Maybe my experience with this will be helpful for people.
I have been “doing” GTD since Oct 2002, to varying degrees. Kept project and context lists religiously, but still had a lot of impairment with execution. After a lot of soul searching, I realized that I was very hesitant to take actions when I didn’t know what the subsequent actions would look like. I started to make lists in my palm pilot of subsequent next actions, etc. But the problem with lists is that they are inherently hierarchical. I then felt compelled to get things done in a certain order, and froze again. So I started to think about what it might be like to write the project name down, then mindmap it immediately. But one can’t really mindmap using a palm.
So I went to the three ring binder for next actions, projects, agendas, project planning, and reference/checklists, and kept the pal for some reference memos and the hard calendar. It has been WONDERFUL. I can get out all the critical and key variables right there in front of my eyes and out of my head! There is also something very nice about writing with pen and paper. I don’t have to be near my computer to get the inputting done, so I can have a true “anywhere” list. One of my main slogans now, for anything in my life that gets hung up and needs more progress, is mindmap it – now!
I have been “doing” GTD since Oct 2002, to varying degrees. Kept project and context lists religiously, but still had a lot of impairment with execution. After a lot of soul searching, I realized that I was very hesitant to take actions when I didn’t know what the subsequent actions would look like. I started to make lists in my palm pilot of subsequent next actions, etc. But the problem with lists is that they are inherently hierarchical. I then felt compelled to get things done in a certain order, and froze again. So I started to think about what it might be like to write the project name down, then mindmap it immediately. But one can’t really mindmap using a palm.
So I went to the three ring binder for next actions, projects, agendas, project planning, and reference/checklists, and kept the pal for some reference memos and the hard calendar. It has been WONDERFUL. I can get out all the critical and key variables right there in front of my eyes and out of my head! There is also something very nice about writing with pen and paper. I don’t have to be near my computer to get the inputting done, so I can have a true “anywhere” list. One of my main slogans now, for anything in my life that gets hung up and needs more progress, is mindmap it – now!