Best GTD software solution

[Bill Myers]

You use Evernote as a listmaker. The difference with the listmaker apps you mention is that these are not for filing, but Evernote and OneNote are.
Keeping thing in one place makes sence, the only advantage of (some) listmaker apps is their searchability with multiple parameters (like context, goals, tags, labels,etc).

What I meant was that I believe people in these forums place too much emphasis on tools in general. I have never found a truly successful person who frets about what kind of folders they use for reference material or whether they have the ideal productivity software. The most successful people I know identify desired outcomes, take actions toward achieving them and get things done. That's the lens through which I view GTD: it's a process intended to clarify outcomes and actions, and park them somewhere so they don't clutter your head. As DA says in the book everything he proposes is easy to do and involves no new skills. We already know how to identify outcomes, write things down, etc. You don't need a fancy tool -- just a willingness to apply very basic skills more consistently and thoroughly than most of us are taught to do.

 

[WAR]

Probably 75% of my actions are created in response to emails that I receive. The same would hold true on my project support support material. I needed easy email processing combined with mobile access to my action and project lists. I started with NetCentrics for Outlook but have happily landed with the best tool I've found for my needs - IQTELL.

 

[Folke]

I believe people in these forums place too much emphasis on tools in general. I have never found a truly successful person who frets about what kind of folders they use for reference material or whether they have the ideal productivity software. The most successful people I know identify desired outcomes, take actions toward achieving them and get things done.

I know some very successful people who hardly even write a thing, not even on paper.

But I'd advise a bit of caution against playing down tools too much. Even the GTD methodology itself - the "tool-agnostic" concept - is itself a tool. Like other tools it can be very useful for those who need such a tool. But not everyone does. For example, why would someone need to clarify a desired outcome if the desired outcome is already obvious to him/her? Or if occasionally something is not immediately clear, why would someone necessarily need a tool (such as GTD) to be able to define it clearly if the person has a habitual craving (and therefore plenty of practice) for always becoming clear of the whats and whys about the things that he or she does?

And why would someone even need to empty their head and write things down if they have good memory and enjoy an uncomplicated life? And even if they do need to write things down, why would they necessarily need a tool (like GTD) to tell them to do so or to tell them how to write it? Maybe all they need is a pen. And so on.

Not everybody needs a tool like GTD. But they may still need (or want) writing tools or computer tools to keep the stuff neatly and conveniently listed. Part of the challenge is to find a set of physical tools that matches a methodological framework (or tools) that you can accept, which could be GTD or something else. I do not think it is a pointless discussion to try to find the best tools to match the GTD model, or even enhance it, but I agree that the discussion can sometimes be a bit tedious.

 

[GTD-Sweden]

I know some very successful people who hardly even write a thing, not even on paper.

- And isn't it fascinating how differently people are wired? I would be pretty handicapped if someone suddenly erased the content in Omnifocus...

 

[Gardener]

What I meant was that I believe people in these forums place too much emphasis on tools in general. I have never found a truly successful person who frets about what kind of folders they use for reference material or whether they have the ideal productivity software.

But they're already truly successful. So they're presumably finished with their thrashing around with tools. How can you be positive that there wasn't a lot of work and experimentation with tools before they got to "truly successful"?

I'd say that if things are going well, yeah, try to restrain the impulse to putter and tweak. But if something isn't working, something needs to change, and often that something is a tool.

You refer to a "willingness". But "willingness" isn't always enough. Sometimes a person needs some support for their willingness; sometimes will power and elbow grease and all of those "just try harder" phrases aren't enough. And the right tool may be what that person needs in order to maintain a reliable habit.

 

[Bill Myers]

But they're already truly successful. So they're presumably finished with their thrashing around with tools. How can you be positive that there wasn't a lot of work and experimentation with tools before they got to "truly successful"?

I'd say that if things are going well, yeah, try to restrain the impulse to putter and tweak. But if something isn't working, something needs to change, and often that something is a tool.

You refer to a "willingness". But "willingness" isn't always enough. Sometimes a person needs some support for their willingness; sometimes will power and elbow grease and all of those "just try harder" phrases aren't enough. And the right tool may be what that person needs in order to maintain a reliable habit.

