Tuesday, December 12th, 2006...12:01 am
Tools, When is Enough….Enough?
By definition, a tool is
is a piece of equipment that most commonly provides a mechanical advantage in accomplishing a physical task. [1]
As I was looking through my latest pr0n mag (or as it is better known, the Levenger Last Minute Shopping 2006 mag), I was drooling over a number of items contained within. On every page I was thinking of how could I incorporate item X into my current system; thinking that the Circa Starter Kit is so reasonably priced…how could I NOT get it!
We all have our own tools for GTD. Currently, my main tool is a Moleskine Softcover 2007 LARGE Weekly Planner+Notebook (as seen in the header picture above). I really like it a lot, but I am not using it the way that intended to last September when I bought it. I had planned on using it as my hard landscape [calendar] and the planning pages on the right side would hold my weekly NAs that I wanted to accomplish that week. Well, most of the planning pages between September 1 and today are pretty blank.
Another tool that I have is Evernote 1.5. It is a pretty nifty notetaking program and I wanted to use it as Project/Reference Support Material holder. Again, most of the program is empty. I do have some project set up in it, as well as some reference lists, and conference materials that I want to trigger me to look into at a later date.
I would love to be able to incorporate Mindjet’s MindManager into my stable. I see that other’s have successfully done it and never looked back. I have never used mindmapping before, so I read up on it a little, and thought that it looked like an interesting approach to thinking. Now being in IT, there is not a lot of use for creative expression and free thinking that is MindManager’s strong suit. I even printed out the manual to learn how to effectively use the program, but have yet to read it.
Now, with Windows Vista and Outlook 2007 on the horizon there are great improvements on the basic tools that come with a computer that will make GTD a lot simpler for Windows users. The Outlook team specifically looked at GTD when they were designing the new refinements to To Do’s in Outlook 2007. And the new built in Calendar in Vista will be able to be published to an iCal compliant calendar, like Google Calendar.
Oh, and by the way, did I mention that I am getting a MacBook Pro when Leopard ships next year. What then? kGTD, Midnight Inbox, or the upcoming OmniFocus!?!?!
Then I glance over next to the monitor that I am looking at to right this out and see my very first GTD tool: an HP iPAQ hx4700 with Pocket Informant preloaded on it. I paid over $600 for that PDA and accessories, and you know what it does now….sits on my desk as a glorified calendar and slide show of pictures of my kids. I really loved that PDA and when I left my last job in Jan 2006, I left the joys of Microsoft Exchange and Outlook. Now that I am the boss and Exchange will be making a appearance sometime in FY 2007, I may revisit the use of my PDA and Outlook. But that does not help me now.
I think that we get wrapped up in the Tools of GTD, and not the methodology of GTD. Between now and the end of the year, I am going back to basics. I am going to listen to the GTD Fast compilation and let what David Allen is talking about really sink in to my bones. Then I will follow that up with another read of Getting Things Done. Every time that I have read GTD the book, I have come away with some tidbit that makes the whole thing make more sense to me. If what David Allen states is true (about 5:25 minutes into the podcast), and that it takes 2 years for GTD to really sink in, than I am about 3 1/2 months from a HUGE breakthrough.
And I want to be ready for it when it happens.
- Michael
11 Comments
December 12th, 2006 at 6:18 am
Tools, When is too much … too much?
December 12th, 2006 at 6:19 am
This said tongue in cheek! ;^)
December 12th, 2006 at 6:40 am
I’ve been listening to LOTS of David Allen materials recently (including those you mentioned). The two main things that hit me now (after GTDing for almost 2 years as well): focus on cranking widgets, close open loops. If you can’t decide on a next action for a project, the next action should be to decide what’s the next action (R&D). This way you can always stay on the crank widgets level which is a very productive and stress-free one.
I have also finished my first bottom-up implementation of the 6-level model which was undoubtedly groundbreaking for me. I dropped half of my projects because they didn’t fit anywhere and just wasted my time.
