For me the first stage was getting a handle on my email at home so that I would have a slightly better sense of what I was dealing with at work. This has largely been accomplished with rules and a basic tagging structure for gmail. At least at home I think I now have a place where everything goes.
MY NEW SYSTEM for '09 (development in progress):
No ACTION @ is actually required on email and email largely serves as simply supporting information for both items requiring action and those that do not. Items requiring action for which I am only ‘notified’ via email will ‘always’ be referenced in calendars and lists. That said, I remember the saying from a great man.. “If you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans”. If this GTD system works for me, it will truly be incredible.
Now to tackle the real Bear (WORK)! Currently, I am looking to implement a similar system for email on Outlook at work. Additionally, I am looking at toodleo for calendaring and lists on my iPhone, desktops, and web; and at Evernote to serve as additional placeholders for supporting material on my iPhone, desktops and web.
gmail system at home - @ items always listed elsewhere. gmail will only serve a a reminder to list the item on another calendar or list.
@adm items - adm indicates items I am monitoring for changes, news, etc that generally requires no response. Filters allow some to be considered ‘read’ and others to remain unread. Items may ‘sometimes’ invoke ‘generally’ non-time specific action
@adm billing
@adm grp/forum
@adm sys
@si are simply support information for items that require action
@si calendar
@si someday/maybe
@si sum+record
@si waiting_for
MY NEW SYSTEM for '09 (development in progress):
No ACTION @ is actually required on email and email largely serves as simply supporting information for both items requiring action and those that do not. Items requiring action for which I am only ‘notified’ via email will ‘always’ be referenced in calendars and lists. That said, I remember the saying from a great man.. “If you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans”. If this GTD system works for me, it will truly be incredible.
Now to tackle the real Bear (WORK)! Currently, I am looking to implement a similar system for email on Outlook at work. Additionally, I am looking at toodleo for calendaring and lists on my iPhone, desktops, and web; and at Evernote to serve as additional placeholders for supporting material on my iPhone, desktops and web.
gmail system at home - @ items always listed elsewhere. gmail will only serve a a reminder to list the item on another calendar or list.
@adm items - adm indicates items I am monitoring for changes, news, etc that generally requires no response. Filters allow some to be considered ‘read’ and others to remain unread. Items may ‘sometimes’ invoke ‘generally’ non-time specific action
@adm billing
@adm grp/forum
@adm sys
@si are simply support information for items that require action
@si calendar
@si someday/maybe
@si sum+record
@si waiting_for