GTD is an art not a science. Not in the sense that you should use crayons and charchol, but that rather than there being rules and precise processes over how you should implement it, there are only themes, trends and flavours. If you wanted to prove that Newton was a great scientist then you can actually do an experiment and prove his second law of motion, say. But if you want to prove Atkinson Grimshaw was a great painter, then… well, you can debate, study, and challenge but you’ll never get there. Everyone will have a different view.
I think how you design your system depends on how you live your life – and it should always be something that evolves and changes with time. A bit like my memory to be honest. For me I need a system that can cope with the blind panic of my job, and my rather more hectic home life. I need to be able to work anywhere, on a number of different computers, and always have the information I need.
The foundation for my system is Toodledo. I needed something I could use on any number of computers use – Mac and PC, home and work – so it had to be web-based. I had to be able to synch it with my iPhone via a native app – if I am rushing around I can’t be having something extra to carry/remember like a moleskin or index cards (that and I can’t read my own handwriting).
I have a next action list for each of my areas of focus – personal, home, Half-a-dozen Monkeys, and any other big projects I am working on. I also have a project list for each area of focus. I only contectualise my next actions so that if I look at all @phone then I know I need to make those calls asap. I have the usual collection of contexts with an @Joe Bloggs for my boss, my wife, and a couple of other individual I interact with significantly, but don’t see often enough for regular dialogue.
I have a waiting for list and a someday/maybe list – the latter often has sub-tasks, for example “Things to research”, “DVDs to buy” or “On loan to other people”. You know the kind of thing.
I have 3 inboxes. One at work, one at home, and an inbox folder I carry around in my bag for stuff that I acquire on my travels. This seems to work as long as I lob the contents of the file into a proper inbox as soon as I land anywhere.
And that is it. It seems to work for me, doing what I do. What are your thoughts/challenges?
