What are “Virtual Action Reminder Lists”

[Sarahsuccess]

At 2:56 in the video below, what does David Allen mean by “Virtual action reminder lists” and “linear chronological tracking”?

I think linear chronological tracking means recording things in the order they were captured and not by contexts.

Does virtual action reminder lists mean digital lists organized by context vs. paper lists?

I’d appreciate anyone who could clarify and explain.

David Allen The Power is in the Basics

- YouTube

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[mcogilvie]

I suspect “linear chronological tracking” refers to the executive’s pre-GTD practice of keeping a single, linear log of everything they want to record. I‘ve seen this used with spiral notebooks, although not recently. It can work pretty well if you are high up on the food chain and have a competent staff to assist you. I don’t think there’s a single digital app that supports this well, but there are a few that try. You can do it digitally with two or more apps: one a diary/journal, and others to organize it all. From a GTD point of view, the linear chronological record is an inbox.

Action reminder lists is what next action lists are, of course, and virtual might be used as a synonym for digital, but that’s conjecture on my part.

 

[Mark Aitken]

I think David is replaying much of this story - https://gettingthingsdone.com/2016/03/where-do-your-good-ideas-flow/ - where he used the phrase in 2016.

My guess is David was contrasting the approach of creating a daily journal, meeting notes with actions, detailed plans, etc... "Emails were less than a handful, voice mail was emptied daily, and no loose papers cluttered the desk. A meticulous note-taker, he maintained a rigorous journal of key thoughts and conversations, which was totally up to date, with no unprocessed notes lurking in previous pages. He was a model of “executive Teflon”—nothing was hung up around him. He made quick decisions and dispatched initiatives, projects, and tasks for implementation, with the leanest of support staff. Here was a master at professional self-management.". I picture someone working really fast, effectively and handling everything that shows up - i.e. actions are always processed in the moment.

I think David then talks about virtual lists, i.e. @AGENDAS, @COMPUTER - rather than a daily todolist or rapid dispatching of actions. "He said his efficiency has improved because his flow of ideas gets channeled much more directly into the appropriate parking places, almost as soon as he has them. There’s much less need to look back or rethink things". I now picture someone with parking lots for things so they can relax, focus, incubate, etc, etc....

You'd have to ask David though if that's truly what he meant. Or maybe it's more fun to just guess!

 

[fooddude]

At 2:56 in the video below, what does David Allen mean by “Virtual action reminder lists” and “linear chronological tracking”?

I think linear chronological tracking means recording things in the order they were captured and not by contexts.

Does virtual action reminder lists mean digital lists organized by context vs. paper lists?

I’d appreciate anyone who could clarify and explain.

David Allen The Power is in the Basics

- YouTube

Auf YouTube findest du die angesagtesten Videos und Tracks. Außerdem kannst du eigene Inhalte hochladen und mit Freunden oder gleich der ganzen Welt teilen.

m.youtube.com

After listening, the linear tracking is the old to do list and moving unfinished items to the next days list. Virtual action is context based lists. The most profound statement i got is at the end. He says people are looking for that next big thing new tech etc. When this is really simple.