i've been using omnioutliner's omnifocus. it's good for keeping track of big multi-task things but not that great at keeping track of nonlinear projects. it'll only cost $30 but that's because i'm already an omnioutliner user.
admission: i'm really into gimmicky productivity software like omnioutliner and devonthink and iwork and ilife, so i might actually buy this lifebalance thing
― moonship journey to baja, Monday, 19 November 2007 05:09 (sixteen years ago) link
i've also been doing the "moleskine GTD" thing w/ the reporter notebook + the double flags ... nice!! it's basically a fancy way of having a "things to do" list in your bag but whatever, fancy is as fancy does
― moonship journey to baja, Monday, 19 November 2007 05:10 (sixteen years ago) link
Getting Things the Fuck Done with Henry Rollins
― BIG HOOS aka the steendriver, Wednesday, 28 November 2007 04:16 (sixteen years ago) link
My notebook has been invaluable while we've been moving. There's no way I would have been able to keep track of all the phone numbers and work order numbers etc etc without this thing.
― BIG HOOS aka the steendriver, Wednesday, 28 November 2007 04:18 (sixteen years ago) link
writing things down in a notebook is hardly a new weird thing to do, though.
― El Tomboto, Wednesday, 28 November 2007 04:21 (sixteen years ago) link
Indeed! I think that was discussed upthread a bit, buncha people going "lol you guys = aspies for making a whole system around your to-do list."
― BIG HOOS aka the steendriver, Wednesday, 28 November 2007 04:27 (sixteen years ago) link
The heart of the whole thing for me is the "processing." It forces me to either get the Thing done or schedule it for a specific time in the future on my GCal or my cell phone calender. Then I can move forward in the notebook without worrying "did I schedule/do that thing?" I can be confident that it's done. Less worry, more organization in my life.
― BIG HOOS aka the steendriver, Wednesday, 28 November 2007 04:29 (sixteen years ago) link
So I'm trying to figure out if a "personal wiki" for Someday/Maybe stuff has any benefits over a simple file in Google Docs. Are you still around, Jeff? Anything you think makes a wiki a must-have?
― BIG HOOS aka the steendriver, Thursday, 3 January 2008 04:48 (sixteen years ago) link
GTD is saving my ass right now. Saying "no" to shit would be better though.
― caek, Friday, 4 January 2008 00:33 (sixteen years ago) link
For about a year and a half I've been using this awsum GTD tool to rule my life and make everyone genuflect at my organisational brilliance (and even impress my future boss enough that she asked me to teach her how to use it!).
However, since getting a new position in September (partially because of my wikkid org skillz) I'm in so many meetings and following so many different projects that my GTD system is srsly fucked. By the time I get back to the PC to add everything I've forgotten what it was. As a result, my organisation is rooted, I regularly forget to do some really important things, and I'm frequently stressed about forgetting stuff.
So, I'm going to have a crack at this Moleskine thing. I have a fresh Moleskine here but it's a standard book style, not the reporter-flip-up type. Does that matter?
There's also this 'hack,' which seems to be a bit less anal about where to draw margins etc. I don't know which one to go with yet.
Does anyone have helpful advice before I start wrecking my Moleskine?
― Autumn Almanac, Wednesday, 9 January 2008 00:00 (sixteen years ago) link
(I didn't want to derail rrrobyn's diary thread as it's not technically diary-keeping)
― Autumn Almanac, Wednesday, 9 January 2008 00:03 (sixteen years ago) link
just wreck it!!
wtf with the colored markers and organizing
― El Tomboto, Wednesday, 9 January 2008 00:05 (sixteen years ago) link
I dunno, I've not read the instructions properly yet
― Autumn Almanac, Wednesday, 9 January 2008 00:06 (sixteen years ago) link
you should use a black ballpoint with it. for best results and long life.
― El Tomboto, Wednesday, 9 January 2008 00:08 (sixteen years ago) link
i just read the first wikipedia link but isn't that just saying "get a diary and write down a to-do list"?