The most successful people I know got that way by identifying outcomes and actions, and executing well; not the other way around. Applying GTD processes in the simplest possible way has helped me emulate that behavior and increase my success; fancy productivity software has not.

I'm simply giving advice that has worked well for me, but I know it's not the only advice out there. If someone requires a different path to achieve what's important for them, then by all means they should ignore me and take that other path.

 

[Bill Myers]

So as to avoid inadvertantly touching off another argument: I agree that it is important to implement GTD in a way that is comfortable for you. But there is no consensus about what tool is best. It's all about individual preferences. If you're not sure where to start I'd suggest picking something you already know. Evernote can work if you want to try that, and the David Allen Company has an excellent guide to get you started (I provided a link to where it can be purchased in my earlier post). You can always change tools later if you feel you need to.

 

[Oogiem]

What I meant was that I believe people in these forums place too much emphasis on tools in general. I have never found a truly successful person who frets about what kind of folders they use for reference material or whether they have the ideal productivity software. .

Minor quibble with this statement. For some of us, and I'm clearly in this camp, the kind of tools I use affects my attitude toward the process and my happiness in using it. That in turn will affect the quality of the work or my ability to even do the work.

I can write with any old pen on any scrap of paper, but I really love my nice fountain pens and Levenger paper. When I use those tools I do a better job of taking notes and I retain the information I write. I am on very rare occasions forced to deal with a neighbors Windows system. My tolerance level for it is somewhere near zero, I can manage about 5 minutes before I am ready to throw the computer out the window or launch it on a trebuchet over the side of the mesa. Yet I can work on my Mac for hours with no drag and get a lot done. Both are tools, both are fully functional and capable items but I clearly have a preference for and do better with one set vs another.

In a similar vein, I've now finally learned that for any gven software task or tool I need to get I am best served by finding the top of the line, most feature rich one even if it takes me a lot longer to ramp up and learn it. Every single time I've settled for a tool with less capabilities and less options and ways to customize it I spend time later changing to the one I should have picked in the first place. It has happend to me enough times that now I just know to seek out the most advanced option for given task and plan for a long learning curve.

I think tools matter and I also agree that GTD itself is a tool or a process.

 

[Gardener]

I can write with any old pen on any scrap of paper, but I really love my nice fountain pens and Levenger paper. When I use those tools I do a better job of taking notes and I retain the information I write.

And I'd be moderately confident that there's a scientific backing for this. Pleasurable stimuli--like using a tool that you find beautiful or otherwise gain pleasure from using--can increase dopamine. Dopamine increases memory, motivation, learning.

So there may be no purely logical reason why a tool that makes the user happy will increase their performance, but our brains didn't evolve for logic. Finding the tool that you take pleasure in using is indeed, IMO, likely to improve your performance.

 

[Bill Myers]

Sorry, pranaman. You came here looking for practical advice, not a debate over personal styles as I have unwisely touched off. Although I think you can see what I mean about there being no consensus on tools. That's as it should be, in my view; GTD is a process designed to be implemented however one chooses. You can go very high-tech like many here, mid-tech or even very low-tech by using paper. Just pick a tool that you like and as long as you are diligent about the GTD process, you can make it work.

Once you settle on a particular tool, you'll likely find that others here are familiar with it and can give you specific pointers about it.

Good luck with your GTD practice.

 

[haebbmaster]

update: I am reading http://www.thesecretweapon.org/. Also, technical note: I am running Linux, so either I'll have to dual boot, run evernote web-only, or use a client, like everpad. Any tech thoughts on this note?

I'm doing "something like GTD" with Evernote. I also run Linux.
I used the Windows-Client with wine, but I had issues on stacked notebooks (works fine with real Windows). Nevernote (2 beta) worked, but suddenly there were corrupt notes and it didn't sync any more. Everpad has a completely different look and feel and there are lots of functions missing, I didn't use that.
There is a Google Chrome application for Evernote, it looks quite reasonable. I'm using this now.
The old web client is good, I don't like the new one. I will get a faster internet connection at the end of the year. Then I will use the old web client until they remove it.

