Thursday, June 22nd, 2006...10:11 am
My Trusted System Redux
I am finally ready to roll out my new trusted system. It has been a long time in development, but I feel that this will be a better implementation fo me. I am also committing to use it as described for the rest of 2006. I am one that is always looking for new, cool things to add to my system. I am going to take notes on things that are cool and re-evaluate them in January.
So, on with the system:
The centerpiece will be my new Moleskine Large 18-month Weekly Planner/Notebook. I will be using this as my Calendar and will keep my weekly to-dos, any waiting for’s, and and a current project list on the notebook pages. I am going to adopt the metatagging from both Bill Westerman’s system and Mike Rohdes’ system. I am going to use a icon to describe the state of the NA. I will use a square icon (like Westerman) for Professional actions, and a circle (like Rohde) for Personal actions. Then I will use the same check, slash, X, dot system that Westerman outlines in his article. One addition that I will add will be the context in brackets at the end of the action:
O Call Warren Tire about tire prices [@calls]
That will be the link between the to-do list and the NA lists which will still be kept on 3×5 index cards using the DIYPlanner’s Combined Actions template on both sides and carried in the back pocket of the Moleskine.
I have not decided on a capture tool yet. I may use the bottom half of the Notebook page as my capture tool, but I usually will have some blank 3×5’s with me. I will be formatting the pages similar to the Weekly GTD Combo Page located at DIYPlanner. My page will look similar to the way that template is setup.
For Projects I will be using 3×5 and the DIYPlanner Project Outliner on one side and Project Notes templates on the other side.
My notes will be kept in Evernote Plus, that I got for free for sending in a handwriting sample. It takes a little while to get used to, but I have been enjoying using it for the last two weeks. I am strictly using it for notes. Some have tried to use it for lists and NAs. But I could not figure out how to use it like that so it will be project support, and reference material ONLY!
One thing that saddens me about the new system is the exclusion of using Tracks. I really do like Tracks, and when they allow 3×5 printing of contexts from the home page, then I may think about using it again. I think that it is a fine app for HiFi folks, but I think that I need to use a paper-based system to keep me on track. Also, it will let me use my new Lamy Safari (Fine nib) fountain pen a lot more.
Any last suggestions will still be entertained as this system will roll into production on Monday July 26th (the first day in the Moleskine). Please submit any and all in the Comments section.
- Michael
21 Comments
June 22nd, 2006 at 10:58 am
Michael,
I’ll be very interested to see how it works in practice.
My immediate reaction is that
“O Call Warren Tire about tire prices [@calls]
That will be the link between the to-do list and the NA lists which will still be kept on 3×5 index cards”
seems to over-complicate things but then it is all about what works for the individual and I haven’t spent like the amount of time and thought that you have put in on planning, development and use.
Charles
June 22nd, 2006 at 12:44 pm
How do you think that it is overcomplicated? I do not really want to keep all of my NAs on the Notebook page, and I still like to have all of the contexts listed together. This will connect the individual NA to the list that it is on. Like I said, I am still open to suggestions for refinement.
June 22nd, 2006 at 1:41 pm
Yes, keep us posted Michael… my system seems to work pretty well so far, and I’m always looking for improvements from others!
June 22nd, 2006 at 2:04 pm
I can see your point now Michael, I am tending to run a variation on a To Do list albeit under the headings of Office and Home - rightly or more probably wrongly I classify in my mind all things that need to be doen as To Dos and Next Actions all rolled inot one - They’ve got to be done just a question of urgency/importance - not really a very GTD approach but for the moment while I refine, develop and understand further my system it gets me by. All my primary GTD (Office) stuff is on Outlook 2000 (our IT boys won’t support 2003 so somewhat short on full functionality)…..I have set it up according to David Allen little leaflet and managing Tasks in Outlook (I think it was called). Basically you use a template to create a master “project” list as a contact and then you can track everything. You can drag and drop emails on the
Tasks folder to create tasks and set up views to see them. A long way to go and a lot of learning to be done.
June 22nd, 2006 at 2:05 pm
Thanks for the post Michael! Very interesting, as always.
I have a few questions.
1) Do the weekly N/A’s have to be completed in the week to which they are assigned? If not, will you copy incomplete items to the following week?
2) Will you keep a someday/maybe list within the notebook or separately?
3) Do you think limitation of space will be an issue? What will you do if something comes up in the middle of the week, requiring a new set of actions?
June 22nd, 2006 at 3:08 pm
@Charles
I do not use email as a primary collection point. I don’t even use Outlook on my system anymore. I may move back to it when I migrate our work email from Novell Groupwise to Microsoft Exchange.
@Matt
1. I am going to strive to have the NA completed in the week that it was written. If not, it will me moved forward and prioritized higher for completion.
2. I will keep a S/M list in the notebook and then at Weekly Review I will move it to another comprehensive list.
3. Not sure about either of these. Only time will tell.
June 23rd, 2006 at 2:25 am
Michael, thank you for resolving my “comment” problem - soemthing to do with IE and CoComment (on my machine at home) not talking.
I think your point about not using email or Outlook at the moment evidences the uniqueness of each individual’s situation and the need to adopt/adapt ideas and suggestions from many sources. I was thinking on the walk in this morning that one of the main bugbears of the whole GTD system as we have to use it - none of us living in the ideal world - is the need to duplicate lists whether NAs or ToDos. I have an office system into which I do not load Home or Personal stuff both from the privacy and professionalism viewpoint. That means that there must be another part of the system which deals with all non-office stuff and then of course there is the original capture point for all “stuff” regardless of context. The one upside about writing things down is that you tend to remember them. I don’t find that putting them into a computer has quite the same effect. Thus far into my approach to the whole GTD system it is duplication that seems to very difficult stumbling block to remove………..back to the books for a re-read.
