Where do the physical next actions lists go?

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brinksbridge7

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When keeping a paper based GTD, where do the physical lists go?

After reading Getting Things Done and Making it All Work, I don't recall anything mentioning where exactly the physical lists should go. The GTD Organizer puts all the lists together but this doesn't seem practical because for example: @phone and @errands next actions lists can't be stored here

Specific questions (and what I've tried):
  • Where should @phone go? (I've tried stuffing it inside my phone case but I'm not liking this so much)
  • Where should @errands go?
  • Where should @computer go? (I've tried storing it on the top of my desk but this doesn't look very neat)
  • Where should @home go?
 
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brinksbridge7 said:
The GTD Organizer puts all the lists together but this doesn't seem practical because for example: @phone and @errands next actions lists can't be stored here
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I'm confused. Why not? I've always assumed that paper based systems involve a notebook or binder or planner, which you could carry anywhere.

Edited to add: So, in other words, I'm assuming that all of these lists go in that notebook/binder/planner. When you make phone calls, you open it to that list, when you work on the computer you open it to that list, when you go on errands it's in the car with you or in your purse/backpack/briefcase and open it to that list, you take it home and open it to the home list, and so on.
 
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Gardener said:
I'm confused. Why not? I've always assumed that paper based systems involve a notebook or binder or planner, which you could carry anywhere.
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Well, are you really going to have your GTD binder with you at all times? Even when you go into a store or restaurant for example?
 
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brinksbridge7 said:
well like take a shopping list for example... categorically, a shopping list falls under the @errands next actions list (it's essentially an extension of @errands) and that's hardly practical to put your shopping list inside of a GTD binder

and then @phone: you won't always have your GTD binder with you when you are on your phone. (e.g you go into a restaurant with your phone)

and I guess @anywhere would be the best example: You aren't always going to have your GTD binder with you everywhere you go
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As for the shopping list:
It is a valid approach to keep such a context separate from @errands. Grocery lists is a clear example we use & it resides on paper pad in the kitchen. We grab that list before leaving (or one of us asks the other to text a picture ;)).

As long as you include the grocery list in your weekly review, it can be in a separate physical system and be in your GTD "system".

Same with @phone. If you have any capability on your mobile phone for a list, an @phone list can go there and still be a part of your GTD system.

One detail I've begun doing when I have situations like this, I capture the fact that I am using an alternate location as a process. (In addition, I actually kept a phone list in my paper system, crossed it off when the next action was added to the phone. The same with the grocery list. These GTD binder lists were staging areas).

As for the @Anywhere, I never used it and it was quickly removed from my system (once I realized the GTD police would not arrest me if I did).

The key for me on this was to understand where everything in my system was stored and store each in a single place. Weekly Review reinforces my awareness of the physical structure of my GTD system.

Hope this helps,
Clayton.
 
brinksbridge7 said:
Well, are you really going to have your GTD binder with you at all times? Even when you go into a store or restaurant for example?
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Well, yes, pretty much. Did you miss David Allen saying he has one arm longer than the other from carrying a paper planner for years? People can and do carry their planners around with them. Sometimes the planners look like a big 2” leather binder, but they can also be a slim black notebook. And you can have a satellite tool, which can function as a portable inbox, and can also hold a copied errands list or other list. But you have to have a master repository so you have an overview. This is what moves people to digital tools. I can see all my lists and a lot more on four different devices, all synced.
 
brinksbridge7 said:
Well, are you really going to have your GTD binder with you at all times? Even when you go into a store or restaurant for example?
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I am--in the scenario where I use paper--going to have it at home, at work, by my phone, by my computer, and probably in my car. If I enter a restaurant, I doubt that I'll be doing a lot of tasks from my lists, and if I have a thought, I'll have some sort of inbox (like a little notebook, if we stick with the paper theme) with me.

For a long grocery list, say, odds are that I would have a separate list for that, and rip it out of the binder when I go into the store.

Edited to add: If your point is that paper is inconvenient--yes, absolutely. That's why I abandoned my efforts to use a paper system.
 
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