Getting Things Done: Low Tech edition.
I don’t have an iPhone.
There, that’s out of the way. This will make sense soon.
(This entry is about Getting Things Done. If you don’t know what it is, try Wikipedia.)
Let’s move to gtd: I’ve been using OmniFocus for Getting Things Done, but my problem has always been standing in the store, knowing there was something I needed to buy, but my MacBook is in the car. And even if I had it with me, I don’t think I’d whip it out in the middle of the fruit aisle. Stress.
I’ve tried a few things, like syncing to my Nokia or even printing out a list for the day when leaving work, but adding or modifying tasks on the mobile is pretty much impossible, and I tend to forget printing. Or don’t feel very eco-friendly carrying around an A4 sheet with a single task at the top: ‘Buy apples.’
Looking back.
Looking back, what got me into gtd in the first place was when I bought a Moleskine on a holiday. I’d never heard of them before, but I liked the leathery cover and the elastic strap. When I got back home, I Googled my new-found love, and what did I find? Lifehacks! gtd! Nerds Productivity Enthusiasts!
For reference I use a Pilot Dr. grip gel pen.
I never did manage to gtd-ify my Moleskine to my liking, but quickly adopted various software solutions. ThinkingRock was an early success, before I got a Mac and started using iGTD and KinklessGTD. Somewhere along the line I picked up a copy of Dave Allen’s book.
When OmniFocus came out, I signed up for the beta, and inevitably pre-ordered it. (And not only because of the price doubling after release.)
I loved it and love it, but this brings us to the start of this post.
I don’t have an iPhone.
So it’s either buying an expensive gadget to know when to buy apples, or think of something else. I started carrying a Hipster pda around some time ago – partly for easy capture but mostly because Merlin Mann is my god – so my answer was already pretty much in front of me. I had tried using paper-and-pen only gtd for a while, but it seemed so stupid to write everything computer related down on a piece of paper when OmniFocus makes it so much easier.
And then – on a vacation again, and reading gtd again – it hit me. My Hipster and my Mac are their own contexts.
Why do I need a @Errands context on my Mac? Keep that on the Hipster. Why do I need an @Online context on my Hipster?
Uhm. Actually, I do need an @Online context on my Hipster. I use it as a temporary placeholder if I’m away from my computer, and move @Online and @Mac etc. into OmniFocus at the earliest opportunity. Anything that I can’t do on my Mac stays out of my Mac.
So far it’s worked a treat: My Hipster has two projects lists and a bunch of context lists on one side – one card each – and I always keep a blank card on the other side. After writing something on it, I move it one card back until I can process it.
I also have a Moleskine for lists of all sorts: anything I can think of listing I list. It’s really helpful for the weekly review. Also a Moleskine calendar.
It felt a bit strange at first, since with OmniFocus I can always see what context and what project a task belongs to. On the Hipster, I only see the context explicitly, the project is not so clear unless the task is written out clearly enough. And that’s a good thing.
Keeping the projects separate from the tasks has proven to be quite refreshing. I occasionally glance over the projects list, making sure I’m not forgetting anything, but mostly I can focus on my context.
I try to mirror these projects lists – preferably in the same order – in OmniFocus. The result of this is that instead of syncing my devices with OmniFocus, OmniFocus is now syncing with my Hipster.
Read it again.
If you haven’t read the book, read it. If you have read it, read it again.
As it turns out, my new methodology is a lot closer to what David Allen suggests. Since I started using gtd software before reading the book, I made to many assumptions about what was necessary to Get Things Done.
So read the book again. Try to forget everything you’ve done so far and see if you aren’t doing something because you assumed it was necessary. gtd is extremely simple, and if something is starting to get complicated, you’re probably doing it wrong.
