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MyLifeOrganized - a journey in search of the perfect GTD software

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m_s:
Much as I love MLO, I should update this and say that I'm now mainly using paper.  I've started two new jobs this last fortnight, which have me working in three different locations, which has me thinking again about signing up for Backpack...  But I've not yet decided, and so far neither my notebook nor my calendar (paper both - Moleskine, of course!) has suffered from being unable to connect to the internet. ;-)

nudone:
m_s, there's something about the old analogue ways of doing things that just seem to work sometimes. maybe because they are so simple, so portable and 'switch on' instantly. i would also think that their tactile nature kind of means more - you can connect to a physical object more than a program - i'm sure that must help in associating the right kind of mind state. perhaps there is also an element of 'being in control' of the analogue device whereas a computer program can tend to feel that is has control over you.

it's kind of reassuring to see other people trying the digital way and then going back to the traditional paper and pen - certainly makes me feel less like someone that gives up for no good reason. i'd love to be able to make use of 'mylife organized' rather than just stare at its icon on my desktop - maybe the GTD experiment will make that possible.

m_s:
I contributed this short piece over at the D*I*Y Planner planner site a while back - kind of summarises my onward journey from the review that started this thread...: http://www.diyplanner.com/node/906

zridling:
Since the late 80s, I've subscribed to the FranklinCovey/7 Habits approach, which eschews systems and mere to-do lists in favor of a much broader approach to time management. I've read the GTD book a couple of years ago and even spent a year reading the 43 Folders site, but others like Hyrum Smith were writing and talking about this same thing since the 1970s, and it all seemed derivative of the early Franklin content. What I like about it is the shared lifehacker/tech approach to saving time, i.e., take a tip from wherever you find it and see if it works.

If and when you have time, consider reading Stephen Covey's The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. The 7 Habits "Quadrant" approach to prioritizing tasks makes GTD seem thin and overly focused on smaller, "urgent/pay-attention-to-me-now" tasks; that is, do the easy stuff first, and push the larger tasks deeper in the day. Problem is, most people burn too much time; that five-minute simple task took 35 minutes to complete because you got distracted from the main goal, which is to get X done today, not just a bunch of little t's. I can't criticize anything that really works for another. But in my own experience, GTD kept me busy on "urgent" things, but not necessarily focused on the "important" things. FranklinCovey uses a planner and/or software, or if you're really good, your own mind; GTD can use anything, even an index card. And that too is good.

urlwolf:
Actually, the literature on project management can be useful here too. I just bought Berkun's "The Art of Project Management", and seems really relevant.

Also, Steve pavlina (in his famous blog) advocates that knowing your purpose is the most important thing, and then derive the actions top-down. The thing with GTD is that it can be very bottom-up, I agree. Although Steve uses GTD himself.

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