It's been a week since I bought "Getting Things Done", following…
.a. how popular the book was in Silicon Valley (43 folders and similar)
.b. an email in the internal Portal of the school.
.c. a reference by Al Martine http://www.abigpond.com/blog/2007/05/28/getting-things-done
and coincidentally in time with the book acquisition and comment by RusGirl http://rusgirl.blogspot.com/2007/06/getting-things-done.html
So now that everybody is talking about it, it's my turn to discuss it. First, if you want to get an idea about how it works, definitely look at the previous posts. I am going to focus on the outcome and how I use it.
Warning: If you haven't read the book, this post might sound like gibberish to you.
I still have no final opinion on the system. First impression is good, it looks like a system with tons of common sense and practical experience implemented. I am giving it a serious go, because I truly believe I can benefit from it.
Plus starting up a business while doing a MBA and doing internship practices while having a life is quite challenging in terms of organization. That's my main motivation to try it: I am sure I could get better organized. And the book promises "stress free productivity!" How sexier can it sound?
== HOW I DO IT: ==
I use a simple, relatively low tech approach, similar to the one described at http://www.43folders.com/2004/09/15/how-does-a-nerd-hack-gtd/
I use simple .txt files for most of my professional tasks. The only exceptions are the small paper notebook I carry with me to write down tasks and ideas (that later down I translate into paper) and a "physical next action" binder I have set up at home, for those physical items that become the reminder themselves (like the films to be processed or new batteries to buy).
Back to the text files, I have the basic lists in the system implemented:
# _@nextactions
# @inbox
# @waiting
# @someday
# Projects list
# Plus the Google calendar for my commitments.
== HOW AM I DOING? ==
Three days ago I collected a huge "inbox" of items that required my attention, and today I processed it, resulting in plenty of "next actions".
How do all these files look today after a lot of work?
# _@nextactions 117 lines of text (not all actions, there are some empty lines and context spacers)
# @inbox empty, as it should be after processing it. 
My email inbox is empty too. :D (double smile)
# @waiting One item only. I suspect there should be more, I need to get used to track more items here
# @someday 40 lines of text, a reasonable amount of things to eventually do in the future.
# Projects list Huge with 95 lines. That's what stresses me the most, the number of projects has multiplied. It should simplify slightly with finishing the 1st year, but the MBA is not the lion's share of my projects (Oops!) Need to streamline a little bit more, I believe.
# Plus the Google calendar for my commitments. (all the commitment, the hard landscape is there)
Now all the actions seem in place. Still, the system feels unnatural to me now, we'll see how it goes.
== Next developments: ==
* I need some extra work to put onto the projects, to gain better control and planning
* I want to explore better the filing system. Both the reference A-Z and the 43 folders for tickling.
I will keep you posted!
