New GTDer Question : use tickler or calendar??

[alainr]

i just started using gtd and am working thru my inbox pile.

1. i don't know what to do with things that have to be done by a certain date--for example, box up and ship something that needs to be received by Dec 14th or pay property taxes by dec 15th---and have accompanying forms.

Calendar is for things that have to be done on a specific date so it does not apply. Do i just pick a date for the tickler system and put the property tax bill and mailing forms in the chosen date?

2. When a project involves different steps (i.e. photographing art piece, writing artist statement, completing form, burning cd) that must be done by a certain date---are the GTD steps as follows:
--put on project list
--include different steps under project heading
--where else do i put the steps? they don't have to be done in a specific order. ie can take photos or fill forms in either order.

I am also trying to look at apps for my mac and itouch that are simple and can be used offline.

lots to do!
thanks

 

[kewms]

1. i don't know what to do with things that have to be done by a certain date--for example, box up and ship something that needs to be received by Dec 14th or pay property taxes by dec 15th---and have accompanying forms.

Calendar is for things that have to be done on a specific date so it does not apply. Do i just pick a date for the tickler system and put the property tax bill and mailing forms in the chosen date?

That's what I do.

2. When a project involves different steps (i.e. photographing art piece, writing artist statement, completing form, burning cd) that must be done by a certain date---are the GTD steps as follows:
--put on project list
--include different steps under project heading
--where else do i put the steps? they don't have to be done in a specific order. ie can take photos or fill forms in either order.

If it's an active project, at least one of the immediately doable steps should be on the Next Action list for the appropriate context. And the deadline should probably be noted somewhere, either your calendar or your tickler file.

I am also trying to look at apps for my mac and itouch that are simple and can be used offline.

Lots of people use OmniFocus for the Mac and iPhone/iTouch. I use a paper system, so I can't be much help here.

Katherine

 

[NewbGTD]

Still new to gtd myself, but how about mixing the two together - having a tickler system in your calendar?

Just setup a secondary calendar called "ticklers" or "reminders" or whatever you like, and bang the things you want to be tickled in there with the date you want them to show up. Then you can just do it.

box up and ship something that needs to be received by Dec 14th

For this i would set a date in tickler calendar that would leave enough time to box your "thing" and ship it, and also leave enough time for "it" to reach its destination. Then you can forget about it. When it shows you just do it.

pay property taxes by dec 15th

For that I’d do the same as above, but set the tickler date as reoccurring.

As an extra to help this way of doing things along you can sync you cal with your phone so your ticklers show up wherever you are rather than just when your on laptop. i'm yet to do this as my phone is a cheapo, but this is going to pretty much finalise my tickler system.

 

[Conejo23]

alainr.....the way I would handle those is I'd put an action into OmniFocus with a start date of now and a due date of the last date I can ship it and it still gets where it needs to go.

If I had any supporting materials like the property tax invoice to be returned with the payment, I would put that into an Action folder.

 

[malisa]

Whether you decide on another mac/iphone/itouch software or not, you can put things in ical. You could have a tickler calendar in ical.

 

[Brent]

Hope I can help!

1. i don't know what to do with things that have to be done by a certain date--for example, box up and ship something that needs to be received by Dec 14th or pay property taxes by dec 15th---and have accompanying forms.

These things are now active Projects, with (at least) one Next Action each. The accompanying forms go in your project support materials (A-Z reference in a filing cabinet). You can add a deadline to the Project, such as "Pay property taxes (by Dec 15)".

Calendar is for things that have to be done on a specific date so it does not apply. Do i just pick a date for the tickler system and put the property tax bill and mailing forms in the chosen date?

You can certainly do that, though I recommend using the A-Z filing system as you'll be accessing those forms whenever you need to work on the Project.

2. When a project involves different steps (i.e. photographing art piece, writing artist statement, completing form, burning cd) that must be done by a certain date---are the GTD steps as follows:
--put on project list
--include different steps under project heading
--where else do i put the steps? they don't have to be done in a specific order. ie can take photos or fill forms in either order.

If there are multiple steps in the Project, you can write them down and put the resulting list in your project support materials.

Your Next Actions list is for physical, visible action that you can actually take right now (in that context). If anything else must be done first, then that goes on your Next Actions list instead. Anything else goes into project support materials.

E.g., if you know you need to do steps 1 through 10, in that order, then step 1 goes onto your Next Actions list, and steps 2 through 10 go into project support.

Does that make sense?