I’ve had the BB 7750 for a couple of months. GTD on it is certainly doable!
Tips:
- upgrade to the most recent desktop and handheld manager software
- to view your GTD categories on the BB (e.g., your @home, @errands, etc., lists), use the BB’s “filter.” You can filter by category. For instance, you can open Tasks, then filter by the category “@errands”, and you would only see the tasks that are on your @errands list.
- Syncs with Outlook, including the GTD Add-in. When you enter tasks with a category (e.g., @errands: buy protein powder) into the BB, when you then sync with Outlook, you press “Cntl-Alt-U” in Outlook to get all your new tasks to go to their appropriate categories. Just press that once and they all sort. Very easy.
Some previous concerns I’ve heard about doing GTD on Blackberries:
- no category support: there is with the most recent OS upgrade.
- Blackberry phone is tedious to use: Not anymore. On the 7750, the phone is one-button away. The number keys are a little small, but if you have average size hands (for a man), shouldn’t be a problem, and you’ll probably be normally dialing from your address book, recent number list, or speed dial, anyway.
- You can do email more effectively on a desktop or laptop: Ok, but some people do need to have access to email anytime, anyplace (maybe not all the time, but some of the time), and the BB is super-fast and easy for emailing compared to having to lug around and fire up a laptop. BB subscribers are increasing exponentially: can 6 million thumbs and counting be wrong?
I have not compared doing GTD on the BB vs. another PDA, but if you want to frequently take care of email away from your computer, BB is “da bomb.” Regarding the rest of its ability to implement GTD, I wouldn’t know if it’s superior or inferior to other PDAs, but I am confident that it is pretty good so far, especially perhaps if you like a keyboard over a stylus.
Moreover, if you are planning to become an executive someday in a big firm, they might insist you use a BB anyway, so why not come aboard now?
p.s. I don’t work for RIM, but I love my BlackBerry, and I think it’s been cast in a bit of an unfair light regarding its compatibility with GTD, hence my somewhat cheerleading-post.