#56: 52 Books in 52 Weeks | Week 13 – Getting Things Done

poweredbytofu — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 04:26:59 +0000

You either love or hate GTD (Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity). Although the Allen-ite way of productivity seems to have lost it’s best-seller momentum, it’s still a decent way to get things accomplished. So I decided a re-read was in order. I hadn’t read this book in a few years, so it was nice to have a little refresher of how not to waste time thinking about all the stuff you have to do.

But I had forgotten how time consuming some of the “lists” are. Last year, I stopped using 3-4 different lists (waiting for, someday/maybe etc) and just started using Remember The Milk instead. This is way less time consuming. I’ll be detailing my “Getting Things Done: Take 2″ in a later post.

If the GTD method escapes you, you can always try the WSD method.

Remember The ^soy Milk

poweredbytofu — Fri, 23 Mar 2007 02:21:49 +0000

As a die-hard fan of list making, tasks, and GTD – Getting Things Done – I’m always trying out new programs, hoping to find the best of all worlds. I even went back to using a moleskine journal/datebook in ’04, but could never seem to keep it updated since I sit in front of a computer all day. So after Google Calendar showed up without “Tasks”, I went in search of another way to stay organized. Backpack is cool, but too “clunky” and doesn’t mix easily with Google Calendar (which I can’t abandon), Google Homepage (which I have half-abandoned) and Netvibes. The lists are too spread out and for whatever reason the design elements just don’t make me excited. Remember The Milk however, is sweet.

Why I love Remember the Milk:

Integrates with Google Calendar, Google Homepage, Netvibes

You can add/complete/postpone tasks from Google Homepage etc. so I don’t forget to use it.

Reoccurring tasks (grocery shopping, laundry, call mom etc.)

I can keep all tasks in the “Inbox” list, and then add extra lists for movies/books I want to watch/read, Goals etc.

Ability to “only show items with due dates” on the Widget, which cuts down on Someday/Maybe clutter

Priority (red, blue, light blue) is cool, I use it mainly to organize my Goals list.

Tags! I love using tags instead of separate lists so I don’t forget things. I tag things by action and/or location. The more items that show up the bigger the font in the tags list… (home, goals, errand, call, study, shop, wishlist etc.)

Now if only I didn’t have to use Microsoft Outlook at work…

*UPDATE* The mobile version of RTM is another big plus.

Powered by Tofu » Getting Things Done

#56: 52 Books in 52 Weeks | Week 13 – Getting Things Done

Remember The ^soy Milk