How Do You Use Palm's To Do?

G

gblunt99

0
Hi All,

Newbie here. I've read the book, and I've set up categories in my Email client (Entourage), and on my computer desktop.

I've owned a Palm for many years but almost never used it. So, I've been trying to set up David's recommended system in Palm Desktop. Makes sense to me to do that because then you can carry your various Next Actions around with you. But at the moment I have a Next Actions in Email (which is fine, because obviously that refers only to the Email category.) But I also have a Next Actions file on my desktop. Which is where I've been putting pretty much everything doable for the past few days.

I have trouble seeing how his Palm system works. Because the To Do in Palm seems to be just a list file, ie, not a folder where you can list things under various headings. In other words, if you have an agenda item you have to categorize each one as an @AGENDAS item, which seems much more cumbersome than just typing Discuss Pet Food with Bob under an @AGENDAS heading.

I know the one page per item is not for me. I want to use lists, and I'm willing to try the (fairly ugly) Palm To Do interface if it makes the most sense, but so far I don't see it.

So my two questions are: 1)is Next Actions a list or a folder?
2) If you're using Palm do you just keep the one list (or folder) in Palm Desktop?
3) Is there a way of setting up Palm Desktop so that you can have various headings--as opposed to having to tag each item as this or that?

Thanks for any help you can give,

GB
 
I used to use a Palm and I set up the categories to match the various contexts of GTD:

@Anywhere
@Calls
@Computer

etc...

Just create a To Do, choose your category from the list of categories you've created, and you'll have a very capable list manager relating to the various contexts of your life.
 
If by "heading" you mean an outline style list with nested actions, the answer is no. At least not with the stock Palm stuff... there are 3rd party apps that can. The logical thing is to set up Palm categories as contexts, as GTDWorks suggested.

Personally, if I were both a GTD and Palm Newbie, I'd confine my newbie-ness to one thing at a time. Get your GTD knowledge and system up to speed on paper, and then you can see if the Palm makes sense. Google "Hipster PDA" for some good ideas on a compact, portable paper system.

Good luck.
 
gblunt99;65387 said:
I know the one page per item is not for me. I want to use lists, and I'm willing to try the (fairly ugly) Palm To Do interface if it makes the most sense, but so far I don't see it.

So my two questions are: 1)is Next Actions a list or a folder?
2) If you're using Palm do you just keep the one list (or folder) in Palm Desktop?
3) Is there a way of setting up Palm Desktop so that you can have various headings--as opposed to having to tag each item as this or that?
Click to expand...

Your terminology is confusing to me:

Todo's in Palm can be sorted into categories and yes in Palm Desktop you can choose to see all categories or just one. Headings doesn't make sense there are no headings per se in Palm To Do.

I use a Palm but have moved away from Palm To Do because I have more contexts than it supports. The way I had it set up I had each context a category in To Do and within that category each NA is a separate item. Palm limits to 15 categories which was not enough for me.

Try using the categories as your contexts to sort your to do's and see if that helps.
 
Palming

Thanks for the replies everybody--very helpful and encouraging. Yes, I just realized yesterday that you can view each category seperately, at least in Palm Desktop, which makes for a much more readable list.

And you may be right that I shouldn't take on too many subsystems at once. Maybe I should just stick to the computer. I don't use paper for much, except a Moleskine notebook I like a lot. Some people consider it a bug that you can't tear pages out, but I consider that a feature--it's nice to cross out things you've done and to see progress. And it's certainly portable.

Been feeling rather overwhelmed this week. Instead of doing my usual work the entire week seems to have gone to organizing. Hope I do better this week. Thanks again for the advice,

GB
 
Be patient with yourself and the process. This journey is a good one but it does take time to get it up and running smoothly.

We're glad you're here and we're all happy to help anytime.
 
gblunt99;65404 said:
I don't use paper for much, except a Moleskine notebook I like a lot. Some people consider it a bug that you can't tear pages out, but I consider that a feature--it's nice to cross out things you've done and to see progress. And it's certainly portable.
Click to expand...

And for those considering a Moleskine notebooks, there are smaller pocket sized ones (Volant) with tear out pages:

http://www.moleskineus.com/volant.html

I've been using them for a few months and really love them.

- Don
 
dschaffner;65430 said:
Moleskine notebooks, there are smaller pocket sized ones
Click to expand...

How well bound are the pages? I'm searching for something to use for my lambing book this year. It's got to be sturdy, spiral bound and glue bound pages don't work, they tear out or fall apart, esp. when it snows on it. I carry it in my lamb bag and use it to make all the lamb notes as the sheep give birth. I do transcribe the lamb book to my permanent records eventually but during the lambalanch it's often the only record of which lambs go with which ewe and any health notes on the group. 4 years ago I found a small bound address book that was all lined pages and it worked great but I've not found anything like it again.
 
dschaffner;65452 said:
The Moleskine products are quite well made and high-end.
Click to expand...

Thanks, I've ordered a couple to see if they will work. They've got to be better than my cheap spiral notebooks from the drug store!

32 days to lambalanch and counting
 
Oogiem;65458 said:
They've got to be better than my cheap spiral notebooks from the drug store!
Click to expand...

If they aren't better than a cheap spiral one from the drug store, I'll eat (a small) one.

BTW, totally off the notebook topic, (but related to sheep) have you read any of Terry Pratchett's book featuring Tiffany Aching? Sheep feature prominently in the books.

- Don
 
dschaffner;65459 said:
(but related to sheep) have you read any of Terry Pratchett's book featuring Tiffany Aching? Sheep feature prominently in the books.
Click to expand...

Yes, we've read all of the Witches series of his Discworld books. Am starting on the Guards series now. Love them! Esp. the Wee Free Men ;-)
 
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