I think it is true that it takes 2 years to just sink in and really start using the system instead of working on it.
December 12th, 2006 at 7:53 am
I’ve been at it (”it” being GTD) since this past summer, so not even half a year. The main thing I’ve gathered about the tools of GTD so far is that they don’t really matter. As long as you’re “cranking widgets” and feeling more on top of things, then the tools are secondary.
I’ve noticed something very interesting about myself since starting GTD. I work in IT also, and am a real “gadget guy” for lack of a better term. I bought a used Palm Tungsten on Ebay when I first started GTD, and sold it back after only a month and a half, after realizing that all I did with it was jot down notes! Heck, paper can do that, and a stack of index cards is only $0.99! A homemade hipster PDA (which, incidentally, is COMPLETELY customizable and does whatever I want…no coding necessary) is my main tool. I’ve gone lo-tech!
Every night I “sync” my hPDA with Google calendar. I manage large projects with 37Signal’s Basecamp which has a super-simple, no frills UI. That’s it, and it works.
December 12th, 2006 at 9:05 am
Very interesting to see these posts popup nowadays. I also wrote about this subject in between the lines of my two years anniversary of GTD. URL is linked in my name to the right
It is all so recognizable. I am one of those MindManager freaks. But after a couple of weeks I already wonder….is this it? Hmm….paper is so handy…
*sigh*
December 12th, 2006 at 10:01 am
@Dave
I believe that tool also don’t matter. My point today is that tweaking tools is starting to hinder the cranking of widgets that I do. I look at someone’s whitepaper, or a catalog, and start to think “will that make my widgets crank more efficiently?” When in reality, the wating of time to think how I can incorporate said new tool is making me less efficient. I tried the hPDA thing at first also (see my card in the pic in the header) but I did not like it much. I think that I am going to stick with my Moleskine Planner and use it more efficiently.
December 12th, 2006 at 10:52 am
@Michael
I can understand your desire to “fiddle” with the tools, believe me! I’m sort of a geeky guy, and if there’s one thing I know about geeks in general is that we’re always willing to try something different, as long as there’s evidence that it may do a better job than what we’re currently using. That’s why I fully understand your situation: I can look at the clock and realize that I just spent an hour fiddling with some new form/idea/etc. I found on the internet, and not actually being productive!
I’ve actually started to schedule this “fiddle time” during work-free leisure time in the evening. That way, I can goof around to my heart’s content without sacrificing daylight work hours.
BTW, I just came across you blog two days ago and like it very much. I always enjoy productivity discussions!
December 14th, 2006 at 6:56 pm
[...] Michael over at Black Belt Productivity has a great post on when Lifehacking becomes more of a burden than a help. Ironically enough, it’s when you’re trying too hard to hone your system of organization. [...]
December 14th, 2006 at 10:23 pm
Really great article Michael. A very enjoyable read. I have been hammering away over at my little space on the web about this very thing.
It is not about the tools, it is about finding a system that works for you, one that you trust. My dad has a great little system involving a legal pad and action verbs separated out on the other side of the margin. Simple, effective, allows one to easily group context related tasks. All just with a pen and a legal pad. A 2 dollar investment for a ton of whuparse.
December 16th, 2006 at 1:14 pm
Great article. I also think that tools don’t matter, as long as you don’t change your system to adapt it to the tool. I would use any tool that fits into my system but it has to provide some added value to replace one that I use.
December 18th, 2006 at 7:15 am
It amazes me to see how much GTD’ers are turning over to paperbased solutions. Many of those forms people are starting to use look very similar to the good old forms available for FiloFax and TimeManager portfolios. For the last few months more and more writers are talking about the burden of the computers and how they find that PDA’s are actually taking too much time to use compared to a simple piece of paper.
This is very natural. As for myself as a designer, I never start a work in the computer without a layout sketch worked on a piece of paper. It give more direct approach to the job and saves enormous time compared to joggling objects around the screen. More productivity.
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