It’s increasingly difficult to live a life in which “doing things” isn’t synonymous with “sitting in front of the computer.” As much as I enjoy sitting in front of the computer getting things done, I lament this shift in our society. As such, I don’t think such a computer-centric system would work as well for me. At some point, as you’ve said, you spend more time managing/updating/repairing/maintaining the system than you do thinking outside the system. I’m not saying this is the case with you, but that this threshold differs from person to person.

One issue I have with such systems is that they often assume all things are equal. For example, “Getting things out of one’s head reduces anxiety, and the possibility of things being forgotten” is simply not the case with everyone. For many people I know, I think the anxiety of having their life tucked away on a hard drive which can crash would be much worse than having a few details slip through the cracks (I should say at this point that these people to whom I’m referring tend to be Wintel users).

I won’t deny that computer applications are heavily involved in helping me keep track of things. One thing I don’t do, however, is have applications prioritize things for me or keep track of how I prioritize things. The kind of work I do at a given point tends to vary widely on external circumstances that aren’t controllable by a computer (or, for that matter, by myself). As such, priorities shift drastically from task to task, and I’ve found it’s quite easy for a program which keeps track of priorities to get out-of-balance, so to speak. #4 on that GTD list you provide would be something I’d have to do after each task.

Thankfully, I’ve maintained the mental facilities to keep track of “the big picture” and use the computer and index cards (I almost always have a small stack of unruled 3×5 cards with me) to remind me of the details. That way I can scan the cards or the list and decide what’s best to do at the moment. There’s a part of me that pretends that this way of doing things keeps a bit of humanity in my system, and that I’m not merely checking in with my machine to get the latest marching orders.

Anyway, interesting post, Matt. [though it definitely has that "and my shirts are arranged by hue and my socks by date" feel to it :)]

Personally, I use a Palm Tungsten T3. It’s small enough to be in a pocket without too much in the way of an unsightly bulge, it syncs with my Windows box (at work) via the cradle, and my max (at home) over bluetooth. The best feature (which wasn’t really a selling point when I bought it) is the voice memo function – I can record something on the go, and voice memos are then another “inbox” that I need to transcribe when I get time. The important thing is that adding them doesn’t slow me down when I’m on the go.

A good system doesn’t prevent you being away from the computer – if you do it right, it helps you be away from the computer more, and with a clear conscience that you’re not forgetting anything.

The frustrating think I had with Hog Bay Notebook was that when I selected something on a web page for later reference using Services it would not select the link as well [something software like NoteTaker did], but, as usual thanks to the web, Iíve found a simple AppleScript that does just that and I not longer even need Services.

It’s short so I thought I might include it here:

tell application “Safari”

set theURL to URL of document 1

set theTitle to name of document 1

set theSelection to do JavaScript "getSelection()" in document 1

set thebody to theURL & return & return & theSelection

end tell

tell application “Hog Bay Notebook”

tell document 1

    set ent to make new entry at end of entries

    set name of ent to theTitle

    set note of ent to thebody

end tell

end tell

Load it in your Library/Scripts/ folder and it will appear in your AppleScript menu.

I like your simple approach to breaking down projects. For a long while I got trapped in having a too-detailed setup. Thanks for the inspiration.

Here’s to a time-efficient future ;-)

Outlook: for mail, tasks, meetings, reminders

OneNote: my ongoing projects, goals, every day memos

spurl.net: online bookmark organizer and recommends interesting urls (brought me here)

RssReader: keeping track of interesting feeds in the minimum amount of time

Although I do think a system that tells you about regular, or broader tasks, is important. I thought about Life Balance but though its idea is good, its implementation is sloppy and ugly and I couldn’t bring myself to pay for it. I wish that iCal were just a little better at keeping track of repeating tasks, projects, etc.

I have tried Life Balance in the past in connection with GTD but found it difficult to learn whilst still getting the hang of GTD. I have for the last year run with GTD in Plain Vanilla format using Palm Desktop and a Tungsten E. Although, I ‘ve tried tweaking the system regularly as I’ve always found something unsatisfactory with the diffrerent setups.

Your post seems to fill in a few of the gaps that I was missing and I feel that I am close to my Nirvana! For example, the way you begin your day provides a discipline I was perhaps missing. I also like the integration of the products.

I have run the last week with a setup identical to yourself except I initially tried to overcomplicated my outline and not being that experienced with LB, got myself in a bit of a tangle. I generally need to input data quickly as quite often I am on the move so the simpler the system the easier I find it to work with.

If you don’t mind I have some questions?

1. Do you use any contexts in addition to the places you have already detailed? The normal GTD ones i.e. @Call, @Computer etc? I generally have 60 or so projects on the go with at least 200 tasks and find these easier to work with when working with the palm. For example, if I have a spare 10 mins before an appointment, I can quickly identify all possible phone calls I could fill the time with.

2. Do you place projects and their children as sub-tasks of More Important, less Important etc. as well as just single tasks or do you keep all Projects listed only in HBNB?

3. If you include the parent projects in your outline, I presume you mirror them in HBNB?

4. For Tasks by date, repeat tasks etc. Do you enter them in LB Calendar so they transfer to iCal or straight in to iCal?

5. David Allen teaches that any vital task that must be completed on a specific date or time is entered as a specific event in the calendar (hard landscape) and that this should be tackled before any task on a to-do list. Do you follow this or just put them in “More Important”?

6. I presume you keep tasks that you are waiting for a response on in the outline but change their “place” to @waiting for?

7. I presume you set times for your places i.e. open all day, 6.30pm-11.30pm etc.

Sorry there are so many questions.

Thanks also to Allan for posting the script for HBNB.

I want to thank you for this excellent tutorial on GTD, the Hog Bay Notebook and Life Balance. As an educator, I’m interested in information systems and work flow for both intellectual and practical reasons. The system you’ve described here is a wonderful example of how to balance flexibility, efficiency, and depth. It has wonderful potential not only for daily routines but also for managing large projects (such as the book I’m currently writing). I encourage you to keep us informed about your production system as your processes and experiences evolve. I would also be interested to hear whether and how you use any other pieces of specialized software such as NovaMind for mind mapping or EndNote for bibliography/information management.

What it lacks is an outliner – what it has in spades is an excellent calendar.

It also has a poor search facility.

I love HBN for its outlining and search, and what it lacks is a calendar.

:-)

I am exploring LB for its combinations but as it stands I have my information in 3 places now! PD, HBN, LB and this, of course, cannot go on.

John’s quote of David allen is the most sobering – of course I want software that will tell me what to do next – it’s like religion.

:-)

At the same time, my duty of care regarding all the promises I’ve made both to myself and others, requires that I make the best possible efforts to come through. And OTOH, I can add toDos till I totter under the sheer weight of and stress of keeping them all in the air.

I think I need a holiday

;-)

peter