How I Get Things Done part 1 – The Collection

So if you understood the mind vomit which I like to call “My Last Post“, then you would know that I finally (hopefully) came to some sort of method for getting things done. I’m pretty confident in my system as I haven’t been scouring the blogs looking for gtd posts. In no way, shape, or form am I saying that my method is superior to others, nor am I trying to persuade anybody into using my methods. I feel that its perfect for me, and might open one’s mind into seeing different options you can use.

Collection

For collecting, I’ve been relying on my Levinger Pocket Briefcase w/ Index cards to collect all the items that are in my head. Since I’m not a strong believer in the tickler file system, if I need to remember a date, I’ll either enter it in my blackberry or jot it down on the Levinger in order to process later. So for example, here is what one of my index cards would look like:

- Finish blog

- Doctor’s Appointment Aug. 10 @ 10 am

- Deposit money

- Go shopping for sweet clothes

- Pimp it up

Even though you are never EVER supposed to leave your collection device behind, I do it on a regular basis. So my back-up inbox is my Blackberry 8700. It has even got to the point where I forget my Levinger so much (either at home or in my work padfolio thingy) that I’m about this close in just using my Levinger for work and use my 8700 as my collection. The way I collect is by starting up memopad, typing what I need to input, then save it.

If you set up your Blackberry just like I do, it could possibly be faster than pulling out a Levinger and uncapping a pen to jot it down, assuming you can type at a moderate speed. I have mine set up so you cannot dial from the home screen, thus enabling the keyboard shortcuts. (I <3 Keyboard Shortcuts). So in order to start memopad, I just have to press the “D” key.

So what do I do after I’m done collecting and its time to process? You’ll just have to stay tuned to find out. (I don’t know why I’m making it suspenseful, in a sense its the same as any other method, just with some minor changes) See you next time.

A Spirtual Awakening – With Technology??

I first would like to apologize for not updating (aka 2nd post) my blog in quite a while. Let’s just say that it was for a very good reason, which is the purpose of todays entry.

I must let you guys know that even though my first blog was supposed to be part 1 of a series, I regret to inform you that I will not be continuing it as it no longer applies to me. I have totally changed my methods and am actually pretty content and confident in it.

GTD

It all starts back to this whole GTD cult movement. In a very brief overview, it basically consists of collecting all your thoughts and ideas in some sort of collective inbox which are then to be processed later as a to-do list. What seems to be the obsession amongst fellow GTD-ers is how to collect these ideas. The three schools of thought are analog, digital and the analog-digital hybrid. As much as one can say “Just use what’s most comfortable”, there are those who question if there is something out there that is more comfortable than what they are comfortable with now (myself included) There are also those people who try to make themselves comfortable with a specific collection device (once again, myself included). Although this is an inefficient side-effect of the GTD system and its many offspring, it does give fellow bloggers something to write about.

On the opposite ends of the spectrum, GTD-ers can argue the efficiency of an analog method while the digital dogs can argue the versatility of the electronic way of life. But once again, it all comes down to what you’re comfortable with.

Epiphany

While reading these blogs, I’ve become enchanted by the majesty that is the Moleskine, the fashionable nerd-esque nature of the Levinger Pocket Briefcase, while at the same time drooling over the visual eye candy applications for mobile and desktop use. Initially, I’ve been more on the digital side having gadgets consume my life. But I guess the grass seemed greener on the analog side as I longed to venture into the world of fancy gel pens and off-white paper.

As I tried to convert to full analog, my senses finally awoke. “Idiot! You know damn well you love gadgets way too much to fully adopt an analog system!” True. So to satisfy the heart and the brain, it seemed best to go the greedy way, use both in some sort of hybrid way.

Collection

After trial and error, I came to the conclusion that for a collection device, the Levinger was the way to go. It was just easier, plain and simple. Keeping a Fisher Bullet Space Pen in my pocket, whenever I thought of an idea, I’d just pull out the Levinger from my back pocket and wrote it on an index card. I’ve tried the T-Mobile Dash, a Moleskine Pocket Notebook and a Moleskine Cahier. The Dash was just slow to open up some sort of notetaking application to type something in, The Moleskine Pocket Notebook didn’t seem to fit in my pockets very well (I wear semi-tight jeans), and despite the Cahier fitting perfectly in my pocket, I didn’t enjoy the fact that I had to open up to a page to input my data. Yeah I know, it takes about a second to open it up, but that one extra step annoyed me.

Next Actions

For the Next Actions/To Do list, I settled with the Moleskine Pocket Notebook. Why? I don’t think I have any real answers other than the fact that I loved the way the notebook felt. I also didn’t want it in my hand or in any of my pockets as I want to preserve its beauty. So I just keep it in my bag (a future article) and refer to it whenever I need to. I use the elastic band as a bookmark as the ribbon takes too long for me to open to a certain page.

Finally there’s the miscellaneous data such as reference material, hard calendar dates, and the new addition my the system, my 13 Virtues hack. This is where things started to get crazy.

Reference

I originally thought Google Notebooks was a great way to document my reference material since I was able to access it from my Dash, However I did not enjoy the fact that I could not add to it from my Dash, or as of right now any mobile phone. So in my quest to Borders to check out the Moleskine inventory, I came across this Miquelrius notebook which seemed to be a good reference-type notebook. It was thick, with a nice, soft, leather-like cover for easy “flipability” when browsing through the pages, and uses small grid paper for neat box drawings. As of right now, I’ve written in about 5 full pages since a month ago which contains Graphic Design and Photography techniques, and flowcharts of old potential GTD systems.

