Digital (Or perhaps paper) Workbooks and GTD

B

black.rhino

0
I've been finding a bit of a problem with my GTD system. I use evernote and have 3 notebooks:
Inbox
Reference
Workflow

I keep it simple, everything is either an action or not, I differentiate actions with tags for context, lists, etc. That's not really important right now so much as actual "Notebooks". It's more a question of practice, not software.

If I am in college and have a few courses, I can't decide whether I should start a new notebook in evernote for the class or where else I could put the notes from that class. On one hand, I don't really want to add a category to GTD besides the True categories reference and action. On the other hand, if i was not paperless, I would use a typical scribbler notebook for this class and not be filing my notes until I was done the course. On the other other hand why do I always hit snags between reference and "not quite reference"?
 
black.rhino;92885 said:
I've been finding a bit of a problem with my GTD system. I use evernote and have 3 notebooks:
Inbox
Reference
Workflow

I keep it simple, everything is either an action or not, I differentiate actions with tags for context, lists, etc. That's not really important right now so much as actual "Notebooks". It's more a question of practice, not software.

If I am in college and have a few courses, I can't decide whether I should start a new notebook in evernote for the class or where else I could put the notes from that class. On one hand, I don't really want to add a category to GTD besides the True categories reference and action. On the other hand, if i was not paperless, I would use a typical scribbler notebook for this class and not be filing my notes until I was done the course. On the other other hand why do I always hit snags between reference and "not quite reference"?[/QUOTE

It's up to you, but the newish notebooks in binder metaphor seems useful:
BINDER: Courses Fall 2011
Notebook: Physics of the Heart
Notebook: Physics of the Brain
Notebook: Physics of Vision

But I think the key is processing: you have to pull next actions out of your notes and into the action part of your system. Evernote has a lot of ways to do that, but checkboxes and a saved search come to mind. Or you can put your course notes into your inbox and process regularly, then move them into the appropriate place.
Click to expand...
 
Appears You're Missing Project Support

black.rhino;92885 said:
On the other other hand why do I always hit snags between reference and "not quite reference"?
Click to expand...

It sounds as though you're not allowing for the category "Project Support." Besides keeping a list of Next Actions, Project, and References, GTD recommends you keep folders/files/whatever to contain any needed information, plans, thoughts, reference, etc. for that particular project.

I don't use Evernote, and I'm not 100% digital -- I create paper folders for some projects -- but I create a digital folder as necessary for each project where I store any digital documents I receive or create. This is where I save any documents, photos, scans, any project planning I've written down, etc. I would guess as a minimum you need to create a place in Evernote (whether a separate Notebook or not) where you store all information related to each active project.
 
black.rhino;92885 said:
I don't really want to add a category to GTD besides the True categories reference and action.
Click to expand...

I am with TomW on this one. You are a heretic! The GTD book clearly speaks of the True categories of "Project Support Materials" and "Reference" besides the system with the lists and calendars and whatnot.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top