In the immortal words of Bruce Lee:
Hi!
I have read topics on this forum for a while and I felt like contributing. I became inspired after a number of events that accumulated this and last week. Events that made me realize that I had not been paying enough attention to certain details. It may sound a bit dramatic, and in a way it is and isn't at the same time. Having read Getting Things Done more than once I thought I had it, but I now realize that I certainly did not. For a little while I have been making screencasts about productivity and tools for my friends. Mostly just to learn how to screencast, but I thought it would also be interesting to see how I could teach them about GTD.
My initial thought was to go through the five phases of mastering workflow. First starting of course with collection and buckets. It went very well and that part is very easy as long as you simplify the amount of buckets (email, physical, digital with Evernote). Processing is in a way easy to understand, but its reliance on organizing (having a system) made it uniquely difficult for me to talk about. I could not do that part without talking first about how to set up your own system. The system I wound up with was GTD with Evernote. Seemed fine right? Yes and no. As I started going through processing, and re-reading the book, my eyes opened up to a detail I seemingly glanced over before. I didn't put a next action on things I should have put a next action on, I would process everything in one go and not do the organizing bit. In effect I tried to do both at the same time.
The other problem was that the system I had put in place didn't have the edges I really needed. Do I place stuff that is project support in general reference, or is there a better way to link things together? I came to understand that the system I wanted had not been thought out. I thought that buying a guide would be sufficiently enough and do the thinking for me. What I now have is a mess of folders, albeit organized, but not functional in any way that I would like. For some it could maybe serve as a proper system, but for me the edges aren't clear enough.
Because I did not have a system with those edges, I would struggle with processing my inbox because I didn't know how to organize things. That small detail, that I would assign a next action to anything that was actionable, made me realize that. This struggle of not knowing what to do would represent itself with things like: "Resource for drawing a business plan", "Running a one-man business" and "Tax information for small business", because I didn't know what to really do with it. And yes, I am in the process of creating my own business
. Would I put this in a general reference or would I add this to a project? And if I would add it to a project (i.e. Create My Company), how would I store it there? I wasn't as organized at all as I thought.
So why did I have such a problem organizing it? I could of course have just placed in a Notebook (folder in Evernote) called Business Support and be done with it. In one way I have no problem doing so, but realistically it goes against how my brain works. My brain wants to know only the information it needs when I am working on something specific. Basically with the setup I had in Evernote, trying to facilitate everything, made it very overwhelming because I saw much more than I wanted to, much more than I needed. Having one system to rule it all wasn't as great as I thought it to be.
First thing I did was exporting all of my Next Actions from Evernote to iCloud reminders. If it isn't easy enough to be in Reminders, I haven't thought it through enough. Reminders is also great as I usually have my iPhone and iPad around for that. Okay, I have my Next Actions sorted. My collection tools are still Evernote (for capturing ideas etc.), email and physical paper. No change there.
Now what about the rest? I remember reading Chapter 4 (setting up the time, space and tools) and not being able to relate to it. Most of my life has been spent on the computer and almost everything I have is digital. I do have binders with A-Z person general collection, one for my upcoming business A-Z general collection, two binders for finances (personal and business). Other than that I do not need to store much, nor do I need anything related to paper at all. How do I organize my projects? And what about project support and other digital references? Someday / Maybe? In the beginning of chapter 7 (Organizing: Setting up the right buckets), it says; "In other words, your organization system is not
something that you'll necessarily create all at once, in a vacuum. It will evolve as you process your stuff and test out whether you have put everything in the best place for you."
Going back to the flowchart we have the following:
So what goes in there and what does not? As little as possible and probably nothing. I have no need for a general A-Z reference system in notes as everything that is important is related to a project. Other references are basically email and just files, placed in Dropbox or my email client. No need for an additional general reference system just to have one in Evernote. I looked through the reference system I had in place, deleted a bunch of nonsense (I was even keeping a note on all kinds of webshops, when I know I can easily find it by a search if needed) and sent the rest back to my inbox.
