GTD: My Implementation part I: Overall guidelines and Collection Buckets
OK, time for the often-done "how I work GTD."
First, here's what I DO (which guides how I'm implementing my system):
And apart from what I do, here's some specifics of how I like to do it which impact my implementation:
My essential tools:
I'm going to go with the Workflow Mastery rubric (Collect, Process, Organize, Review, Do) to talk about my system, then do my tools one by one.
Collect
According to David Allen, there are three success factors in collecting. I like Matt's extended list though, so I'm going to go with that
Thunderbird Email
Nothing stays in my inbox long - and by long I mean a day at max, usually just a few seconds. Inbox represents something NOT processed - anything processed gets quickly taged as work or personal (by pressing a single key) and filed into a respective folder filing system, which I'll go over later. All in all, each email takes no more than a few seconds to process into a trusted reminder that'll show up in the few views I want it to by category and by date both on my computer and my PDA - a tiny bit of processing up front with a high pay off makes processing that collection bucket to zero easy.
My Physical Inbox
This is easy - whatever notes (if any) I've taken during the day I'll just stuff in my pocket. When I change at the end of the day I just dump them into my inbox at home - or have already processed them in the last 15 minutes of my day which I religiously reserve at work for processing my work tasks (note: turning your notes into next actions and project brainstorms is billable, folks). They go into the inbox, then they go out. If I took a picture with my camera that day, it gets tossed (nicely!) into my inbox. Articles I clipped? Inbox.
And that inbox stays EMPTY. To me, if my inbox is getting stuck, it's because my filing system doesn't rock (as in less than 30 seconds to get it to where it belongs) or my decision making on something is stuck. By working on fixing those systems over the last few years (though nobody's perfect) my inbox stays about 95% zero like my email - and if it doesn't get cleared in a day, it certainly will in another. My housemate drops stuff (mail, notes, etc.) into my inbox (or on my chair, which I put in my inbox) and I put stuff in hers.
PDA Voice Capture
I LOVE this. I like to ramble... or leave myself short messages. It's faster than calling my answering machine and then having it sent by email, as is now possible - I rummage in my bag one handed, even when driving (whoops! I mean, both hands on the wheel!), and by feel can get the sleek silver of the protective case on my PDA. I pull it out, and with my pinky squeeze the voice capture button. PDA turns on, a little beep, and then "add eggplant to the grocery list" or "brainstorm about writing a children's book someday about social justice and anti-racism stories...." - whatever. Those notes sync with my outlook and drop themselves into the collection bucket of "notes" where I speedily turn them into next actions, waiting-fors, project notes, suspended actions, calendar, whatever - with my outlook organization system, processing (as I'll go over) is a snap.
The Rest
I'll do Process, Organize, Review, Do later, yo. Just felt like starting these GTD postings right!
First, here's what I DO (which guides how I'm implementing my system):
- I'm active in around 10-20 community projects at a time, and "track" about another 10 that I'd like to stay on my radar
- I'm going to school for a masters in social work and two certificates (one from UNC and one from Duke) in nonprofit management
- I train a lot in Aikido and Tai Chi (and yoga cross training)
- I like hanging out with friends
- I teach a few martial arts classes at Duke in the PE department
- I have a part-time nonprofit/social justice technology consultant practice with about ten clients at a time.
And apart from what I do, here's some specifics of how I like to do it which impact my implementation:
- I'm tech savvy, very much so, but don't like living off my computer
- I live in a wonderful house with a housemate, and have a small "work area" that I don't want to be in my room.
- I like to be able to capture things both on paper and verbally.
- I've lost large amounts of data on paper or otherwise before - a stolen planner, etc. - so I wanted a system that backs itself up.
- If a tech system, I'm big on speed - I want spend my time BEING organized, not organizing.
- I want my stuff protected by duplication, but not have to do anything twice. I want as much at my fingertips as possible
- Some investment is ok, but I generally don't have good experiences with fancier tailored systems. I'll tailor it, thanks.
- I want to be able to see my tasks by due date AND by category, but have filing be Fast
My essential tools:
- Microsoft Outlook, with some customizations
- Autohotkey for some select but very tactical hotkeys (I love you!)
