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Getting Things Done revisited

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TaoPhoenix:
Quick Update:

My "Paper Spreadsheets on Calendars" really work best with certain classes of info. Quick breakdown:

1. Smash ultra fast notes onto paper stickies.
2. Review stickies for ones that are worth keeping more than about a week
3. Then decide which ones should go into my note program (now covering 75% of my data) and which work better being cute little long term info that should be really fast to access. Notice: "Long term but silly" notes belong in my note program. It's the mid line really useful stuff with no more than about 4 notes per set that is a candidate for the calendars.

It's the overlap in part 3 that I keep wavering on.

But the very raw process of sweeping up the yellow stickies SOMEWHERE is valuable. I am grateful that I type decently fast, so the "duplication overhead" for me really isn't that big of a deal per se.

TaoPhoenix:
New process:
I need to severely curtail my stickies!
It "traps data old school" (without the kewl kid k spelling skool)

The weakness is when I make detailed ones, I'm stuck.

What I really need to do is master the habit of using my note program which really is good. It's gotta be FASTER because I type at a decent speed. Then if I ever want to do anything with the info, I'm not stuck re-typing it.

What was holding me up was what to do with the "obsolete stickies". I didn't realize I can use the same trick I do with my desktop notes and just make "holding collections" like "Sept-Oct old notes". Then precisely what the program does, I just drag them there and because the program "rolls up" categories, POOF! Away they go! But then a few of them "zombie themselves", so fine. Move them back somewhere.

And back to the GTD theme, it's really a good program (MyInfo) for those periodic "sweeps" to see what changed and all. And I already made the mechanism of date tagging the initial note, then I put "Update1:" into the topic, so the same topic can keep accumulating.

Then of course, it's now digital info, so it does all digital-y things like traveling to emails as needed.

Bonus: Clean desk!

 :Thmbsup:

TaoPhoenix:

New use:

I keep doing research and get all kinds of web links. Bookmarks and all don't work for me because those are "stuck in the browser". If I am going to integrate into my note program, what I can do is just open nodes and copy - paste the links in there!

brotherS:
It has been a looong time since I read the GTD book, so I'm not 100% sure what I took from it and what I learned elsewhere, but if I recall correctly, using lists that are context specific is from GTD. So I now use https://mail.google.com/tasks/canvas (because I can edit it in the web browser and there's an app for that) for lists of all kinds. Weekly shopping, calling people, project work, what I want for xmas, whatever. Amazing!

Another great thing for productivity (at least for me) is email: I email 'stuff' (ideas, reminders, links, things to do when back at the PC, ...) to myself almost every day. And since I use a specific address alias (https://support.google.com/mail/answer/12096?hl=en), Gmail automatically applies a label, which helps to find/ process them later. I use a different address alias for "some day, maybe" stuff. Those emails get a label too, but don't even show up in my Inbox. Very helpful.

TaoPhoenix:
It has been a looong time since I read the GTD book, so I'm not 100% sure what I took from it and what I learned elsewhere, but if I recall correctly, using lists that are context specific is from GTD. So I now use https://mail.google.com/tasks/canvas (because I can edit it in the web browser and there's an app for that) for lists of all kinds. Weekly shopping, calling people, project work, what I want for xmas, whatever. Amazing!

Another great thing for productivity (at least for me) is email: I email 'stuff' (ideas, reminders, links, things to do when back at the PC, ...) to myself almost every day. And since I use a specific address alias (https://support.google.com/mail/answer/12096?hl=en), Gmail automatically applies a label, which helps to find/ process them later. I use a different address alias for "some day, maybe" stuff. Those emails get a label too, but don't even show up in my Inbox. Very helpful.
-brotherS (August 19, 2015, 07:04 AM)
--- End quote ---

Yep, context specific sounds about right. "Personal choice" whether Canvas or my notes program or other people use other things. I'm about 50-50 "misc" vs context, but yeah I agree. I just did my sweep this morning and have a couple minor things to report in on.

I have a bit of a fine balance with temporary low level notes that I just smash on a sticky because I can throw them out when they are done. It's a hack effort to try to curate the notes program to only be "second or third level or higher" level of notes because I don't need endless entries of "DO DISHES!!" (Which takes me about three days to quit stalling and do!)

The other category is these "perpetual topic reminders" such as for my new medical needs I really have to make a point to drink lots and lots of water or Things Happen. So I left that one as a small folded-half sticky there in paper in visual sight. But there's stuff that is mid zone, that is useful to have visually for about a week, but then does need to not be forgotten, but if you really have to curate what gets to Live Forever on paper, you have to push yourself to just go ahead and jam it into the GTD system you have running.

A couple examples:

- A bunch of fairly interconnected items popped up all related to a new medicine I am starting to test and try out, and the fact I can't seem to get hold of my Psychiatrist, and I recall some info letter in the mail about a bunch of the doctors changing office buildings, and so on. So that whole mess is all important, but they just can't all live there as seven stickies on the desk.

- Various songs I found interesting this month. Nice not to forget them out of sight out of mind, but they too can't each hog a piece of paper just because I found them at different times.

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