Folders used for your GTD set up
- Thread starter Yaaqoub7
- Start date
ivanjay205
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What system are you using? In the beginning I had a very "robust" system with lots of folders for all of my areas of focus etc. What i found is that it created an situation where I could easily overcommit myself because I was hiding my entire workload from myself. It also was a lot to manage.
Now I just have:
Business
Business Active Projects
Business On Hold Projects
Business Maintenance (Routine) Projects
Personal
Personal Active Projects
Personal On Hold Projects
Personal Maintenance (Routine) Projects
Blended
Productivity Projects
Routines (this is where I put my startup routine, shutdown routine, weekly review, etc.)
Reference
Someday/Maybe
It is sooooo much simpler to manage for me.
gtdstudente
Registered
Yaaqoub7,
'Organize' is crucial
Organize on this end begins with Reference
Reference is based on five general Areas-of-Focus
Everything on this end flows to and from five general Areas-of-Focus that have stood up against time very well
Took quite some time to find life's all-encompassing five general Areas-of-Focus herein, which have stood up against time quite well
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My work list is:
Task/Project Mgt:
@NA
@Calls
@To-Read
Projects - Active
Projects - Closed
Waiting For
Someday/Maybe
Agendas (split out for one list per person, I have 8)
Project support :
OneNote split by project matching my projects list
Email folders, roughly organised by projects plus other general folders
Reference: TheBrain - multiple topics/subtopics, not directly linked to any list, but used to store interesting and useful information.
Horizons of Focus: Mindmap
Task/Project Mgt:
@NA
@Calls
@To-Read
Projects - Active
Projects - Closed
Waiting For
Someday/Maybe
Agendas (split out for one list per person, I have 8)
Project support :
OneNote split by project matching my projects list
Email folders, roughly organised by projects plus other general folders
Reference: TheBrain - multiple topics/subtopics, not directly linked to any list, but used to store interesting and useful information.
Horizons of Focus: Mindmap
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realmindmapper
Registered
Hi there! In the Organize step of GTD, I use folders like 'Work,' 'Personal,' 'Projects,' and 'Reference.' They help keep things sorted. If you're interested, I've found layer.cafe - free mindmapping tool with focus mode to be a helpful tool for this process.
bishblaize
Registered
I've stopped trying to file my stuff into many different folders, I found it too much of a pain. I use Devonthink and my only folders are Inbox, Archive and Meetings.
I have a lot of formal meetings with agendas and papers and suchlike so I file them in one folder. Inside is one folder per meeting, then inside each meeting folder is one folder per date of the meeting.
Everything else goes into the Archive folder. I just give it 2 or 3 tags which are fairly generic (Finance, HR, Recruitment, that sor of thing) to help me search for it if I need to recover it.
If it's a Project Support item, then I link the item to my task manager using Hookmarks (link). That way I can just go straight back to the item from my task manager without searching, and I don't need to keep it in a separate folder. This also gets round the annoying thing where you need the same item for multiple projects.
I have a lot of formal meetings with agendas and papers and suchlike so I file them in one folder. Inside is one folder per meeting, then inside each meeting folder is one folder per date of the meeting.
Everything else goes into the Archive folder. I just give it 2 or 3 tags which are fairly generic (Finance, HR, Recruitment, that sor of thing) to help me search for it if I need to recover it.
If it's a Project Support item, then I link the item to my task manager using Hookmarks (link). That way I can just go straight back to the item from my task manager without searching, and I don't need to keep it in a separate folder. This also gets round the annoying thing where you need the same item for multiple projects.
OF user
Registered
There is no need for folders that define categories. You only need folders for projects and next actions (either as one next action list or as a folder for each context). If you use certain software, you may add folders of categories because that is how the software is designed, but it is certainly unnecessary. Waiting for, someday maybe, or agendas are additional folders, but in my system, I treat each one as a different context.
gtdstudente
Registered
OF user,
GTD appreciate /like your overlade simplified/streamlined GTD infrastructure:
Sounds GTD good . . . "Waiting for, someday maybe, or agendas" at the end of day, not literally, can most GTD certainly be reviewed/scanned as contexts for next actions and multiple good GTD reasons
Spot GTD on
Thank you very GTD much
OF user
Registered
When starting, it is best to try the recommended contexts until you can assess their value and make modifications. The purpose of contexts is twofold
- create shorter lists that can be scanned easily
- and keep you in the same type of work so that switching tasks can be completed efficiently
Shady Waxwing
Registered
When you say folders in the Organize step, do you mean categories/contexts that you will sort your actionable items into? Or do you mean reference folders for non-actionable items? If it's reference, I go with alpha sort and try to keep the folder name short but still descriptive for when I want to find it in the future.
OF user
Registered
Yes, I am organizing next actions and projects. For reference, I use alphabetical although I have also used a modified version of Tiago Forte's PARA for digital reference. Sorry, just noticed that was for Yasqoub7.
Sarahsuccess
Registered
The five main folders for GTD according to David Allen are:
1. Projects
2. Next Actions
3. Waiting for
4. Someday/Maybe
5. Calendar
In the Next Actions folder you can have contexts like: @computer, @home, agenda, errands.
Do you mean folders or do you mean contexts for the Next Actions?
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