Paper GTD System
I know, I know, I know. I have been a big advocate of keeping your GTD system online – seemless link where I can input stuff on a computer, have it organised, and then be able to access it anywhere via my phone.
My logic was:
1. An online system is much neater, tidier, and concequentially use-friendly;
2. I can’t loose something that is in the cloud;
3. I don’t want to be carrying more stuff around with me than I have to – I am already carrying my iPhone so a synchronising app is ideal;
4. I can’t read my own handwriting so typing was easier and quicker;
Only this wasn’t working any more. It may be just fatigue with one system (see <why a change is good>), but either way, I had stopped using it and started just trying to remember things. Which we know is bad. Especially for me!
So I have gone hybrid. I am using a paper based system for my Next Actions, my Waiting For, my Project lists, and newly thought of Someday/Maybes. The full record of my Someday/Maybe is being held in ‘the cloud’ (on Toodledo – which I still think is a great application).
The picture at the top of this post shows what my new system looks like – it is a blend of ideas that have floated around Merlin Mann’s <Hipster PDA>, which just seem to make sence to me.
And has it worked? Yes, I am back using it for everything – as others have said in the past, there is nothing quicker than pen and paper to note down an idea. This means I trust the system more, and thus it clears my usually foggy head.
Now who will bet me $10 I’ll be back to a fully electronic system by the end of 2010?
I know, I know, I know. I have been a big advocate of keeping your GTD system online – seamless link where I can input stuff on a computer, have it organised, and then be able to access it anywhere via my phone.
My logic was:
1. An online system is much neater, tidier, and consequentially use-friendly;
2. I can’t loose something that is in the cloud;
3. I don’t want to be carrying more stuff around with me than I have to – I am already carrying my iPhone so a synchronising app is ideal;
4. I can’t read my own handwriting so typing was easier and quicker;
Only this wasn’t working any more. It may be just fatigue with one system (see why you should change your GTD system), but either way, I had stopped using it and started just trying to remember things. Which we know is bad. Especially for me!
So I have gone hybrid. I am using a paper based system for my Next Actions, my Waiting For, my Project lists, and newly thought of Someday/Maybes. The full record of my Someday/Maybe is being held in ‘the cloud’ (on Toodledo – which I still think is a great application).
The picture at the top of this post shows what my new system looks like – it is a blend of ideas that have floated around Merlin Mann’s Hipster PDA, which just seem to make sense to me.
And has it worked? Yes, I am back using it for everything – as others have said in the past, there is nothing quicker than pen and paper to note down an idea. This means I trust the system more, and thus it clears my usually foggy head.
Now who will bet me $10 I’ll be back to a fully electronic system by the end of 2010?
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Tagged as:
Get Things Done,
GTD,
Hipster PDA,
Paper,
Productivity