Calendar

Having had my T-Mobile Dash wirelessly sync up with Apple iCal (T-Mobile Dash <-> Mail2Web Exchange Server <-> Entourage <-> iCal), I pretty much figured I had everything under control in terms of hard calendar dates. Here’s where the kicker comes in. After work one day, I come to my room and see my old Blackberry 8700g on the ground (Future Article). So I decide to pop out the sim card from the Dash and just play around with the 8700. One month later, I’m still using the 8700 and haven’t looked back.

At first I figured, I’ll just input the calendar entries into the Blackberry and decide later how I’m going to sync it up with OS X. Due to the efficiency and speed of the Blackberry interface, I really don’t really plan on going back to a desktop calendar.

13 Virtues

So after reading an interesting little life hack on Zen Habits, I decided to give it a whirl. So while looking for something to create my little graphs, I found one of the losers of the previous bouts, sitting in my bag all lonely and unwanted. The Moleskine Pocket Cahier finally gets picked up in the draft. Honestly, for settling with the Cahier as my little journal piece, I think I couldn’t have made a better choice. Doesn’t have a lot of pages which is good since it doesn’t get used to much. It also is the perfect size for a graph. My only wish is that I had the one with the grid paper as it would make table drawing a lot easier.

Analog or Digital?

So which was really better? Analog or digital? Honestly, its exactly what everyone has said since the beginning. Whatever feels comfortable to you. I guess for me I had to go through this whole “Finding Myself” journey into my soul to let go of my obsessions of gadgets and my desire to be analog in order to find what felt comfortable. To round things up, here are my selections.

Collection/Inbox – Levinger Pocket Briefcase

Next Actions – Moleskine Pocket Notebook

Reference – Miquelrius Notebook

13 Virtues – Moleskine Cahier

Calendar – Blackberry 8700

So all is well in the land of Bertology. I’m content, and everything is functioning as they should. Dang, I miss the rubberized back of the Dash.

Analog vs. Digital – Judgement Day Part Uno

So being relatively new to the whole GTD system, I’ve been contemplating ways on which method I should use, digital or analog. If I were to choose digital, would I run everything on my T-Mobile Dash and Entourage, or would I use the fantastic Google Apps? If I were to choose analog, would I use a moleskine pocket notebook, cahier, or a Levinger pocket briefcase? So being the idiot, gadget-loving geek I am, I bought everything. I even made sure I auditioned some pens to make sure that while I try out the analog way of life, I would be enjoying it to its fullest.

 Some may think that I’m more in love with the gadgets (analog or digital) rather than the method. I would be the first to agree. But I must also note that one must love the tools of their trade. It just makes the task so much more entertaining. So what to do?

 To give a little background, my work/personal life isn’t as demanding as others who use the GTD method. I’m single with no kids and an average workload (Graphic Designer). So I don’t really have my days full of tasks, appointments, and meetings. A couple days out of the week I really don’t have much to do other than start projects that I’ve been putting off. Despite not having the need to implement the full system, I like to stay on top of things which is why I use my modified/stripped down version of GTD.

So now that we’ve accomplished the meet and greet, let’s rock.

T-Mobile Dash 

First I started out with my phone. This was my second Windows Mobile Smartphone, the first being the Motorola MPX-200. When I first started implementing the system, everything was pretty straight forward. I had my calendar for hard dates, Tasks for my Next Actions/To Do and my ability to email myself for my inbox. Not bad. However, as most of the “Knights of Analog” would say, it takes way too much time and effort to collect my thoughts in my “inbox”. Very true. This is why I believe I wasn’t so anal with it.

There was one other thing that stumped me as well. Where was I going to store my “Reference” and “Someday” list? Users of Windows Mobile smartphones would know that it’s pretty hard to cut and paste urls. If I’m browsing my favorite rss articles, I don’t want to have to copy the url and reenter it in my Reference list. Way too tedious.

Along the way, I decided to use Microsoft Entourage on my Mac at home to make processing my inbox a bit easier. My Entourage was connected to my mail2web Exchange Server so I had OTA syncing, which is always a plus for me. Yet there was one minor problem, when I was at work and needed to enter an appointment, I wish I had the ability to enter it from my computer. But my design workstation wasn’t hooked up to my Exchange Server nor did I have the ability to set it up. Bummer. That’s a slight bump in the road don’t you think? Well not me, stuff like that irks me bad. So bad that it makes me want to rework my whole system rather than live with it.

After losing faith in my system over such a miniscule problem, I begin my search on google for ways of working around this, which ultimately led me to the idea of using Outlook Web Access. Well let’s just say that it didn’t last long and I was ready to implement a whole new system. The next victim up to bat, T-Mobile Dash + Google Apps. Stay Tuned…

One outside note before I call it a night. I have this strong feeling that I’m more into the hunt than the prize. So who knows, maybe I’ll never find my perfect system. Maybe I’ll constantly be switching back and forth between my options. I might even toss in more contenders into the fray. I just hope my messed-up thinking will help others in their eternal quest of how to implement GTD. Man, sometimes I wish I could just use an hpda and be satisfied and organized. But alas, that is not me.