Advise on capturing

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DaveM

Guest
I have a question on what I believe to a capturing issue. I am still relatively new to GTD, I have a Palm, just started synching to Outlook. For the past 2 years I have used the Franklin Covey system.
I am in sales and commonly have to take notes on what happens or needs to happens with customers. What is the best way to capture this because alot of next actions occur from these meetings?
Also, how would you use GTD in a CYA fashion, unfortunately my work can get alittle political in nature?
Thanks, Dave
 
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vegheadjones

Guest
My 2 cents

1. Capturing, and processing are two different things. You want to capture everything as quickly as you can, put it in you In-box, and process it when you can. For me, paper is the way to go with capturing, I use a yellow legal pad, one sheet per item, and I try to process them all at the end of the day.

2. Lots of ways to CYA, this would happen on the processing side. I document everything in Outlook, saving all e-mails, and completed tasks if they are something I will need later. I have a category set up for these, and a view that shows only these items when needed.

Hope this helps.
 
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Anonymous

Guest
Dave -

As someone else who has also used both belief systems; this "translation" may help:

Franklin Quest's Daily Record of Events = GTD "In"

Capture the IN-formation as it is coming at you into the "Daily Record of Events" - whether it's Paper or Digital. (David also recomments Time & Date stamping all information that you receive, so this approach may not be as "sacreligious" as it may first seem - lol)

When you review the info (at the end of the day: Franklin; or at the end of the week: GTD) then decide what you want to do with it. If it's an appointment, task for the future, make sure you've scheduled it or put it on a Next Action List (FQ = Master Task List).

If it is random info that you want to keep for Reference - then make sure you make a note of it in Franklin's Monthly Index, or transfer it into a Categorized Note in Outlook. If it's part of an ongoing dialogue - then put it behind a Franklin "Red-Tab" or make it a Category of its own in Outlook, or your Memo Pad.

Hope this helps. If you'd like more elaboration on how I've personally used "the best of both" philosophies; feel free to e-mail me at the above address.

Rich
 
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mondo

Registered
Re. capture - I capture most things in meetings onto paper in a folio I keep with me, and make sure that I process them regularly into my PDA based organising system.

The best CYA methodology is to track details and make sure that the things that are meant to happen happen. This is really a strong point of GTD - tracking your inventory of stuff allows you to keep an eye on your commitments, and thus avoid much of the need to CYA.

A special mention should go to the Waiting For list - if you are known as someone who doesn't let stuff fall through the cracks, and follow up on those actions outstanding by others, again you should minimise the need to CYA.

As David says, date you Waiting Fors, so you can know how things are tracking.
 
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Anonymous

Guest
Thank you for your replies, I'll have to pay more attention to "processing".
Dave
 
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madridSP

Guest
Hi all,

Topic 1: What is CYA, please??

Topic 2: Do you carry always with your notepad/wallet/folio... and with your Palm everywhere?

Thanks,

d
 
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aderoy

Registered
1) CYA - Cover your a$$

2) it is best to have some type of capture tool, be it paper or electronic (palm). Paper seems to be the fastest to capture with.
 
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whkratz

Registered
CYA

Regarding "CYA", just a little more explanation may be in order for our friends from other countries or cultures. With thanks to our friends at http://www.wordwizard.com --

This phrase was originally military and arose in the 1950s [probably during the Korean War]. It’s acronym, also widely used, is C.Y.A. This expression saw duty in Viet Nam and is commonly used in government, business, and elsewhere. Some more discrete folks in other lands (see below) use the bowdlerized version “cover one’s back.”

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Cover means provide protection and in almost any old Western B-movie someone had to say something to the effect, “Cover me Zeke. I’m goin’ in.”

COVER transitive verb, Military: to protect and guard from attack (a soldier, force, or military position) during an expected period of ground combat by taking a position from which hostile troops can be fired upon. <units covering the retreat of the main army> <ships covering approaches to the harbor> <. . . just lawyers’ endless loopholes and cover-your-ass clauses> (Random House and Merriam-Webster’s Unabridged Dictionaries)

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COVER ONE’S ASS/TAIL, slang (vulgar) [mid 1900s to present]. 1) verb phrase: to take measures that will prevent one from suffering blame, loss, harm, etc.; to protect oneself; to act in advance of some hazard to protect one’s interest; to provide or arrange for exculpation; devise excuses and alibis. Cf. C.Y.A. <Some call it ‘risk management,’ others ‘covering your ass’—Toronto Life> <The FBI may have to let you be destroyed to cover its own ass—Nat Hentoff> <CYA, you know, that old French expression that means making sure that when historians write about it all it wont be seen as happening on your shift—Washington Post>. 2) adjective phrase: <writing long cover-your-ass memos—Village Voice>. (Random House Unabridged Dictionary and Slang and Euphemism by Spears, Chapman’s Dictionary of American Slang)

COVER YOUR ASS/C.Y.A. or CYA, phrase [1950s and still in use] (originally U.S. military): look after yourself before worrying about anyone else, be it colleagues, customers, the larger world, whatever; the basic admonition to anyone, at any level, working in government or a large corporation. (Cassell’s Dictionary of Slang)

COVER ONE’S BACK (or North American ‘ass’), Informal: forsee and avoid the possibility of attack or criticism. (Oxford Dictionary of Idoms)
 
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