Okay. I am sorted on references since I now have a better understanding on what kind of references I actually get and what to do with them. Having a general reference system drives me to accumulate lots of stuff I don't need just to utilize the system itself. It becomes a waste of time and a great source for frustration.
Calender, on iCloud, end of story. Next Action lists and Waiting For goes on iCloud Reminders.
Now, the big question: Projects and Project plans. The GTD way for a list of projects was an actual list of projects:
This never really made complete sense to me. It blew my fuse because it felt redundant having a list of projects, and project support materials separated, which I see in my world as project plans or essential to project plans. Now, this is how I function and adhering to GTDs version would does not make sense for me. It can again be that I view project support differently than others, but I have a big problem distinguising it. Two sides of the same coin.
My version of a project encapsulates both the project itself,the plan and project support. Originally I thought about having a note per project in Evernote (under a Projects list), where I had both my intended outcome and project plans. In a way it worked wonders with small projects, but then again the problem arise with project support, not having a functioning reference system in place when dealing with larger projects.
I found that OneNote includes everything that is necessary for me in this case. For each big project I can create a new notebook. A big project is any project that requires sub-projects to finish the whole project. Everything else can go in a business or personal notebook in its respective section. In each respective section one can have project plans and project support in the same place. These notebooks can again be synced to my iPad if necessary, but with my current habits (and historical), I would never have any need for that. To summarize:
I have tried and failed doing things according to the book (or maybe I actually haven't done things according to the book), but I realize that I must look at my reality. What do I need to organize, what information do I get? How do I think about projects and support? I believe that I essentially can follow the principles of GTD without necessary adhering to its "recommended" way of organizing.
If anyone have any questions, criticism or any feedback at all I am very happy to read and reply!
I'll end this the same way I started it, with the quote from Bruce Lee:
Hi!
I have read topics on this forum for a while and I felt like contributing. I became inspired after a number of events that accumulated this and last week. Events that made me realize that I had not been paying enough attention to certain details. It may sound a bit dramatic, and in a way it is and isn't at the same time. Having read Getting Things Done more than once I thought I had it, but I now realize that I certainly did not. For a little while I have been making screencasts about productivity and tools for my friends. Mostly just to learn how to screencast, but I thought it would also be interesting to see how I could teach them about GTD.
My initial thought was to go through the five phases of mastering workflow. First starting of course with collection and buckets. It went very well and that part is very easy as long as you simplify the amount of buckets (email, physical, digital with Evernote). Processing is in a way easy to understand, but its reliance on organizing (having a system) made it uniquely difficult for me to talk about. I could not do that part without talking first about how to set up your own system. The system I wound up with was GTD with Evernote. Seemed fine right? Yes and no. As I started going through processing, and re-reading the book, my eyes opened up to a detail I seemingly glanced over before. I didn't put a next action on things I should have put a next action on, I would process everything in one go and not do the organizing bit. In effect I tried to do both at the same time.
The other problem was that the system I had put in place didn't have the edges I really needed. Do I place stuff that is project support in general reference, or is there a better way to link things together? I came to understand that the system I wanted had not been thought out. I thought that buying a guide would be sufficiently enough and do the thinking for me. What I now have is a mess of folders, albeit organized, but not functional in any way that I would like. For some it could maybe serve as a proper system, but for me the edges aren't clear enough.
Because I did not have a system with those edges, I would struggle with processing my inbox because I didn't know how to organize things. That small detail, that I would assign a next action to anything that was actionable, made me realize that. This struggle of not knowing what to do would represent itself with things like: "Resource for drawing a business plan", "Running a one-man business" and "Tax information for small business", because I didn't know what to really do with it. And yes, I am in the process of creating my own business
. Would I put this in a general reference or would I add this to a project? And if I would add it to a project (i.e. Create My Company), how would I store it there? I wasn't as organized at all as I thought.So why did I have such a problem organizing it? I could of course have just placed in a Notebook (folder in Evernote) called Business Support and be done with it. In one way I have no problem doing so, but realistically it goes against how my brain works. My brain wants to know only the information it needs when I am working on something specific. Basically with the setup I had in Evernote, trying to facilitate everything, made it very overwhelming because I saw much more than I wanted to, much more than I needed. Having one system to rule it all wasn't as great as I thought it to be.
