpentry work as a main job. Besides that there are about 12 people i am responsible for as they are subcontractors.

there are some similarities in the work. still mail and paper and still projects with numerous subprojects (with their own sub..... you get it)

As you will understand i'm struggeling with capture and clarify. partially i do not have the time nor physical space to do it at the spot (no office anymore). partially not all the information is available for late that day and with energy levels low at the end of the day things should rather be uncomplicated.

anyone with the same issues and a probable solution?
 

Cpu_Modern

Registered
Why no office if you still have paper shuffling as part of the gig? What about an iPad as a mobile office?

When I was a craftsman the boss did all the office stuff first thing in the morning and then joined us in the ring and stayed there until everything was done for the day. What about starting the day with a 30 min stint at "@paper" and then go over to "@timber"?
 

erikP

Registered
Hi CPU

Thanks for your quick reactionFirst thing in the morning is instructions for co-workers. And after that production needs to be high for "@timber", but there are a lot of disruptions for there is always an opportunity for co-workers to come and ask.
Of course i do have a desk at home you could call an office (even in the netherlands we have taxes to do). But a separate building with a secretary, desks, server and computers is out of the question nowadays.
I can try to squeez in a small amount of time around coffe time for the "@paper" bit. Which will be better because a part of the @paper is calling others and starting times vary for various people.

But my question is also about mobile working. How to do that the most efficient way?
Bare in mind that building still uses a lot of paper and big sizes at that for drawings. But the phone is still used next to a lot of mail.

regards,

erik
 

TesTeq

Registered
Of course i do have a desk at home you could call an office (even in the netherlands we have taxes to do). But a separate building with a secretary, desks, server and computers is out of the question nowadays.
I can try to squeez in a small amount of time around coffe time for the "@paper" bit. Which will be better because a part of the @paper is calling others and starting times vary for various people.
Do you use a car? You can create a "mobile command post" in your car.
 

Oogiem

Registered
But my question is also about mobile working. How to do that the most efficient way?
I'm farming and I set things up so that I can collect on the run. I have pen and paper always with me in a belt pouch. My phone is set using Siri so that if I know what I want to do I can automatically send a reminder to my Omnifocus inbox for further processing. I also carry most of my Action Support that is electronic with me on my phone in DEVONThink. I have a set of the old plastic GTD file folders and I have one for To Office that is actually where I put papers I can work on in town or at the brewery or other places away from the farm. I have a home office with my e-mail and computer and I process my paper notes, OF inbox and paper inbox in the morning as I sit there to read the news on-line, check weather and plan my day. I have my lists set up so that when I am waiting for things to happen, like water tanks to fill, I can pull out my phone and do phone calls or perhaps even light Internet research if I am within range of the network. If I need paper reference materials I can grab that folder and put it in my tote bag. I do that sometimes when I am heading out and will be a passenger in the car for a long drive, I can often do some work there although I tend to get carsick so can't do too much. My calendar is on my phone so I always have that with me.

The key is appropriate contexts, splitting things up so that when I am away from my home office I can effectively choose what to work on and also adapting my tools so that I can actually get useful work done when I only have some of my materials handy.
 

bcmyers2112

Registered
I've done a fair amount of mobile work. At one time I maintained offices both at home and at company HQ which was an hour away, while covering a sales territory comprising 13 counties. Today my work sometimes requires travel out of state. So I know what you're dealing with.

I manage paper by carrying plastic folders in my laptop bag that serve the same purpose as stack baskets at my desk. I have folders for "in," "action support," "waiting for support," "to home" and "to office."

My digital list manager, Evernote, is available on my home PC, work laptop, as well as my smartphone and tablets. I can also scan paper and import electronic files into Evernote to make information easily portable and accessible, although some recent quality problems have caused me to lose confidence in Evernote and rely a bit more on paper.

My employer uses Exchange for email, and I use Gmail for personal use. So those are also available on all of my devices. One thing you do have to get used to is that things that might be two-minute actions in the office often have to be deferred to an action list when processing email on the go.

It takes a bit of an adjustment, but with the tools I've outlined above I can keep up with everything whether I'm working out of my car, a client site, my home, my office or a hotel room.
 
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bcmyers2112

Registered
The key is appropriate contexts, splitting things up so that when I am away from my home office I can effectively choose what to work on and also adapting my tools so that I can actually get useful work done when I only have some of my materials handy.

I can vouch for this being part of the mobile-work puzzle. On a recent business trip I spent an hour-and-a-half on a train. It wasn't a good spot to use my laptop but just fine for my tablet. Unfortunately I had a context called "cloud" with 50 some-odd actions that were a mix of those I could only do on a laptop or PC and those that could be done on any of my devices including my tablet or smartphone. I was just too tired to keep trying to decide what I could do in that list and what I couldn't, and after a few go-rounds I gave up.

After seeing this and another post you wrote on the topic I refined my contexts and it's helped a great deal. Your advice is sound.
 
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erikP

Registered
Hi All,

thanks for your reactions!
I am reading the GTD book again and think that together with your imput i'm going for this set-up for now:
A messengerbag with plastic folders for paperwork like drawings, orders, etc (project support) organised on the different projects
And in there a paper journal for note taking and collection ( so "in-basket" ) and a list of projects
Also in the journal the low level lists like "waiting for" and "actions"
My calendar is in my phone for years so i'm pretty used to that

I expect to make notes for the mails i get which require actions. ( with no printer on the go and mails visible in my phone)

I'll give it a try lke that and see how it goes.

Thanks again,

Erik
 
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