- Thunderbird
- a tricked out used PDA (Dell Axim x30 - I've had eGenio for a while, but I love this axim)
- a black purse with pockets ("man bag?" C'mon, it's a purse.)
- a buncha notecards, two black pens and some colored pens for brainstorms, meeting notes or whatever.
- a big old 4 drawer file cabinet and manila folders (Hanging files is for the birds)
I'm going to go with the Workflow Mastery rubric (Collect, Process, Organize, Review, Do) to talk about my system, then do my tools one by one.
Collect
According to David Allen, there are three success factors in collecting. I like Matt's extended list though, so I'm going to go with that
?Stuff? enters my life via a small number of collecting points (physical in-basket, email, voice mail, etc.) ____ YUPMy three buckets are thunderbird email inbox, my physical inbox on my desk (for whatever, including my paper notes that I could take during meetings if I wanted to), my PDA voice capture list which syncs with outlook in the "notes" section as recordings. I can ubiquitously (?) capture by voice, paper, or just dropping a thing into a spot - and so far, I haven't been able to get to fewer than this since I LOVE the voice capture piece. :-)
I regularly do a mind sweep to empty my head of nagging thoughts that have my attention. ____ YUP
I use my email in-box only for collecting; it does not mix collecting with action or reference. ____YUP
I empty my collecting points (including paper and email) every 24-48 hours. ____YUP
I have collecting points set up both at home and work. ____YUP
Fellow workers and family use my collecting points for notes, memos, etc, instead of leaving in unexpected locations. ____YUP
I always have a Ubiquitous Capture Tool (notebook, PDA, etc.) nearby to capture things that are on my mind. ____YUP
Thunderbird Email
Nothing stays in my inbox long - and by long I mean a day at max, usually just a few seconds. Inbox represents something NOT processed - anything processed gets quickly taged as work or personal (by pressing a single key) and filed into a respective folder filing system, which I'll go over later. All in all, each email takes no more than a few seconds to process into a trusted reminder that'll show up in the few views I want it to by category and by date both on my computer and my PDA - a tiny bit of processing up front with a high pay off makes processing that collection bucket to zero easy.
My Physical Inbox
This is easy - whatever notes (if any) I've taken during the day I'll just stuff in my pocket. When I change at the end of the day I just dump them into my inbox at home - or have already processed them in the last 15 minutes of my day which I religiously reserve at work for processing my work tasks (note: turning your notes into next actions and project brainstorms is billable, folks). They go into the inbox, then they go out. If I took a picture with my camera that day, it gets tossed (nicely!) into my inbox. Articles I clipped? Inbox.
And that inbox stays EMPTY. To me, if my inbox is getting stuck, it's because my filing system doesn't rock (as in less than 30 seconds to get it to where it belongs) or my decision making on something is stuck. By working on fixing those systems over the last few years (though nobody's perfect) my inbox stays about 95% zero like my email - and if it doesn't get cleared in a day, it certainly will in another. My housemate drops stuff (mail, notes, etc.) into my inbox (or on my chair, which I put in my inbox) and I put stuff in hers.
PDA Voice Capture
I LOVE this. I like to ramble... or leave myself short messages. It's faster than calling my answering machine and then having it sent by email, as is now possible - I rummage in my bag one handed, even when driving (whoops! I mean, both hands on the wheel!), and by feel can get the sleek silver of the protective case on my PDA. I pull it out, and with my pinky squeeze the voice capture button. PDA turns on, a little beep, and then "add eggplant to the grocery list" or "brainstorm about writing a children's book someday about social justice and anti-racism stories...." - whatever. Those notes sync with my outlook and drop themselves into the collection bucket of "notes" where I speedily turn them into next actions, waiting-fors, project notes, suspended actions, calendar, whatever - with my outlook organization system, processing (as I'll go over) is a snap.
The Rest
I'll do Process, Organize, Review, Do later, yo. Just felt like starting these GTD postings right!
Labels: GTD
posted by Mike Dolan Fliss at
12/07/2007 08:30:00 PM
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