First thing I did was exporting all of my Next Actions from Evernote to iCloud reminders. If it isn't easy enough to be in Reminders, I haven't thought it through enough. Reminders is also great as I usually have my iPhone and iPad around for that. Okay, I have my Next Actions sorted. My collection tools are still Evernote (for capturing ideas etc.), email and physical paper. No change there.
Now what about the rest? I remember reading Chapter 4 (setting up the time, space and tools) and not being able to relate to it. Most of my life has been spent on the computer and almost everything I have is digital. I do have binders with A-Z person general collection, one for my upcoming business A-Z general collection, two binders for finances (personal and business). Other than that I do not need to store much, nor do I need anything related to paper at all. How do I organize my projects? And what about project support and other digital references? Someday / Maybe? In the beginning of chapter 7 (Organizing: Setting up the right buckets), it says; "In other words, your organization system is not
something that you'll necessarily create all at once, in a vacuum. It will evolve as you process your stuff and test out whether you have put everything in the best place for you."
Going back to the flowchart we have the following:
- Trash
- Someday Maybe / Tickler / Hold for Review
- Reference (retrievable when required)
- Calendar for the hard landscape
- Next Action lists
- Delegation / Waiting For
- Projects
- Project Plans
So what goes in there and what does not? As little as possible and probably nothing. I have no need for a general A-Z reference system in notes as everything that is important is related to a project. Other references are basically email and just files, placed in Dropbox or my email client. No need for an additional general reference system just to have one in Evernote. I looked through the reference system I had in place, deleted a bunch of nonsense (I was even keeping a note on all kinds of webshops, when I know I can easily find it by a search if needed) and sent the rest back to my inbox.
Okay. I am sorted on references since I now have a better understanding on what kind of references I actually get and what to do with them. Having a general reference system drives me to accumulate lots of stuff I don't need just to utilize the system itself. It becomes a waste of time and a great source for frustration.
Calender, on iCloud, end of story. Next Action lists and Waiting For goes on iCloud Reminders.
Now, the big question: Projects and Project plans. The GTD way for a list of projects was an actual list of projects:
- Get my car fixed
- Move to new office
- Establish my own company
- Research computer hardware
- Set up personal finances oversight
This never really made complete sense to me. It blew my fuse because it felt redundant having a list of projects, and project support materials separated, which I see in my world as project plans or essential to project plans. Now, this is how I function and adhering to GTDs version would does not make sense for me. It can again be that I view project support differently than others, but I have a big problem distinguising it. Two sides of the same coin.
My version of a project encapsulates both the project itself,the plan and project support. Originally I thought about having a note per project in Evernote (under a Projects list), where I had both my intended outcome and project plans. In a way it worked wonders with small projects, but then again the problem arise with project support, not having a functioning reference system in place when dealing with larger projects.
I found that OneNote includes everything that is necessary for me in this case. For each big project I can create a new notebook. A big project is any project that requires sub-projects to finish the whole project. Everything else can go in a business or personal notebook in its respective section. In each respective section one can have project plans and project support in the same place. These notebooks can again be synced to my iPad if necessary, but with my current habits (and historical), I would never have any need for that. To summarize:
- Big projects requiring sub-projects: Create new notebook and put sub-project in sections
- Small projects go in a Personal or Business notebook in a respective section
- OneNote itself serves as the project list overview
I have tried and failed doing things according to the book (or maybe I actually haven't done things according to the book), but I realize that I must look at my reality. What do I need to organize, what information do I get? How do I think about projects and support? I believe that I essentially can follow the principles of GTD without necessary adhering to its "recommended" way of organizing.
If anyone have any questions, criticism or any feedback at all I am very happy to read and reply!
I'll end this the same way I started it, with the quote from Bruce Lee:
