dimanche 16 novembre 2008

My own GTD instantiation

If the title of this post sounds cryptic to you, it really means you need to discover Getting Things Done from David Allen. This famous book is of real help for anyone who has difficulties to stay organised in this overwhelming world.
After (or while) reading it, you probably would like to practice (elements of) the methodology. There are at least two ways to do so: the analog and the digital ones.

Regarding the digital, I envisioned two possibilities: TiddlyWiki and Mail.

There are different instances of TiddlyWiki that are able to run your GTD. Because my TiddlyWiki is operated thanks to Simon Baird's release (MPTW), I gave it a try. It is a real good job, really.
There is as well a way to customise your GMail account so as to redesign it in GTD conformant manner (go to GTD inbox). Again, nice shot.
But the fact is I'm reluctant to go digital to manage my GTD.
So I went to the analog path.
Obviously, I first stopped at David Allen's site and explore its store. Nothing for me there.
So I built my material by myself.
And here it is: a simple folder with sub-folders (please note the FF sticker!)
The main folder contains some few sheets (a year calendar, a global Actions and a global WaitingFor)
Then come the sub-folders. Each is made with a dedicated sheet (at the top, the project name, a year calendar reminder, an ActionList, a WaitingFor and a "phonebook" list). Plus note sheets where I write important stuff from the various meetings for this project.
The fact is I like writing (with a pen I mean). That's where my digital life goes back to the real world.
I would have liked to post my template (as an OpenOffice document) but Blogger does not seem to allow upload/download of non images/videos contents... leave a message/comment in case you're interested in)

2 commentaires:

dannielo a dit…

Nice system.

If you'd like a web-based application for GTD you can use this:

http://www.Gtdagenda.com

You can use it to manage your goals, projects and tasks, set next actions and contexts, use checklists, schedules and a calendar.

ChAP a dit…

Thank you Dannielo.
It looks like very appealing.

Nevertheless, I'll stick to my "physical" implementation because I very often modify my GTD during meetings. And the fact is that even though I'm a geek, I still can't stand using my laptop during meetings!
But I was less conservative, I'd surely give a try to Gtdagenda.