― ken c, Wednesday, 9 January 2008 00:25 (sixteen years ago) link
Autumn:
My only advice is to always have a pen on you and always be ready to write something down. I use little page markers that get me directly to a blank page/directly to my last-processed item, respectively. When something hits the brain, out comes the notebook. Flip to the pink tab, write it down.
Like I said on the other thread, Jott is a lifesaver for when I can't write stuff down.
― BIG HOOS aka the steendriver, Wednesday, 9 January 2008 00:35 (sixteen years ago) link
I should clarify that I have a Google Docs file for Someday/Maybe stuff & a whiteboard for projects. The moleskine is strictly for capturing & notes on the way to processing.
― BIG HOOS aka the steendriver, Wednesday, 9 January 2008 00:37 (sixteen years ago) link
ken:
see the long, unclear discussion upthread, but in short: yes. plus another thing or two. really only helpful if you have difficulty remembering Stuff/have a high volume of Stuff etc.
― BIG HOOS aka the steendriver, Wednesday, 9 January 2008 00:38 (sixteen years ago) link
Cool, thanks hoos. I'll go with yours because that other one I found is disastrously anal and would break my brain within 12 minutes.
We don't have Jott in Australia, as far as I'm aware.
― Autumn Almanac, Wednesday, 9 January 2008 00:54 (sixteen years ago) link
Yeah I use a really really simplified version of the half dozen GTD Moleskine things floating around the internet.
― BIG HOOS aka the steendriver, Wednesday, 9 January 2008 01:07 (sixteen years ago) link
http://www.davidco.com/blogs/kelly/archives/2008/01/david_allen_giv.html
^^^^^ The Man Himself gives a talk at Google on the basics of GTD.
― BIG HOOS aka the steendriver, Wednesday, 9 January 2008 01:15 (sixteen years ago) link
Though if you want the short version try
http://www.the-happy-manager.com/david-allen-time-management.html
and scroll down
― BIG HOOS aka the steendriver, Wednesday, 9 January 2008 01:17 (sixteen years ago) link
45 mins vs. 7
HI DERE UNREFLECTIVE SUCK-UP TO NOB-SUCKUNTRY. I HOPE YOU WANNA DIE SOOON. PEACE OUT I'M NOT GENERALLY FLECKING
― Noodle Vague, Wednesday, 9 January 2008 01:21 (sixteen years ago) link
the triumphant return of noodle vague
― BIG HOOS aka the steendriver, Wednesday, 9 January 2008 01:23 (sixteen years ago) link
if I ever arrive at a point in life where I genuinely feel that my brain is incapable of dealing with the volume of shit that I have to keep track of to function like a normal person, then I'm going to ditch out of every commitment I have and go live in the goddamn woods. or beach bum it. regardless.
― El Tomboto, Wednesday, 9 January 2008 01:26 (sixteen years ago) link
^^^^^^^^^^ this
- BIG AND aka the whatdriver
― and what, Wednesday, 9 January 2008 01:27 (sixteen years ago) link
For me, the feeling that you need a system or need to do a better job keeping track of things stems more from thinking you could do a lot more than you do usually do if you could just keep up with the little random "oh, i should xyz" ideas that come and go all the time. It's not at all about functioning like a normal person, it's a sense that there's some next level, training montage shit out there.
