Digging the digital

So here’s another thing I noticed. First off, I must say, this whole GTD-thing really gives you a sense of self-exploration and self-evaluation. This piece is written while commuting in the train. I do have to say that this is a time during the day where I can think about GTD instead of Do-ing it. Here’s an issue I found out about myself and I am wondering if my readers also experience this. Whenever something pops up in my head, depending on context, I put it somewhere. When I’m behind a PC (80% of the time I’m awake) I put it in my Tasklist immediately with the proper context and project. When not in digital mode I put it in my notebook and process it later. Oh by the way, I bought a Moleskine. More on that in a later post! See my Flickr slideshow for pictures. Can’t believe I made a picture of a notebook… Now, when the notes are processed it’s in my (almost) trusted system. Here’s where the nagging problem enters. Say, I remind myself I have to make an appointment with the dentist within a month. So I put it in my agenda about 3 weeks from now to “Call dentist on number xxx-xxxxxxx regarding new appt.” It’s out of my head, into my system. Excellent! A week later, I am sitting on the couch and thinking to myself “Hmmm….I have to make an appointment with the dentist.” I put another task in my agenda on the day I want to make an appointment. Catch my drift? Why is this? Is it because it is out of my head, it can come in (again) easy? Is it because I have the brain of a goldfish? Is it because my system is not trusted yet? Expanding on the last one, let’s say my system is trusted. If you have the same thought again, would you think to yourself “Wait a minute, I already processed that. No need to do that again.” Because if you do that, isn’t the system also in your head? You know it’s in your system, so it’s in your head. Why need an external system then? That’s a bit harsh, but it is an issue I am facing. I had the same task pop up three times, just because I entered it three times in a week’s time. Maybe one of the solutions is my Weekly Review. I know I am not the only one who has trouble with this part of GTD, and yes I have been procrastinating this review way too much. I should try to have this Weekly Review really once a week in an allocated time slot instead of sometimes just quick browsing through my tasks and projects. Hmmmm….Nice outcome of another braindump! Any thoughts on this issue? I would like to hear them from you!

Vergeet Generation X, The Y Generation, Generation C en al die andere hippe termen. B-kleine-o-B heeft het door en weet van welke generatie we zijn: “Ik ben van de herstelgeneratie zonder angst. De Ctrl+z-generatie.”

Remember I bought the GTD audiobook a couple of weeks ago? Well, I made a CD copy for a collegeau and guess what? He left the dark side and is a GTD-practicioner as well. This can really help since we both use the same tools and are on the same job. So during lunch, we can discuss (among other current events :-)) all things GTD. Welcome aboard Martijn! One more hack I implemented and starting to pay off is the use of reminder-time in my Tasks. So right now, my current activities flow as follows: 1. What has to be done on a certain date goes to my calendar and that is the first thing I do in the morning. 2. For Next Action’s without a real due date but has to be done a.s.a.p I put a reminder so I get a list of “urgent” Next Actions. Currently, this list is about 20-30 items long. (which most of the time are “Waiting For”-actions) 3. When those are done, I go to my lists in the Tasklist and work on those NA’s. Even though it’s not perfect, it get’s a big part of the job done for me. Update on Evernote: Hmmm….haven’t really used it…again…I got drawn to a new product called OnFolio which has a lot of potential since it’s an RSS reader and clipboard in one. With Firefox support!