Googling Things Done

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dal1mdm

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Was reading another thread on the topic Mindmpas and I really really like Mindmaps but I find them a bit constraining. I have 181 next actions and projects and to mindmap such a list would be a mindmonstrosity!

I think that Google will eventually take over the world and their method would work great with GTD. Type in phone and all your phone calls come up. Type in "Project X" and everything related to Project X comes up (GIGO always applies). Seems pretty simple to me, but such simplicity would require a complex platform to make it work well with links to Docs, spreadsheets, contact DB's etc.

BTW, heard an interesting interview with the author of "Search" - a book about Google. I think this book would be an interesting read. Lots of vision over there at Google. They have transformed the way we look at and process info.

Why didnt I buy that stock?!
 
I actually use a map with about that many projects & next actions. I use three levels: (1) Goals, (2) Projects & (3) Next Actions. Each level is formatted differently for easy visual differentiation and I synch all three levels with Outlook (categories = .goal, .proj, .proj-delegated, @phone, etc).

I couldn't imagine any other way to manage this information.
 
Try Google desktop

I haven't tried it with GTD yet as I'm just getting started on using GTD but it allows you to search everything on your pc like emails, note and tasks by keywords.
 
The Goals/Projects/Next Action map prints on ~ 3-4 pages.

Note that each project topic is a placeholder with a hyperlink to the project map. The individual project map is where I keep all project support material (topics which may link to associated files).

I keep can keep a list of all planned actions for a given project on its' individual map and roll up just the next action to the Goals/Project/Next Action map.

One thing that really helped me was to number each project (ie., P017: Risk Management SOP Issued) and to set up a labled file folder for each (filed by project number for easy access and re-filing).

Finally, for some really strange reason Mindmanager 6 no longer supports synching of Outlook categories and therefore I need to keep version 5 around to open and synch the maps.

I use categories and topic formatting as follows:

Work Goals have .Goal as the category and have a Dk Green fill

Work Projects have .Proj-Work as the category and have a Lt Green fill

Delegated Work Projects have .Proj-Del as the category and have a very Lt Green fill

Next Actions have @Phone, @eMail, etc as the category (only one) and have a blue border and blue text.

I use a similar scheme for personal goals and projects using purple instead of green.

In addition to being visually appealing, such a schema lets me filter the map in all sorts of useful ways.

Hope this helps,
R
 
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