two offices

[Anonymous]

I have recently had a shift in my job requiring me to spend most of my a day in a high school counseling kids and while still maintaining an office in the agency i am employed at (conveniently located acroos the street from the school). I am struggling with the constant "back and forth" and trying to incorporate GTD. Simple things like the best place to keep "in" and files and project support materials.

If anyone has similar predicament and would like to share ideas, i would appreciate it.

Thanks,

MTF

 

[intrigueme@aol.com]

Greetings from Rich in NYC!

I reccomend you check out the "5 Travelling Folders" article in the "Tips" section of David's website.

Although I don't travel as much as David does, I have a commute that is over an hour, and work some pretty irregular hours for an Ad Agency. As a result - I've adopted David's "5 Travellig Folders" as part of my regular "gear" - to take advantage of unexpected windows of time opportunities.

He recommends a particular manufacturer's "Iron-Hide" folders I believe, and after over a year - I have to tell you they wear like IRON.They come in 6 to a pack - so in addition to David's suggested folders - I have set up both "Return to Home" and "Return to Office" folders

* Suggestion: Carry them inside a vinyl expanding file (6-pocket variety is perfect) This helps keep them together a bit more, and keeps the smaller piees of paper from slipping out the sides when in transit.

* Caution: Make sure that you don't put EVERYTHING in there - they'll get huge! Process the folders regularly - especially the "Return to's" If you know you will only read something at home - leave it there. If you know you can only do a particular "Next Action" at the office - leave the "Action Support" material there.

 

[intrigueme@aol.com]

Greetings from Rich in NYC!

I reccomend you check out the "5 Travelling Folders" article in the "Tips" section of David's website.

Although I don't travel as much as David does, I have a commute that is over an hour, and work some pretty irregular hours for an Ad Agency. As a result - I've adopted David's "5 Travellig Folders" as part of my regular "gear" - to take advantage of unexpected windows of time opportunities.

He recommends a particular manufacturer's "Iron-Hide" folders I believe, and after over a year - I have to tell you they wear like IRON.They come in 6 to a pack - so in addition to David's suggested folders - I have set up both "Return to Home" and "Return to Office" folders

* Suggestion: Carry them inside a vinyl expanding file (6-pocket variety is perfect) This helps keep them together a bit more, and keeps the smaller piees of paper from slipping out the sides when in transit.

* Caution: Make sure that you don't put EVERYTHING in there - they'll get huge! Process the folders regularly - especially the "Return to's" If you know you will only read something at home - leave it there. If you know you can only do a particular "Next Action" at the office - leave the "Action Support" material there.

 

[sparky]

2 offices

I think I can relate. I have a full time job, a home based business and an extremely mobile lifestyle. My company does not permit Palms or similar devices, so I need to be paper based. I have the traveling folders David recommends and a "mobile office" which consists of a ballistic nylon fabric briefcase I got at Staples for $20, a Levenger leather zip pencil case, my planner/calendar and lots of pockets. I literally can do any of my work out of this briefcase. I have to go through it several times a week to make sure its not too heavy! I keep a plastic folder with 13 pockets with my home based business materials in it (catalogs, order forms, etc.) and that stays in my car. I have postage stamps, some envelopes, post its. But its not crazy. I just found that after being gone from my home 11+ hours a day, and then gone most weekends I needed my stuff with me.

Maybe this will help.

 

[CosmoGTD]

Also, remember that David Allen said to make both offices the SAME.
If you can design both the same, and then transfer stuff as needed, then its really just ONE office, isn't it?


Coz

 

[Sflwrgirl]

I'll add a couple things about schlepping stuff back and forth between two offices:

1. Have just as many of the travelling folders as you need. I'm a medical student (who's school is 30 miles away from home and who lives out of her car), and mine are:
--Inbox
--Action support (for those one-time pieces of paper: support info for a phone call, basically for paper that I'll need that doesn't have it's own project folder)
--Return to Home (where all my reference files are)
--File for class: I figured out I needed a place to hold stuff until I made it to the super-duper hole punch to put holes in the 40 page packets.

Now, of course, what I call my folders won't matter a bit to you, but it's important to make them work for you. (I don't know how long I carried around a Read/Review folder totally empty before I figured out it was just bothering me because I don't really have anything in that category.)

2. The best tool I bought for these folders is a "file pac" (or something similarly named) from Levenger. (They have a "travelling Inbox" that is similar, but it was too big for my bookbag. YMMV.) I actually bought two, in different colors: one for the folders listed above, and one for the few project folders that I lug along with me sometimes. For me, it's nice to have those separate. If you have a traditional briefcase, you may not find these necessary, but they're a godsend for me. Plus, there's a place for post-it's and paperclips so that I have those with me, which makes using the folders easier.

3. Don't be afraid to put the dumb things like "empty office folder" on your @Office list. I have a few of these things (Punch notes in ERC) on my lists, and it really helps me stay sane organizationally. If you're better at habits than I am, dumping everything as soon as you get to the next place might not be such a big deal, though.

--Sara

 

[nbmichalke]

2. The best tool I bought for these folders is a "file pac" (or something similarly named) from Levenger.
--Sara

Just wondering - where could I obtain one of these??

Thanks!
Nicole

 

[intrigueme@aol.com]

Here's the link to Levenger.

http://www.levenger.com/default.asp

I've had their website as a "favorite" for awhile - and just recently received my first catalogue from them.

In addition to the items listed above - this was the place that David got his original "Evening Module" from apparently. They call it the Jotter, or "Jot Book" or something similar.

After looking through the catalogue - I thought David is probably a "power shopper" there - because they definitely have lots of cool "gear."

Enjoy!