Well, so far so good on the more structured approach to task management.
Tonight I managed to download and install a web based task management system designed specifically for the GTD methodology (more on this app later), put together a quick initial list, completed one of the projects (moving out) by completing the final task in that project (painting rooms at the old place), and listening to the whole “Getting Things Done” book itself in audio format.
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I’ll restrain myself from sending you my list of options available for a GTD system and applaud you for getting started in a big way. It’s good to also find something that works for you when you are away from the computer to capture thoughts, ideas and projects to put into your system when you get back to it. PDA, index cards, Hipster PDA, anything will work really. A lot of the new apps I’ve been using sync nicely to the iPod using the notes feature on the iPod.
Jason, I’m almost positive any solution you use Jared wont if involves technology; especially the iPod piece.
Jared, I’m assuming it’s php-gtd. It looks pretty awesome. I might try it out but from the demo there’s a lot to learn since I use the simple approach of one centralized place to manage my ‘things’. Currently I use my mailbox since 90% of my tasks start there and 99% will be in my e-mail box when I start using spinvox.
Keep us posted.
Jason: no restraint necessary, I just picked the particular system I did because I had seen it before and was more interested in getting it up in a hurry, but I’d definitely be interested in considering any other thoughts and options. I do plan to build a more consistent process around using my PDA while mobile, but I haven’t gotten around to formalizing that yet.
Dan: I’m not opposed to hearing and considering what other people are doing, even if it involves Apple products. =) I could probably easily adopt it to what I use. Also, it’s not like I hate iPods or anything - I did buy them for both Martha and Emma, after all.
It’s not php-gtd; I didn’t see much info or any screenshots out there of that one. I’ll post about the one I’m actually using for now later today when I have more time.
Lifehacker has a good post on how to do your task management through e-mail and iMap. But the cool thing that this guy was talking about was using IMAP so it syncs on all of your devices. It makes sense because you could then create priorities through folders and have it everywhere.
It’s similar to how I manage my tasks however I have personal tasks in GMail and work tasks in Mail.app with a bunch of folders and IMAP for other computers.
I’m interested in the app your using still. You should check out gtd-php it looks GTD complete.
Yeah, I will probably check out gtd-php at some point. I meant to post about the one I’m using for now (TaskFreak) but that will have to wait until later. The short summary is that it’s a pretty good GTD task list, but it is missing some of the other GTD components that I’d like in order for it to be an all-in-one solution.
That would be my main problem with using just mail (IMAP or GMail) to try to manage things as well. I did try out the GMail GTD firefox extension, which gets it a little closer, but it’s still not perfect IMO.
Until I get around to writing a better review on TaskFreak, they have a free demo on their site that you can try out to get a feel for what it does and what it lacks. I will say quickly that the demo almost turned me off because of how slow it was, but I downloaded it anyway just because I was in a hurry and was pleasantly surprised to find that it runs much MUCH faster on my server than the demo on their site.
Actually, wait a second - were you talking about gtd-php or phpGTD?
If you thought it was the first since the second isn’t anything you’d be right.
Yeah, I figured it was gtd-php, but phpGTD is the one I found the other day (when you mentioned “php-gtd” in the comment above).
gtd-php looks pretty good so far (in terms of functionality). I might have to check that out.
Does it get in the way of your creativity?
No, if anything, I think it enhances it.
The idea is that it allows you to truly clear your mind and focus on the moment. Without a system that you can trust to keep track of all the stuff you’re clearing out of your mind, your mind will subconsciously keep churning on it and interrupting you, causing you to think/worry about things periodically when you shouldn’t need to at that moment.
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