Finally, after all these years, I think I have a system. I have never been more buried in email than in the last few months. I used to LOVE email, obsessed with it, checked it constantly- drove my wife nuts. Now, I am quickly beginning to hate email. My obsession(s) have simply grown to texting, instant messaging & tweeting. I can't have my info fast enough. And I surely don't want to miss anything.
To support a greener lifestyle and reduce clutter, I try to work in a paperless. environment. I have been looking for an electronic way to capture and store, "my stuff". I have a ton of it and you never know when you might need it. Believe it or not, I find that I need alot of it often.
So, one of the best self-help books I ever read was given to me by my good friend, Jeff. Getting Things Done is hardcore, I am not as good as others, but I have learned to keep my inbox to a minimum. GTD says zero each day, my goal is less than 20. There is quite a bit more to GTD but this was a huge takeaway for me.
Anything I want to store as part of an ongoing "project" goes in Evernote. I have developed a very simple system for organizing. I use the notebooks in Evernote for projects or sub-projects. I name them by @projectname ( I wish they had subnotebooks). The way to organize data in Evernote is via "tags". I didn't get it initially and I am not sure I am 100% sold, but I am running with it. So, I place multiple tags on each posting in a notebook, usually with a #subject, *contactname, keyword. Seems insane, but it remembers all my tags, so many of the @, #, * are very similar. I simply pick them from a list. So, lets say I have a call scheduled with *jim. I can sort by "*jim", all the topics are then listed by #subject and I have all my notes, clippings, attachments (with Evernote Premium) and things that are high priority I tag with a #1. Seems complicated, but it is working really well. Any files stored other places, no problem, hyperlinks handle that.
Now, all "other" email, not pressing,"FYI stuff" I delete and use Xobni to search, sort, find attachments etc. It is the coolest "find" of last year. I saw a post thought the name was cool, INBOX backwards and it is a SCORE! Go grab it, trust me.
Working in the CAE world on multiple computers and being a globetrotter I deal with massive file sets (CAD, CFdesign, images etc), bigger picture stuff then stuff I'd store into Evernote. I used to carry around a 100GB external drive and though I was bad ass, found that this did nothing but get filled with data. So, I still have that (3 actually) but for the important documents I use 2 systems. The first is Live Mesh. Very cool way to flag a folder on one machine, upload the content to the web and include a folder on another machine. So, I have the data in 3 locations, seems like overkill, but it allows me to work seamlessly on local drives (external drives) are shady when dealing with CAD and Simulation files. Live Mesh is free and allows 5GB, not too bad. Live Mesh used to be all I used when I had a Windows Mobile phone. As there was a mobile version as well.
BUT I just jumped on the iPhone bandwagon and Live Mesh is no dice for iPhone. I also use my beloved Ubuntu Netbook, doesn't play nice with Mesh. So, I use my trusted box.net as well to share mostly Office docs back and forth among all my devices. It has an awesome iPhone client and Open Office works like a charm on my netbook.
To support a greener lifestyle and reduce clutter, I try to work in a paperless. environment. I have been looking for an electronic way to capture and store, "my stuff". I have a ton of it and you never know when you might need it. Believe it or not, I find that I need alot of it often.
So, one of the best self-help books I ever read was given to me by my good friend, Jeff. Getting Things Done is hardcore, I am not as good as others, but I have learned to keep my inbox to a minimum. GTD says zero each day, my goal is less than 20. There is quite a bit more to GTD but this was a huge takeaway for me.
Anything I want to store as part of an ongoing "project" goes in Evernote. I have developed a very simple system for organizing. I use the notebooks in Evernote for projects or sub-projects. I name them by @projectname ( I wish they had subnotebooks). The way to organize data in Evernote is via "tags". I didn't get it initially and I am not sure I am 100% sold, but I am running with it. So, I place multiple tags on each posting in a notebook, usually with a #subject, *contactname, keyword. Seems insane, but it remembers all my tags, so many of the @, #, * are very similar. I simply pick them from a list. So, lets say I have a call scheduled with *jim. I can sort by "*jim", all the topics are then listed by #subject and I have all my notes, clippings, attachments (with Evernote Premium) and things that are high priority I tag with a #1. Seems complicated, but it is working really well. Any files stored other places, no problem, hyperlinks handle that.
Now, all "other" email, not pressing,"FYI stuff" I delete and use Xobni to search, sort, find attachments etc. It is the coolest "find" of last year. I saw a post thought the name was cool, INBOX backwards and it is a SCORE! Go grab it, trust me.
