Using GTD with Lotus Notes a newbie question

[patdbuck]

Hi All,

I am a GTD newbie in all sense of the word as I am only now reading the books & blogs on the subject.

As I work though I would like to start putting the techniques into practice, but I have hit my first obsticle and I look to you skilled GTD'ers to point me in the right direction.

Background:
The company I work for are a Lotus Notes shop and I like Notes, however at home I use Outlook for mail and some basic calender functions, So I recently looked at the GTD-Addin for Outlook and thought that this looked great.

So I thought I would be really clever and use the Outlook connector for Domino (a small patch from Mr Gates that allows Outlook to act as the email client for a Lotus Notes mail). I thought this would allow me to merge my 2 mail systems into 1.

The bad news, the GTD-Addin seems to have the path to the INBOX hard coded as the main folder for the creation of the @Action, @Defer sub-folders. Whilst Lotus Notes does not permit subfolders to be created under the INBOX.

So my question?
Does anybody out there know how or if the GTD-Addin can be reconfigured to have a different main folder or create different paths for the sub-folders. ;-)

Alternatively, if anybody as any tips & tricks for implementing GTD under notes I would be very very happy to hear them

Thanks in advance

a newbie to the world of GTD

 

[cjbrown]

Two possibilities....

There are two "solutions" available for Notes...

Brett Philip's WorkSmart Database (not integrated w/ email)...
http://www.brettphilp.com/worksmart/

OpenNTF's GTD Template (only on a .1 release)...
http://www.openntf.org/Projects/pmt.nsf/ProjectLookup/OpenNTFGTD

There are also a bunch of workarounds that are possible using IMAP, POP3, multiple syncs w/ PDA, etc.... Just watch out for how much time/effort it really takes to accomplish these.

The Outlook Template is by far the best GTD software for the masses, but has a limited audience. The next best "GTD Approved" software is MindManager with Results Manager add-on.

There are lots of other GTD-"style" programs out there, such as Life Balance. There are also some hybrid styles that are interesting, like Pig-Pod. Agendus 9.0 (avail w/o a Palm) can be used GTD-style while also allowing a little Covey-style to mix in.

The only Notes based solution that I believe could currently compete with the Outlook Template is Eric Mack's "eProductivity" Template, but it does not have an official date for availability.
http://www.eproductivity.net/

 

[David Allen]

Got to weigh in here. The only David Allen Company "approved" software is the Outlook Add-In. There's no "official" approval or relationship with MindManager or ResultManager), though I use MindManager (not ResultManager, at the moment). And Eric's template is not an "official" GTD (i.e. DavidCo) product, though we are working together and it's still in my R&D camp...

Just like Palm operating system has a lot of people writing stuff using it, doesn't mean Palm vets them. Just because people do what they think is GTD with their gear and software doesn't make it something I'd necessarily vote for...

David Allen

 

[tubaism]

Using GTD with Lotus Notes

The organization I work for restricts what can be added to Lotus Notes by users. I would not be able to use any add-in, supported or not. I have found the following helpful in configuring Notes for GTD:

1. David's tips on how he uses his Palm organizer, customized to my needs. I have set up categories in Notes' To Do and Journal databases. These are kept in sync with my Palm using Pylon Pro.
2. Eric Mack's various posts on using Lotus Notes. (I believe you'll find these under the eProductivity category.
3. Becoming familiar with Notes' functions and shortcuts; things like using the "Follow-Up" and "Copy Into New" buttons on the email Action Bar.

The bignoseduglyguy is another Lotus Notes/GTD user that periodically posts on those topics.

 

[cjbrown]

Re: David Allen

I apologize for the assumption that ResultsManager was "approved." Since they republish Chapter 1 of GTD, I figured there was a tighter relationship to DavidCo. Thank you for clarifying.

Do you have any plans to "approve" more software products? I realize you are promoting a "methodology" that does not require a specific tool, but I believe it would help spread GTD if there was more DavidCo Products available.

Email is a large component of daily communication now and being able to electronically capture it into a GTD system could greatly increase productivity for those of us that do almost everything digital. I believe there are a lot of GTDers that can't/won't run Outlook.

Thanks,
Chris

P.S. I didn't think I was implying that Eric's template is DavidCo approved, but I was trying to drive some traffic to his site. His template appears to be the only Notes solution that is well tested and developed. I've never seen it, but I'm waiting with baited breath. Until then I'll plod along with a mix of OpenNTF's template and my own modifications.