I also use the Android- and iOS-clients. They also look rather different than the Windows client.
I use Evernote Premium because I need offline notebooks on my mobile devices.

"The Secret Weapon" doesn't work with any of these clients. You have to do AND operations between tags, I only could do this in the Windows client.
You should try the Windows client under wine, maybe you don't have the issues I had.

 

[Eddie]

I highly recommend FacileThings.com

Like many of you, I've tried dozens of apps - from ToDoIst to Evernote.

However, once I discovered and made FacileThings part of my system, I gained back the enormous (and ridiculous) amount of time I had been previously spending "tweaking" filters, labels, set-ups, etc.

FacileThings does have one main requirement:

That you do not try to use 'your' own version of GTD. In other words, it supports your application of ALL aspects of GTD, not just some tips and tricks.​

To help you implement 'pure' GTD, FacileThings has "best practices", education and "lists" built-in.

So far, whenever I've found myself 'fighting' FacileThings ... because it won't let me do something in my habitual way ... I usually realize that I'm really fighting the GTD process. For example, whenever I wanted to process that one, seemingly important thing in the inbox .... instead of processing everything in the inbox.

--

My favourite features of are:

• "future start dates" (allowing tasks to disappear until needed ... while - at the same time - keeping them visible via the "tickler" list
• the option to manage your project actions as lists or "kanban style"
• The guided weekly review ( although you'd still 'need' David Allen's checklists)

-

I continue to use TheBrain and - to a certain extent - Evernote to handle most project-support information and reference information.

--

Hope this helps.

Eddie.

PS: With all that said .... you may be better off (or able to get acceptable results) with other tools. --- In this recent video ( https://youtu.be/iNAaJsgCqB4?t=32m ), David Allen mentions "the paradox":

"The more you really get GTD the less the tool matters. At the same time, the more you really get GTD the more 'your chosen' tool is critical".

 

[bingobob]

Having tried virtually all of the software tools (and I mean ALL!), I've lately concluded that you can't really get the most out of GTD unless you follow the formal discipline. The keys for me were:
- Calendar items must not clutter up other lists
- Collection, processing, and review must be three distinctly separate activities

There is only one application that works at that level of fidelity to GTD: FacileThings. All the others are 80-90% implementations of the methodology and (here's the key) the 10-20% gap draws you back into what I call "standard to-do thinking". By that I mean:

- You rely on reminders rather than trusting a strict discipline of collection and processing
- You collect new items right in the Today or Focus view, not the Inbox, resulting in your being distracted by the apparent urgency of almost everything
- You fail to trace your tasks and projects back to your goals

The net result of "standard to-do thinking" is that you remain task-driven -- you simply have a system to handle more tasks than you would in your head. That approach seemed to work well for me for a few years. I used nirvanahq, which I think is the best of the almost-GTD applications. But in retrospect, I realized that even with it, I've been too reactive. And my process never rose to the level of real impact and creativity that are supposed to be the hallmark of GTD. With FacileThings I have risen to that level.

Its usage model is well thought-out, it has a nice UI, it is under active development, and the developer is very responsive.

Give it a try, and be sure to stick with it for several weeks (there's a one month free trial) so you can get used to the routine. Once you give in to the mature GTD discipline in FacileThings, you won't ever want to go back.

 

[devon.marie]

Once you give in to the mature GTD discipline in FacileThings...

Perhaps it's just me, but this puts a sour taste in my mouth. My whole experience with GTD is that it's a fairly simple method that can be applied consistently a variety of ways so that everyone can do it as it fits them best. The idea that there needs to be some fancy software or "mature discipline" needed seems to be (from my understanding) contradictory to GTD itself.

 

[Folke]

Perhaps it's just me, but this puts a sour taste in my mouth.

No, it's not just you. I've tried FacileThings and found it too rigid for my taste.

Another overly rigid thing in FacileThings is the strict one-at-a-time auto-feed of next actions. Most apps that have this feature at least also have an option for the opposite extreme, usually called "parallel" (Nirvana, MLO and others have this). But it actually should be totally flexible in order to be "GTD compliant" - allow you to put all next actions on the NA list, and leave all the others behind in the project (Zendone and GTDNext have this).
.

