Help! Filofax, Covey, Treo, around and around, $$$ too

[Ivy]

First post ever...

...The main app I use on my Treo 700p is Bonsai. ...

I'm new to GTD and also using Bonsai on my Treo. I like it and my system seems to be coming into line, but I'm curious how you use it.

 

[andersons]

I go from system to system in my implementation of GTD. I mean in a week too. . .I am going nuts with this and if you could see my office right now, there are stacks of these things that cost me a lot around me. Inserts, rulers, calendars, lizard looking binders, leather Binders, my TREO sits here looking at me, I am typing on my Mac outfitted with all sorts of stuff.

. . .Is there always going to be a problem with ANY SYSTEM?

Almost everything has advantages and disadvantages. Space and portability, for example, are always going to be at odds. You simply have to decide which tool has the most advantages for the information you want to maintain in it. For example, you might want to keep your addressbook in a Treo, your projects list in a Filofax, and NA lists in some software on your Mac, perhaps printed out daily or weekly into your Filofax for portability.

As long as you always have the information you need maintained in a trusted system, I don't see a problem with playing around with other tools in your spare time (assuming you are getting your important work done first and are not playing with tools to avoid doing your work). But don't switch your information over completely to another tool until you know what advantage you will gain and what disadvantages you will be willing to put up with. There will always be some disadvantage.

 

[DHK]

I think we can all relate to Trish's dilemna.

I have gone from Outlook & Treo to Franklin Covey, to Planner Pads, to OCS (One Card System for Insurance sales), BACK to Franklin Covey (new system & binder), and now I'm moving back towards using Outlook and a Treo.

Why do we put ourselves through this??

For me, I consider it an introspective learning process. I've gone from wanting a PAPERLESS work environment, to a COMPLETE paper environment (and back again).

We need to find out what works out best for us. For me, I'm young (29) and I'm always staring at a computer screen. Whether I've been on an electronic format OR paper format, I'm always at the computer.

So, I'm trying to make my computer remind me of different things to do in a better way. I ordered the GTD whitepaper for Outlook and I'm simply THRILLED with the results I've been experiencing. My computer time has never been so effective. Which is why I've ordered a Treo 650 to sync with Outlook to keep those tasks and notes with me at all times.

(BTW, as a hint for people looking to make a similar switch from paper to electronic - I listed the task and in parenthesis I put (see paper file) and this helps me to know where to go to get the information.) Then the paper files begin to diminish as you just drag your emails into a task to create your task lists. (At least it works out very well and effectively for me and my office environment.)

I would recommend discovering what you naturally do all the time by "default" and find a way to HARNESS your default ways into a more productive habit.

 

[unstuffed]

Some thoughts on this part 1 (very verbose- sorry!)

Hi Trish,

I think I'm someone who gets so wrapped up in the tools, I lose the system, so it sounds like me and thee have a couple of things in common. It is all about the habits. There's no way of getting around it. We've got to buckle down, put noses to grindstones, gird loins, and all those other metaphors for making ourselves do things that we might not like.

That said, there are workarounds for many things. I'll describe my system first, so you know where I'm coming from. I'm a professional organiser, so I'm either working with clients, at my computer, or generally out and about, which constrains my work/system as follows:

1) I use a small diary/organiser for appointments, so it's the hard landscape with extras (like clients' addresses with each appointment). That has to travel with me, but it's almost the only thing that does.

2) My ubiquitous capture tools (UCTs) are small spiral bound notebooks (out and about) or loose paper (home): each Thing That Pops Into My Head gets written down, then tossed into my...

3) In tray, which is the top drawer of a 10-drawer mobile unit in my study/office. It's semi-transparent, so I can see that stuff's in there, but not well enough to scare me.

4) From there, the Stuff gets processed into a small desktop 5-drawer thingie as projects, each on a loose sheet of A4 paper. These trays are: Nice and Nasty (projects that are active this week), Foot-Tapping (Waiting for), Ignoring (things that will be done soonish), and Dreaming (someday/maybe).

5) I've recently changed my context list format, because, like you, I'd look at a half-finished list and I'd just groan and run away to hide in the wardrobe. So now my context lists are held thus:
5a) out and about lists are kept in the hacker PDA/UCT;
5b) phone lists are on paper, because it's quite possible to crank through the whole lot in one sitting;
5c) everything else is in The New Format, which I'll explain in a mo.

6) At the moment, I've got the Action/Waiting/Pending folders in my email, and an Archive folder. This has some problems, which I'll talk about in a separate post.

The New Format: each NA is written on a sticky, which is stuck inside a folder. When the NA is done, the sticky goes, so the 'list' stays fairly pristine. If you like, you can rearrange them in an order that reflects priorities, because stickies are infinitely moveable. And the folder can be closed at the end of the day so it looks neat.