― Kerm, Wednesday, 9 January 2008 01:31 (sixteen years ago) link
yeah that concept can also eat my balls. human brains are not for being pushed beyond their stock performance in every aspect just because a few latter-day snake oil salesmen talked some Type-A bozos into believing that the answer to their chronic insecurity was to augment said insecurities with pen-and-paper DIY databases on top of their other imaginary friends mr. e-mail and mr. cellular
― El Tomboto, Wednesday, 9 January 2008 01:35 (sixteen years ago) link
if I all of a sudden started "doing more than I usually do" it would just make relaxing that much harder and not actually get me extra vacation or a bigger paycheck - and I'm saying this as a person who has felt many times that I'd feel better if I could just be another overachiever, tried, and learned otherwise
― El Tomboto, Wednesday, 9 January 2008 01:38 (sixteen years ago) link
you boys have fun
― BIG HOOS aka the steendriver, Wednesday, 9 January 2008 01:38 (sixteen years ago) link
my favorite posters to 43things.com are the ones who just wish they could wake up on time in the morning
― El Tomboto, Wednesday, 9 January 2008 01:39 (sixteen years ago) link
<3 <3 <3 tombot
― and what, Wednesday, 9 January 2008 01:40 (sixteen years ago) link
im getting all abbott here
that's what y'all get, working for the MAN
― Kerm, Wednesday, 9 January 2008 01:43 (sixteen years ago) link
Thanks hoos, I'll have a look outside work.
Others: I don't use 90% of the GTD shit, just recording things and sorting them into do now / do later / information only (by project). No 43 folders, no any of the other stuff, I just can't be arsed with it.
I don't have too much to do, but I do have too many things to remember. A system like this just works like an organised to-do list for me.
― Autumn Almanac, Wednesday, 9 January 2008 02:04 (sixteen years ago) link
same here
― BIG HOOS aka the steendriver, Wednesday, 9 January 2008 02:05 (sixteen years ago) link
but i don't plan on wasting any more breath defending this stuff to people who aren't interested. no reason to defend it anyway. works for me. you'll never want/need it. a+ everybody.
― BIG HOOS aka the steendriver, Wednesday, 9 January 2008 02:06 (sixteen years ago) link
ja. More absolving myself of wankery than anything.
― Autumn Almanac, Wednesday, 9 January 2008 02:08 (sixteen years ago) link
moleskine hack
― sleep, Wednesday, 9 January 2008 02:52 (sixteen years ago) link
watched hackers this morning and all we could keep saying was 'check out this sick xxxxx hack'
― and what, Wednesday, 9 January 2008 02:57 (sixteen years ago) link
'check this epic hamburger hack'
'peep this ocean hack'
had-to-be-there hack
― Autumn Almanac, Wednesday, 9 January 2008 02:58 (sixteen years ago) link
l337 grilled ch3353 hack
― BIG HOOS aka the steendriver, Wednesday, 9 January 2008 03:03 (sixteen years ago) link
Jott. Jott! A THOUSAND TIMES JOTT!!!!
(http://www.jott.com)
― Jesse, Wednesday, 9 January 2008 03:59 (sixteen years ago) link
Dude one of my buds I visited in Boise had like 7 filled-up Moleskines on her shelf on a moleskin display box she stole from a store. And I told her 'lol orange juice hack' (w/context). She was not sanctimonious tho and did not have the FOLDERS.
― Abbott, Wednesday, 9 January 2008 04:04 (sixteen years ago) link
This is the most useful thing in my life since the cell phone. I always have my phone on me and a "jott" takes less than 30 seconds from dialing to hangup. On average I use it at least once a day. Recent Jotts:
- 4 or 5 reminders of supplies I need to buy at my job (they always seem to occur to me when I'm not at my desk, or when I'm at lunch) - Xmas gift ideas - movies or books I want to buy or check out of the library or go see (probably the most common way I use the system--used to carry around a scrap of paper but lots of time didn't have a pen) - reminders of Dr. or dentist appointments - work/meeting schedules
Jott takes a load of my mind.
― Jesse, Wednesday, 9 January 2008 04:06 (sixteen years ago) link
Oh man but finding yr old movie/book lists is the best! "I was that convinced I had to see Pump Up the Volume? wtf?"
― Abbott, Wednesday, 9 January 2008 04:09 (sixteen years ago) link
Went with a tailored version of this method. More suited to the type of work I do, and projects can go in the same book. Now I have to get all the SHIT I have to do in there.
― Autumn Almanac, Wednesday, 9 January 2008 05:01 (sixteen years ago) link