- You rely on reminders rather than trusting a strict discipline of collection and processing

Please explain. What does "reminders" have to do with processing?

I totally agree with you that I too often startle when I hear feature requests for reminders and snooze buttons and all manner of such things. It seems as if many people rely on such time-programmed signals rather than rely on reviewing and using their situational judgement. Quite soon you would drown in such signals. (But they are free to do so, of course.)

But I do not see how collection and processing is linked with this.

- You collect new items right in the Today or Focus view, not the Inbox, resulting in your being distracted by the apparent urgency of almost everything

Not necessarily. I keep them as a separate group at the bottom of my Today view. I only put them in the Inbox if neither the expected action nor the processing seems to have any degree of urgency at all. (And I finish the processing when I feel like it - usually when I do something with a related project. I do not see any point in "batching them up" just for some sake of its own.)

- You fail to trace your tasks and projects back to your goals

Depends on your app. I keep my Goals at the top folder level, with individual areas and projects and tasks underneath. Very tidy - suits my taste. I remember it was a lot clunkier in FacileThings. Or you use labels (tags, contexts etc) during the processing stage (most apps have that).

 

[aderoy]

wonder if the best 'software' for GTD is the wetware between your ears? Has to work for you even when you have the flu or in overwhelm. Being able to look at your lists (activity/project) and pick one to move forward.

Each person will have a different level of 'yuck' or this works for me. Very difficult for any application to take into account all the possible configurations (pc/mac/linux/chrome os/android/online/offline/secure/non-install) at are now part of day to day work/home life.

Find a system that works and is trusted by you.

 

[mcogilvie]

Facile Things seems like a straightjacket, and a fairly expensive one at $7-$12/month for a web app. The iPhone app has one two-star review.

 

[Bill Myers]

wonder if the best 'software' for GTD is the wetware between your ears?

Without a doubt. There is as yet no software that can make decisions for you about outcomes and next actions, and when to take those actions.

Has to work for you even when you have the flu or in overwhelm. Being able to look at your lists (activity/project) and pick one to move forward.

Yes. A lack of software is no barrier to doing GTD. I can tell you from experience, however, that I have found some software tools so burdensome they hindered my GTD practice. I realize that the fine line between technology that helps and that which hinders will be different for everyone, but I think it's something to be aware of.

Each person will have a different level of 'yuck' or this works for me. Very difficult for any application to take into account all the possible configurations (pc/mac/linux/chrome os/android/online/offline/secure/non-install) at are now part of day to day work/home life.

Like I said earlier in the thread, trying to arrive at an objective answer about the "best" GTD software is like trying to determine objectively what the prettiest color is. There is no right or wrong answer. Different things help different people.

I don't think anyone can recommend the "best" GTD software, but I do think one can suggest criteria for making a decision. A good GTD software tool should allow you to sort lists by categories, it should allow due dates but not force them, and inputting should be quick and easy. A nice to have (but not a requirement) is the ability to link next actions to projects. The lists should sync easily to a portable device of your choosing, or if you don't have a portable device should be easily printable. Finally the learning curve should not be steep -- otherwise you'll resist using the tool.

 

[Bookit]

I agree with the criteria that bcmyers2112 has suggested. One of the reasons I use IQTell is because it meets most if not all of the criteria. Sorting can be done by almost any field. No start or due date is required but both options are there. And it can link actions, emails, and Evernote notes to projects. (Again, this is not required - but it's there if you want it.) It has apps for smartphones and there is a Facebook support group if you have a question for fellow users. No charge for Facebook support. Find what works for you and then stick with it.

 

[Gardener]

I think that one of the (many) differences-between-people that may drive the choice of GTD system is whether you're (1) a person who like to have a lot of stuff available at your fingertips at all times, or (2) a person who likes to have a minimal subset of stuff in front of you on a day to day basis, and only occasionally go through "the rest" to choose what will be included in that minimal subset.

I'm type (2), and that means that I need a lot of tricks that allow me to store things, but that hide those things from me. If you're type (1), all those tricks for hiding things probably don't matter a bit.