Charles
June 23rd, 2006 at 5:05 am
Michael,
Strongly recommend a quick read - Matts Idea Blog, your portable A-Z and also Laura Stack article (link in Matt’s article) both very interesting.
Charles
June 23rd, 2006 at 11:58 am
@Charles
I did read the Stack article on Microsoft’s site. It was very good. I will look at Matt’s article again. I just really skimmed it, but I will go back and give is a good read.
June 26th, 2006 at 3:57 am
Apologies if I appear to drift or not make sense, incredibly tired this AM.
As I am several hours ahead of you I thought I would post the first practical problem I foresee using “our” 18 Mth Planner - the need to repeatedly re-write some To Dos/NAs as we move forward from week to week. If I understand some of the GTD concept/s correctly a major point of the exercise is having to avoid re-writing ToDos/NAs. In other words for our system as you suggest capture might be best served on cards which could live in the pocket and simply transfer from the card/s those items of significance/to be done this weeek to the planner and do them…….We shall see how it pans out in practice.
For the moment I am having to lug around my Filofax ‘just in case’ something important crops up that I have not remembered to transfer to the “new” system. I must put the Filofax away or the “new” system will always have a question mark over its success - remove the comfort zone!!
Charles
June 30th, 2006 at 5:28 pm
I didn’t think I was going to, but I’m going to buy the 18-month planner. I just checked and my local Barnes and Noble has one copy. It now has my name on it.
June 30th, 2006 at 5:36 pm
You know, now that I look at it, I really like Mike’s custom moleskine planner. It does have more room per day and I think I might need that.
However I know me, and my inability to draw straight lines will drive me crazy and my pages will look messy and …. grrrr. Decisions, decisions. (The messy pages will defeat me instead of inspire me.)
Gotta give this some thought.
July 4th, 2006 at 6:00 pm
I don’t seem to have this comment thing down yet on this blog, very limited entry length.
I use the following Symbols:
For Calls to make, Circle around a P
For Emails to send, Circle around an E
e.g., (P) Bob
When I have phoned, then I note my action on the same line (P) Bob - lft msg
Since I haven’t gotten to talk to Bob about what I was calling him about, I do not check off the item.
July 4th, 2006 at 6:06 pm
Other symbols:
I also use a checkmark when an item is completed. Since I like grid books so I don’t make a box or circle in which to later add my check or X (though I do like the idea of a box for work items and a circle for home).
I would probably use two different ink colors when I wrote my lists to signify work versus home items.
I would use and X to indicate that an item is beyond hope of ever getting done, and a forward arrow to indicate that I moved an item to the next day or week.
I would mark through the whole item when I review and verify the item against the Master list within a Context or Project List.
July 5th, 2006 at 7:51 am
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July 5th, 2006 at 9:41 am
Evernote still doesn’t have a public palm version for those of us not operating on paper organizers.
July 5th, 2006 at 11:18 pm
This is pure anecdote, but when trying to include Evernote in my process I found my self constantly butting up against three major issues.
The application is not portable, meaning that it needs to be installed on every machine you wish to use it on.
The application does not perform sychronisation, limiting mobility further.
Which leads to the third issue, support for both of these functionalities has been promised for some time and a quick perusal of the forums suggests that more and more people are unhappy with how restrictive Evernotes format is.
My suggestion is to replicate what you are doing with the Moleskin in a .txt file (Notepad++ is an excellent windows based text editor) and make a digital equivalent of the A-Z GTD folder structure for storing any other digital documentation required.
This is just as quick as Evernote, massively portable, and although not entirely attractive, that’s not everything is it *grin*
July 7th, 2006 at 5:38 pm
I’m also interested in using one of these planners–I think I would just put my project list and project NAs on cards and keep them in the back pocket, then plan out what I wanted to get done each week on the notebook page. I don’t have lots of appointments so I think this might work well for me, better than the straight-out index card and iCal combo I’m using right now. (And if I used up the notebook page in one week, I’d probably just put a Post-It over completed items and write on that.)
Look forward to hearing how this approach to the planner goes.
July 9th, 2006 at 8:15 pm
[...] A Black Belt implementation that incorporates techniques in Mike’s and Bill’s implementations from above. [...]
July 14th, 2006 at 9:42 am
@Satch
None of your mobility assertions are quite true. I have it totally installed and running on my USB Key and I invoke it using SlickRun by accessing the database itself. I have no problems at all with it. I agree with the problems at evernote and actually addressed it in a forum post. I directly asked what features will be in the upcoming version 1.5. It was quickly answered that synchronization would be there, but there was still no mention of PDA versions.
@Jeff
I am the same way. Not many appointment and projects on cards in my office. Look for an update next week.
December 12th, 2006 at 4:54 pm
[...] While browsing around for guides to implementing GTD online, I came across tasktoy, which is absolutely fantastic. It’s a really astonishingly simple GTD specific app, handcoded and hosted by a GTD fanatic coder (which makes me worry slightly about relying solely on it, as it’s only a forgotten domain renewal away from disappearing with all my tasks - the easy export of tasks to .txt files or prints is how I plan to get around this, with a weekly backup of task info). Using elegant drop-downs, colour coding and a ‘duh’ simple navigation, it’s an absolutely perfect, configurable, always-on ‘trusted system’ for capturing, reviewing and managing every little thing buzzing around your head. Arriving at work? Open your phone, access tasktoy, select the ‘Office’ context (or whatever you’ve called it) and bam, it will show you all the tasks you need to complete that day. You can do, defer or delete them as appropriate. [...]
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