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.
