Collect Podcast - Organizer as a collection tool

[adepijper]

In the latest podcast, the team discussed their concerns with using a bound notetaker (journal, organizers) to collect new information. Because it is not possible to tear out pages, they cannot be dropped into an Inbox, and there is risk that the notes never make it to the organizing phase…

I’ve been using a Levenger Circa notetaker for more than a year now, and I haven’t experienced any of these issues. Maybe that is because I’ve made a review of my binder part of my daily/weekly review process. So I thought it would be worthwhile sharing my method with the other GTD|Connect members.

I fill the Circa with custom pages. The format of the pages is according to the Cornell note taking method with a wide margin on the left hand side of the page (I use the free page generator at http://www.eleven21.com/notetaker/ to print my personalized pages). This wide margin allows me to add "Next action context" markers (for example, [@Phone], [@Email], [Project]), making the notes that require my attention really stand out. By the way, I use [ ... ], if it’s not obvious what the next action is. Sometimes I’m just not in the right state of mind to make a decision about the Next Action when I am taking the notes.

On a regular basis (could be daily, but at a minimum weekly), I go back through my notes and liberate the Next Actions out of my notes and move them into my Next Action list in Outlook. I think that this note review is key for the success of this method. It’s very similar to the calendar review that is done during a weekly review.

Using the Circa this way has allowed me to capture notes and actions without creating a lot of loose papers during my typical workday of meetings and conversations with people (I don’t spend a lot of time at my desk).

I hope this was helpful for the GTD|Connect members that struggle with using their organizer/planner as a collection tool.

PS. The other collection tools that I use are: index cards, a voice recorder, Evernote, and e-mails to myself...

 

[enyonam]

Levenger

Thanks for posting this as I had just finished listening to the podcast and was about to post a similar comment! I too use Levenger circa notebooks and use them as part of my daily and weekly reviews, and they do work great. I also like them because similar to looking at previous calendar, I can also look at previous meeting notes and every once in a while a note that I did not think needed a next action will all of a sudden appear to need one because maybe something changed later that week.

One thing that was helpful in your post is using contexts to tag my Levenger notes - I hadn't thought of that. My tagging has been the type of action needed (e.g. Agenda item for that meeting, Question that e.g. I need to ask someone or research on the internet, action item for myself, action item for someone else, agreements, etc.). I can see myself tweaking these now to replace with contexts!

The nice thing about Levenger is you can also purchase the hole puncher and any other documentation that you print (meeting agenda's, pre-reading, pre-meeting mindmaps you have brainstormed, reference, etc.) can be added into your Levenger notebook at just the right spot before meetings, and then removed to be filed in reference or project folders when done.

 

[kelstarrising]

I use Circa too...

Thanks to both of you for writing up your experience. I think the key thing we were trying to stress is how many people seem to blend collect with organize and have notebooks filled with great ideas and notes, merged among tactical next action lists. You captured the best practice though, which is:

On a regular basis (could be daily, but at a minimum weekly), I go back through my notes and liberate the Next Actions out of my notes and move them into my Next Action list in Outlook. I think that this note review is key for the success of this method. It’s very similar to the calendar review that is done during a weekly review.

Circa is one of my pads as well. I only use it for collection though, not for list management. All of my action lists are stored in Lotus Notes. A thing I've found useful when going into meetings to take notes, I create one page called "MindSweep" and keep that separate from my meeting notes. As I capture potential next actions, they go on that sheet and get dropped into my inbox when I get back to my office. I still go through the meeting notes as well, but at least the stuff I knew at the time would need to be processed is already triaged.

Here's my latest Circa in 5x7 size:

Attached files

 

[jackiwhitford]

Circa works for me

Thanks for posting the replys about Levenger's CIRCA notebooks. The Circa Notebook is my bible. I am also left handed so I love that I can write without bumping into the rings in the usual notebook binder. I used to buy $100-200 binders, but the rings would always eventually widen and have to be reset. Circa has rings which prevent all that and the binders come in different colors, sizes and fabrics to meet everyone's budget.

I never worry about losing pages because you simply lift them and move them to the section you want. I also use different sizes - note cards are my favorite, and I use the Levenger hole punch to punch items I want to keep in my notebook. I can make them fit horizontally or vertically.

I do review my notebook during my weekly review, or my life spins out of control the following week. I track more than 300 deliverables due each week from over 120 applications that are developing code, and 200 testers and Quality Assurance Project Managers who are executing test cases. I cannot afford to miss someone delivering a feed or extract on time anymore than I can afford to miss a dental appointment.

I have used Circa notebooks for years and I highly recommend them for their versatility.