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Getting Things Done revisited

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tomos:
Revisiting the revisitation, eh?

I'm confused by this bit - see numbered interjections in quote:
So then my big wall clock broke (a little) so I moved it for a while ... and BOOM! They [staples grid calendars?#1] are heavy enough to stand up against the wall of my main desk.
[...]
The original inspiration - On the big one [the big what?#2], the boxes [what boxes?#3] are very close to a 4x4 sticky. That you can't lose! (Or get crushed at level 2 when you need any more than four pieces of info.)

But the "Trick" behind it is ...You can go Vertically / Horozontally / (pick one, not both), like a mini spreadsheet, to group the small categories together.

And for those Projects, you use an entire whole page, now giving you some 4-7 subcategories, then you make your detail notes in the column or row.
-TaoPhoenix (July 16, 2015, 01:37 AM)
--- End quote ---

I think if I understood the queried bits, I'd understand the rest.

(maybe an image, or a link to an image if it's e.g. the calendars?)

TaoPhoenix:
My version might be at least half the system and I definitely agree with the spirit of it all.

One of my main changes is that the "collection / inbox" in mine more fluid. (If I do it right and learn one quick reflex), when a piece of "stuff" comes in, if it's either a silly/short-term note or a short term to-do, it can live as a sticky for a while rather than a single inbox.

Then in the review stages (which will oscillate between every few days and maybe a couple weeks), it's something like a split for the 2nd stage processing/logging.

If it looks like it's gonna be contained as about 4 related info items, I can decide to make it one of the grid columns. The other split is if it feels different and especially if it looks way bigger, it might either become a printer-paper 2nd edition to go into a folder, or else become something for my big computer note taking system.

Conceptually I  think the difference in mine is that for my style, I have a lot of short term stuff, and then when I whack at them for To-Do or else the note becomes "bad", then I just throw out the sticky, and then the passage of time perspective makes it easier to make the grid topics much more long term useful.

TaoPhoenix:
Revisiting the revisitation, eh?
-tomos (July 16, 2015, 02:44 AM)
--- End quote ---

We're supposed to! That's the whole point!

If we think a bit, most calendars have a "square" for that day, which I am calling a grid-box. That is why I could never use regular calendars! The boxes were both too small and "amorphous" so at least for me it ended up with either text drifting off a straight line or a "stupid scribble" of three words.

These are called Desk Calendars, but unlike the "empty blank square", the daily boxes are line-ruled like a 4x4 sticky (unlike the 3x3 which is blank - same problem!).

So not only do 3-word scribbles look truly hideous, but then for me, stuff always has "pieces and followups and details". So my big calendar, about 25" by 18", each "day" box has six lines. But "day" is in quotes, because the whole point is you can take a pen and cross off the days, and then you're left with basically a paper spreadsheet.

And it's a case where by "intrinsically forced" into the whole sheet and not crappy stickies, it forces me to really go to another level in the note taking in "stage 2". (Because what I have right now is the 3 related stickies from different days stacked onto each other in an awful mini-pile.)

And then at the end of varying chunks of time, you have automatically archived notes too, rather than trying to figure out what to do with the important stickies.

TaoPhoenix:
Broadly, David Allen used an idea of a ride with a private pilot to fly "up and down" so you can see *both* the "forest and the trees".

The adaptation below is my simplified one.

The "10K feet" is Projects - that's roughly like the "doable" stuff you can confidently just finish, maybe like installing all the mods you know how to do, a bit of experimentation with new things, and then you "fly higher" for the next bit

So the 20K Feet one, is after you get the smaller "projects" done, what do you want to make as "areas of focus" which is the reason you're re-vamping? What can the new backbone support?

I'll suggest the first one, adding more content by resident bloggers.

To me a Win10 blog is an idea, a bit like your regular newsletters, that pulls in some 100 posts we do and follows Win10 as we see it. (Aka even if someone else writes it, a style like your newsletters.)

Sample fragment:
"So, in the first phase, Microsoft released interim builds a,b,c,d,e,f,g. Then the first launch build is X. User experiences at this link over here. ISO's and other installs over there."

And then lastly, the 30K feet is "what are the goals for the revamp when you're on your way and stuff is moving along?"

So to me, Mouser's existing thread covers the 10K feet pretty well. That leaves the open room of 20K feet for focus areas, and 30K feet for goals and visions.

Comments?

TaoPhoenix:

No matter which exact setup works for you, a huge point of going kinda slow and carefully is thinking a bit ahead especially on categories of info, so that stuff doesn't get scrambled. (That's sorta how people get into a mess, it's ad-hoc-ness that finally breaks.)

One of the biggest separations is information and To-Dos. So for example one of my big categories is a standing food list of basics to start switching me out of fast food. To a point, that list doesn't change. But then "to-do" is "1-time" - you buy X, and then you're done. So something I am pondering just now, is to make little photocopies of the standing list. Then it becomes a disposable shopping list (saving hours by not re-writing it!!) (And a useful little possible idea for me is just to cross off stuff after I ate it, just to see meal patterns and maybe habits to change.)

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