Working in the CAE world on multiple computers and being a globetrotter I deal with massive file sets (CAD, CFdesign, images etc), bigger picture stuff then stuff I'd store into Evernote. I used to carry around a 100GB external drive and though I was bad ass, found that this did nothing but get filled with data. So, I still have that (3 actually) but for the important documents I use 2 systems. The first is Live Mesh. Very cool way to flag a folder on one machine, upload the content to the web and include a folder on another machine. So, I have the data in 3 locations, seems like overkill, but it allows me to work seamlessly on local drives (external drives) are shady when dealing with CAD and Simulation files. Live Mesh is free and allows 5GB, not too bad. Live Mesh used to be all I used when I had a Windows Mobile phone. As there was a mobile version as well.
BUT I just jumped on the iPhone bandwagon and Live Mesh is no dice for iPhone. I also use my beloved Ubuntu Netbook, doesn't play nice with Mesh. So, I use my trusted box.net as well to share mostly Office docs back and forth among all my devices. It has an awesome iPhone client and Open Office works like a charm on my netbook.
Last but not least is Jing Pro. I used to be a fancy SnagIt/PPT guy, still am for some things, but my new way of communicating is to use Jing to grab a quick screen capture and pop it up to my free screencast.com account and shoot you the link. It is like receiving an audio/video voice mail, text or email Nothing more powerful to clicking a link, I am talking to you and showing you exactly what my question is, no heavy file transfer etc-- just a simple link. Jump in for free with Jing, upgrade to Jing Pro as needed.
When I read all of this back, it even looks overwhelming to me. BUT, I feel like my efficiency has gone WAY up, everything is nice and orderly. No major effort keeping everything in synch, all the tools seem to just do it for me.
I am not sure that David Allen had this in mind when he developed GTD, but this is how I make it work for me.
What's your system like?
I am not sure that David Allen had this in mind when he developed GTD, but this is how I make it work for me.
What's your system like?
7 comments:
Well, you got me happily on Skype, and Twitter, and XOBNI.... may have to take another look at Evernote and some of the other things here.
Meantime, just heard about this one that you may find useful:
www.foxmarks.com
Check out Dropbox as well. I use it to sync all kinds of stuff between Windows, Mac, and Linux. I also just discovered GTD. Great book.
Evernote and Dropbox for files works fine for me. OmniFocus for Task Managemant (sync between Mac and iPhone).
Used Xobni at previous employeer. Now I've gone totally mac, both work and private.
Also have profiles on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.
Email, Skype and cell phone makes me available, as I have to be as a consultant.
i have a dropbox account, thought long and hard between it and box. The coolest thing in dropbox is simply enabling a folder to "sync" seriously lacking in box.net. I love that this functionality for dropbox works seamlessly on linux,
DEAL breaker - no iphone client for dropbox, box.net wins hands down.
I love GTD. Been using it about two years. As I find it a way of thinking, more so than a way of doing, it's been a big challenge just to learn how to use it for me. Mostly I like a highly paper-based system (I made the prettiest of binders) with gmail for labeling and tracking data, but not actions. Then once I had it down, as a communications consultant, I went and got myself a job. (I work now at Nemetschek North America, the makers of Vectorworks CAD software, which is how I come to your blog.)
So, now I have TWO GTD systems. And two completely different worlds with different demands, diff technology and email clients. I was in a tizzy for a few months.
For as much as I've tried to go all-digital, spending some time with Easy Task Manager, a chunk of time with THINGS and explorations into RTM and Toodledo, I find myself, once again, preferring paper. This time, I've invested in the Levenger Circa system and love the little 3x5 and 2x3 cards on which I can scribble a quick next action during a meeting and then place right into my binder.
Using Highrise and Basecamp a bit too, for tasks, tickling and tracking info across dynamic teams.
Still working on it all. Curious about Evernote. Thanks for the reminder to check it out.
You should try eNoteFile - notetaking and filing.
Includes sync, share, remote access benefits
Unique notation search feature allows you to find items by where you've marked on a page
The filing system uses windows presentation foundation so is very fast and visual
Free standard version and demo video at www.enotefile.com
Bear
You're slowly turning me into a little Cooper clone, Derrek. Really digging Xobni, and jumped on the dropbox and evernote bandwagon this weekend.
Keep the details coming - finding these tools awkward at first but indispensable before long.
The Netbook intrigues me - love the idea of it but don't believe I travel enough to warrant it just yet...
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