I'm mostly paper, because I've done the excitement-with-tech-toys thing and I'm well into the stage of thorough-disgust-with-tech-toys. The learning curve is way too steep, and these days I can't even be bothered to learn to use the things I have (hey, the manuals are filed in my file drawers under M ;-)). Paper is easy: there's no learning curve, and it's also bare-bones enough that it shows up problems in my implementation without interference from tetchy software (don't get me started!).

 

[unstuffed]

Some thoughts on this part 2

Okay, the software side of things. Mainly email, although there's other stuff.

But I've come to the conclusion that I need parallel systems for my electronica and my non-e work, simply because I exist in both worlds, and trying to cram one into the other doesn't work either way. And it's the habits that count, so processing the e-inbox and processing the non-e inbox are just part of the same processing step that I need to do daily.

But as I mentioned earlier, I've not had the same success with email wrangling as with paper, and that's probably because the NAs haven't been defined properly. I've just downloaded a trial of an app that might shepherd me through the process nicely (if it does as advertised). I found it on 43 Folders, and it's for the Mac (because Macs are sexy ;-)). It's a set of applescripts that explicitly walk you through the GTD process (including the daily and weekly reviews!), and it was written by one of the habitues of the 43 Folders forum.

While it may be overkill for someone who already has a Mind Like Water, it might be just the ticket for those of us struggling with a Mind Like Compost. I have some hopes of it. If you're interested, it's called Ready, Set, Do!. I'm going to give it a go over the next few days, so I can report if you like.

And finally, I've read several things over the past few days/weeks that all incline me to believe that you're currently in a similar situation to me (correct me if I'm wrong). Basically, we've got that trippy head-spin feeling of too many ideas, too many threads to follow, too many rabbits to chase (or alfalfa if you're a vegetarian). In short, we've got temporary burnout, or block, or whatever you want to call it. And the articles/books/whatever I've read are unanimous in their suggested solution: take a short break. Stop thinking about it, stop trying, sleep a lot and play with cute furry creatures. Let the bubbling cauldron that is your mind stop seething and cool down, and when you return, you might find that your unconscious mind has cooked up a reasonable solution.

And if it hasn't, at least you'll be well-rested. ;-)

 

[Trish]

wow thanks guys

This Thread lives on!! I think a lot of it was I just thought I was the only one flipping around, and lo and behold....hardly. Plus I am not the only one who is having a total love affair with all these toys. That's really another part of my problem.....I love the "stuff". Like an art collector or something. Another thing I am learning is that for me, who has zero real structure in my life other than that I myself put in it, I do perhaps need more tools than the average person with a job to go to with a boss and all. I am my own boss so it's the kid minding the candy store over here. But I am culling down, learning a lot, and working on the system. A big aha! was when I started writing out in some little detail what my projects were---that has taken a lot of stress off of me. David Allen sort of downplayed that in his book I thought, and emphasized the intuitive NA---and I have been feeling even more unmoored because of that. Writing out a couple of project pages--what I would actually do to make that happen and why I would want that to happen--is taking a lot of stress off of me.

I will check back in. But thanks, Trish

 

[Trish]

oh please do!

Oh please I would love to hear how you are finding it. I hv a mac too.

Trish


I've just downloaded a trial of an app that might shepherd me through the process nicely (if it does as advertised). I found it on 43 Folders, and it's for the Mac (because Macs are sexy ;-)). It's a set of applescripts that explicitly walk you through the GTD process (including the daily and weekly reviews!), and it was written by one of the habitues of the 43 Folders forum.

While it may be overkill for someone who already has a Mind Like Water, it might be just the ticket for those of us struggling with a Mind Like Compost. I have some hopes of it. If you're interested, it's called Ready, Set, Do!. I'm going to give it a go over the next few days, so I can report if you like.

 

[unstuffed]

This Thread lives on!! I think a lot of it was I just thought I was the only one flipping around, and lo and behold....hardly.

Heh. Hardly.

Plus I am not the only one who is having a total love affair with all these toys. That's really another part of my problem.....I love the "stuff".

Yah, I got too tied up with the toys, and after a while just burned out on them. Part of it was the job I used to do: software design and dev, which meant constantly having to try out new bits of software to do this and that, which meant I crawled up too many learning curves.

Another thing I am learning is that for me, who has zero real structure in my life other than that I myself put in it, I do perhaps need more tools than the average person with a job to go to with a boss and all. I am my own boss so it's the kid minding the candy store over here.

Snap yet again: are you sure we're not twins?

But I am culling down, learning a lot, and working on the system. A big aha! was when I started writing out in some little detail what my projects were---that has taken a lot of stress off of me.

It's amazing how so many of us are so resistant to writing out anything in detail. It seems everyone wants to write down cryptic notes, and is afraid of looking foolish if we write it out in full. But that's where the benefit is.

And yes, I'll certainly get back to you in a few days about the Mac app. Because Macs are so sexy. ;-)

 

[DHK]

This Thread lives on!! I think a lot of it was I just thought I was the only one flipping around, and lo and behold....hardly.

The Search button is my friend.